HP Laptop screen artifacts

So what do you suggest I do?

What more to write?

If it is, then add one of those laptop cooling pads to help eek out more time till it fails. Extend the warranty while you can.

Bob

So I took my laptop in for a thorough cleaning and removal of dust (and it needed it). This seemed to help, however, after leaving the unit on for about 3 hours the artifacts began to reappear. The hard drive currently has a temp of 39C and the processor has a temp of 64C. From what I understand these are high, but not that high. It also looks like one of my cooling fans on the unit itself is not running. Are there any ways to fix that? I also already have a Ventec Lap Cool 2.

That area could overheat. Replacements are from HP or places like digikey.com jameco.com etc.

Bob

Sorry guys.. Wish I'd have jumped on this post sooner.. The ZD8000 is soon to be a bigger problem than the ZD7000 series for BGA RAM failing in the video circuit. We can generally reflow these and correct the issue. The severity of the board warping under the GPU and in the area of the RAM makes this issue happen sooner. HP settled out on Class action for the ZD7000 series and I foresee the 8000's being brought in as well. (Not my suit).. Any laptop with the Hynix or Samsung is prone to failure but the larger boards on the 7&8000 series are more prone to warpage do to bad design period. Hope this help. Ken

Thanks for the info. But I am a little confused. What do you mean by Samsung or Hynix? And what can I do to attempt to keep this computer running? Also, can you somehow try to keep me informed about the possible suit? Thanks

Suit is speculation.. Not my baby but common sense tells me that the fact the ZD7000 fiasco settled out due to high numbers failing and this supposed new and improved model is doing the same thing? Dont throw it away in other words. Hynix and or Samsung were the primary manufacturer's for BGA RAM on most notebooks. Infineon manned some similar chips but the wafers are thicker by almost twice the size and failing isnt as well noted.. (Believe the wafers to be warping slightly at the corners and lifting the solder spheres).. Reflow of the chips will generally take care of the issue but small sinks should be mounted and theres not much room to do so on the 8K series.(And how long these will last is a tossup) Board warping adds to this issue and will make it appear sooner. Only thing you can do is Keep it cool as Bob stated, Try to stay away from Gaming or video intensive usage and keep your fingers crossed. Only good news on the Horizon is the fact the RAM is EOL.. (End of life). Think they recognized a problem? I'd say so.. The replacement operates at a lower core voltage meaning less heat/chances of warpage..

By replacement do you mean replacement RAM or a replacement computer?

Sorry but I had to bump this post B. Proffitt.. I Personally can say this RAM Is trash.. Litigation should be started period regarding any device utilizing these components. Ive reflowed everything from X-box to Toshiba's and it is definitley a wafer warp issue. If anyone has a Garbled Video on anything contact me through this forum or through the profile page. I'm just trying to get some idea as to how big this "Pig" Will get. Good luck all and keep on posting!

Ken@
www.ikenfixit.com
www.ikenfix.com
www.laptop-power-repair.com

I can't say I've seen this on the other models. But my view is in only 2 parts of North America.

Bob

After massive amounts of cleaning and a replacement of two of the fans, the problem turned out to be the screensaver. It was set as a photo slideshow, and for what ever reason it was not initializing correctly. Once I changed my screen saver to blank the problem has disappeared, irregardless of how long I leave the computer on. Thanks for all the assistance.

same problem with zd7140us. two years ago it lost every other vertical pixel column. this year, just after i decided that it had been well-repaired via Best Buy and i didn't need to cough up the high re-warranty fee, it did it again, but worse... not just the washed out random colors on the screen AND the vertical pixel columns, but now it turned into a veritable psychedelic trip: changes in colors across the screen, flickering colors, andy-warhol-like color schemes.

Ken says it's the same BGA chip, and that sounds right to me...

HOW DO I JOIN THE CLASS ACTION SUIT? hp sure as heck didn't have any record that i own this machine, and if they did, they surely didn't contact me or offer me a position in the class.

time for a message to mark.hurd@hp.com ?

Glad they repaired yours A.F.. (Figured as much and no suit threat needed)?.. Sell it prior to future fail bud and Do NOT by one of the ZD8000 Video failures. These are a bigger problem incorporated with Embedded chipset failures, MOSFET Failure in the Charging supply, As well as other probs.. Talk soon! K.

well, it ran another year or so and the video output just stopped.

nothing out the back port, nothing on the screen, although i can tell that the backlight is still working.

called hp's 800# for another go-around and was informed that "it's more than five years old, no repair parts are available from hp, and all we can say is, go buy a new laptop."

well, we're calibrated now: product lifetime is five years, then toss into the recycling bins.

anybody got a lead on a video board for one of these puppies?

cheers, all, and thanks for your help!
+af

yep, i've seen some for about $200 after cruising the web for a few hours last night [morning, actually...] but none for the 7000 series.

yep, if i want my own, it looks like it's going to be a new one, but i'm going to wring some fun out of this by seeing how these little beasties are put together.... by taking one apart!

thanks again.
cheers.
+af

An USB to almost every hard disk adapter at http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020-OTB&cat=HDD

Actually I have the 2 dollar cheaper model without the OTB.

This is in my bag of trick stuff needed to save the day.
Bob

i just ordered one. thanks!
the guru-nearby had video output when he checked the laptop with his external monitor, and then he formatted the drive, so it may be just a curiosity piece now, having lost the photos my brother saved to it, but what the heck, i'll bet i'll use that tool again!
thanks!