Please Help - Sony wants 700.00 to fix 1.5yr old SZ691

My video card blew out and since it's an onboard video card - they want 700.00 to repair it. It's only 1 year and 5 months old and it's not under warranty - since warranty expired after 1 year.

This can't be right, can it? They said it overheated because of fine dust in the fan. I take really good care of my laptop and the fan worked...I always have it on ZM-NC1000 cooler...I don't know what I could have done about "fine dust"...

Please help - is this something that I can get fixed for under 700.00 or do I need to bite the bullet? I'm also concerned - what happens in another year? Would I need to replace the motherboard again for another 700.00?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need to call them back asap to give them an answer.

 

The two most expensive fixes are motherboard (which the video card is soldered to) and screen. They also factor in labor rates for the people working on the fix.

If you can find the motherboard on your own (it's not listed on the USA Sony DAPC site), maybe you can do it, but there are a lot of little parts.

 

the faulty nvidia..
if i were you i would skip the repair.. since the problem might occured again. its risk to have a faulty gpu again even after you've repaired.

unless they replace with mobo that has nvidia 7400 :/
save the moolah and get new one :x

 

yeah dude u can get pretty good laptops with that money

 

Buy this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-mbx-170-sz-650-750-691-71e-motherboard-A1508528A_W0QQitemZ270340447851QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ef18bde6b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50


Then open up your laptop and replace the motherboard by yourself. It's not easy to disassemble laptops, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. Look up instructions online, I'm sure you can find somebody who open up the laptop before and can offer help.

 

Unfortunately sony doesn't sell motherboards through their parts and accessories center, you could call them to check (the last time i called to ask was '06) but even with the part number in hand (from a servce manual) they won't sell it to you. You either find it on ebay or you're SOL....as to installing it, its not too hard so long as you're methodical about keeping everything organized during the tear down, especially if its your first. I usually try to take high quality images of the disassembly process as i go so i can check my work later if i can't remember where a particular screw goes etc. Also if you can, get a hold of the service manual for a SZ6 before you begin. There's a thread here somewhere that has PDFs of the manuals posted, or you can buy one from sony for around $7.

 

Don't buy it on ebay...when you have it serviced from Sony or an authorized Sony shop they BIOS the board for your model and serial number. If this is not done you will have problems later if you ever try run a recovery and so on...grey market product from china is not worth the trouble...at least with Sony you get a real warranty...

 

Well i have had it with my SZ94S now.

First the onboard video died and got a full motherboard warrenty replacement.

Then the fan died a few weeks after and had to replace it myself.

And now the onboard video has died again which means paying the same as you or getting the parts and doing it myself.

I have seen the MBX-170 motherboard (Used in the SZ4-7 series) for sale for around $200US from china as well. Opening and replacing the motherboard properly takes about half a day of labour and after pulling apart the SZ a few times it starts to become really tedious.

But the same thing will probably happen again with the faulty nvidia card problem so i agree with saving the $700 and dump the SZ series and go to ATI/INTEL in the new Sony SR series or similar

 

I own a SZ7 and i never use the dedicated card. If you don't use the dedicated card much and your SZ has been serving you well then i do think that buying your own motherboard is a good idea. I would never pay that out to Sony.
Be careful who you buy from if you buy a motherboard from ebay and make sure that they have got very good feedback.

 

vyshtia & bunbuns,
Were you using the Nvidia card or the Intel integrated graphics when the video stopped working?

Just want to confirm that the Nvidia is causing the trouble.

Thanks.

 

Using SPEED mode (Nvidia). Althrough i put a lot of pressure on mine using CAD/3D software on regular basis.

The nvidia chip in this range is reported to have the widely mentioned defect. Using the intel video chip i found produced a lot less heat so probably not so much a problem if its replaced.

 

It looks like that all notebooks that come with GeForce 8xxx are ticking time bombs. They come with different detonators and will go off at different time but they will go off.

 

Note that the warranty from Sony on repaired parts (if you're already out of warranty) are only for 90 days (if I'm not wrong).

 

Don't worry. Did you pay with credit card? If you did, you do not need to worry about anything, since the credit card company will cover any repair costs. Call the credit card company and ask about the "extended warranty program." 99% US credit cards except for Discover provided a free one year additonal warranty plus the manufacture one.

Three years ago, my old vaio (S260) suddenly died due to faulty GPU. Sony charged me $600 but my citi master card covered all the costs except for the shipping charges.

 

Put it in the oven, it may decide to work again >_> well atleast GPU's think like this, cant say mobo' will but worth a shot, save 700 and buy a new lappy

 

I think the OP may want to try denikin's suggestion sice he/she has got nothing more to lose, does he/she? Who knows? The OP's "extended warranty" may actually be covered by his/her credit card company.

denikin, is your GPU in your Vaio S260 an ATI? I thought ATI "don't have any" GPU problems?

 

Just for those that might consider taking the do it yourself repair with the motherboard I purchased a MBX-170 refurbished motherboard from the ebay link in the 5th reply.

It installed, tested and working so far fine and at more than 1/2 the price that i was quoted for a brand new one from sony themselves ($700).

I haven't tried the recovery discs but it probably won't work as someone mentioned since my model and serial number are now different in the BIOS (SZ94S -> SZ76_C) so making a ghost image of the Vista OS Parition would be a alternative. On the up side the motherboard i think is a slightly newer revison than my previous.

I probably only suggest this option to people past their warrenty and happy to pull apart their lappy.