Broken Clip On Sony TZ Battery, What To Do Now?

Sadly I awoke with a start this morning toppling the TZ out of bed. The computer landed fine on a VERY plush rug and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I pick up the laptop and notice the battery had fallen out. Odd... Immediately my mind raced to the weak clips and sure enough, the one on the release side was cleanly broken. Not a mark on my laptop for 2ish months and the one light spill it takes ends in this. So my question is, is the battery covered by warranty? And can I just walk into a Sony Style store and expect some tech support? I've got a few flights to take over the next few days and wanted a laptop that will stay on preferably without sudden loss of power. And I'm hoping the clips are stronger on the next rev of the battery? I bought mine in the US, so my warranty should be fine.

Anyone have the same issue? I know I cant be alone, those clips seems quite fragile.

 

Depends on the store/country did you buy it in a sony store?
Worst case the sony support line will exchange the battery for you though i hear its only with a particular model of battery what model do you have? sony might have a new battery for the tz in a month or 2 with better locks

 

duct tape!!!! lol

 

I have had the same problem and form my web searches,so have a lotof other people. I think it should be considered a product defect and fixed by Sony on future models. Mine happened with the larger extended battery. I think the weight of the battery relative to the light weight of the computer and the very fragile natue of the plastic battery latching mechanism. A smidgeon of the plastic latch on the battery broke on one side. A small piece of plastic on the edge of the battery compartment of the computer broke off on the other side (didn't notice this until they sent me a new battery). The batteries have a 90 day warranty and Sony replaced it free (although they sent the wrong battery twice before sending me the large capacity battery which is what broke). Then I noticed that the battery still slipped and the plastic on the computer itself had been broken off also. So I sent the computer back to Sony (I have a damage warranty). They sent it back unchanged, having swapped out the battery. Now it is back at Sony again. This time I sent detailed annotated macro photos of the place in the batery compartment where the small piece of plastic broke off. I hope they will fix it right this time. I think they will need to replace the entire casing as it seems to be all one piece. Sony needs a longer term solution. Otherwise this is a really great computer. I just haven't been able to use it for hte last month or so. The service people on the phone are nice, but don't seem to understand the problem very well.

 

mine just broke this morning from pulling it out of it's sleeve. I didn't even pull hard.

so what did you do? was it covered up warranty?

 

Haven't done anything yet, couldn't live without the battery, now that spring break is almost over I'll send it out next week and they say they can have another one back to me within 72 hours. Will keep the thread updated as things progress. Bought a sleeve case to keep the lappy save from harm like this though, it has a notch so the battery is held in place even when moved around.

http://www.clearanceclub.com/depot/quelle_showroom.cgi?sku=7831

 

the sleeve looks nice. i wish it they posted more and bigger pictures though.

 

Here are better/bigger/more detailed pics of that case.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=188511

 

I have already had two broken batteries like that. The first, an extended one, I was able to return because it was still within the 30-day period in which I could return it no-questions asked.

My current standard battery broke in its tight-fitting case during some trip, which is simply incredible. At least the first one broke, like yours, falling off the bed.

Both broke on the release side, suggesting that this part of the battery suffers the most stress.

I've been living with the broken battery, periodically suffering shutdowns, because I bought my TZ90 from Dynamism. I guess I could just throw it away one day and buy a new one, but what a waste, money-wise and environmentally. This situation is only tolerable because I also have the extended battery.

Broken battery clips ranks right up there with missing rubber feet as the most idiotic small-part annoyances after hang-nails and paper cuts.

 

@v12spd

Do you know if the extended battery will fit on this leather cover VGP-CV1/T?

 

I have the VGP-CV1/T & Love it, but unfortunately it does not fit with the extended battery...

The leather slipcase from Sony however does fit.

 

I am happy to report that they mailed me a new battery today after insisting that I know it was the clip on the battery and not my computer. They almost wanted me to send in the whole computer. Happy theyre sending me a battery so I dont have to go without one for a week.

 

Update: Got the new battery, fits perfectly, has a new rev number on it, hopefully its clips are stronger. Works perfectly! Very happy with my TZ again!

 

I'm glad there is a happy ending to this story.

 

I discovered there is a hole where it seems like a screw would fit to hold the battery. There is a sticker on the hole. If you take out the battery, you'll see a hole with a white bottom (sticker). So poke it out, take one of the screws from the bottom, attach the battery and secure it with the screw. Put the sticker over the hole where you took the screw from.


img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01773zf1.jpg

 

That is fantastic!

 

Haha that is a neat trick to fix the battery to bad it wont help me with my vgp-bpx11 since it doesnt have that hole in it If anyone has any idea how to fix the clip on the bpx11 that info would be greatly appreciated. I bought the battery from ebay in novemeber so I doubt it still has warranty on it.

 

I got sony to send me a replacement battery, should be here in a few days. Anywho, if they don't ask for the old broken battery back, which they haven't before, I will just drill a tiny hole in the old broken battery and use it as well. Thanks again for the tip