Anyone here have any experience with the California Computer Lemon Law?

I've got a bad HP laptop that I want my money back for and need to know if there's a procedure to follow.

I've done some googling, but most everything I encounter is related to cars.

Thanks in advance,

RaydudeWhat you want to look into is RMA...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_merchandise_authorization

But before you take this route...where did you purchase this laptop? How long ago?Here's my story. Sorry so long.

Its an HP DV9000Z CTO laptop.

Its going in for its third RMA tomorrow (or whenever the box gets to my house).

Its got an NVidia chipset in it (heard about NVIDIA's laptop chipsets? google it) and its always been flaky. I have a five year old Dell laptop (P4M) which my daughter uses and is still chugging along WITHOUT issue.

This HP laptop has never actually been stable. It crashes roughly once a week when its doing well.

Right now it POWERS itself off when I run any CPU intensive applications as well as applications randomly crashing to the tune of once every few days.

It was bad from day one. I sent it back after a few of months and they replaced the motherboard. When it came back it was still defective, I waited until after the holidays, upgraded the bios, and eventually sent it back again. When I got it back it was much better. Seemed stable for six months before the first unquestionably hardware related crash occurred.

They just want to keep RMAing it. I'm tired of wasting my time and I'm tired of it failing. I want a laptop like my daughter's Dell or like any of the plethora of systems I've BUILT over the years which keep on ticking no matter what happens.

I'm in the chip industry. When NVidia implied there's a problem with TSMC's packaging (they didn't say it outright), they are saying that the packages are losing their hermetic seal due to heat (probably an adhesive issue). Unless they fix that in production, this problem ain't going away. Which means I'm in for failure after failure until I quit and buy a new one.

If that's the case, I want my money back so I can choose a different laptop so I don't have to deal with the loss of productivity, the frustration of losing work, and the whole host of other things associated with flaky crappy hardware.

From what I've been able to gather I have to sue them in small claims court. If it dies after I get it back this time, I'll do just that.

Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for reading.

RaydudeSheesh. In my opinion, it really doesn't sound like it's worth the hassle of trying to get this thing in running order. It sounds like whatever they're doing, they're not doing it right. All I can say is that you should try to do what you can to get your money back or get a full replacement. Contact the distributor, manufacturer, and anyone else who might be able to help you out. If you have no luck, then I agree that you should consider taking them to small claims. Just make sure you have copies of all of the RMA information and anything else that might be important. If you can't put a decent case together, it probably won't be worth the effort. But if you have evidence of its continual failure, then you just may have a chance.Thanks. I'll have to dig out all the RMA stuff. I should still have it.

I'll give them one more chance and then I'll mention small claims court and see how they respond.

Failing a useful solution, I'll file a small claims suit and see what happens.
I don't know how anyone else on the forum might feel, but I think it's worth a shot. Be sure to LET us know how it works out.Check this out:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/28/nvidia-55nm-parts-bad

Apparrently All nvidia 65nm and 55nm parts have failures in the teens percent.

Keep in mind the part in my laptop is older than any of those (I think). My guess is the problem has been around a very long time.

Hm, interesting article. I'm not quite sure if it actually applies to you, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to keep this info handy.Update. I got it back yesterday. They replaced the heatsink and a cable (didn't say which one). Its working well. They did a good job.

I'm feeling that you're spot on Matt. This chipset is good. I'm just having bad luck. Time will tell if it will last though.

RaydudeI'm keeping my FINGERS crossed and wishing you the best of luck. Let's hope things keep going smoothly.