7690M GPU = HP HORRIBLE DRIVER SUPPORT

[gregsuarez]

If they haven't updated the drivers by now, they're not going to.  HP has already switched GPU vendors for the Pavilions, and I think whatever agreement they had with AMD for model 7690M is now pretty much over.  There is no way AMD is going to develop updated drivers for a card 1) their customer (HP) no longer needs, 2) that AMD refuses to admit exists, and 3) that hasn't been updated in almost two years.  IF an update eventually comes along, it will be minor band-aid fixes that could be done on the cheap.  At this point, I don't believe either AMD or HP has any real interest into sinking more money into this GPU, especially given how frequently AMD and nVidia introduce newer and better models.

I recommend two courses of action:

1. If you have the time and inclination, find the number and/or contact information of HP's top executives and start spamming their office with complaints.  Several years ago I had a 53" $3500 HDTV I bought at Best Buy that had a repeated problem.  When I bought the TV I also bought an extended warranty.  After three or four service attempts I finally got Best Buy to agree to replace the set.  The store wanted to give me $750 credit on a $3500 set.  They claimed I had to replace the set with a "model of similar specs."  The problem was the bad TV was 720p/1080i, and most everything at that point was 1080p.  The closest I could get was a 55" Sony, but it was 1080p and 2" bigger than the set I was exchanging.  They wanted me to pay the difference between what they wanted to give me for the old set ($750) and the cost of the new one ($2400).  I did a bunch of digging and found the contact information for Best Buy's CEO.  I called the office several times and left messages with the receptionist.  A day or so later I got a call from an assistant to the CEO whose job was essentially to buffer the CEO against angry customers.  He saw to it that the store sell me the 55" Sony in even exchange for the malfunctioning 53" set.  Start making noise to HP's corporate headquarters, and you'll get their attention.
2. If all else fails, and you simply CANNOT get them to exchange your PC, offer this compromise: they send you a new nVidia GPU (either the 1GB 630 or the 2GB 650, whichever most closely matches your current Radeon), and then you get a PC specialist to replace the GPUs.  You will then mail back to them the Radeon GPU and they will send you a check to reimburse you for the labor of getting the GPUs swapped.  This way you are simply exchanging only the defective part, and they don't have to give you a whole new laptop.  Surely a reasonable person can see this is a fair deal.

[CJacksonLASD]

Well I am looking into HP executives to send mail/emails to contact them in regards to our issues.  I do see that Meg Whitman is the CEO of HP.  She is well known because she ran for Govenor of California last year, but unfortunately lost.

[egeek84]

Unfortunately lost?  I think you should change that to fortunately 

[mec287]

The gpu is welded into the motherboard. The parts are not plug and play.

[CJacksonLASD]

No California now has Govenor Brown who is the worst Govenor we have ever had, 2nd to Gray Davis.

[egeek84]

well i'd beg to disagree but i dont want to turn this into a political argument  But yeah, it might help to try to contact the execs including whitman

[gregsuarez]

@mec287

...which is why I recommended the having the switch done by an authorized PC specialist.  Unfortunately, laptop GPUs are not like desktops where you can slide a new one into a PCI-E slot, but that doesn't mean you can't replace one in a laptop if you have the tools and skills.

[CJacksonLASD]

Curious to whats everyone elses status?  I am still waiting to hear from another case manager to describe for the 20th time what our issues are?  Anyone else get any better luck with support reps today?

@mikewalsh: are you getting just a new gpu or the whole new laptop?

[t1nm4n]

@Gregsuarez

I see you are triing to put a second drive, any 750 gig drive should work, there is no second cable for the drive though, I found this out, I wanted to put a 240gig intel 520series ssd in for a second drive for gaming, when I got the laptop and opened it up, they are using cabling like a desktop to connect the hard drives. it comes with the the retention bracket no mounting screws, if you use the ones that come with most dirves it wont fit properly, you might have to grind the screw heads down, they do make a "Hard drive installtion kit" comes with primary and secondary hard drive brackets scres and both cable, when you recieve it though, you only get the secondary cable and the screw to mount one hard drive, cost me $53us to get them to overnight the part. needless to say unless you order the laptop with two hard drives you wont get the necessary parts to install a second hdd on your own. you can't get the parts anywhere else I checked.

[JotaCL]

So far I got 3 calls, the first one confirming my chat support case to open it and giving me some information, the second one HP techinical support trying to fix my problem and gettin' some info through phone, and a third one to arrange a date so they can pickup my laptop at my house and take it to their labs to check the problem, if everything goes OK they will eventually find the problem we describe in forums and they will give me the option to get another model or change my GPU... I just hope I get another model! Let's just wait then! Again good luck to everyone else trying this!