Thursday, October 15, 2009

HP's Nvidia Chipset Nightmare


A little over a year ago, while I was working at a local SW Washington computer repair shop, a customer brought in an HP DV series laptop with some serious and peculiar problems.

This HP laptop would randomly loose and then regain ability to use its on-board wireless. It would sometimes not boot at all and would RANDOMLY crash and reboot while in use. Sometimes, it would just come on with a black screen and nothing else at all. I immediately sensed that there was a major problem, and after tearing it apart and inspecting it from head to toe, I went to my good old' Google web search.

What I found was a surprise! HP had issued a recall on their DV and V series laptops; the NVIDIA chip set they had been using in 11 models of their laptops apparently didn't take too well to HP's motherboards. It turns out that the NVIDIA chips that were installed for video, wireless, etc were installed with low quality solder (the metallic substance used to bind electronics together) along with that issue; HP was using a "thinner-than-usual" circuit board. The two together have created a HUGE public relations and financial mess for themselves.

To give HP some credit, at first they were handling the recall quite well. They extended many systems’s already expired two year warranty with an additional 1 year warranty so systems could be repaired. But saying you will do something and actually doing it are 2 separate things.

Now don't get me wrong, I have helped several customers with this recall and they have received new/replacement laptops. But as it turned out, some of the "new" and "repaired" laptops that they were reissuing were failing before, or just after, their new 90 day repair/replacement warranty; this is where it starts to go down hill...

Really quickly, here is a basic definition of a recall:

A product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety or product issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence (which can cause costly legal penalties) and to improve or avoid damage to their public image.

HP has never really publicly declared this recall to the public and information is VERY hard to find about the recall. To my knowledge HP has not been notifying any of the merchants that they stock, supply and sell to about this recall. Plus, they never stopped selling the defective units all together.

So now, angry HP customers and users have created HPLies.com and are teaming up with other affected users to bring awareness to this "corporate denial" as well as compiling and publishing user’s experiences with receiving help from HP. The site then provided methods on how to take action to get their defective HP laptops appropriately replaced or repaired. The web site is also drafting letters in an attempt to form routes of communication and to submit complaints to HP's President & CEO, Mark Hurd.

My purpose in writing this blog is to help bring more awareness to what HP is and is not doing to deal with this "recall". My biggest frustrations are that HP has not publicized this recall enough. Many people have no idea that there is a recall and the ones who are affected, receive ridiculous support; if they are lucky to get that! They often get their customers frustrated enough that they simply buy another laptop or pay for HP to repair their defective system. Outrageous!

Pacific NorthWest Computer's customer service is based on character, respect and responsibility. I expect nothing less from other businesses and corporations!

If you think your laptop could be or is affected by this recall, give me a call today!
I can help you every step of the way; including packing and shipping your laptop for you!

Jon Pienkowski - Pacific NorthWest Computers
360-624-7379
www.pnwcomputers.com


References:
Product Recall - Wiki

HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement

HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement (Product Numbers Included)

HPLies.com - "Why Were Angry"

NVIDIA Class Action Suite *Updated 10/13/2009

Stay Warm & Stay Secure!



Well, Fall is finally here and though the Sunny days are overwhelming gorgeous and the leaves will turn beautiful colors, sadly the rain and cold takes over!!  :-(
What that really means though is that people start spending more time inside to avoid the elements outside! That usually equates to people also spending more time on their computers.

Now is the time to update, review and tighten security on your PC as well as your Network!

Just in time for the changing of the seasons, we have recently completed pnwcomputers.com's Services web page with the recent completion of our Networking Services page:

PNW Computers' Networking Services

*If you click the link above, it should be able to take you directly to the web page. However if this does not work, copy and paste the following URL: http://pnwcomputers.com/network.html

Stop bye and take a look at the new web page and let me know if you have any questions or comments and please, feel free to browse the rest of the website!
Check out our other Blog and also our site's "Links" page! There is lots of great information to be found all over the site!

Thanks so much everyone, stay warm and stay secure!

Sincerely,

Jon-Eric Pienkowski
_________________________
Pacific NorthWest Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
jon(at)pnwcomputers.com