HP Pavilion dv9700 should also be on the list - but it is not even with a NVIDIA 8600 GPU

[ofinigan]

My computer is a HP Pavilion dv9700 CTO Entertainment Notebook PC with the same grey screen and lines.  It is just out of warranty and HP said it is not on the list to be fixed, it also has a NVIDIA 8600 graphics card.  It would be over 400 with shipping to get my $1600+ laptop fixed.  The question is will I recommend HP/Compaq?  I will be the voice of total protest because I work in a computer field and directly inform multiple people about which products to buy.   Their initial fix for these products was to send out a BIOS update that turns the fan on these hot graphic cards, so that they run all the time in order to extend their life a few months until the normal warranty of the laptop expires.  Their total lack of customer service and commitment to quality is not going to go unnoticed but will be voiced often to anyone who even mentions HP, in fact I like HP printers but now I will recommend other printers like Canon.  Please DO NOT BUY HP, other companies have noticed the problem with the NVIDIA chipsets and have recalled their products, but not this company.  I called two different support numbers and emailed but they still say that because I am out of warrant that they are out of service unless I want to buy it, and what would I get, most likely a replacement motherboard that would probably fail in another 12-15 months.

[LARamsFreak]

Same boat as you.  I have totally switched my entire family (5 laptops) plus countless friends and coworkers to HP over the last few years, but am now having second thoughts due to lack of common sense and good customer service.

[jimmayg]

yea man I have the same **bleep** problem. I also made the mistake of buying a HP Pavillion dv9700 and my graphics card went out on my motherboard. To top it all off when I called HP they told me my warranty was up 4 days ago. I am a college student with no money and to hear that my $1400 computer that I bought only a year and 4 days ago was now just a door stop was really heart breaking. I did however try to get it repaired through HP, they told me it would cost over 400 dollars to repair and I almost went through with it but cancled it the next day when I discovered I could just buy a new computer with that kind of money. When I tried to cancel the repair on the laptop they told me I could get a whole new computer for the same price... didn't make sense to me why they wouldn't have told me that in the beginning so I just told them "hell no". Replacement motherboards online are only around $150 so they must be charging me quite a bit for shipping and putting it in. Oh and they charged me instantly for the "repair" service even though I cancled it the next day... I was never even told what they were going to repair or if they even knew what was wrong with it lol.... so unproffesional. Also, I couldn't get them to help me troubleshoot my problem or give me any kind of over the phone help without paying an additional $100 because my warranty was out. I just really hope nobody buys hp anymore. Please don't buy HP anymore, if you want a good manufacturer buy Gateway computers. My gateway M460 that i recieved in the mail on the night of my senior prom in may 2005 is still holdin up strong. The only problem I've only had was a hardrive which I easily replaced. I am actually using right now because I'm out of a computer. Of course if your a nerd you should be building your own, which is what i'm doing now. If you've never heard of newegg.com I suggest you go there and let these HP fools go out of buisness. That is all good night.

Message Edited by jimmayg on 06-14-2009 12:59 PM

[KyleYancy]

Same here.  Spoke with a Nicole this afternoon and she told me that the motherboard is defective BUT since I'm *OUT OF WARRANTY* it is not covered.  Nice.

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HP PRODUCT AGAIN...EVER!!!

[Burn]

I've had the same problem.  I have a DV 9700 laptop which lasted 14 months.  The computer always ran hot and I had a new fan put in.  Turned it on last week and the screen went blank with multiple colored lines in it.  Took it in and they said that the video card is gone, but apparently it is embeded in the motherboard.  It will cost 400.00 to fix.  The tech indicated that this is a problem with this series and he has multiple computers with the same problem.  I called HP and they said I should have purchased the extended warranty.  What a joke.  I just wasted 1000.00 for a computer that lasted barely a year.  Also read from someone that if you buy a 2 year extended warranty it doesn't include the free first year.  So really you are only paying for one more year.  I will not buy another HP again, but I doubt that they care.  They probably don't even look at this forum. 

[Dodgerisk]

This happened to me about 6 months ago and I paid around $350 to get it fixed and a new motherboard. Now I have the SAME problem again. Black screen with beeps etc., you would think after it happening once and getting it fixed it would be good. Its a pain because I am a law student and the last thing I need is  this to occur. I am sure they will want another $300 dollars to fix it. It's life I guess. 

[Boogedeeboo]

I specifically registered just to post as well. To show the people posting below are not simply outliers or unique cases. I'm in the same boat: HP Pavillion dv9700 CTO. Same thing, graphics card popped with static/lines and now won't even turn the screen on. Same thing, 3 months out of the 1 year warranty, and I'm not covered under their extended plan (recall) that does include others in the series that are almost exactely the same. 1400$ now worthless, unless i want to pay HP 400$ to repair, and have the same problem in another year. I would encourage everyone that has this same problem (and im sure there are a lot out there), to register on the forums (takes 2 mins) and post about their problem here too, and maybe get some notice. This is extremely unprofessional of HP to aknowledge a problem but not provide a fix or cover all the computers involved. I intend to post to BBB as well as any other forum or review site i can find with my experience, and detail how this isn't a problem to a specific computer/series, but is endemic of HP products. I for one am never going to buy HP products again.

[Alex671]

I have the same problem. I bought HP Pavilion 9700t CTO (GT811AV) in Jan-08, it died in Sep-09. Gray screen with vertical lines, all leds on, no beeps or led blinking.
Mohterboard P/N: 461069-001 (Intel), Video: 8600M GS.

I can see hundreds of similar cases in forums. It seems the actual number of failed laptops is much more than a thousand. And more dead laptops coming...
 
I think we all bought the notebooks with timebombs, they were supposed to die in about 18 month. Most of the guys are saying about the faulty NVidia 8600M chip or some other models manufactured same time.
It is interesting question, how many HP laptops were produced with this problem and how many of them will die in less than 2 years after selling.

HP is not so generous in helping customers to fix that problem. Customers could agree to lose $100-$200 but they ask at least $400 to make your laptop alive for the next 18 months.
I would replace the motherboard by myself by they also ask me to pay $400 for the mobo part.
Also, they don't want to provide specifications and possibilities to repair online - they are just sending me to HP support center (at Costco).

The HP customers are not going to be happy with that.

[alaskangal]

I have been on the phone with case managers all morning after 5 hours with tech support yesterday. They say my series dv9700 is not yet covered for MB replacement free of charge.

 Says that if everyone who has the same Nvidia board reports it then they may cover it in the future, they get updates on which unit qualify every day.

Doesn't solve my problem of needing a unit to work on so I ordered another laptop, and will check back everyday to see if when mine is covered. They are VERY AWARE of the MB issue with the chip overheating and I can't believe they won't take responsibility and fix it. They have a page that says if your unit is experiencing the following: etc. which mine meets then they will fix it, yet when you call them it is a whole different story.

VERY disappointed as I have purchased 4 unit in the past 4 years and now have to worry about them dying.....

 I can't believe they treat customers this way

[DV2700doorstop]

I have a DV2700t with 8400M GPU and also reported the same problem with my MB. Every person I spoke to at HP, I told them that my model also needs to be put on the list of defective models and none of them would take me seriously. I repetitively told them over and over that I'm reporting a problem with my model and something needs to done about. All I got back from HP was the "out of warranty,gonna cost 300 to fix" excuse. THIS IS A  MANUFACTORING DEFECT AND WE THE CUSTOMERS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HP'S MISTAKE.