TOP 10 SYMPTOMS OF A DEFECTIVE LAPTOP:

1. Date of Purchase
This is one of the most tell-tale signs of a defect. HP shipped out these laptops mostly from January 2007-June 2007 (when they discovered the defect and neglected to tell customers).

2. BIOS Update
This is the reason nVidia got sued by their shareholders, because THIS is the evidence that HP knew about the problem far before they began to give enhanced warranties. Go to the following site:

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html

Search your laptop model (ie. DV9000t), choose your OS, and look at the listings. If you have "WinFlash for HP Notebook System BIOS (for Notebooks with IntelProcessors) - Microsoft Windows/Vista-Based" listed in your drivers (from 11-2007), then you almost definitely are going to suffer from this defect. The entire purpose of this BIOS update is to keep the fans constantly running; it did not work, computers continued to overheat. All it did was make battery life worse

3. Overheating
Probably the most common symptom of the defective laptop... overheating. Some of us don't even game or watch videos and our laptops still become so hot that they cannot sit on our laps. This is a defect, HP has warm laptops, but not hot laptops. If your computer is always overheating, then the epoxy that cools your GPU is probably starting to go.

4. Wireless Errors
Many people have been experiencing total loss of wireless connectivity. If you ever have to reboot to get your computer to recognize your wireless card, you are in trouble. This is all integrated into the same defective board.

5. Screen Discoloration/Lines
If you notice that in Windows, or especially in the BIOS/POST screens, that there are lines and discolored things all over the screen (like dashes and hazed colors over everything), you almost certainly are a victim of the defect.

6. Random Reboots
Your computer might just shut off all on its own; this could happen when you're sleeping or while you're in the middle of writing a paper. It is the beginning of the end, you need to take action fast because your data is at risk of being lost.

7. Screen Goes Black
Similar to the random reboots, the blackscreens occur sporadically and often times recover or result in a Blue Screen of Death. Do not let HP support fool you, this isn't an LCD problem. Your graphics card is about to go.

8. System Beeps
Some people claim to experience beeps on loading that indicate almost certain failure. I will trust that some people who have had this problem can elaborate below.

9. nvlddm**.sys Errors
You don't want to see any error with the letters nvlddm in them.

10. Computer is Unusable
Like most of us that have ended up on this forum, your computer eventually just decides it is all done. You can turn it on, but all you will get is a black screen or a half OS boot with a black screen. Most of us give up at this point and just let our laptop be a door stopper for a while, but when you get ready... Fire up a storm and get that thing fixed! You paid for it, you have the right to not be sent parts that already weren't working out of the box.

Please feel free to create any topics or reply to this one if I can add more specifics.

I don't know if anyone else had this problem, but my LCD screen is starting to fail completely, from what I was told was intense heat. There are horizontal lines across the screen towards the bottom that are grey to white in color that go away if I fiddle with the lid long enough. According to the shop where I had it looked at, this could have been caused by cables being severed under the intense heat.

I've also developed the "popping" noise when I open it and close it, meaning eventually, the hinge is going to break completely. (At least from what I've seen of other dv9000s with this noise.) Another by-product of extreme heat stress put upon the notebook. I know that there was another HP recall where those users could get their computers repaired for free, but I don't know exactly which models it encompassed. I don't think that mine was included in that either.

I second girlgeek's symptoms... my lcd screen totally burnt out because of the heat coming from the laptop. the computer also randomly turned on and shut off when it was on sleep, severely damaging the screen. i am calling tomorrow and demanding a replacement

I wanted to add my experience to the list here - as a record for all who view this site.

I purchased an HP9644 entertainment notebook in October 2007. After only a few months i started having wireless connection problems. I had thought it was my router or interference etc etc. ... a reboot usually restored my connection for a while. It was frequent for me to have to reboot my machine 3-4 times within a 3 hour period.

At about 10 months of use it would reboot once in a while or even freeze up. I thgouht this might be instability with vista.

Then, after the warranty had expired at about 14 months it booted up normally, but when I attempted to run an online game I got the lines and messed up video that everyone else referes to. It just froze. I repowered and it went to the screen asking to run in safe mode. Which I did. Then powered down and rebooted. It still went to this same start up screen. When I tried to boot up in windows normal mode i got the same video distortions and lock up as initially.

I called HP Support and was told that they would not assist me AT ALL unless I paid for warranty coverage. I mean they would not offer any advice at all except to contact their web site. Oh, i forgot to mention that their customer service leaves something to be desired. I got bumped around to three different offices before I got this helpful bit of info. It also took 90 minutes of my personal time!

I contacted HP through their website and did get an email reponse. Here it is,


Hello Kevin,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

From your E-mail, I understand that the notebook display shows blank screen when the power button is pressed on.

Please be assured that customer satisfaction is very important to us, and I will provide the necessary assistance in this regard.

Kevin, the issue seems to be hardware related to the notebook. Before conforming the same, to isolate the exact issue, I recommend you to perform the below steps and check for the issue:

Power drain Process:

1. Shut the computer down.
2. Disconnect the AC adapter and remove the battery.
3. Press the power button down for about 30-60 seconds.
4. Reconnect the AC adapter and the battery.
5. Restart the computer.

If the issue persists, I recommend you to connect the notebook to an external monitor and check for the issue:

Follow these steps to connect the notebook to an external monitor.

1. Turn Off Computer.
2. Connect the monitor cable from the monitor to the monitor port on
the rear of the computer.
3. Connect the monitor to a power source and turn it on.
4. Press the Power button to turn on the computer.

* Switching the display to the external monitor

Press FN + F4 to toggle the display between the Notebook display and External monitor.

If the issue persists, it is clear that the issue is due to hardware malfunction of your notebook and requires an onsite diagnosis by the Service technician. I understand your concern towards resolving the issue. As the issue is hardware related, it would not be feasible to verify it further through email. Therefore, I recommend you to bring the Notebook to a local HP Authorized Service Provider for an onsite diagnosis. The Technicians at the service center are equipped with most advanced testing methods, and I am sure they will resolve the issue to your satisfaction. The idea of redirecting you is not to disappoint and let you down from our support.

Please follow the steps listed below for assistance in locating a local HP Authorized Support Provider.

1. Go to the following Web site:

http://h20465.www2.hp.com/gpl/search.as ... ry_code=ca

This will take you to the find a Canada local HP authorized service provider page.

2. In the category menu select the appropriate HP product.

3. After selecting the appropriate category you will get a list of HP
products in the Family box. Select the family in which your
product is located.

4. After Selecting the family of the product you will get a list of
products under the product list.

5. Select your product from the list under the product section and click Next.

6. Follow the instructions on the service options page.

If no stores are located, repeat the search using another zip code within your local area.

I am sure the above information helps you. If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and I will be happy to assist you further.


Regards,

Roger
HP Total Care

***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***
{ticketno:[8019055064]}
***Do Not Delete Service Ticket Number***

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-----Original Message-----
From: -
Date: 12/05/2008 22:04:16 EST
To: HP Support
Cc:
Subject: HP Pavilion dv9644ca Notebook PC e-mail support


hp e-mail support
Webform submittal date/time : 06 December 2008 03:04:25 UTC
language_code : en
language : English
Country of Residence : Canada
product_line : KV
product_oid : 3554705
product_name : HP Pavilion dv9644ca Notebook PC
part_number : GS754UA,GS754UAR
purchase month : 10
purchase year : 2007
problem area : other
serial number : --------
operating system : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64
Was the CD/DVD writer drive built into the computer when you purchased it? : yes
problem description : SCreen is blank. It is a light blue after I power up. I can hear the hard rive running and hear the windows start up sound, however the screen remains blue. I can see nothing happenbing on the screen at all, except it goes from black to light blue. I tried connecting an HDMI cable to my tv set, however i stil get blank on that screen. It seems to respond to keyboard commands such as alt+ctrl+del. Please note i have called and have a case# ---------.
troubleshooting : I wish to know if this is an expensive fix as this is no longer covered under waranty. I need advice as to wether I should have this repaired or am I likely better off buying a new machine. I know you can't diagnose, but please provide me likely scenarios.
setting changes : No. This laptop has been sitting in the same location for past six months with exaactly the same software - usage - most complicated activity is online gaming - World of Warcraft.

I can attest to the wireless problems too. No matter how many times I called them and went through their "troubleshooting", it has never worked correctly.

Mine has a Broadcom wireless adapter.

thanks for the info...so far never experience any problems with my laptop. i just bought this last sept 2008..
i want to support you guys.i dont know that thse pavilion series got so many problems. mine is dv2000.

geez, here in Singapore i saw a lot of hp pavilion series with nvidia G84 and G86. mind you, the prices are quiet expensive amounting to SG$2,000+.. lucky for me i bought mine in Canada which is cheaper than here.

Referring to the first symptom (or fact): Date of Purchase

Let me tell you that many HP laptops were shipped during 2006 as in the dv8000 series with defective Nvidia GPUs...in my case a dv8320ca with a GeForce Go 7600...

It's not the monitor that is burning up, it's the GPU on the motherboard that is burning up, and cracking the solder balls.

It's not the heat that is causing the hinges to go bad. It's the bad design of the hinges.

Puting a usb wireless on your laptop is only a temporary solution, because your motherboard will eventualy fry.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

I'd say add the crackling and the beeping as at least subcategories of the top 10

Are you sure it's not the LCD screen? They do go away if I move the lid back and forth and they don't show up when connected to an external monitor. Forgive me, as I don't know what solder balls are. Explanation please? (Was this even directed at me? Disregard this if it wasn't.)

As far as the heat causing the cracking, I read that part of the problem was that the back left corner of the notebook got so hot, it started the cracking. (Because of said design flaw.) Again, any information you can give me is helpful as I'm calling them tomorrow, hopefully.

And I don't know if this was directed at me, but I don't have a usb wireless card...the Broadcom was what came built in. I was putting that out there since I read that the Broadcom adapters were giving people problems.