Hp (knowhow) repeated repair faliure and dissapointment.

[sharemaster2]

Hi I have this problem with both HP and their repair centre in Newark.

I have a HP pavilion DV7 17" screen, Windows 7 64-bit SP1, 2.00GHz, 8.0GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 3000 Laptop that is about 3 years old.

Recently I started having this problem with the Laptop.

Once I shut the Laptop down or put it to sleep or hibernation mode, and try to start it up again, it simply will not boot back up
at all. I have to leave it and come back to it after four to seven hours and then it will boot up normally.

If after 20 minutes of the Laptop being on and in use, you hibernate, shut down or put the laptop in to sleep mode then it will
not power back on till after 7 to 8 hours later. Nothing you do will get it back on sooner. There is power to the Laptop in the meantime.

This is increasingly difficult for me as it means once the Laptop is powered on and in use, I have to leave it powered on all day
till night time when I have to shut it down and come back to it in the morning and power it back on again.


I took this to a local IT repair person on the streets and they were not able to resolve the problem and mentioned
I have to send it to HP to fix, I took the Laptop back to PC world where I bought it three years earlier and (knowhow)
charged me £50 just to send it up to their repair centre in newark, the Laptop is no longer in warranty by the way.

When the repair centre started working on it, they called me to confirm that the system board of the Laptop needs
to be changed to resolve this issue, I had no choice but accept for this to be changed at a further cost of £95.

This was done, sent back to the pc world (knowhow) branch I took it in to in the first place. I checked the pc, powered it
on at the shop, it came on as normal so I signed for it and took it home.

A day later, I discovered that I still had the problem with the Laptop not booting up after a few minutes of it being in use.
I tried to boot it up and the laptop will not boot up, I was basically back to square one with all the cost I have incurred so far.

After 5 days or so, I took the Laptop back to (knowhow) and advised them the Laptop with all the repairs so far, has not resolved the issue
and also one of the keyboard buttons was faulty which I mentioned to them as well, the Laptop was taken off me and sent back to
the HP repair centre in newark and came back almost two weeks later with the keyboard changed and looking new. Please note that this second
for free as under the terms of the first repair, I have a guarantee of three months which covered me for the second time around.

Anyway, after a few days later, the power problem was still there, once the Laptop is either hibernated, shutdown or put in
to sleep mode after it has been on for up to half an hour or more, the unit will remain shut down and can not be powered
on by the power button of the Laptop till after 5- 8 hours later then the power button will now responds to power on the Laptop.

This is now my third time of having this same issue and need to know what options are available to me as this has cost me
both time and money so far.

It seems to me there is a heating mechanism or component that heats up once the Laptop is powered on and only when this cools down is when
the power buttons becomes effective again.

The Laptop is useable when on and working but becomes such a pain once you close the lid or power it off, which means it has
to be left on all day till night time when I want to go to bed then I can shut it down boot it up in the morning if need be
with no problems but have to leave it powered on all day again.

This is not acceptable to me. When using the Laptop and there is any software or programme that needs to be updated on the laptop,
I can not reboot or shut it down as it becomes unusable till several hours later.

I hope I made myself clear as to the problem I am having.


Summary:

Laptop once shutdown does not boot up till several hours later.

Laptop out of original warranty when bought but not old as only about three years old, windows 7.

Been to HP knowhow repairs centre twice and components changed at my cost but still problem above persists.

When in Hibernate or Sleep mode, the standby light keeps flashing but the power on button not responsive to the unit.

Seems there is over heating - but Fan is fine - causing this issue that has to cool down first for normal boot up.

There is a three months warranty in place from the first Job done by the HP repair Centre which covers me for three months.

Monetary cost to me so far is £145 pounds and five weeks loss of use as it takes two to three weeks get back from knowhow.


Thanks and hope to see the responses I get.

[stek]

Cob it in the bin and buy a Mac.

[SueEllen]

All modern products have planned obsolescence built into them.

If your laptop is over 2 years old and breaks, throw it in the bin and get a new one.

If you haven't backed up your important data you've learnt a very important lesson.

[anonymouse]

WSES

Take out the hard drive & transfer docs across to a new lappie, similar spec 17" with an i5 start at £550 and keep the old drive as a back-up. You've already spent £145, how much else are you going to through at it? It's Christmas, treat yourself.

Plus the £50 for the SSD

If you do buy another from PCW, get them to knock £95 off for the failed repair.

[Scruff]

This appears to be a known problem with certain HP Pavilions. I have one here at home which is a friends and performs unscheduled thermal shut down on a constant basis. Google the symptoms and you are not alone.

Just buy another brand...

[BlasterBates]

Those sort of problems almost impossible to resolve, went through a similar experience, wish I hadn't bothered. Laptops are not expensive these days I would just get a new one.

[vadhert]

Cob it in the bin and buy a Mac.

WHS

I've started using a Macbook pro to run Windows VM's whilst I get used to the 'Appleness'. I must say the Macbook is very well built and with the Applecare I have 3 years of hardware support.

If the windows VM goes t|tts up I just delete it and fire up another one but this hasn't happened yet.

I'm getting used to OSX more as each day goes by so my reliance on Windows is becoming less and less for day to day operation.

However being a .NET chap, It will always be there on a VM on the Mac.

One of the biggest draws of going over to an OSX host was the system degradation was minimal compared to that of a Windows system over time so having disposable VM's will become a benefit.

Just my two cents.

[BolshieBastard]

Under the Sale of Goods Act, items purchased must be of merchantable quality.

If the item develops a fault in the first 6 months of ownership, the retailer not the manufacturer must replace or replace it no questions asked as the fault is deemed to be present at time of sale.

You are actually cover under the SoG Act for 6 years. So between 6 months and 6 years, the retailer can be compelled to repair the item if it has been used normally and you could reasonably expect the item to last upto 6 years. You may have to get an independent report on the laptop fault.

I'd expect a laptop to last at least 3 years. If you are getting nowehere with the retailer (HP?), you need to start quoting the SoG Act to them. Ask you local Trading Standards office for information.

[SueEllen]

I'd expect a laptop to last at least 3 years. If you are getting nowehere with the retailer (HP?), you need to start quoting the SoG Act to them. Ask you local Trading Standards office for information.

Worth reading the original post properly before advising the poster to call in trading standards.

blah blah Laptop that is about 3 years old.

Time for the laptop to go in the bin and get a new one that isn't manufactured by HP. (Avoid Sony as well.)

[sharemaster2]

Under the Sale of Goods Act, items purchased must be of merchantable quality.

If the item develops a fault in the first 6 months of ownership, the retailer not the manufacturer must replace or replace it no questions asked as the fault is deemed to be present at time of sale.

You are actually cover under the SoG Act for 6 years. So between 6 months and 6 years, the retailer can be compelled to repair the item if it has been used normally and you could reasonably expect the item to last upto 6 years. You may have to get an independent report on the laptop fault.

I'd expect a laptop to last at least 3 years. If you are getting nowehere with the retailer (HP?), you need to start quoting the SoG Act to them. Ask you local Trading Standards office for information.

Hi Bol........,

Thanks for your comments, one of the most applicable to my situation, I will surely be exploring that option, I will give them one more try to get it fixed and we can all leave it there but if not, then your option becomes my next line of action. Just a note though, I do not have the receipts of purchase any more though but dealing with the same pc world I bought it from and do believe they should have the details of the purchase on their own records. Question, will they be willing to print me out a free receipt of proof of purchase if I am getting legal with them? I sure would not if I were in their shoes!! I paid for the Laptop in CASH too which I now can see was a mistake, should have used my debit card at least.

I will slowly start getting some legal letters and emails ready and if there are any more pointers on this, please feel free to mention them to me.

Very Many Thanks Indeed to you and all the others that have responded to me so far.

Thanks for your advice,