How did you pay for it? There are several credit cards that extend warranties by one year automatically when you make a purchase with the card. For example, my American Express and my MasterCard both do this.

Nice to know that for future purchases, but this one was made by debit card....probably doesn't count, huh ?

Wow, that is sad. Do not expect any price break. Now you have 2 confirms on a bad motherboard you might consider abandoning this tower, it would probably be the cheapest route. With that motherboard replacement you will also need a new copy of Vista because the operating system is tied to that particular board.

Not sure I would allow the computer to ship to Kentucky, if the super duper (?) Geek Squad can't fix it locally what will the distance do other than cost more more money.

It has a Foxconn Model: MCP73M01H1 motherboard and there definitely seem to be none for sale. However it is a socket 775 processor so perhaps most of the other components might migrate to any other socket 775 board.

What ever happens BE SURE to get the tower back! There is a 500 gig hard drive in there that you could slip into an external case. Plus all your data is on that drive I suspect, you do not want that sold and have others poking through your life.

Telly, just a tip for future purchases in brick and mortar stores or online: always use a credit card versus your debit card. If a problem develops, it is much easier to deal with it through the credit card company. By using a debit card, you have paid cash and have no recourse.

Also, I would not allow the BB "Geek Squad" to ship my tower off anywhere. If they cannot fix it locally, forget them. Owbist has given you some good advice.

Really sorry you had such rotten luck with your HP. I have always liked their products. Still, it might be worth contacting their customer service and see if they might do something for you---even a refurbished model. But if that motherboard is so rare, I think I'd want a different model.

Good luck to you!

I also have an HP Pavilion - and thought last year motherboard was toast - at 2 years - but it was something else, so I paid for the other "card" whatever it was and the diagnositic ($50 in Canada). BUT prior to purchasing this computer I had an IBM - with an extended warrantly. Motherboard went at 3 years and 1 day - IBM would do nothing for me. I did not buy the extended warranty for the HP because of this. HP couldn't understand why not?! And IBM couldn't understand why I wouldn't buy another unit from them. Same thing with a good quality toaster - lasted 1 year and 2 weeks - warranty wouldn't cover - next toaster wouldn't even start - so now at 6 months with newest toaster. When my HP was in for service I was looking at other models, just in case and the HP rep was in the store - he told me not to bother with the extended warranties. Re the motherboard going at one year and one month - they can go any time. At work one day my hard drive crashed, the tech came and replaced it and by the time he got back to his office, the new one had crashed. Yet I know someone who is still operating a 12 year old computer. I am using XP on my HP. I don't know what I will get next time. I really only use it for e-mail and internet - no music, movies, games - ZIP. Just the basics trying to extend the life best I can. I would do as suggested and get a new tower - and make sure you get back you old drive if you have anything personal on it. I am event thinking of a 17 inch laptop - but I would need to plug in a "real" keyboard and mouse - I hate the laptop keyboards - they interfere with my 120 wpm typing.

Thanks everyone;I knew I could count on THS members for some good advice.
I did let BB's Geek Squad ship my tower to Kentucky; I didn't like the idea, but was unsure what else to do at that point. They confirmed a bad motherboard, and gave me a total price to repair it of (hold on to your seat)...$682.00 ! I have my receipt here, for the original purchase in September of '09, and the total for the tower,monitor,keyboard, and mouse was $588.00. The BB rep who quoted the repair price said that motherboards rarely go bad on a tower as new as this one (at least in his experience),and suggested that it was likely that my motherboard probably had a defect straight from the manufacturer. Sigh. So now to shop for a new tower; I already know I'm gonna shy away from HP, even though I have really enjoyed mine (until now).
Owbist, thank you for mentioning my hard drive...It had already occurred to me that there were documents/pictures, etc on there that I want, so I hope I will be able to find out what to do to retrieve them when I get my tower back. I have removed/replaced an internal hard drive before, but am not familiar with how they work when used externally. I hope you don't mind if I ask you about this when the time comes....
Eccentric: I feel the same way about laptops; they seem super convenient but I prefer a 'real' keyboard and mouse, just like you do.

I read your story and as I was reading I though I was reading my own mind..the same thing happen to me..HP KNOWS THE MOTHERBOARD IS BAD AND NO ONE HAVE NOT CALLED THEM ON IT YET. BUT I OR WE WILL BE THE FIRST, EVEN IF I HAVE TO DO A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. MY COMPUTER IS AT THE SHOP NOW BEING LOOKED AT BUT IF I GET THE SAME RESULTS IT IS OWN..I HAVE NEVER SEEN A COMPUTER LAST LESS THAN 2 YR??? THAT RIDICULOUS???NO WAY AM I GOING TO SPEND ANOTHER 3-6 HUNDRED DOLLARS ON A NEW COMPUTER IF I DON'T HAVE TOO. ONCE I GET MY RESULTS, TOMORROW. I WILL POST IT. TELLY2 WRITE ME SO WE CAN GET TOGETHER.

Here is a link that might be useful: HP Pavilion with bad motherboard ?

also in that tower you likely have some good RAM memory that can be used as well as NIC card and fans and power supply lots of good stuff in there, You could likely talk to a local shop that builds computers and have them use that tower and components to build you another one for much less than you would spend on a new one and surely less than that repair price.

Trinaty DO NOT SHOUT. It is very hard to read when all capitals are used.

You really need to confirm that it is the motherboard and not the RAM. Googling this HP model one finds there have been a few with serious issues re either the motherboard or RAM

As I noted earlier this is a 775 pin processor so you should be able to rebuild with minimal cost. Right now Tiger Direct has motherboards from $40. The linked board has video, LAN and surround sound included. If you do not like MSI boards there is a selection there for under $100.

You would need to spend a little time checking each piece for compatibility before spending money of course

Maybe I am missing something here, but I find something curious.

Trinaty42's "posted by" is in black when all other members are underlined blue. I did a member search and I find no reference to Trinaty42. I did a forum search using Trinaty42 as the keyword and I found no postings, not even this one.

Interesting.

DA