FJ270/B --- high-pitched standby noise

Hello hello,

Quick question --- I recently purchased a Sony Vaio FJ270/B and am very happy with it.... except for the fact that when the computer goes on standby mode (which happens quite frequently when it sits around on battery power), it emits a high-pitched noise. The little power light on the front end of the unit blinks orange, and every time the light blinks 'on' the noise goes up in pitch.

It's quiet as a kitten otherwise... but this noise is pretty grating on the ears. I'm wondering if this is my particular unit that's faulty, or if this is typical of the FJ270/B's out there.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
ben

 

Mine has got the same issue. Mine is FJ370B/C. It produces the sharp noise when on standby(every time the orange light flashed like you described) but mine is also doing it when turned off (but the noise is much more quiet than on standby).....I have to take the battery out to stop the noise.

I don't know why. Anyone who knows please tell us.

 

Mine working fine.

 

I also have a FJ270/B and it make a high pitched noise whenever the battery is being used. It seems like the noise is coming from the fan area, but I'm still not sure. It is somewhat loud and annoying, but once the charger is in, the laptop stops emitting the noise. It's really weird. It also makes noise when it's turned off.

If anyone know what the problem is? Please give us some insight. Thanks.

 

I'm on my third VAIO - the first two were FJ250/BP from Costco - both of them made the subtle yet brain-piercing high-pitched noise when running on battery power. I eventfully couldn't stand it and returned them both (for other reasons as well). When Costco got the FJ37/B recently, I thought I'd try again, but I'm getting the same issue - even worse, in that it happens more consistently. Everything else about the computer - other than the occasionally freaked out touchpad/cursor - seems okay, but if I can't resolve the sound issue, I'm afraid I'm going to have to return the unit to Costco once again. What's the point of having the thing if you have to keep it plugged in ALL the time in order to avoid getting a migraine?

A friend of mine who knows a thing or two about computers referred to the sound as "battery whine" and Sony even sent me a new battery to try on one of the FJ250's but it made no difference. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it, since I'd like to keep this computer - even though the FJ250/BP was better - bigger HD, XP pro, etc.

Thanks,

reubkov

 

I played around with my laptop a while back, and I got rid of the high pitched noise that people were talking about when it is turned on and running on battery (on a FJ270P/B). I started plugging things in the USB ports, firewire, and PC card slot but it still made the noise. So then I decided to use the camera, and the noise stopped. Once I stopped using it, the noise began again. I disabled the camera through the device manager and the noise stopped for good. This is only when the laptop is running on the battery. I hardly use the camera anyway. I hope this helps.

I still don't know about the noise that is made when the laptop is off, but I can hardly notice it. But if anyone has any other info on this, please share. Thanks

 

my fe makes the high pitch noise when on standby and connected to the outlet...should i be concerned?
i also posted this as a reply on another thread so if you encounter it twice, sorry.

 

I actually was trouble-shooting my FJ and found these same solutions. The computer would make irritating noises while running on battery power (only when I ran specific programs --- really weird) and I found that plugging any device into a USB drive would stop the noise. I tried disabling the USB drives altogether, which didn't work ---- the noises would only stop when an active device was plugged into a (any) USB drive. After doing that, the laptop would be whisper quiet.

The stand-by noise was terrible ---- it drove me crazy. I ended up setting up my computer so that it would never enter stand-by mode. Yeek.

The power-off noise was also present on my unit. Sony tech support told me this was *cough cough* normal for the FJs. Whatever.

In any case, all of these noise issues really bothered me. I work in a quiet office, and the high-pitched whines gave me headaches --- I ended up hardly ever using the computer off of AC power. I returned the first FJ I bought to a retailer to get another one, which exhibited the same problems. I sent that one into Sony support, and they reported that they couldn't find any problems, but went ahead and replaced my motherboard. When I got it back, it still had the same issues. At that point I found out about the USB 'fix', which, to me, was indicative of something being wrong with the unit/build. I sent it back to Sony after speaking with several techs to make sure they understood what I was complaining about.

The end result is I eventually got Sony to credit me my full purchase price towards credit towards any Sony item. I put everything into buying a SZ340, which should be arriving shortly.

I *did* like the FJ, but the noises really bothered me.. if Sony hadn't of eventually given me this refund-esque solution, I was probably going to sell the unit myself and buy another model of computer.

So yeah, anyway, as far as Sony is concerned it does not seem like there is a fix for any of these issues that several people are having with the FJ-series.

 

true , the noise stopped when i unplugged my usb mouse! im switching to bluetooth anyways so no problem. I think this is a standard problem with sony (my dell used to do the same noise too under certain circumstances). Its better to just accept it instead of playing the replacement game with sony...

 

very true.Playing the replacment/repair game is a very big pain.I went through it with my grx690 in 2002 and it took them 5 tries to get the fix not fogrting the deep scratch they made on the top of the notebook.They said it happened during shipping.They refused to make the fix

 

Yeah ---- I was constantly on the fence about whether it was worth continuing to re-send in my laptop to Sony versus living with the issue and/or selling the thing myself. Hopefully this story has a happy ending (SZ340 on the FedEx truck for delivery as I type!).

 

Any updates on this issue. I have recently purchased an FZ-160 and have the same problem.