Is the SZ650 a lemon??

It would seam that alot of people who purchased the SZ650 are having some problems.

I purchased the SZ680 notebook I don't have any of problems that the SZ650owners have with the exception of the hugh stockpile of bloatware.

If anyone else has purchased the SZ680 or any other model have you had any of the SZ650 problems? Can you please post any probblems you may be having.

To help people better understand the problems with the SZ650:
Can some please post a detailed image pointing to the light leakeage problem.

Can someone post the expected battery charge time verse the charge time you are getting.

With the current charge setting I'm getting a little over 3hr of usage on a single charge. Does this differ from the SZ650?

 

I own an SZ680 but I won't see it until September 6 since it was ordered from the US and delivered to the UK, and I am currently in the Netherlands.
Hopefully all is OK since the guarrantee is US-based only and sending it back there would be expensive. In case you are wondering: SZ6 is not available yet in the UK and Vaios are always around 60% more expensive in Europe even after adding the 17.5% tax we must pay... (19% elsewhere in Europe)

Will keep you posted...

 

I'll propably do the same, order it in US. I'm in holland. What store did you order?

We may have to purchase Vaio Oversea Service VOS, to get warranty in europe.

 

Just mailed you privately about this... Didn't want to clutter up this thread ;-)

 

I think the "problems" with the sz650 have been taken out of proportion. I think only Monster and myself have reported any problems. The light leakage is very minimal (I already took some pictures in another one of my posts), and what other real problems is there? The battery charge time I heard was always long with all models of the sz. Mine takes 3.5-4 hours to full charge when empty, and I can go for 4 hours with the battery when fully charged (while browsing the internet and such). It is possible Monster has a defective battery or AC adapter.

I also reported some small noises from the HHD when idle, but I have also heard this from many other harddrives, including those in the G1S and such. It does not seem to be somthing broken.

Please keep in mind that very few people will posts about how good their computer is working. The majority of posts will be on problems people have run into and how to solve. The only reason I actually joined this forum is to find out how to fix a problem, and I believe that is the case of many people. So for every bad post you see, there are hundreds (random number) of other people not posting about how smooth their computer runs. I dont think my SZ650 is a lemon, and I am very happy with my purchase.

 

FWIW I have only had my SZ 650 for a few days but so far so good. No real light leakage or battery issues. I did purchase the 3 year extended warranty with on site repair and accident coverage. I bought the SZ at Best Buy for 1899 and the extended warranty from Sony Style for $299. I had been waiting on a Dell m1330 but thought I would forgo the 2 month wait and try the Sony. It is my first Sony laptop though I had a couple of Dells in the past that the build quality and performance were average at best. The screen on this laptop is gorgeous and I have been slowly removing the bloatware. I can't say much about Vista except that I miss XP Pro.
YMMV
JTMav

 

I do notice the light leakage on my sz680n02, when the background is completely dark (i.e. when windows is starting).
I am ok with that since I don't see any problem when I use it.

 

I suspect that it's going thru the first machine bug stages now.

I do not consider light leakage to be acceptable. And I'd really like to get to the bottom of this 6 hour charge thing.

On the plus side, Sony/JR has offered to exchange this one - no hassles. I'm going to wait until the 30 day clock is about up on the RMA before returning it in hopes of getting into the next batch.

 

A word to the wise: Best Buy would not take back my SZ-650 laptop.
My piece of lint was actually a small crack in the screen and it extended across the entire length of the screen now upon opening and closing the screen. The crack just exploded in its extension.

Best Buy, it felt like, accused me of doing this.
I assure you that I did not. The laptop was bought yesterday evening. There isn't even any damage to the glossy coating, no finger prints, nothing. It's a crack underneath the screen. Who works at these places?

I will never buy anything from Best Buy again. I will take it to another location for an exchange. And then never, ever buy anything from them again.

They said they needed to research my buying history and return patterns , etc. I was so freaking upset. They can do business however they want, but to me to discriminate like this is wrong. Never again. Never again. Even 10 years later, never again.

 

pufftissue, do away with the middle-man. Customers are often able to get a RA when they call manufacturers directly.

Also, did you speak to a manager or a sales/returns person? Sales or tech people are often instructed to pay very close attention to issues like yours, so don't pay too much attention to them. If it was a manager who dealt with you in that manner, then you have every right to be annoyed.

 

This is really insulting! Call the credit card and prepare for the dispute!

 

Call Sony, ask for level two support. Explain it to them. They should give you a case number. With that you can RMA it to the reseller (assuming that they are an authorized Sony dealer.)

 

just received my sz650 from amazon yesterday.....

when i set the background to all white.....i can see faint black/gray bars going vertically from the bottom of the screen to the top.

i have 1 line in the center of the screen and another one closer along the right edge.

these faint black bars are about 1/2 inch wide. i noticed it while typing a word document. they are barely noticeble but it drives me crazy.....

did i get a bad screen? should i call amazon or sony directly for this issue?

 

jerryatla, I had the same problem with my SZ650. I returned for exchange, and its fine now. I called it uneven lighting. I suggest you return for exchange or have Sony repair it.

 

1 week and so far no problems with my SZ650. No light leakage, no display problems in general, normal SZ charging time of around 3.5 hours when the battery is at 12% and the H-HHD is quiet.

 

thanks, i will do that

 

Hi Jerryatla,

I noticed this problem. I called it like 5 candles burning with light grey smoke lighting up the screen from the bottom edge. Or the tiger effect.

It sucks, to be honest, and I won't stand for it. I am just not sure if all SZ's have this problem. Return it--problem is--what is Amazon's return policy?

 

I've got a 650 with no major issues. Very minor amount of light leakage, but it's only noticeable when the screen is black. Overall I'm very happy.

 

looking for numbers to call right now....gonna call both amazon and sony and see...

 

I just did the same thing -- bought the sz650 and am about to cancel my dell1330 order...and plan to buy the onsite warranty from sonystyle.
only time will tell i guess - but I would like advice on onsite response from sony.

I know they have a bad rep for customer service, but it their onsite repair service decent when/if called upon???

 

the light leakage has been there since the sz-1 series... it's really a nitpicky issue. When any other color than black is present, it's not an issue.

 

out of the box, i am liking my sz650....
don't know if I want to set it to all white to see possible funky screen lighting....hmmm....but i am glad for the candid info on this site.
-still thinking about whether to purchase a sony extended service contract and welcome any experience with that....

fyi purchased mine at bestbuy; the guy was nice but would not want to rely on them for service. there is ALWAYS a line around the geeksquad/business/customer service area....I was given 3 business cards for business pros. when i called I realized that all three individuals had the SAME 'direct' phone number. and of course, all you get is a recorded message...and of course no one returned my call 'within two hours' as promised. DO NOT BUY SERVICE FROM BESTBUY-imo they are not staffed to deliver the service they are selling!!!

 

NO NO NO! Sony tech support does not give out RMAs for unit purchased at retail! Take my word for it. Your retailer is BSing you if they say otherwise. Either go through Sony servicing or just get a refund per store policy.

 

I've been satisfied with my SZ650. Some minor light leakage, but it's not really very noticeable. Excessive bloatware is my main complaint so far, did a semi-clean install and that helped a lot. Still getting used to Vista though, not a fan of it so far, but I'll get used to it I think.

 

Very happy here as well ... No light leakage ... Amazing & beautiful machine ... Bought straight from Sony.

 

I bought sz650NC too. I have several issues that some of you guys may figure out on the resolution.

Is there any problem with the video card when you connect to external screen 1600 x 1200 or 1920 x 1200?

I tried to played movies on my external monitor and it just failed. it says the video card has problem or something like that.

Anyone has the same experience?
I used divX codec and played the movies with windows media player.

I have not notice any light leakage. I'll check it tonight.

 

After looking at the screen, yeah I noticed light leakage, but no big deal. i don't see blank screen that much

Anyone having issues with NVIDIA while using external monitor?

Also, I just got the docking station and it seems the DVI output does not work when using INTEL graphic card. Any ideas?

I'm having so many issues with this baby, hopefully sony will soon have the patch on these issues. In fact, I tried to install some of the driver for this model on sony website and they don't even work. The error message says that the software is not for windows vista. It's bizarre..

 

I just received my SZ650. Too much bloatware and minimal light leak. I could live with the light leak.

Unfortunately, I have the same LCD problems as described in posts #13, #14, and #17. There are 2-3 vertical discoloration bands on the screen running up from the bottom of the screen. The most pronounced one is in the center, about an inch wide and 3-4 inches long before its fads out. Time to contact Sony.

 

Same here.

 

to Enduser/unid3ntifi3d, are those bands constantly showing up? I just got my SZ650 and I have a similar problem but instead it's more like flickering vertical bands in the middle, I've noticed it during the windows loading screen and a few seconds into loading up the desktop. Everything seems to be smooth after that though, would you guys say this is normal?

 

Yes, my "stripes" are always there; it's like an overlay of the whole screen. I don't know if your flickering vertical bands is normal or not. Can you see them with an all white background (try low-mid-high brightness)?

 

Just tested it with an all white background and I can't see them at low-mid-high brightness.

 

Would you believe I had the same issue with an early release S1 three years ago. Annoying thick fuzzy vertical bands going up the screen. They reported it as a graphic card problem.

I bypassed the online retailer and dealt directly with Sony (Europe), they were very efficient.

 

Sarn, were they constantly visible?

 

They were constantly visible especially on a light colored background.

see this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=163135


and a photo from that thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9955&d=1188462599

 

I feel terrible fr you guys really, my screen is the most beautiful I have ever owned, it really is awesome. Hope everyone gets this solved

 

They were constantly there and were more apparent with certain colours. At the time I thought that they faded as the screen "warmed up" but that was probably my imagination. I can understand the disappointment of unpacking your new machine to have something like this happen.

For a premium product it is not worth tolerating an issue like this. It was worth the inconvenience getting it replaced and having a crystal clear screen.

 

Mine has it too. Visible when the background is in white. However my wife uses the laptop everyday for her classes. I will wait until winter vacation to get it replaced. I have paid $300 bucks for onsite service. It is the chance to use it.

And i don't think it is graphic card problem. should be the screen. i know little about lcd screens though.

 

Just got my SZ650 and I can see no evidence of Yellow lines ^^

Slight almost not noticeable leakage... can't even tell really unless you focus on it...

Oh well!

I'm loving this thing so far ;P glad I canceled V2s

 

So does anyone know if these flickering bars that occur randomly (usually during bootup) is random or not?

 

I went to Best Buy today to check out the sale on SZ650 through Saturday, $1899.99. Unfortunately, the display model had the vertical yellow stripes. I am concerned that this is a pervasive screen problem. A rough guess based on this and other threads is that this screen problem is showing up in 20+% the SZ notebooks received by posters at NotebookReview. I will now go back and reconsider other brands and models.

 

Yeah and if you send it to Sony service with stripes on the screen they will insist it is physical damage caused by you.

 

I bought mine a couple days and it is flawless, no dead pixels and no lines thank god, it's an awesome computer.I am actually amazed at how well it runs oblivion, medium settings of course but at widescreen resolutions.All the bloatware installed was insane but it runs as fast as my new desktop after a clean install.

 

@ unid3ntifi3d

Does your screen have the problem I described in this thread?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166409

On a side note, I'm not sure how almost no one else has the problem I mentioned. I looked at 3 or 4 Sony SZ series laptops with LED screens on display at a local store and they all had the same effect to varying degrees. I ended up taking my laptop and exchanging it for a new one. The return people agreed that it was a visible defect and gave me a new one, no hassles. The new laptop I have still has this problem, but it is very much localized to a tiny area in the lower left corner of the screen (above the windows start menu orb) and a bit on the right edge. The rest of the screen however is fine. I decided to keep my new sz650 as it is mostly unnoticeable unless I am trying to look for the defects, unlike the first one I had.

 

My screen doesn't show any of this "diagonal line" issue, even when I changed the refresh rate to 40hz.

 

Is that what happened to you when you tried to send yours in?

 

Not sure where he got that information because mine is with Sony Service right now getting fixed for this issue. I received an e-mail this morning stating that one of the parts is on back order (should take only a few days)...apparently they already have the replacement screen in but are waiting on the housing. I'm going to call back tomorrow to get more details, but they did NOT accuse me of physically damaging the laptop. My guess is the guy who posted that just had a bad experience with service in the past.

 

Good to hear that your experience with Sony turned out good so far. Please inform us how it ultimately turns out.

 

I, too, have the 1/2-inch smokey bands in two places on my screen. It's driving me crazy.

Question for those of you who sent your computers in to Sony to fix this problem: Did they replace your screen or your entire computer?

That is, when you got your computer back was all of your data still there? I fully intend to back up my files but I was just wondering if Sony replaces the screen itself or the entire computer.

Thanks - this forum is great!

 

I've had my SZ650 for two weeks. I have a SMART warning that my hard disk will imminently fail...have had all kinds of bad sectors reported, blue screen of death, some lost files, etc. Bad luck, I guess. Thankfully I have everything backed up (including full Windows PC backup, who knows if it will work)...so now just waiting for them to show up. Sony Canada has a ridiculous ~5 business day SLA for service (Dell is next day!) so I'm basically stuck for the moment. I have a backup desktop PC I can use with the external USB HD that has my backup, but it's annoying to say the least...