Sony VAIO repairs - your opinions please

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rudirautenbach

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OK so the wife's VAIO (SZ2GP) is about 4 years old. The battery died last night and the cooling van sounds like my AMG's V8. I suspect its also on its way out.

A new battery costs around R2k, and the fan job probably another R1.5K, totalling R3.5K.

A new VAIO would set her back between R16 & R23K (model dependent), and times are tough. Should I spend the R3.5K on the repairs to "resurrect" a 4 year old machine or should I look around for other less expensive notebook brands than Sony. Or should I max out the c/c and wait for that mid-year bonus...

Thing is we have both been using VAIO's for as long as I could remember and the brand has never let us down. We have tried the Acers and HP's before, all with dissappointing results.

Your help & opinions are appreciated. Or is there someone that knows where to find "cheap" VAIO spares.

Cheers, Rudi
 
I'm SURE you can get the spares for much cheaper than that. Last laptop fan I replaced was like R200. They do sell the fan seperate without the heatsink assembly.

You could always repack the cells in the battery yourself unless the electronics are fried. A drop of Q20, DWF or light machine oil on the fan bearing might stop it squeeling like a pig for now.

Please supply me with the following information:
1) PCG number on bottom of laptop
2) VGM number on top of laptop by keyboard
3) Battery Part number on battery itself.

4) Could you possibly include a closeup photo of the entire fan?
 
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Unless you're looking at the extreme upper end, a brand new Sony Vaio should set you back around R10k (less at some places). Check out Dion-wired and incredible.
 
I agree with ponder.

Where did you get this pricing from? Have you tried going to Rectron? They do all the offical repairs now and their pricing seems to be most reasonable. Maybe they can make a plan for you.

IMHO, once you've tried and loved the Vaio series, its pretty hard to go back.

BUT, there is a speical on at the moment at rectron. Its the VAIO VGN-CR25G/B for R8,995 EX VAT. Its Core®2 Duo T7250 2.0GHz, 1GB DDR2 667, 160GB 5400RPM Serial ATA HDD
8x DVD Super Multi, 14.1" WXGA Clear Bright Wide Screen, ATI Radeon Mobility X2300 128MB, Intel Pro/Wireless 802.11 A/B/G WiFi LAN, Modem, Bluetooth 2.0, Built-In Motion Eye Webcam, Windows Vista Home Premium, 1 Year Warranty

This makes fixing it for R3.5k not worth it.... PM me if you want one. I can order it from Rectron, you can go an collect. (pay cash when you arrive)
 
Dude, you have an AMG V8?!? I want a ride!! Just think of all the petrol you can buy with that money... ---> Stuff the laptop, take the AMG V8 for a spin! :D
 
Ponder & roddyp,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I actually have two SZ series VAIO notebooks, with the same chassis. The newer model (SZ483N/C, purchased July 2007) had a fan failure exactly 1 year and 20 days after purchase (20 days out of warranty). After speaking nicely to Sony they did a goodwill repair. The techie at the repair centre (forgot the name, they are opposite the road from the Sony offices in Midrand) quoted me around R900 for the fan and I guess one should add another R300 for an hours labour. The older VAIO (SZ28) lasted a lot longer (more than 4 years) but arguably was subjected to a reduced duty compared to the SZ483.

The price for the battery is from Screen Vision (Sony referred me to them), and was quoted as R1925 ex VAT.

I would prefer to have the battery repacked if I can, if it will come at less than the price of a new one. I have already decided to donate this machine to a family member, but does not want to give her a non-working machine. I am quite happy to replace the fan myself if I can get the part at around R200. BTW what is the expected cost of repacking a battery pack and if I could do it myself, where do I find the cells?

The numbers you requested are as follows:
VGN-SZ28GP/C
PCG-6L8P
VGP-BPS-2C

It is truly hard to consider other brands after owning several VAIO's :(

FuNkEr, at 20 litres/100km and for R3500 the boy would run for just under 2400 km's, which is not even enough to pay Mrs Zille a visit and return. Meet me at rAgE this year then I'll take you 'round the block. :)

Please let me know about the repairs and if you can help guys. I appreciate your efforts.

Cheers Rudi
 
Rudi,

I managed to get a local price on the FAN unit. Compared to other brands the Sony spares seem expensive but with the sony you cannot just buy a loose fan like say a Fujitsu-Siemens for example. It is one integrated fan/heatsink assembly that cannot be separated.

I first tried Service Parts Logistics as they carry stock for most brands except Sony, the only Sony things they can get are the batteries. And they are more expensive than the second source I tried.

The only people carrying spares for Sony seems to be ******* as Sony referred me to them.

FAN Part#: 178745811 or 1-787-458-11
Description: FAN, DC
Price: R825.00excl.vat

Battery Part#: a1178589A
Desription: BPL2C (U) (S)
Price: R1350.00excl.vat

The price of the FAN seemed excessive to me so I did a bit of googling and found two companies in the USA Selling it for US$72.00 so if you take that in mind the SA price seems very good if you ask me.
http://www.excelcomputerinc.com/html/details.asp?ref=1181&category=fan'
http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/Sony,Vaio,VGN-SZ280PC,Laptop,Fans.aspx

I also looked at the battery prices in the USA and a "compatible" aftermarket part goes for US$66, the genuine thing goes for US$99(no stock) to US$187 which is much more than the local price.
http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/Sony,Vaio,VGN-SZ280PC,Laptop,Parts.aspx
http://www.excelcomputerinc.com/html/details.asp?ref=439&category=fedco

You still have the option of trying to repack the battery with new Li-Ion cells but it means you will first have to open the battery to see the type of cells it uses which should not be to hard. Cells can be purchased from specialist battery suppliers or electronics shops. I would advise going for a good brand with a higher mAh rating if possible.
Or you could get a quote and have someone do it for you, just enquire about the cells they use and ask to repack it to a higher mAh rating:
http://www.akita.co.za/ComputerBatteries/default.htm
http://www.laserelectronics.co.za/laptop_battery_repacking_Price_list.html
http://www.sitecraft.co.za/repack.html
http://www.batteryexperts.co.za/
http://www.internetix.co.za/batteries.html


PM me with your email address and I will forward the quotations I received to you and you can then decided what to do.
 
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I've had quite a few batteries repacked with 100% success rate and, in fact, got better battery life from the repacked battery. The price was, in my opinion, reasonable; around R500 - R700 each time.

I usually use Graham at
http://www.akita.co.za/
Crap website, quality electronics repairs :D
 
sn3rd said:
I've had quite a few batteries repacked with 100% success rate and, in fact, got better battery life from the repacked battery. The price was, in my opinion, reasonable; around R500 - R700 each time.

I usually use Graham at
http://www.akita.co.za/
Crap website, quality electronics repairs :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are the ones I listed first in my list of links on people who repack batteries.
 
Update : Had the battery with Graham @ Akita yesterday. After he tested we concluded that the management circuitry is damaged and hence repacking is not an option.

His price of R1250 incl. is the best I could find for a new battery (guess it is non-Sony for that price), but it is still a bit of a dilemma deciding whether to spend the money on this old notebook or just putting it towards a new machine. On the other hand, not having a battery for an otherwise good machine also sounds a bit off...

What would you guys do?
 
If you need the notebook to be wireless (i.e. HAVE to have a battery) then you only have 2 options:
1) Get new battery
2) Get new notebook

New battery is R1250-00, you say.

If you want to get the new notebook, then you have 3 choices:
1) Sony Vaio
2) Others (reputable brands)
3) Others (non-reputable brands)

Vaio is R10 000.
Other reputable brands might be in the region of R8 000 (for similar specs to R10 000 Vaio).
I won't even entertain the idea of non-reputable brands.

The way I see it, R1 250-00 is far less than R10 000, and even R8 000. If you are still happy with the notebook (and I mean genuinely happy), then it's not worth getting a new notebook.

This also assumes there are ZERO other problems with the current notebook. If there was one other problem, I would think twice. If there were two other problems, I'd look at getting a new notebook.

The main reason for this is because repacking the battery for R1250-00 NOW might solve that problem, but a few months down the line, something else might pack up, then you are faced with this similar dilemma (and obviously then you have already committed to getting this notebook going).

At least if you get a new notebook now with a 3 year warranty, you're covered for the next 3 years. On top of that, you'll be able to get a notebook with newer specs that will (arguably) help you get more done.

A good rule of thumb is that you should probably not spend more than, say, 50% of the notebook's price within it's lifetime. If you fix the problem now for R1 250-00, and we work on the fact that SOMETHING will go wrong every 6 months that will cost a similar amount to fix, and we assume you paid about R15 000, then you would hit the threshold in about 3 years. Which means that you would have spent almost the price of a new notebook, just on easier terms (over a longer period). Whereas if you bought a new notebook now, you'd get all sorts of cool new stuff. And at the end of the 3 years, you'd have a newer machine.

So in conclusion, it seems like a new notebook is the best choice if you are able to put in the money.
 
Sn3rd,

Thank you, your comments make sense. As you may have seen from one of the earlier posts, the fan as starting to cry replacement, and we have established that it would be around R1200 incl labour to have it replaced. So, R1250+R1200=R2450 just to get it restored to working order. I think we paid R12,000 in 2004/2005 (I cannot remember exactly).

Perhaps the best idea would be to keep it for spares (it shares a lot between my other VAIO SZ) and just go for a new machine.

I need to check the specs of the R10,000 VAIO model, do you perhaps have a model number that I could research?

Again, thank you for your reply,

Cheers Rudi
 
rudirautenbach said:
Sn3rd,

Thank you, your comments make sense. As you may have seen from one of the earlier posts, the fan as starting to cry replacement, and we have established that it would be around R1200 incl labour to have it replaced. So, R1250+R1200=R2450 just to get it restored to working order. I think we paid R12,000 in 2004/2005 (I cannot remember exactly).

Perhaps the best idea would be to keep it for spares (it shares a lot between my other VAIO SZ) and just go for a new machine.

I need to check the specs of the R10,000 VAIO model, do you perhaps have a model number that I could research?

Again, thank you for your reply,

Cheers Rudi
Click to expand...

No problem.

http://www.makro.co.za/ProductDetail.aspx?cat=1201&prod=41265&SKU=000000000000144736|EA

* Model: VGN-CR343N/B
* 1GB RAM
* 200GB Hard Drive
* Dual layer DVD writer
* WLAN/ LAN/ Modem
* Card reader, Firewire
* Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz Processor
* 14.1" clear bright LCD, Webcam
* Express card slot
Click to expand...

The CPU is a previous generation CPU, but I would be VERY suprised if you noticed a difference between current and previous gen CPUs. Especially on this notebook.

RAM might be a little low for some, but luckily that is easily (and inexpensively) upgraded.

The rest is pretty much par for the course.

If you like the VAIOs, you'll like this notebook. I ALMOST bought it. It's really well priced. But I ended up going for a more expensive Dell. I prefer the keyboard on my Dell. The VAIO's keyboard is reminiscent of Macbooks (which I don't like).
 
what's the verdict

Hey Rudi.
My Vaio's battery has just died on me.
I got a quote from Rectron at R1595 ex VAT.

I've had a look at the Akita site. What exactly is battery repacking.
Is it safe or is it like driving around with retreads?
 
blue-genie said:
I've had a look at the Akita site. What exactly is battery repacking.
Is it safe or is it like driving around with retreads?
Click to expand...

The battery contains cells internally that are wired together (kinda like AA cells you buy at the store). It's a simple procedure of removing the old cells and replacing them with new ones IF the electronic management circuitry is not blown.

It's safe if you use quality replacement cells.
 
blue-genie said:
Hey Rudi.
My Vaio's battery has just died on me.
I got a quote from Rectron at R1595 ex VAT.

I've had a look at the Akita site. What exactly is battery repacking.
Is it safe or is it like driving around with retreads?
Click to expand...

blue-genie,

As ponder said, it is a relatively safe procedure to have the cells repacked. I had the battery tested by the guy who owns Akita, unfortunately mine could not be repacked as the circuitry is fried. He seemed quite capable and honest, and tested it for free.

He offered to supply a battery for around R1200 if I remember correctly.

I did not buy the battery, as I am more concerned with having a "no-name" brand battery in a machine that was expensive, considering the machine is still in tip-top shape otherwise.

I have decided to give the machine to a family member in the Philippines, and when I go over there later in the year I will just buy an original battery there before handing over the machine. I have found electronics and computer parts in general over there in Asia around 40% of the prices we pay in SA.

That does not say I am right about "no-name" battery brands. By all means, if you need the battery go for it. Also check if Rectron actually offers the original Sony battery, if not phone Tony at Sony SA. He is the Sony SA VAIO chief technician, and has helped me on numerous occassions in the past with my VAIO machines. Pity they (Sony) outsourced the maintenance and support to Rectron, it used to be trouble-free having VAIO's repaired, they even did out of warranty repairs on an LCD and a fan for me free of charge!

Good luck and let me know what you do please.

Rudi
 
ok thanks guys.
Unfortunately Aikita is not open on weekends, I'm going to try find the time to go through during the week. Alternatively I'll give the laptop to my mom (she can have it plugged in continuously) - and I'll have to get myself a new machine :-(
 
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