HP and Dell woes, Nvidia's fault

After diagnosing over a dozen HP computers with the same problem, it's amazing that none of the numerous friends, family, & clients are taking heed of the warning:

• HP admits 38 desktops have defective Nvidia chips
• Ten Dell models have defective Nvidia GPUs
• Nvidia in defective-chip class-action suit

The issue is not only for desktops, but for laptops as well, which poses an even greater threat because of the lack of space for fans that dissipate heat.

The List of "affected" models

• HP's list of defective products - link
• Dells' list of defective products - link
  

The Issue
"Arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions... of MCP [motherboard] and GPU [graphics card] products used in notebook systems" (and desktops as well), Nvidia has basically created a family of products that do not efficiently transfer heat from MCP/GPU. Dell and HP, being 2 of the biggest computer retailers in the world, used these products in a majority of their previous generation line of computers.

The "Solutions"
1. HP's Solution - They have issued an free "Limited Warranty Service Enhancement" for it's defective products as well as a BIOS upgrade for those who haven't been affected yet. Please check to see that your unit is covered and:

• If you are unable to turn on your pc, experiencing a dead wifi connection, or no video please follow the instructions on the link above for sending your laptop in for a free repair
  
• If you are not experiencing any of the problems, initiate the latest
• And please join the class action lawsuit here.
  

2. Dell's Solution - If you are experiencing major problems, the repair should be covered under your warranty or the Extended Warranty, otherwise please perform the BIOS upgrade.

3. NVidia's Solution - Don't buy their defective models, buy the newer ones!

The Issue with the Solutions

• BIOS Update. The solutions listed above are band-aids for a bullet wound. The chips will inevitably fail. The immediate solution is to boost fan speed via BIOS upgrade to help prevent the chip from overheating. This upgrade is at the expense of the user, sacrificing quietness & battery life and does not ensure that the product will not fail. "First of all, it isn't a fix, it simply delays the problem to the point where the warranty is (hopefully) expired, then it isn't the problem of the OEM, and therefore not Nvidia's problem. " Read more here: Link 1 - Link 2

• Cover it up. "Basically they are trying to delay the failures until they can disclaim liability." Hundreds of posts have been made on their support forums that have mysteriously disappeared! To view a sample these deleted posts click here. Click the original link above and you get this message "The Message you are trying to access has been deleted. View more here, or type motherboard defective nvidia site:hp.com/psg/board into google.
  

I am 100% positive that there are dozens more models affected by this issue, but won't be covered for a defective replacement. If you notice the list of defective laptop models, most of the models are the best selling or most popular models. Since it accounts for approximately more than 75% of their defective model list, the other 25% is left out to dry. People who technical support will tell, that is not covered under their "Limited Warranty Service Enhancement Repair", because they are not part of the majority. I have to admit it's quite a strategy:

1. Deny it.
2. False security by a "fix" that only slows the problem down.
   
3. Offer a warranty to only the majority.

The minority of those not covered by a replacement will have to either replace it themselves, purchase an extended warranty to fix it, or wait until a class-action lawsuit is settled. Why?

My Theory.

• You get rid of the 75% majority by offering a free fix, and you appease the majority and stall a potentially huge, institution-killing class-action lawsuit and mandatory recall.
  
• HP's technical support and legal team can fend off the other 25% minority until they convince the consumer to purchase an extended warranty or until a class-action is settled.
• By that time, a mandatory recall will probably be issued and it will be years from now. The technology will be semi-obsolete.
  
• HP, Dell, & NVidia will have had time to mass manufacture a plausible "fix", which would have costs hundreds of dollars per unit now, and will probably only cost them less than $50/unit to fix it in the future.

I am appalled that none of this news has made headlines. I guess you can get away with anything short of murder nowadays: steal money from hard-working Americans by selling them loans you know they can't afford, or beg Uncle Sam for money to save your environment-destroying car company. Pretty soon NVidia will ask for a part of the bail out, and they will gladly issue a recall to fix their problem- WITH OUR MONEY.

Thank you lying, cheating corporate America, thank you.

My freeware favorites for windows

Freeware is software that is available for free on the internet, with no strings attached (except for maybe an ad to upgrade to the paid version of their program, which you probably won't need). Most of these listed are open-source software, software that has been created and maintained not by a single person/company but a community of programmers who donate their time to create most of these programs. Try them out by clicking the links below.

Firefox - If you're still using Internet Explorer... tssk tssk tssk. This is much faster, safer, powerful, & customizable.

OpenOffice - Microsoft Office subsitute. In order to completely replace Office, follow these directions, to save default formats to Office formats.

AVG - Decent/Free Antivirus replacement.

Spyware Doctor SE - Used to scan for spyware, one of the better freeones. Spybot is another one.

7zip - Use this to unzip *.zip, *.rar, & other files.

PDFCreator - Create your own PDF files by using the print function in any program. It creates a printer "emulator" that will print to a pdf instead of paper.

PDF X-Change Viewer - Uninstall that slow Adobe Reader and replace it with this sleek, fast, and & editable reader.

VideoLan - Play Divx, Xvid, & etc... w/ downloading codecs.

Winamp - Replace stupid iTunes w/ Winamp, less a chance you'll delete your songs on your ipod. And a lot more customizable. Not as user-friendly as iTunes though.


Google Week starts 2/9/09

Get a GMail Account!

For those of you with aol.com, yahoo.com, cox.net, sbcglobal.net, att.net email accounts, consider supplementing your email address with a gmail.com account.

I know most of you want to keep it simple, and therefore you have only one email account. It may be the one that your ISP Internet provider has issued you (i.e. cox.net, sbcglobal.net) or may even be the one you've had since you first started browsing the internet. But there have been an increasing amount of advances in technology that allow you to do so much more with an email address. Sure yahoo, cox, & others offer similar features to Google, but when it comes to simplicity and intuitiveness, all others are pale in comparison.

What you can do with your Gmail account:

1. Simple email with Gmail. Easy, fast, clutter free.
   
2. Easily share or email pictures & videos w/ Picasa. Doesn't get much simpler than this. Upload, edit, print, share your photos with just one program!
   
3. Read a collection of your news favorites w/ Google Reader. Read only the news & blogs you want, nothing more, nothing less.
   
4. Organize your life with Google Calendar. Be on time. Be organized. Sync to your phone. Sync to your Outlook. Your calender, everywhere you go.
   
5. Easily chat and video conference with GMail. Why download a separate program to chat, when keeping in touch is as easy as checking your gmail!
   
6. Create discussion groups & mailing lists w/ Google Groups. Don't you hate it when you email a group of people a question, then slowly receive hundreds of responses on your email. So hard to keep track! Especially painful if you have a blackberry and it buzzes every minute with a new response. Instead, create a topic, and discuss the topic in an organized and simple manner, where no response is ever lost in your mailbox.

Still not convinced? Then stop reading and leave this blog, you are no longer my friend. Otherwise, click here to sign up!

This coming week will be dedicated to exploring the Gmail interface and the Google features! So stay tuned!

Printers

Most of my family, aunts, uncles, mom, dad, & cousins, have more than one computer in their household. Along with those computers, they have paired it with a printer. Mistake. Printer ink ranges anywhere from $20-50 for Black & Color inkjet cartridges, and $60+ for laser toner. And with 2+ printers , you're spending about $80-240+ a year on ink (more if you have more than 2 printers)!

I also service local businesses to streamline office productivity and the worse case I saw was an office with two computers having:

1- Fax Machine
1- Copy Machine
2- Inket Printers hooked up to two different computers.

Instead, I found out that their copying machine was actually a multifunction printer/copier/fax, and networked that with their 2 computers, which replaced 4 machines into 1. Saving their office about $500/year in ink and toner purchases.

The same can be true with any home network. If you have more than 1 printer in a home network, in most cases (i.e. unless you run a business from home), you can replace it with one.

I want to set up a networked printer at home
So you decided that you want to use a networked printer at home. You can either buy one with networking capabilities (wired ethernet or wireless) or share a printer you already have. Let's explore the two options:

1. Sharing a printer

• You will need a computer to be powered on and wired to a printer in order for other computers in the network to print.
• If you are sharing a multifunction printer, most likely you will not be able to access the scan capabilities of the printer on any other computer other than the one connected to the printer.
• If you have more than one printer, and have trouble deciding which one you would like to network, and which one you want to throw away, choose the printer that is 1) the newest 2) the one that has the better print quality 3) the one you have extra ink for.
• Once you have decided and want to network your printer, follow these step by step guides: select for XP, Vista, or Mac OS. (and if you want to share on linux, why are you reading this blog?)

2. Buying a network printer, what to consider:

• Ethernet wired or Wireless. Both should be sufficient, but wired printers usually provides less of a hassle to setup and maintain.
• Multifunction or Regular printer. I recommend getting a multifunction for most home networks, with the added ability to scan and copy, it's worth the ~$50 more.
• Fax or no fax. If you need the ability to fax, and you are getting a wireless networked printer, keep in mind that if you do setup a wireless printer somewhere in the house, you will still need a phone wire to connect to the fax.
• Troubleshooting. Setting up is pretty straightforward, usually consisting of just connecting the printer and installing a cd to all the networked computers. If you need help, the guide provides a lot of helpful information or don't hesitate to call their customer service!

Another thing to consider: Inkjet ink is on average about $35. With budget printers at $25-$50 and budget multifunction printers at $69-99, consider buying a new printer to replace your aging printer, then share it!