After 1.5 years my z11 screen is going... How long do I have before it dies?

I have carried my z11 with me everywhere in my Mach 3 composite case. After 1.5 years, the screen now has a vertical white line through the middle due (it is a hardware problem). I have the Sony full 3 year warranty but will not let them touch it until I have a replacement. This same thing happened to my last laptop and it took about 4 months for the screen to become totally unusable.
Anyone have any time estimates for the z? I am trying to wait for the IB processors to come out.
Also, is it safer, more efficient to ship it back to Japan, rather than have sony fix it locally?
Anyone have any experience with sony's extended warranty?
Thanks in advance.

 

does it look like this?
Sony Vaio VPC-Z11 screen and hinge problems, poor quality - YouTube

 

It is exactly like that!
Did the vertical line worsen? Did sony finally fix it? If so, how long and where? Also, what kind of warranty did you have?

 

Mine did the same thing about 9 months in.

A vertical line of dead pixels (white)

The screen was replaced with a completely new one. The tech took one look at it, I took the laptop home and brought it back when the part arrived. I had my laptop back in the afternoon and no problems since (fingers crossed).

Took the opportunity to ask for some loctite on the screen/bevel screws at the same time.

 

I don't know yet - I am speaking to Sony 1st line support and arranging for the entire laptop to be replaced. Will get back to you hopefully soon.
The line is changing - it is actually two lines now, separated by one millimetre of space. It seems as if the fault is growing...

 

Thanks for the input... I may just contact sony if it could be easily fixed on the same day.