I came across this information today about how three computer manufacturers handled a design problem. While it doesn’t directly affect anything we do here at the Naugas, it seems worthwhile to send it out to the folks who have nothing better to do than read our blog.
According to WindowsSecrets.com, tens of thousands of people have purchased notebooks with defective Nvidia chips. The chips overheated, which damaged the motherboards. Apple offered to repair or replace the motherboards, but HP and Dell did not.
From the site:
“What’s particularly scandalous, though, is how HP and Dell first handled the deluge of complaints from customers with notebooks that failed after their warranties expired. The companies either charged the customers (victims?) for repairs or refused service because the systems were past the warranty period.
“Even worse, HP and Dell continued to sell notebooks with the same Nvidia chip long after the companies were aware of the problem. (Ultimately, Nvidia released a new version of the GPU that didn’t cause overheating.)
“Unlike Dell and HP, Apple quickly acknowledged the presence of the defective Nvidia chip in some MacBook Pro notebooks and offered repairs or replacements to its customers.”
When the pressure on HP and Dell got too strong to resist, what did they do? Did they issue a recall? Did they offer to replace the defective motherboards? Nope, nope, they simply sent out a BIOS upgrade which caused the fan to run continuously, in order to cool off the Nvidia chip a little better. This served to extend the time before motherboard failure, while increasing the noise level and using up battery power.
You can read the full story, which has tips on how to get satisfaction to protect your investment, at the WindowsSecrets website.