Seeing those distorted videos and blank screens on your MacBook Pro? It’s not your fault. Rather, it appears to be because of a problem with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M graphics chip that is embedded on the notebook. Following a class action lawsuit filed against NVIDIA, the company has agreed to offer free repair to any user that has an 8600M embedded notebook and is facing these issues. The litigation website is here and you may check if your notebook model is covered on this website. Basically, the list includes the MacBook Pro, Inspiron, Latitude, Precision, XPS, Vostro, Presario and Pavilion notebooks.
Do note that the replacement does not start immediately. The website notes,
“The Court will hold a hearing on December 20, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., to decide whether to approve the settlement. If Judge Ware approves the settlement, the processing of replacements is expected to begin shortly afterwards. Reimbursements will be paid after all claims are filed.
Please be patient.”