Well, sort of. Apparently HP has now released a required new BIOS upgrade F.39 for owners of some of their fine line (sense the sarcasm) of notebook PCS, including hp pavillion dv2000/6000/9000 & compaq presario v3000/v6000 series laptops. Here is a reproduction of the email I’ve received from them. If you own a laptop in that series, I suggest you visit the link in this email and see what you can get:
HP recently released a required new BIOS, version F.39, for certain HP Pavilion dv2000 and Compaq Presario V3000 series notebook PCs.
To obtain important information about this new BIOS release, please visit the web site link at the bottom of this email.
HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement
HP has announced a service enhancement program for certain HP Pavilion dv2000, and Compaq Presario V3000 series notebook PCs.
You may be entitled to a free repair.
HP records show that you have registered one of these products.
If you do own one of these products, HP suggests that you visit the web site below for additional details.
English Link:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c01087277
This can be potentially useful for some people, especially, I presume, if you are based in the US. I have yet to go through the instructions, but anyone who does, please post your feedback to share with the rest of us.
In another event, a California judge has ruled against HP in another (I believe) class action lawsuit, whereby some dv2000 and dv6000 series had a defective inverter, where your laptop screen would turn black or blue while running on battery, thereby rendering the computer useless until rebooted or put to sleep and reawakened. I found information pertaining to this on the internet last week, but didn’t save it, so I don’t have a link handy to the law firm’s website. If anyone comes across it, please share the link. My notebook is one such notebook.
The sad part, which I believe triggered the reaction from the judge, was that HP knew about the defective inverter when the notebooks went on sale, and despite knowing about it, they charged customers in excess of US $ 650 per notebook to fix the problem. For the record, the inverter costs about US $ 20, according to the news post I read on the law firm’s website.
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