This is a well documented problem stemming from a manufacturing failure on the part of major graphics processing company NVIDIA. Apparently the graphics processors will overheat and the system will fail to POST or initialize. HP offered to extend its warranty on the affected models by a year, but that currently leaves most people out of warranty and it still doesn’t help those that used their laptop for a good while and suddenly it stops functioning.
The bad news is that these graphics processors are an integrated part of the system’s motherboard and replacement of said motherboard is the only route of repair; a costly endeavor. Customer’s may be able to receive a $100 rebate on the repair, but that only brings the price down to about $300. In most cases, this is not an economical repair and we generally recommend replacing the unit. Even if you spring for the repair, the motherboard replacement being used is subject to theexact same issue.
If that isn’t bad enough for you, there is also a known and less documented problem with wireless connectivity. The typical symptom for this is that the front wireless on/off toggle light is always orange regardless of the switch. In my experience with these, we determined that the port that the wireless card plugs into has failed; not the wireless card itself. The only fix for this that has been found was to also replace the unit’s motherboard.
Yeah, it's a pretty big black eye. Because of our experience with the DV series, we never recommend HP consumer products. That goes for printers too. Don't even get us started :)
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