SZ series, defective touchpad!! is Sony fixing the problem?

I have a 5 months old SZ660 (XP installed from Sony’s disks), about a month ago the touchpad started to fail, the cursor movement was suddenly inverted and windows started to open and close randomly. The problem got worst with time and now the touchpad is almost unusable. After a quick search in Google I found that this is a common problem of the SZ series (see links below). I was surprised not to find a thread on this forum about the issue (albeit quick search). I call Sony tech support, they acknowledge it's a known issue and told me to send it for repair. The thing is that according to the links below in many cases the problem is not permanently solved after the Sony "repair" and resurfaces again sooner or latter. Does anyone know if Sony actually knows how to fix the problem? I can’t afford to be without my computer for 3 weeks only to find latter on that the problem was not fixed.
Cheers,

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7587_102-0.html?forumID=69&threadID=252612&start=0

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread206282.html

http://www.techsupportforum.com/har...t/123442-solved-vaio-touchpad-reversed-2.html

 

Quite a few people looked at the post but no replies so far. Any SZ users with this porblem out there?

 

Thanks for the answers! aparently everybody with a SZ is on a "happily ever after" stage.

 

Come on people! SZ users with touchpad problmes I know you're there ... speak up

 

Yeh, I've had the frantic touchpad freakout thing too, and the inversion that follows. It's happened about 5 times in a couple of months and when it does I just close the lid and reopen.

Someone in another thread mention it was a driver issue and the trick was to restart the Alps driver. I tend to agree in that my feeling has been that it is software, not defective hardware.

I some stage I'll go hunting for a new driver (maybe someone else has already), or otherwise wait for an update.

I think if you went to the trouble of going to get it 'fixed' under warranty by Sony, i.e. have the hardware changed, then the problem persisted because it was a driver issue, then you'd be a tad grumpy.

 

I just don't touch the touchpad for 20 sec and it goes back to normal. I thought my computer was just messed up .... guess I am not the only one.

 

Thanks for the input drvec and xnos54. The combined info on the links that I posted indicates that this is a hardware issue. The problem happens with different operating systems (Vista, xp, linux) and also in safe mode (drives are not loaded, I think). Incidentally, I uninstalled the Alps driver and the problem persisted, re-installed again and it is still there. Some info points to poor grounding and or defective electrical insulation as the culprits. The problem seems to show different symptom levels and seems to get worst over time. Many people claim that after receiving the lappy back from repair by Sony, the problem develops again over time. This led me and other people to think that the company does not really have a handle on how to solve the problem.

 

If you still have warrantee then you should send it back to sony to have them replaced. I own 2 SZ laptops and happened to both. Comes on intermittently. At first I thought its a software problem and reformatted the computer a few times. But eventually I had them replaced the touchpad and everything is perfect (1+ year now).

 

I just found this thread. I have this problem also. SZ260p. I usually just randomly click the right mouse button and wait a few seconds. It stops and than I close the programs it opened. It is a strange thing..

 

I have a sz680 that does the same thing. It came with Vista but I put XP on.

However, it only does it when I start it up without AC power. Maybe it's power related on mine? I usually have it docked so I didn't notice it then.

When I first start it up, it will act like the touchpad's dead. So I restart or logoff, then it works again. Then it will do the same thing where it operates inversely and clicks around by itself. If I do a CTRL-ALT-DEL and hit cancel, it will be fine.

Not a big deal, I have a 2 year warranty but I don't want to be without it for a few weeks either. A little disappointing for a $2k laptop though. I might try vista again, as I think it may be driver related to XP.

 

Like many suspect, the problem is hardware related, not software.
It is due to the aluminum palm-rest surrounding the touch-pad. I'm not sure if it is a short circuit or a bad ground. But all you need to repair this problem is a little electrical tape. Check out this site for details (and pics) on how to use the tape to insulate the touch-pad:

http://doube.org/sztp.html

Also you may need help dismantelling the laptop go to this site:

http://home.comcast.net/~nw_systems/vgnSZ.pdf

Finally!!!