Not happy with my new Z

Hi, I'm after some advice please on how to best fix my new Z laptop.

I have recently taken delivery of a new Z from SonyStyle. Initially I loved it, but it has a couple of irritating issues and I welcome your suggestions on how best to fix them.

1)
The 3 lock lights (caps, num and scroll) do not illuminate. This is very frustrating. Sometime the numlock is on and other times it's off when I turn on the laptop. It's not consistent, therefore a hassle.

2)
The button between 'assist' and the scroll light doesn't work. (It is set up in the Vaio control centre).

3)
The 'programme' button (to the right of the Vaio button) doesn't work.

4)
The light sensor doesn't work and the keyboard is permanently lit regardless of the ambient light. This reduces battery life on sunny days.

5)
Every time the laptop is turned on, it never 'remembers' the tracking pointer speed. I like it fast and it always defaults to the middle setting.

The spec is 8gb ram, i7, normal HDD which I have swapped for an SSD (all done very carefully).

Sony won't send anyone to look at the laptop at my home because it was a custom spec (not off the shelf). They will not let me take it to a service centre and wait for it to be looked after and they are insisting that I post it to them and it will be gone for at least 5 working days which is no use.

Also, what worries me is the insubstandard packaging used by Sony. My £1800 laptop arrived in a damaged box which was split and the Sony carton was visible and damaged on all corners. When I told Sony they didn't seem to care.

How would you go about fixing the issues? Has anyone else had such issues? What do people thng of Sony's after care and support. Out of 10 I'd rate it at 1 or 2 compared with Apple and Dell.

Thanks.

 

Well, I had a motherboard fry on a CTO SR and it was replaced in 3 business days by a tech sent out by Sony. I have an F with issues and it is slow going to get them resolved. They have been escalated. Admittedly I haven't been really pushing it. I find Sony support to be a mixed bag of nuts. Some are really diligent, some perfunctory. I was thinking I'll never buy an Vaio again except for the Z but after lurking in the HP Envy 17 forum I'm now thinking that Sony QA seems to be better.

Good luck.

 

i would suggest learning how to set up most of those stuff =\

 

i suspect not all the drivers were setup correctly when you switched HDD to SSD.

 

Totally agree
Did all of these issues happen before or after switching to SSD?

 

Sounds to me like the keyboard connector is either damaged or not seated properly. The lights for caps/num lock are definitely not software controlled.

 

i just want to say that i also hate sony support

if lenovo ever makes something that trumps the z, i'm jumping over to them

 

I concur. I believe that the CAPS LOCK, etc LED lights and the buttons beside them all utilize the same connector to the mother/main board. I'd suggest checking to make sure the cable isn't damaged and that it is properly seated at both ends.

 

Hmmm. I've been pretty pleased with Sony Support. Of course, I have ON-SITE support, so maybe that makes a difference. They occasionally misdiagnose a problem and send the wrong part (only happened once early last year), but they are pretty good about re-dispatching the local service tech to where ever I am with the new part. If the part is in stock at the Sony warehouse (sometimes a problem if you're buying a brand new iteration of a notebook), someone usually arrives within 3 business days to fix the laptop. My local tech is a pretty cool (and reasonable) person too.

What more could I ask for?

However, I totally trust what you are saying about the experience you have had (why would you lie?). Apparently, the level of service varies by region and nation? I see you're located in Canada. Out of curiosity, what sort of service plan, if any, is it that you've had trouble with?

 

Thanks for helpful feedback.

I don't know if all the lights and buttons worked when it was shiopped as I upgraded to the SSD almost straight away. However, there are 2 buttons on the same ribbon / connector which are working so I doubt there is a loose connector.

I did a full system recovery at the weekend to ensure that all original drivers were properly installed (which they were).

Any other suggestions?

 

It is going to be the keyboard connector or the keyboard cable. Other people have had random keys and/or lights not working (usually after disassembly as well) and it has pretty much always been the connector.

It's no coincidence that you unplugged and replugged that connector and devices attached to that connector are not working

And it may not just be loose, you may have damaged it. Others have done that as well.

 

I don't have my Z yet, but I've read in the owners thread that there is a software setting for how the light sensor behaves. You probably have yours switched to the option for the backlight always being on. You can set it to go off after 10 seconds for instance. Exactly where that is, I don't remember, but it seemed relatively easy to find based on what I read.

 

^It's in vaio control center...but "coincidentally" it's attached to the pc via the same cable that is causing all of the other problems