Final Result:
After consulting and gathering legal information I finally threatened my retailer ([URL removed]) with court action and a fine, and they instead decided to give me a partial refund settlement out of court, given that I've had good use out of it for 15 months (fair enough). They wouldn't repair the laptop, so a partial refund was the only option.
Because I had had the 15 months of normal use out of the laptop before it died, the partial refund was calculated from that. Two years is the claimed lifespan of a laptop. However, I finally managed to claim back £575 from the £1169 figure originally paid, which is just under half of the original amount. Unfortunately the laptop also had to be sent back to them as part of the deal, which sucks, so I can't sell the laptop for spare parts, even.
Basically, for all Europeans, there is a little known law called the "Sale of Goods Law 1979 (as ammended)", which states that consumers have legal rights for up to six years for defects not relating to wear or tear for any products purchased under European Law, this apparently being the responsibility of the retailer ('[name removed]' in my case) and not the manufacturer ('Fujitsu'). This is separate to the Guarantee/Warranty, as you are still protected by the SoG law (as mentioned for up to six years from the point of sale) even after the warranty has expired.
This allows you to obtain a repair or partial refund where you've had normal use of the goods for a while. A full refund is only ever possible if the goods are found to be defective immediately after buying them, or after little use, and that the relevant parties were informed and challenged quickly upon finding the defect. Once you are deemed to have 'accepted' the goods, your rights are limited in the first instance to claiming a repair or possibly a replacement or partial refund. Additionally, any defect that has been caused as a result of misuse or mere wear and tear will not have a legal claim under the SoG Act. "Consumables" (such as batteries, etc.) are not covered, either.
However, in this case with the M3438G, it appears that there is a severe and inherent defect with the graphics card and the thermal module on the Fujitsu Amilo M3438G laptop, and is NOT user-related NOR normal "WEAR AND TEAR". - To date, I have seen and know of 20 DIFFERENT people with the EXACT same problem with the EXACT same model of laptop, from several forums (Amilo-Forum, NotebookForums, NotebookReview, and of course this Fujitsu-Siemens Support forum). If this is but a cross-section of M3438G users with the problem, it's highly likely there are many other sufferers out there, too.
M0rt, a fellow user on these forums, had the exact same fault with his M3438G and had it repaired (luckily under warranty) by Fujitsu. He kindly gave me the official Fujitsu engineer's repair report after it was repaired and sent back to him, and he has given permission to show it, as displayed below. I have censored personal data.
The faults are circled.
Regards the legal aspects, if you are in the UK, then
http://www.ConsumerDirect.gov.uk give excellent advice to initiate formal complaints, lobbying for an early result, and will then otherwise pass you on to Trading Standards if the response from the retailer is negative, who will then take over your case and advise you further.
So basically it's about chasing up the retailer rather than Fujitsu themselves to get the problem fixed.
The stumbling blocks I found were:
1) The retailers tend to imply that they do not know of the Sale of Goods law (as it's little known) and thus immediately repel it...
2) They then have to be convinced of it by Trading Standards contacting them (on your behalf) and, thus....
3) Tend to really drag their heels in trying to ammend the problem afterwards. The Trading Standards people you contact also have to be in the same county (sic) to the retailer you're trying to get the item fixed. So, even though I live in Derbyshire (in the Midlands) I later realised it's best to contact the Trading Standards situating in the county of the retailer (Yorkshire, in my case, as my retailer happened to be based in Huddersfield).
The other main problem is that, ultimately, Trading Standards have no powers to force the retailer to cough up in such "civil cases", so if the retailers still stand their ground and refuse to repair it for free the only other avenue left is going down the legal route, and this is either: 1) going to court to force the retailer to fix it, or 2) getting it fixed by the manufacturer or a third-party repair specialist at your own cost and then taking the case to court to win back the damages from the retailer.
Trading Standards can give you advice on such issues. Luckily in my case an ultimatum to the managing director at [name removed] ended the case by means of settlement. But I was fully intent on taking this to the courts, in addition to fining the company for wasting my time and for all the administration incurred, if they hadn't.
Last notes:
* If you have the problem whilst still in warranty, get it sorted ASAP.
* A recommendation by M0rt was to also invest in a USB laptop cooler with fans directed to the base of the laptop unit. I would also recommend this, as it would reduce the strain of the internal laptop components and would likely extend the life of your (or any) laptop.
However, make sure that, whichever laptop cooler you choose, it has been designed for 17" laptops, and has the fans placed in suitable places so as to best effectively cool the laptop, such as being situated near the air intake or exhaust grilles or similar to maximise effectiveness - however be careful the cooler's fans don't impede the laptop's own air flow by "pushing and pulling" (overriding, or working against) the laptop's air flow/fans at the same time.
It's a shame, the M3438G is a very nice little laptop if you haven't these problems. I will certainly miss it. However, with the heavily documented [
Amilo Mx43xG lag] problems (which, I have to say, weren't apparent on mine), and along with a previous purchase of a Fujitsu hard-drive (for a desktop computer) which died well before time despite careful use - these being my only dealings with Fujitsu - I will find it very hard to recommend Fujitsu to others in future.
Best wishes,
Kieran/StudioMusician