Flight attendant spills red wine on TZ!

You will not believe this but an Iberia flight attendant spilled wine over me and my TZ on Sunday flying back from Madrid. Cursor went beserk after accident. The next day it seemed OK, but now all the keys, particularly the space bar, need much more pressure to type.

And this is my second TZ, so I will have to ship it back to Dynamism and have them repair it in Japan. Iberia gave me a claim form so I can get it replaced, which I will do, because I have no idea what will happen if I don't.

Has anyone tried to look under the keyboard? Is it removable at all?

 

i supposed you can take out each key seperately, but what a pain

 

when making claims, it is best to keep everything the way it is so you dont get blamed for intentionally breaking the thing. and take fotos if you havent done so already.

 

Well, there's nothing visible, so all the damage is under the keyboard. The flight attendant's supervisor spoke to me, she signed the form, and said she would file a report with Iberia about the incident. The form is very straightforward, just buy another and supply the receipt plus a copy of my passport and boarding pass.

Don't know how they will react when they see the bill, but, hey, it was their fault.

 

I'm pretty sure the airline can afford your laptop.

However, the keyboard is removable and can be replaced as a unit.

 

I removed the keyboard from my new G11 a few days back out of curiosity. I would expect the TZ to be very similar. Remove any screws on the bottom of the computer that are directly beneath the keyboard then, with a small screwdriver, release the latches around the sides of the keyboard. On the G11 these are on the back and two sides. The front edge of the keyboard has tabs which slot into the chassis - once the latches are released then the keyboard can be lifted slightly to slide the keyboard backwards and release the tabs. Then it's a case of turning the keyboard over and releasing the ribbon cable.

I would hope Dynamism can do a keyboard swap without shipping the whole notebook to Japan.

John

 

I will call them tomorrow to find out. But I don't know if I can give up my TZ. I will have to install Parallels on my MacBook and get Windows up and running on that first. The only problem is that my MacBook's drive is only 120GB. I would have to move all my iMovie files off it to make room for my PC stuff.

What a mess!

 

It might be only the keyboard , but it might be some wine got to the motherboard , this could cause problems later on .

I'd look thoroughly under the keyboard for spill signs ( its usually easy ) :

If the motherboard got wine on it I'd take a replacement ( or send to a lab ) .

If there are none and you can't live without it then I'd just order a new keyboard and replece it myself .

 

According to the claim, can't you just buy another one, then send them the bill?

 

Yes, that's what I have to do no matter what, but it's still a huge hassle to have to reinstall everything. I have to get the 64GB SSD/200GB model, because the 32GB no longer is available in Premium Carbon from Dynamism.

This will be the sixth computer I will have set up this year!

 

Nope. Dynamism has to send it back. They don't stock parts nor are they a Sony Authorized Repair center - they're just a middle man.

If you are savvy and discover it's only the keyboard, you can order the part from the Sony DAPC in the US and replace it yourself.

If you send it to Dynamism, it's usually about a 3 - 4 week complete door-to-door turnaround.

 

Yes, that's what I figured, so I will need to replace it because I can't wait a month for a new computer, then sell the repaired one. Oh well, so goes life.

 

so you would need to front the cash for a new one and send the airline the bill correct?

 

Yes, that's correct. But now that I'm looking at my replacement options, I really do want a model with a Sprint modem, so I may have to spring for the difference myself and get that Bordeaux model.

Unfortunately, they're not in stock so I'll have to wait.

 

you can always buy the tz from sonystyle its 64gb ssd and 200hdd but its like 4000 lol damn ubercool you have more laptops in this one year then I had in my whole life

 

Ha ... I seem to average 1 - 2 a year. It's a bad itch.

 

its an additction, like cell phones. I might need to go to a rehab for this. My fourth notebook in 1 year.

 

hahah laptops is the new crack

 

Yeah it is the new crack, I am on my 6th laptop in 2 years LOL!!!

 

theres a vid at cnet.com where it shows you how to clean your laptop keyboard

hope it helps

 

I know you're probably going to have to return the whole kit-n-kaboodle to Dynamism, but to answer your question: yes, it's absolutely removable. There are nine visible screws on the bottom you have to take out, plus:

- One under the (screwed in) hatch for the memory in the center

- One under the left rubber foot (viewed from the bottom with the screen at the top), but none under the other foot, in case you were tempted to pry every rubber item off the bottom

- Three under the plastic/rubber caps at the bottom edge (under the edge where the card reader and media buttons are)

- And three silver ones under the battery/lid

After unscrewing all those, lift up the keyboard up starting from the bottom edge, carefully. The keyboard will appear to catch at the two screen pivots, but one side (left, I think it was) has a bit of play. Slide the keyboard toward that side and the other pivot will lift out, at which point you slide the keyboard back the other way and the first pivot will lift out. Don't lift the keyboard out just yet! The ribbon cable for the keyboard is dead center in the middle of the laptop, so carefully pry the connector loose before lifting the keyboard free.

Now admire the fine, ultra-intricate layout in person, instead of some vicarious online view. It's no wonder that the ThinkPad X61 has keyboard drainage built in but no DVD. There's just no room. Of course ubercool is probably seriously wishing his TZ had the drainage canals ....

Cheers!

 

I feel better now lol

I'm only on my 5th in 3 years or so. Soon to be the 6th within a few months my gut tells me ...

 

lol 4th in 4 months kept deciding on new ones once santa rosa came out and was returning them and i think im finally settled....i sure hope

 

Um thanks, but that sounds too complicated for me. Besides, as someone who complains all the time about rubber feet falling off, I don't I want to be pulling any off!

I will be shipping it back to Dynamism so they can do the repair in Japan. And I guess I will have to cave and buy the U.S. Bordeaux version because I want the broadband modem and 200GB drive model.

Anyway, it's an "out of warranty" repair because it was damaged by flight attendant, which makes the U.S. accidental damage protection probably not a bad idea.

 

I would get the U.S. Rioja version instead - much better ;-)

 

Hehe, a good one!

 

About 2 yrs ago as I was rushing through airport security to catch a plane, I wedged my S360 into the laptop bag the wrong way and a few keys popped out. I spent 2 weeks overseas with missing keys on my keyboard, but I ordered a replacement keyboard online (about $60) and it was waiting for me when I got back. Remove a few screws from the bottom, unlock the ribbon cable, and put the new one in, and voila, good as new! Of course you have to be comfortable with DIY and not see your PC as some mysterious black box of wonders.

Also, as with all contact-sensitive electronics, the keyboard is vulnerable to water, but you CAN wash it. Afterwards you will have to "bake" it for a day or two. I "fix" PDAs and cell phones accidentally dunked in water by putting these things on my CRT TV and let the waste heat evaporate the water inside. Works like a charm.

 

OK, I'm becoming delusional. Thinking I can fix it myself. But I have a few more questions regarding the screws. How do you re-attach the rubber foot that you pried off? Do you have to glue it back on? I already lost a few on my previous TZ.

 

The rubber foot is attached with basically double-sided adhesive (read: tape) and it pops off with just medium pressure from, say, a fingernail. I just stuck mine back on and it stayed there. I imagine one of these days I'm going to want to glue it on, because as we all know these things eventually fall off.

That rubber foot is a triviality: it's the three plastic/rubber caps on the front edge that were the most troublesome to remove, at least for me. You'll need a very thin screwdriver (I used the smallest one in those common cases of "jeweler's" screwdrivers). You pry them up from the bottom -- watch out for flying caps! -- and require a good deal of pressure both up and inwards, because the caps have little ridges that hold the cap in place. Unless you're extraordinarily gifted -- and I mean GIFTED, e.g. I repair mechanical watches as a hobby -- you'll probably dent the cap a little, but really it's no harm done.

Really, it's completely doable. As for how you clean it afterwards: I'll leave that up to you. Perhaps there is a way to expose the keycaps so that you can do a surgical clean-up. You could also try soaking the entire keyboard in a pan of distilled water for a few minutes/hours/overnight, rinse it out, and leave it to air-dry. That has worked in the past for me, as when I had to clean my sick off my old Powerbook 520c.

Now that's a story for another day.