Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

An 8GB Sony Transferjet Pro HG Duo MS sells for around $99 or so.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666079536

An 8GB card takes a lot of pictures, and thus once you spend this $99 it will keep you going for a while, even when you change cameras.

 

Have you even read my Vaio_F Battery Drainage & Power Efficiency Diagnostics Report post with data & screen captures?

" The real test would be when the battery shows 100%, unplug & let the F run until the battery is drained & check how long it operated. Then charge again to 100%, turn off, unplug, wait 4 to 8 hours, boot & do the exact same test and compare battery life difference if any."

I ran test part #1 with battery reporting 100% charge. Will complete part # 2 tomorrow morning with battery reporting 82% charge & update that post.

Maybe instead of getting your panties all bunched up about possible battery drainage or simply bad battery charge reporting that may be caused by Windows 7 & not by the hardware (battery chip), why don't you run a similar test & report back here to help all of us?

Have you ran the Windows 7 PowerCfg to Evaluate Energy Efficiency (suggested in that post) on your machines to see if something in your setup is messing up your F or sleep state? It takes only 1 minute & requires minimal tech skills.

From Sony_Support: The battery only charges up to 50% or 80%.

 

When I plugged my machine into the power brick (promptly after booting up and seeing 85%), the machine itself indicated that it was charging the battery (via the orange light on the front), that was definitely off when I turned the machine off last night.

That light AFAIK is driven by the machine, not by Windows 7. Of course, it's normal for it to need some charging after starting up, but how can I put this..

Ok, I turned my machine off again earlier, because I was having power supply issues. When I turned it off, again the battery was at 100%

I unplugged the power supply and let it sit, I just now plugged it in and started it up plugged in and it's charging the battery as it says it's at 90%.

*shakes fist*

Have fun with your testing. I'm going to Best Buy in a little bit.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong. The F has a integrated sound card attached to the motherboard. Is anyone using an alternative/ added sound card e.g. Creative Sound Blaster? Should this be looked at for superior sound quality? Joe Bleau: Realtek R2.43 driver which I downloaded from a non-Sony site (I did not follow my own advice). Will explain that & the Fix in an other post. Did you get the mixer with that download? Please post link and why you did a reinstall or installed a different driver. Also, Melodymaster somewhere stated you can get the use of 7.1 through the HDMI and will get 5.1 from the optical out. No better sound coming out of the HDMI, just more options? And hooking up laptop to TV set the audio output of the laptop to SPDIF- correct? What I am asking is for someone with audio experience to give some expertise please. I'm sure others are at my stage of the game. My understanding is not to get too hyped up about the 7.1. I'm at a point of choosing a receiver. Any info would be appreciated.

 

I did run it initially on 100% charged battery twice. Both times same result - 5-6 hrs off = 20% loss.
I figured out about 80% limit as I disabled Vaio Care at the beginning but after restore it was on again and I forgot to turn it off.
But as I said first two tests at 100% charged battery. I simply refuse to believe this is normal.

 

Have fun with driving in the traffic, I like to test my stuff, check if the problem is in the cockpit or it's the plane & love to learn stuff along the way.

The more opinions you have the less you see.- Wim Wenders

 

So if you did run PowerCfg, how many errors were there in your Power Efficiency Diagnostics Report?

Care to post a few here?

That report will not tell you if the battery is really @ 82% or not as it is using the ACPI thing, same as the Sony_battery meter & SIW. Only a real battery drain test can reveal the accuracy of the battery charge or not.

BatteryEater will show how much battery time you have in real life when running in 100% or 82% reported battery charge.

This found in my report linked above could explain the battery charge reporting error: "Platform Power Management Capabilities: ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.".

Test #2 will reveal the truth, patience.

 

You know, this is an experiment that requires a Control. Has anyone REMOVED the battery and let it sit for ten hours, THEN put it back in to see what was lost? See how much it discharges on its own...

 

Somebody was asking for WoW gameplay on the F. Looks like someone uploaded footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jrdkpNwGHE&feature=sub

EDIT: Uploaded by kreidel

 

Want to do that too but it takes time to do the test I'm running @ the present.

Why don't you contribute too to the tests & battery state grabs night/morning? Maybe it's because you never sleep?

 

That was me thankyou.

 

Haha, thought I'd add to the flickering power brick thing.

When my power brick flickers, it clicks.. and I noticed if I have it on a circuit with a lamp, the lamp will flicker when the power brick's light does.

Finally, I think I understand what's going on there. The power brick is not maintaining a smooth flow, it's either consuming a load of power or not very much at all.

Ironically, the problem is more prevalent when the machine is idle., eg less than 1% CPU use.

Yeah, doing my HW. Hrm

 

Much appreciated. I edited the link with credits to you

 

I remember somebody mentioning that incoming A/C current fluctuation thing as a possible cause for the green LED flickering besides the F's fluctuating power demand. I wonder who that might be?

 

No problem

HTML:

System Manufacturer 	Sony Corporation
System Product Name 	VPCF11S1E
BIOS Date 	12/07/2009
BIOS Version 	R0250Y6
OS Build 	7600
Platform Role 	PlatformRoleMobile
Plugged In 	false
Process Count 	89
Thread Count 	974
Report GUID 	{d1b88acc-544a-4ea8-a977-0f687b2dc21d}
Analysis Results
Errors
USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name 	USB Mass Storage Device
Host Controller ID 	PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B34
Host Controller Location 	PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID 	USB\VID_1307&PID_0165
Port Path 	1,5
USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name 	USB Root Hub
Host Controller ID 	PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B34
Host Controller Location 	PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID 	USB\VID_8086&PID_3B34
Port Path 	
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	0
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	1
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	2
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	3
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	4
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	5
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	6
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 	0
Index 	7
Platform Power Management Capabilities:PCI Express Active-State Power Management (ASPM) Disabled
PCI Express Active-State Power Management (ASPM) has been disabled due to a known incompatibility with the hardware in this computer.
Warnings
Power Policy:802.11 Radio Power Policy is Maximum Performance (Plugged In)
The current power policy for 802.11-compatible wireless network adapters is not configured to use low-power modes.
Information
Platform Timer Resolution:Platform Timer Resolution
The default platform timer resolution is 15.6ms (15625000ns) and should be used whenever the system is idle. If the timer resolution is increased, processor power management technologies may not be effective. The timer resolution may be increased due to multimedia playback or graphical animations.
Current Timer Resolution (100ns units) 	156000
Power Policy:Active Power Plan
The current power plan in use
Plan Name 	OEM Balanced
Plan GUID 	{381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e}
Power Policy:Power Plan Personality (On Battery)
The personality of the current power plan when the system is on battery power.
Personality 	Balanced
Power Policy:Video Quality (On Battery)
Enables Windows Media Player to optimize for quality or power savings when playing video.
Quality Mode 	Balance Video Quality and Power Savings
Power Policy:Power Plan Personality (Plugged In)
The personality of the current power plan when the system is plugged in.
Personality 	Balanced
Power Policy:Video quality (Plugged In)
Enables Windows Media Player to optimize for quality or power savings when playing video.
Quality Mode 	Optimize for Video Quality
System Availability Requests:Analysis Success
Analysis was successful. No energy efficiency problems were found. No information was returned.
CPU Utilization:Processor utilization is low
The average processor utilization during the trace was very low. The system will consume less power when the average processor utilization is very low.
Average Utilization (%) 	0.73
Battery:Battery Information
Battery ID 	Sony Corp.
Manufacturer 	Sony Corp.
Serial Number 	
Chemistry 	LiOn
Long Term 	1
Design Capacity 	57240
Last Full Charge 	57240
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Supported Sleep States
Sleep states allow the computer to enter low-power modes after a period of inactivity. The S3 sleep state is the default sleep state for Windows platforms. The S3 sleep state consumes only enough power to preserve memory contents and allow the computer to resume working quickly. Very few platforms support the S1 or S2 Sleep states.
S1 Sleep Supported 	false
S2 Sleep Supported 	false
S3 Sleep Supported 	true
S4 Sleep Supported 	true
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Adaptive Display Brightness is supported.
This computer enables Windows to automatically control the brightness of the integrated display.
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	0
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	1
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	2
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	3
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	4
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	5
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	6
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8
Platform Power Management Capabilities:Processor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group 	0
Index 	7
Idle (C) State Count 	3
Performance (P) State Count 	7
Throttle (T) State Count 	8

 

Could you share the phone number for national customer relations? I and a friend could only locate a customer service number (that's NOT customer relations) and they told us that they don't give out the number for national customer relations.

BTW The only time I ever had an on-site service, the tech had to phone in to speak with San Diego before leaving. I insisted on having San Diego call me right back to discuss the repair directly. In my case, the replacement drive was defective but the tech was excellent.

P.S. Wait till you see the box they send you. A friend just went through this for a send-in and it was a flimsy box with two foam "grabs" to secure the computer. I suggest you use your own original box or double box the one they send you. You can put the FedEx sticker on anything.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

 

I noticed that you have 2 errors that I don't have in my report:

USB Suspend: USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Mass Storage Device
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B34
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_1307&PID_0165
Port Path 1,5

USB Suspend: USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device Name USB Root Hub
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B34
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_8086&PID_3B34
Port Path

I also have the following, did not investigate yet & there is plenty to read about it on the web: ACPI _PSD object, ACPI BIOS Sony_Vaio Linux, etc.

Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _PSD object on this computer. Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 0
Index 0

 

Who whistles during s ex? What the hell kind of pornos are you watching???
Haha whistling during s ex. Like a plumber doing a job, just whistling along with the beat in his head.

 

My firmware is AGSA0201 and CrystalDiskInfo shows TRIM not supported. Let us know if/when you hear about a firmware upgrade. Thanks for tracking this down (although I would have preferred better news )

 

I could I suppose, take it out tonight, see how much it charges tomorrow. that's not a full test but it will tell the tale.

 

That would be useless if your reported battery charge is the same at night vs when checking it several hours later as these screen captures by To no End, mangosango & I show here.

One of us 3 should do it, I will in 24 hours.

Did you run PowerCfg? I thought you might be interested in that utility.

 

Thanks for the info. Although I sincerely hope Sony sends me a shipping worthy box, that will just add to the frustration of the situation if it isn't. I had on-site service for my dell xps laptop and I had no issues with the tech whatsoever. Dramatically different with Sony's tech, still shocked at the condition its in.

Sony never gave me the number for customer relations. Every time I asked for it directly they said they don't have the number to give but can transfer me...30 to 40 minutes later (no exaggeration) I was finally speaking with someone from that department. I'm supposed to get a call from customer relations tomorrow so I'll see if I can get the number out of them.

 

Thanks for confirming. So between your SSD and my SSD, there has been a change in firmware (AGSA0201 vs AGSA0203).

I scoured through Toshiba's site but could not find anything that indicated a way to have the firmware updated. So the only option seems to be to push Sony to get the updated firmware from Toshiba, and post it for download on their support site.

 

I understand your frustration but somebody mentioned in this thread that the on site tech service was done by a third party business. A bad apple is always possible & if that tech damaged your F, he should be tracked down & fired or reprimended.

But there is quite a step from bombing the entire Sony_corporation for your mishap.

I guess they did not give you the phone number of the national customer relations guy so you would not publish it in forums like this one.

I've applied twice now the STP12's easy mic whining/Morse code fix as I removed the Realtek 2.43 driver downloaded from their site & re-installed the latest F_Series certified audio driver found on Sony_Support so I had to do it again, and there is not a single new scratch on my F.

I posted a short video about the process on Youtube: F mic whining/Morse code Fix.

Good luck on getting back your F in it's original state & try to remain cool when communicating with Sony_support or customer relations, often you'll get better service and won't be as long on "hold".

 

Joe I have a used car I'd like to sell you. Since you find no fault in anything XD

 

Mine is AGSA0203 .

 

ALL mass produced products made by humans have a percentage of defects & failures. I guess that's why there is a return period & a warranty.

I like suggesting fixes, trouble shooting methods & workarounds, I'm not defending this particular F laptop.

That's what we do in Costa Rica, we don't have mega-stores or Home Depots all over the place so we fix things, even if we don't have the exact part, or workaround the problem, or ignore it and just enjoy life...

It may be useful to people who intend to keep their F & like to try DIY before sending the unit for service. For some of us, thousands of kilometers away from Sony_Support, it's our preferred approach as the alternative is a 6 to 8 weeks round trip @ best in my case.

How much for your used car, what model?

 

Oh, to solve these?

HD: replace
PSU: Replace with another brand/type of same voltage. I bet the problems would never appear again
Screen: Get an EU screen and pop that in.

Ways to get these done?

Call Sony: They'll probably replace the HD (if I'm lucky and/or argue enough), and replace the PSU with another of the same kind. I doubt they'll do anything about the LCD because "it's normal" (which, for that model it is sadly)

Take it back to best buy: Get my $$ back, buy a different product entirely. Those may have worse problems, and/or not as many goodies for the $$.

I've heard the HP envy and Dell XPS 16 run hotter. The envy doesn't have a backlit keyboard, and the Dell has PSU issues too. haha.

You have me here Joe, if I were out there and sent a DOA (defective on arrival) machine I'd be livid.

Sorry to hear that man.

Weird update: I left my machine off about 4 hours, plugged it in ,turned it on, and this time no battery charging ensued. lol

 

OK. Here is the question did any of the European users got this laptop from the store without whistling/whining fan and/or morse code? I'm asking for version that you can buy from store not via SONY style website.
Yesterday night I was listening to the music and this fan noise goes even through my headphones and really bothers me.
Is anyone aware of any refreshed version that hit the stores or some of you got problem free laptops from European stores. I'm puzzled.

 

Agreed. The problem with that is this guy owns his business, I looked it up online. So pursuing that would be pointless.

I had no intention of publishing the phone number here or on any other site.

I've long since applied those temporary fixes and have been quite happy with the result. I wanted to have it fixed by Sony, this is the reason for calling it in.

Thanks, advice taken

 

Just spoke to Sony Support who said that there was "no design issue" with my early F model and that the fan would be replaced and it would be "as good as new".

Hmmm....

 

Gulp, they still have mine. Have you sent yours in yet ?

 

I need to throw a question out there to all of the experts.

Got my F11 last week and on day 2 the screen started acting up. Not in a normal, video drivers way, but in an odd blue-tint all the time, even during BIOS startup. Figured I got a bad screen so I scheduled an in-home to have it repaired or replaced - Nothing major here, except my disappointment in not getting to play with my new toy.

Fast forward to day 4, when all of a sudden the screen was only intermittently blue, and I could get the screen to switch back and forth by applying specific pressure to the lid/LCD. This led me to think that this is a connection issue with the LCD. Except that the screen issue gradually got better all night, and now hasn't acted up at all for 3 days.

I cannot find anything on this forum or anywhere else relating to this, so I'm guessing that it's a one-off scenario and that either the cable wasn't seated properly at build time. But if this were the case I would expect a gradual worsening over time, not improvement. The other thing that comes to mind is a bad cable.

Given that the screen looks fantastic now, and did before it's blue phase, I'm hesitant to have it replaced with a potentially older service part given all the problems reported on this forum with bleed and viewing angle. Right now, there is minimal bleed and the angle is acceptable.

Given this scenario, I'm wondering if the best and brightest here have any opinions or answers to this issue.

1. What type of connection is there between the LCD and the main board? Is it logical that this connector could work its way back into place and then be secure for the remaining life of the laptop?

2. Given that the screen has none of the other issues that seem prevalent with the F, should I call off the service and wait and see if this happens again or risk getting an older service part (my build date was 3/3/2010)?

 

Nope. It's not going in until the beginning of April. Would be great to hear about yours once you get it...

 

Good luck guys. I have given up. First time sent in - didn't fix it, the second time sent in - didn't fix it, I am not willing to send it in a 3rd time and have the motherboard replaced.

It is just too much for a brand new computer. Also, Pandemoniumone had issues with scratches (and much much worse), I found the same problem, but not nearly as bad. I sent mine to Sony to be fixed (onsite visit was not an option), it came back with minor scratches on the lid and a "chip" missing by the hdmi port. Not a BIG deal, but nonetheless, I kept it in prestine condition and treated it like my baby. If there are going to be scratches and chips in it, I'd have preferred that I did them stupidly myself. Not some tech.

Seems like there is no fix for it so far...

 

I don't know about the F, but I used to take apart/recycle laptops for volunteer work and on most laptops, the screen is connected to the motherboard by a connector angled at 90 degrees which is removable (so, yes it could possibly work itself back in). The fact that the screen is ok when you apply pressure also hints that it is a connection issue. That said, I would consider getting it replaced if it acts up again/keeps giving you problems. I don't think that sony would replace your screen with another broken screen (but given some of the comments here about repair service, I'm not too sure on that anymore).

My advice would be to use the laptop for a few days (carry it around, hold it from one corner, etc) to see if the problem can be re-created. Best of luck.

EDIT: Here's an image of a cable (not on the F, but just to give an idea):


The connector looks like this, and is not soldered in or anything. Completely removable:

 

Aaahh Well there's June (July actually) to get a system that beats all of ours..

 

Anyone like to take a stab at this?

 

'm using external USB fed DAC and the sound is very good, no problems whatsoever but I don't know if this counts as I do not need to install any drivers usb device recognized and no drivers needed. Normally I'm using ASIO driver but will be playing with this one later.

 

I guess that now they're getting so many customer relations issues they dare not give out the number, eh?

Well, the waiting game used to be more difficult before speakerphones came into existence. I waited two hours on hold from Apple several years back with phone to ear -- when they came back I insisted on a replacement unit, and got it.

Nowadays, you just hit speakerphone and wait it out while doing other things on other phones and computers, or whatever.

Wake up, Sony. We are NOT going to go away.

 

Could someone try this and let me know if its worth bugging Sony about this.

 

So many pretty colors... I wish Sony would give us the option of something other than Black and Silver for the F.

 

They will, I'm sure a Signature Series version will be offered.

 

Wow check out those colors

We need to get a friend from japan to import those parts for us lol

 

Hey folks!

First of all, I want to thank all the people that contribute to this thread, since it really helps to get the most out of this wonderful machine. I've been following this thread since the beginning, and had an early F CTO (EU). Unfortunately it had those initial problems, so I did send it back and went for a refund because I would be fine without a laptop for a while, hoping they would fix those early bugs.

Now everything seems fine and I will be ordering an new CTO soon...but I got a small question. My F had Windows 7 Ultimate and I still have the recovery discs. So would it work if I now instead order Windows 7 Home Premium, then use my old recovery discs in order to get back Ultimate? By doing this I could save 100€. Just a thought...

Cheers!

 

Here is my stab... First, there are 2 audio circuits on the F motherboard. From what I can see, the Realtek handles the speakers, Mic in jack and audio ouput port (both analog 3.5 mm TRS and SPDIF optical) on the side right side of the F. NVIDIA handles the HDMI port on the left and probably the digital audia output of the DVD unit. There are four devices listed for NVIDIA in the sound section in device manager. It is not clear what each of these are for.

The HDMI jack handles both digital video and digital audio in the same cable. Since you are leaning towards a receiver, I would route all of your audio and video to the receiver and let it do the A/V switching. It will extract the digital audio from the HDMI cable and pass the video on to the monitor. All you need to run from the receiver to the monitor is a single HDMI cable. It will carry both video and audio so you will need to make sure that the speakers on the monitor are muted. There will be a slight digital delay introduced into the HDMI data stream when it is processed by the receiver so you do not want to run both sets of speakers (surround and TV/monitor) at the same time as an echo will be heard. You can mute the receiver speakers and just listen to the monitor speakers for reduced db level at night.

Just make sure you get a good receiver that will handle HDMI source switching and up conversion from the older video, s-video and RGB video sources.

 

Well you could be preventing other owners from re-living the same bad experience by getting Sony_to end his servicing contract?

Maybe he is defrauding Sony_and hurting laptop owners along the way? You reported in your first post:

If it looks & smells like a fish... maybe he has some big mortgage payments & was trying to get an other on site repair job from Son_y? How can an experienced notebook repair tech do such a silly mistake and cause an entire motherboard replacement?

Well they can't be sure of that, can they? They don't want the national customer relation boss to be flooded with calls from end users. I know I would instruct my staff not to give my office's number to end users if I had hundreds of paid front line support & customer relations employees.

Maybe we could take note of your experience and make some suggestions:

- document the external appearance of your notebook with date stamped photos from all angles to show it's "before" condition, just like when renting a car and writing down pre-existing dents & scratches on the rental contract. It could make a damage after repair claim easier to prove.

- if getting on site service, prepare a working surface with a blanket, towel or something to make sure the lid is not scratched. Be extra nice to the tech, tell him how much you like the machine & ask if he could be extra careful not to scratch the thing. Tell him you are curious about the inner workings of the machine & watch him like a hawk but don't look like one and don't make him nervous. You know nothing & he is a tech god & you want to see his amazing skills.

- ask him if you could take some photos of the process & parts for this thread. (and post some of them!)

- if sending the unit for service, maybe add a friendly & humorous note stating the same as above. After all, it's a human who will repair your F, if you put him in a good state of mind, he could be more careful with your machine.

- the Vaio_F warranty is good for a year, is one small problem worth a repair or risking transport or damage made by a tech? Maybe one could wait a couple of weeks & see if an other problem arises so to get the laptop repaired only once for different issues @ the same time?
***

 

Ha. Would be nice to see those in the F series instead of the E series. Guess I could always consider going to Colorwarepc.com...

 

Does_Dell,_Acer,_HP, etc give the phone numbers of their national customer relations offices to end users? Just curious.

Everything is relative:







From an interesting study by warranty company SquareTrade (Nov. 2009) .pdf downloadable here with short analysis articles here & here.

Everything is relative including that study. Failure rates seems quite high to me, which could be skewed by owners taking advantage of the extended service plans & maybe being less careful with their machine. High failure rates are also a very good sale argument for SquareTrade's plans. OTOH the comparison between brands is interesting.

****************

Here is a free monitor testing animation for you guys.

 

You will have to lie to Microsoft to get Windows reactivated, so the short answer is no.