When Shopping for Bargain Laptops- Beware of the HP Pavilion 9000 Series

Scroll through the used, lower price range laptops on eBay and you will find many listings for the HP Pavilion 9000 models. At first glance, they will seem to be an incredible bargain for a multimedia laptop with cool features such as a Webcam and built-in microphone for Skype lovers. Listed in the laptop forums is the reason why they are being dumped so cheaply(http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=2339740); HP actually extended the warranty on these models for one additional year in response to user distress.

As it turns out, a flaw in the motherboard heat sinking and/or defective Nvidia GPU chips cause these models to overheat dramatically. Over time (and these are older laptops), the components degrade from heat exposure. One symptom of the problem is that they simply refuse to power on at some point.

Another symptom is that the internal wireless card simply stops working. Users report that these laptops (the ones that are still working) run hotter and hotter over time.

If you do have one of these model laptops, be sure to use it in well ventilated areas and don't place it on a solid surface with no place for heat to escape. If it dies on you, the best thing to do is sell it on eBay for parts. Service technicians are placing bids on these auctions as there is still demand for replacement DV9000 components.

The HP website user forum thread can be seen here: https://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do...