HP Pavilion 9000 series hinge break and burn problem

Hello everyone.

I own the compaq v3000 series, and I have family with the 9000.

About six months after I had bought the v3000, the motherboard on it had overheated and the only way to get it to start was to slam the CD drive in.

Shipped it to HP for repair, and it was all well and good until about six months later, when I had installed Windows Vista on it. The graphics chip was overheating and causing the screen to garble.

Out of warranty, I decided to take the computer apart.

Now, I'm no beginner to computers (Commodore 64, anyone?) and taking this thing apart wasn't the easiest task in the world. To make a long story short, there is a huge design flaw in the way the heatsink on these computers are made.

The heatsink SHOULD touch the CPU, and the graphics processing chip. Instead, there is a small square knob that comes down 1mm from the heatsink where it should contact the GPU. There is a gap, of approximately 2-3mm. Air does not conduct heat well at all, which is the reasoning behind thermal paste, to fill the holes in the metal and allow heat to transfer properly. (I fixed it with a piece of aluminum, until something strange happened to it, now it will lock up...) This is why the computers are overheating to the point where they break the hinge.

Just today, I took apart a family member's DV9000. Down to the motherboard, and saw that HP had not learned their lesson. The same problem exists, almost exactly, except they had tried to rectify it with a piece of foam! I'm surprised it didn't light on fire.

I hope this helps everyone, and I wish I could have pictures to show you all. Hopefully this will aid someone in their fight against this company and their crooked business practices. In the meantime, find a different brand than Compaq/HP, because they're not what they used to be...

Ok so i also have a HOT 9000 laptop, a broken hinge, and had to get supplemental wifi usb, after paying the local shop $75 bucks to try to fix it in vain.
Any word on compensation? I paid about $1200.00 for this!
Broke and hot

HP PAV dv9220....according to website, my particular model is not covered by the service bulletin for cracked hinges which expired in May anyway.

The computer has run hot ever since I got it in Feb 07 (over two years); I keep it on an elevated cooling fan to help.The left hinge cracked about a week ago, and has been spitting plastic ever since. I am now left with a sizeable gap on the left side of the screen and laptop which will not close.


I tried persistence, escalated up three levels in the organization & insisting that I am looking for a recourse for my problem, not for an opportunity to buy a service plan, or a new HP laptop at a "reduced price". I was finally told the hard stop on the Service Bulliten was Monday this week- up until that date, it seems they may have considered helping. How convenient. I missed it by just two days. Anyone else with more success, please post! I'll be back to follow future posts in between my shopping trips to purchase mine and my son's new laptops...neither one of which will be an HP...

My computer did the same thing. Left side hinge lock broke....Now the casing is broken..... anglswtchnovrme8@aol.com

I opened my laptop on July 1st, 2009. I've owned it for two years and probably haven't opened and closed it a total of 50 times. I heard the familiar cracking and popping sounds...I stopped to check the hinge for obstructions...there were none so I opened the lid all the way and watched the left hinge pop outta' joint.

I emailed the HP support reps...a bunch of swell fellas over in Bombay, India. They had trouble answering me when I asked if this was a common problem...just told me it'd be $300+ bucks to get it fixed.

So I Googled "HP DV9000 Hinge Crack" and found out what the rest of the world already knows. This is an obvious design flaw...so much so in fact, that HP started a product recall...which they pulled the plug on, May 31st, 2009.

I'm a registered HP customer. I get every sales flyer their marketing department ever issued...but I couldn't be notified that I was the owner of one of these lemons. And now, since the recall has ended, I'm stuck, like thousands of loyal customers, with an expensive repair while HP ducks their responsibility.

I wonder how many laptops were potentially affected...versus how many laptops actually got repaired during the short product recall...versus how many laptops are still remain with the defect?

No way. No how. Never buy anything with HP on it, again.

Joe O'Bryan

I have a DV9000 (dv9894ca) which I purchased in May of 2008 and now its looking like I too have the dead motherboard problem. Hit the power button, lights come on but the screen remains blank.

First I tried the HP live chat support. It was a joke. The person told me why this had happened and I quote:
"Due to some static electricity generated in the Notebook it is overcharging of the Notebook." I cannot make this crap up. I am a computer technician and for anyone that doesn't fully understand the internal workings of a computer this rep is just making up silly computer-smart sounding garbage. You cannot "overcharge" a laptop nor does static electricity build up and "overcharge" it. It's just a big lie to cover up the fact that it's a manufacturing problem.

So I called up HP and they told me it would be $400 to fix, I then asked them how much it would cost to have them ship a motherboard to me and I will replace it and they told me it would be $500! I asked the rep why the motherboard was more expensive if I was to do the replacement and the rep wouldn't even give me a straight answer. I don't know what to do. I fell ripped off and up the creek without a paddle, I'm out about $1000 of my hard earned goddamn money and they want me to pay them a ridiculous sum of money to fix it. Anyone got any advice for me or am I just **** outta luck?

Is Hp going to step up and take care of this problem? My hinge blew out. My notebook is out of warranty....their small window of opportunity to get repair assistance has closed and I was referred by HP support to contact my official HP service center, (Walmart, Staples, etc.) to submit my laptop for service and that they will gladly repair the problem for only $300. They have admitted to the "design flaw"...They must be banking on their sheer size that they can afford to lose a certain % of customers vs. the cost of recalling and standing behind their product. It just irks me that they can afford to do what is right but refuse to do so....ethics 101. I was assured several times that I am a valued customer...yeah right....what bs...

I too have a Pavilion dv9235nr with broken left hinge. My laptop doesn't even leave my desk! So it hasn't been bumped, bounced, jiggled, dropped, or mishandled. I even still have the protective packaging film on the cover so it wouldn't get scratched! I guess I have more to worry about than scratches!

HP was offering hinge fix program until May 31, 2009. See link below.

HP Pavilion 9000 series hinge break and burn problem

But my hinge didn't break until a couple of days ago. Contacted HP tech support. At first they knew nothing about the hinge plague until I asked them to check their website. Then came back and told me that offer expired 5/31. Took it up to a supervisor - no help. Now have asked it be taken a step further, to a case manager-waiting for a call back.

I can't believe in this day and age when customer service is so important in how well a company performs, that they won't make good on an issue that is definitely a fault with their construction/hardware. It will be the last HP I'll ever buy. I hope a class action is organized.

I have found the same issue last weekend. Spoke to the case manager and they refuse to help saying the program ended on May 31st and there are no exceptions.

I registered my laptop when I got it, I check their website for the latest drivers every few months. At no point was there any notice about the "Limited Service Enhancement".

It is really shameful. I think our only option is to take HP to small claims court. Looking into it now.

Me too. I have had since summer of 2007 and it just happened (summer 2009). I suspect it took this long because I always run in low power mode. As per other posters I love the machine but now when I try to close it, it will not go to sleep because the cover shut detection mechanism is somehow related to that part of the machine.