I have a SZ360 sitting in a box, scared to open it.

I have a brand new SZ360 from Amazon.com sitting here on my desk, just delivered from UPS. And... I'm scared to open it. Why? To make a long story short, I took advantage of Sony's $600 trade-in 2 weeks ago and bought an SZ330 from Amazon.com. When I received it, it had a stuck (bright green pixel) close to the middle of the screen. First, Amazon.com would not issue a replacement because they did not consider this a defect. My only option was to return -15% restocking fee. I fought it and they offered a full refund. In order to remain qualified for the trade-in, I HAVE to get my notebook replaced/exchanged from Amazon.com. This led me to rebuy another one from them. By the way, it took 3 phone calls and 6 emails back and forth to finally get them to give me a 100% refund.

So here it is, a brand new SZ360 - in a box, sealed... worried about getting another bad LCD, because I don't want to deal with Amazon again. Rest assured, I will never purchase anything like this from them again. Ever! I'm really waiting for UPS to pick up the SZ330 and to get a refund before I open this one. But I'm also thinking about cracking the box... Oh I don't know!

To anybody who thinks I'm nuts, flipping out over a stuck pixel. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. It was bright green (on black) with a cloud of green around it (spillage). Neither Amazon nor Sony would acknowledge this as a defect. I tried both routes.

Anyhow, this notebook is for my girlfriend... she's gonna love it. I've read and learned so much from this forum. I've read through all the topics I could find with regards to this notebook; from dead pixels to warranties to fan noise to static discharge. From what I can tell, this is a very supportive and friendly forum. I work in IT, so I hope to contribute at some point in time and want to thank the site for creating such a great community. Thanks!

 

dont worry m8... such things do happen! lol

all the best!!

 

Open it, it probably wont have anything wrong with it!

 

Welcome to the site, sorry for the problems there, I went to return a Sony to Amazon myself and got a big old error page on the return page so instead I'm selling it on eBay because I know what a hassle it is.

As far as being scared to open the box and find a dead pixel, say a prayer to the no deal pixel gods and then tear it open and hope they answered...

 

I got the error page as well, every time I tried. They did respond to every single request I submitted through it, because I got replies from them.

 

I felt the same opening up my SZ. My first ever laptop, 5 weeks of pay sitting in that box, and the lingering feeling that I could be cursed with a dead pixel. I opened it and there was none. Relief! But all was not safe yet About a week later a blue one popped up in the middle, right inside the "O" in the opening VAIO logo. I almost had a heart attack, but then something weird happened: I tapped it with my finger and it went away. And it hasn't come back in the 5 months I've had the machine. If you do get one try tapping it to see if it makes any difference. If not then we won't ridicule you if you break down in tears

 

I got mine from amazon as well, (and traded in a powerbook 100 for $400 back from sony)
The first one had a bad pixel and I sent it back with no problems. UPS even lost the return so Amazon actually never got it back, who knows wher eit is now!
They credited me though and I got a new SZ a couple of days later.

 

I'm glad some of you felt the same way, it's still sitting on my desk btw. It's like a lottery you don't want to win!

fxguy, how did you get them to take it back so easily? They seemed pretty firm on their dead pixel policy (whatever the manufacturer uses).

 

Dead pixels are fortunately not as widespread a problem as they were in the past. Of the four LCDs I've had over the past seven years or so, I've only had one stuck pixel in the top edge of a 20.1" UXGA panel.

The odds are in your favor, so pray to the dead-pixel gods as Andrew suggested and start enjoying your notebook!

 

Good News! No Stuck Pixel! Woohoo!

 

hey thats gr8 news buddy! congratulations on ur new SZ...

also, i had heard that amazaon is not that good a site for purchasing.. i bought mine thru compusa.. no problems as such.. its a wonderful machine! ciao

 

Congrats!

I thought I had read praise about Amazon all over these forums. Hm.

My first SZ (a 340) had something like 5 stuck pixels. Yick.

 

Just a tip for avoiding restocking fees:

When opening the SZ box (not sure if this applies to all VAIO boxes), use an X-ACTO knife or razor to carefully peel up the sticker. It should come off pretty easily. A little bit of the cardboard surface might be stuck, so when sealing the box, use some double-sided tape to stick it back perfectly.

Of course, have some courtesy if you choose to do this. Don't seal and return a defective product. If the product is not defective, at least pack everything as well as it came from the factory.