Broken Laptop

Three weeks after the warranty expired on my girlfriend's Laptop (Compaq CQ-61), it now fails to turn on

After a year's flawless service, it just died and won't come back on.

As per the HP web site, I've removed the mains adaptor and battery, waited a few minutes then plugged the mains adaptor back, hold down the off/on switch for 30 seconds. The LED flashes briefly on the off/on switch, and nothing.

The same also applies when trying the same procedure, but with the battery only.

Subsequent attempts have no effect, totally dead.

My girlfriend rang the Currys warranty line this morning, where she got through, in her words 'to the most arrogant and un-helpful person who nearly had me in tears'. A case of warranty's finished, tough.

My first line of thought is to take the Laptop to either Currys/PC World, hoping that they might have a power adaptor that I could try. Of course if this worked, great (fairly cheap outcome).

Failing this, I'm a bit stuck.

Surely a £380 Laptop is meant to last longer than three weeks past it's warranty of 29/07/2009?

Any advice appreciated.

Regards
Adrian

Could you get somewhere with the "Goods must be of merchantable quality" stuff? A computer that expires after only a year is definitely not of merchantable quality!

Another poster had success with this http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=67462

If you have a voltmeter you could measure the adapter voltage to see it is working. Usually in the order of 19V. (will say on adapter and on the laptop). 9/10 times if it has a LED light on the PSU will be OK. Which then points inside the laptop.

A tenner gets you one from ebay

leave the battery out and try powering up.

The thing should last longer than 12m BUT in my experience people often leave them on a cushion/duvet to overheat frying various components. Also deep discharging the battery shortens its life dramatically, so running it till it is completely dead, But it should still work with the battery out. So even if you go after Compaq for producing shoddy goods they may well argue it is misuse that caused the failure.

If you know a friend with a SATA adapter (as pointed out in another thread), pop out your HDD and check it is reading OK. here

If not the PSU, not the battery, not the HDD then...

That leaves the motherboard (or something within, invertor, etc) which will cost more than a new laptop (probably). You could try reseating memory if you're brave and you know where it is, be gentle and don't snap any clips.

Thanks all, I think tomorrow I'll take a trip to Currys and start quoting the Sales of Goods Act, how unfit for purpose the laptop was, and it not being of a satisfactory quality.

I'll post the outcome.

Thanks
Adrian

No need to quote sale of goods act or goods fit for purpose etc. Under EU law retailers have to offer a two year warranty.

Read this; link

A common problem is memory not being seated correctly. You should be able to access the memory cards fairly easily and after ensuring you are grounded (for anti-static) remove and replace the memory making sure it clicks into place.

On the battery front, the sale of goods/warranty becomes a little cloudy as they can be classed as consumables - even rechargeables. Warranty - may only be 12 months on those even if the PC is under 3 year warranty.

Just to agree with Fat/Impotent Spider, the fact it is out of warranty is irrelevant. Take it to the store and if they refuse to fix or replace it, sue them. Unless they can prove you have damaged it you will win.

Again thanks all for the advice, greatly appreciated.
I must confess that the EU law is new to me, but adds another string to the bow.

As planned I visited the Currys where the laptop was purchased, where the guy I spoke to was initially unhelpful; have I spoken to tech support etc.

I immediately specified that under the Sales of Goods act that the item was unfit for purpose, and that a laptop should last for more than thirteen months, he wilted a bit.

He tested it with a working AC adaptor, still the same, so we now know that the fault lies with the laptop itself.

He then rang their tech guys, explaining the situation; no joy as the warranty had expired. Whilst he sympathised, 'nothing could be done at store level'.

His advice was to contact head office, explaining that the laptop is unfit for purpose (his words then, not mine), and should last longer etc.

So with the Sales of Goods Act and the EU law, we'll have a two pronged go at Currys.

By the way, re-seating the RAM didn't work.

Thanks again.
Adrian

I had a similar experience with an Acer a couple of weeks and some searching on the internet I discovered its bios had been corrupted. I downloaded a small program on to a flash drive and inserted it, carried out a a particular combination of key presses and it burst into life.

I'd google the make and model and see if anyone else has had the same problem.

Here's a start link

From the original message, I doubt that this is a hard drive problem. My guess is BIOS corruption or motherboard failure - many laptops have on-board graphics chips, and HP/Compaq have had huge problems with NVidea graphics chip overheat issues.

You could try a boot with everything removed: Hard drive, memory, wireless card and battery out. If the display doesn't light up and you get no start-up 'beeps' then it does sound like a dead motherboard. If you do get display backlight then I'd try resetting the BIOS next.

As suggested, search your model number on the internet for the same fault/symptoms.

Good luck!

I would be a little cautious about re-flashing the BIOS if the machine is likely to be returned to the supplier.

They could well deem it to be an unofficial modification if the BIOS version and/or build numbers don't match what they are expecting.

Ditto with any removals that involve opening the main case. Very few laptops can be opened without leaving any traces (scratches/burred screw heads etc.) that a technician can spot.

Ask for the HDD back if anybody wants to take it off you.

Thanks again for the suggestions.
A letter has now been sent to Currys head office, see what happens.

Will update when I return from holiday second half of September.

Regards
Adrian

Adrian DO NOT USE CURRYS.

If you can't get to a computer shop, I would suggest you try John Lewis, they are most helpfull.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_goods_you...