Nvidia has finally begun taking claims in the class-action settlement from late last year regarding a defective laptop GPU issue to which Nvidia (partially) admitted in 2008. The issue involved heat-related problems due presumably to weak packaging materials used in a batch of the company’s GeForce 8 series graphics chips, which caused a large a number of Dell, HP, and Apple laptops models to experience distortions, scrambled video and others on their displays.
The recently reached settlement with class action members includes a $2 million fund for reimbursement and entitles owners of certain Apple and Dell machines to receive replacement graphics components and repair service, whereas owners of certain HP notebooks can obtain a replacement computer of similar value.
The deadline for claim submissions by affected computer owners is March 14th. More information on qualifying requirements as well as specific models covered by the settlement can be found here.
http://nvidiasettlement.com/affectedmodels.html
It remains to be seen if this will be available for users of affected models purchased outside of the US, the court settlement is for US purchased affected machines and it is unclear at the moment whether similar machines sold outside of the US will be eligible to make a claim under perhaps a EU ruling that is yet to be finalised.