SZ6 LED problem

i dont think its much of a problem its more of a defect. my sz6 arrived today and the screen seems a little off. there are vertical bars of yellowish areas which are not as bright as the surround areas. there are 3 stuck pixels also. but all 3 are on the edges. one on the top. two on the right. has anyone noticed this on their screen? or is it just me

 

If you posted a picture of what you're describing we could help better.

Off the bat I'd say it is time to call tech support and get it replaced. The dead pixels are not that uncommon but these days you should not be getting any dead pixels, although I don't know what Sony's dead pixel policy is. And the yellow banding is simply not normal at all. Get it looked at immediately.

 

On the new Macbook pro's have the same problem.
There is yellowish areas on the bottom of the screen.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1045912

 

i hope you can see that in the red bubbles its more yellow. the left side isnt actually that yellow its the picture its mainly those 4 bubbles

the bubble above august is the worst

 

i bought this laptop of newegg. who do i call to complain/fix this? newegg?or sony?

 

http://www.xcess.info/a_program_that_can_fix_dead_pixels_on_your_lcd_screen_aen.aspx

This can fix your pixels, also just try rubbing it out with a pencil eraser. I did that with a couple of stuck pixels I had on my sz and it came out just fine.

 

Newegg return policy for computers:
http://www.newegg.com/Info/ReturnPolicy.aspx#6

Return for refund within: non-refundable
Return for replacement within: 30 days (defective items only)

After that I'm sure you are at the mercy of the manufacturer "Sony"

 

It is not a pixel related problem.
This is a backlight issue..

 

i think ill call and try get a replacement but how exactly do you ship it back. mine came in some box set up like a spring with some plastic holding the laptop in the middle. it was secure but i had to cut it to take it out.

 

UPS store? or maybe just ask them.

I'm guessing you just need to make sure it wont rattle around and has something to cushion it.

You'll be fine.. plus I would warrenty it with your shipper. If you do that and something happens they have to verify it was good when you shipped it.

 

Don't worry,

I have that too. You can onlysee it if the backlight is turned low.
That is not a problem at all.

 

i can see it at all brightness levels =\ and its gonna be used in college so i will have to type a lot and its really annoying to see yellowstuff on a pure white setting

 

I had the same problem with my SZ650. I sent it back for replacement, and my new unit is fine now. I think its a defect.

 

ive just sent it back for repair/replacement dunno what they are going to give me yet. hopefully they will jsut replace it and make it quicker. it was advirtised to have 1x1gb and it came with 2x512. i asked them to fix that so when my upgrade comes ill have 3gb. hopefully its gonna be back within 2 weeks

 

hope it works out for you miketlo..

I don't know why they wouldn't just send you another one seeing as you just received it but you never know.

 

they cant send me a raplacement because they are out of stock but i got a refund. now i dont know what to do >_< look for anotehr sz? or another laptop? i goingto college on the 22nd

 

I am also experiencing this issue on my new SZ680 from Portable1. I've contacted Portable1 (since they're a Sony Service Center) to see if they are aware of this issue. This coming week I will call the official Sony Service number to get the ball rolling on a replacement. My laptop has about 3 or 4 (kinda hard to tell) vertical yellow bands that are more noticeable on light backgrounds.

I suggest we keep this thread going as I suspect this is going to be bigger than a few isolated cases.

 

Hi, I just received my sz680. First impressions were IT IS GREAT!!!
Second impressions were that I also have the vertical yellow banding issue, and some (very minor) light leakage.
However, you can only notice the light leakage on a completely black screen (i.e. basically never). As for the yellow banding, I have read a lot about this on macbook pros and I think, judging from how widespread this issue seems to be, that it must just be a by-product of the very pure light emitted by LED backlights. I guess this pure white light makes any banding issues show up more than would otherwise be the case? Anyway, it isn't a problem unless you let it become one in your mind - i.e. it is 80% physcosymatic (spelling?) and 20% real. If we let it bother us, it will. But I suspect that many units returned will be replaced with the same or worse. Best just to get on with enjoying our new toys... ;-)

 

As an aside, I ALSO received an SZ680 with 2x512Mb instead of the 1x1Gb, as advertised... Now that IS real... And annoying...

 

I have found it to be as TinyRK says; use a higher backlight setting and the yellowness seems to disappear. I have also found that the light leakage appears (pejx) to be unnoticeable outside of the black screens at startup. Enjoy!

 

I disagree with this comment. Even at the brightest setting the vertical yellow bands are easy to see. I do have better than 20/20 vision, so maybe I'm just being too anal.

Another poster said his replacement SZ650 did NOT have the yellow bands, so I am going to return this one under the assumption that this is a fixable issue.

I should receive the shipping materials by Wednesday of this coming week, and then it will be sent to a service center out in California. The rep said it should take no longer than 10 days and that I can call in to check on the status. I'm assuming the screen itself will be replaced or they'll just issue an entirely new laptop. I'll make note of the serial number and what-not to be sure.

 

i dont know what to buy now >_< since i got a single dorm i might just drag my desktop with me and buy an eeepc when it comes out

so its either
desktop+eeepc
desktop+eeepc+bigger sized laptop (15/17")
desktop+good small laptop (x61/sz6/r500)

or no desktop and drag a 6 year old dell latitude for temp untill i order another

 

I, too, had the vertical yellow bands on an SZ650 that I received earlier this week. See thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=158710&page=3

Sony does not have a replacement policy for the first 30 days, only a return/refund policy. I had to get a return authorization number and then reorder the notebook. I had originally ordered the notebook with the campus discount of about $300 with free shipping. So, I hassled on the phone for several hours, because the total for the replacement was greater than the credit I was receiving because of the "free" 3 year onsite accidental damage coverage.

I was so frustrated that I called back to customer service and cancelled the entire order and sent back the mouse and notebook case I had to buy to get the "free" 3 year onsite protection. The last rep I talked to explained that the first customer service rep had failed to properly credit my account. The process of return credit and reorder charge should have netted out to $0 dollars.

I figured that, with one notebook unit slipping by quality control and dealing with a incompetent rep on the first call, my luck on getting a SZ650 with a suitable LED screen upon reordering was not going to be good. I sent everything back, took a credit against my order, and now I will wait and see how things shake out on the SZ screen issue before I consider reordering.

 

I have the vertical bands also.

 

sadly I found dead pixels in the center of the screen of my 691n/x but I fail to see any vertical bands.

 

Update...

I received the box today from Sony Service, packaged up the laptop, and sent it off to their service center in California. They should receive it by the end of the week.

I'll let everyone know what they do...I'm assuming they'll have to either replace the screen or give me a completely new unit.

 

Cool, thanks for filling us in on this; I'm waiting to send mine in, too, and would like to know how they addressed the issue. Mine is actually a sky-blue tint of one-inch vertical bars.

 

With on-site service could they replace the screen here or is it, as I fear, they would take the laptop with them and send a replacement later?

JTMav

 

I'm not sure. I have the ESP with onsite service, but they asked me to send it in for service...perhaps because it's within 30-days of purchase? I have no clue really.

 

speaking to Sony CSR as I write this and I think mine will be shipped out for service as well

I think it is more than psychosomatic -- as there are visible yellow tinted bands at any brightness level, though the are only noticeable against a white background. I just changed my vista background to solid white, and there are definitely 4 bands across the screen. For the most part (since most of the time my background is not white), it is tolerable -- if you guys don't get a "fixed" model returned to you, I may opt not to send it in.

 

If I bought a new notebook for a few hundred bucks, I would agree with you. But for $2000 I expect the screen to be perfect.

 

I see them as well, particularly when browsing the internet since its usually white.

 

since newegg ran out of stock i went to bestbuy to look for one and guess what? the one on display had the exact problem! i dont think im gonna buy the sz yet.

 

Man freaking same problem with my notebook.
I emailed p1 to figure out what needs to be done.
I first tried to ignore the yellow lines but now its on my face all the time..

I hope I can get a replacement for this.

 

Do I have to pay for shipping up/down if I go for replacement?

 

I guess the question is: Does anyone have or has anyone got back a screen that doesn't exhibit the problem to some degree. I have yet to see one on display anywhere that doesn't have the problem. Sometimes faint sometimes more noticeable. Could it be the design or the manufacturer that is the root of the problem? Curious to see how this plays out.

JTMav

 

I went to Best Buy today and the SZ650 display model also had the vertical bands. I pointed it out to the sales rep and he agreed it was unacceptable. He said that he couldn't open the box and turn on a SZ650 to look at it unless I took it through the sales counter and paid for it first. Based on this and other threads I figured my chance of getting a SZ650 without the bands was not good. No point in hassling with a sale if I just had to turn around and return it. I am taking a "wait and see" approach on a Sony, while I consider other options. I have used Sony Xbrite monitors in the past, and they were spectacular (and expensive). For a company that knows how to manufacture TVs and monitors, the screen problems with the SZ series are unacceptable, especially for a notebook in this price range.

 

the 2 x 512 your talking about is an option when you first purchased it (I'm guessing online?) you have the choice of 1 x 1G RAM for $20 extra ( I think its $20 it could be more ) or the stock option of 2 x 512 RAM sticks!!

sly sony sly

 

To get a replacement, I have to ship the machine back and forth. A $50 slap.

 

Can't you get it repaired at a local Sony service centre?

 

Who told you that? I purchased mine through Portable1 but called Sony Service directly and they sent me a box to ship it in as well as a FedEx standard overnight shipping label...I didn't have to pay a dime.

My SZ is now in day 2 of being with a technician, so I expect to know something hopefully by the end of next week (although it may be the week after if they take the full 10 days).

 

Hmm.. may be I should do that too.
Can I know the no. you called? I guess the one on site is for sales.

Thanks, I will try that and see.

 

Just go to http://eservice.sony.com and fill out the information under the "For a New Repair" section to get the number.

 

UPDATE

I just spoke with Sony Service a few minutes ago, and the repair to my SZ680 is complete. It is supposed to ship out today or tomorrow (more likely) via FedEx Standard Overnight. As soon as I get it back I'll fire it up and report the results.

 

This is a widespread problem. I have seen it on macbook pros and on sony SZ screens that are LED screens. This is common, but not acceptable.
It's luck of the draw. Therefore, I'd suggest buying from a place where you an return and buy 5 times if necessary. What they are trying to pull on consumers is shameful.

 

According to Sony Service the new screen does not exhibit the same fault...I guess I'll know for sure today when FedEx arrives.

 

I just got my SZ680 back from Sony Service and all is well...the new screen does not have the same issue as the old screen. I'm running Killdisk on it right now and will follow that up with a clean install of Vista.

 

Hmmm well I think I have a stuck pixel. I dont know what you guys are talking about with the yellow bands. My 680 doesn't seem to have any such problem but over on the right side of my screen I have a little stuck pixel. It's not black thank goodness which means it's not dead? Am I understanding that correctly? I'm running that flashing little box program now to try and "unstick" it... rubbing it with my finger didn't seem to help.

Regardless I love this little lappy.

 

Good for you. I am still looking for a SZ6XX model, but I plan to buy locally after having to ship back a SZ650 with LED problems to Sony which I bought through Sony Style.

Yesterday I checked the SZ650 display model at CompUSA. I changed the background color to white and sure enough the vertical yellow bands were definitely visible. The sales rep agreed that would be unacceptable for the price.

I don't know if the SZ display models in the local stores are from an initial production run or if this is an inherent problem in LED screens in the SZ series. There was a TZ series on display that had no screen problems and in fact the display looked better than the SZ650 (although smaller). It is just a little too small for me.

I am reconsidering my need for a Sony SZ and may take a look at the MBP, although pufftissue notes in the post above that Macbook Pros have also had screen problems.

 

I just picked up an sz650nc and have been quite happy with everything about the machine except for the screen lines. I definitely have light yellow lines that are most prominent on the lower left and right side but exist across the bottom at about even intervals. It seems to be a minor, albeit annoying issue. Im at college now and will not be able to return the laptop for quite some time. Since Sony has a one year defect warranty will i be able to wait until thanksgiving to return the laptop?