VGNSZ370PC finally crashed bad HDD

Well my SZ370PC finally crashed hard yesterday with a bad HD. Initially I thought that I would only need to repair the startup with the Windows XP installation disk, however, turns out that the primary partition (non recovery partition) was actually bad. Computer worked fine until I tried to turn it off, would not boot and then I was told to insert installation CD while in the recovery module and attempt to repair. No joy. I'll replace the hard drive with a new 250G replacing the old 150G for $118.

So that means that this Vaio has lasted since Oct 2006 which is actually the longest any of my prior Vaio SZ's have lasted. Also, as this is a HDD issue, it is actually repairable without replacing the motherboard.

Until now, I have only had to replace the battery, $60. My original battery only gets about 30 minutes now.

I REALLY wanted to upgrade my Vaio in spring 2007 when Vista came out, but I loved the computer so much, I could not see spending the money on a new one. Now I am going to hang onto this thing until Windows 7 is released or a Vaio SZ with some sort of "instant on" is released. (Why is there no instant on yet? Is it really that hard?)

Finally, I understand why Sony sells laptops with no CD ROM's. Money. However, there really should be a way to go to Sony support, log in to your Sony support account that has a verified Sony PC associated with it, and download the OEM Windows installations CD's that was installed on your computer. I spent HOURS attempting to use my recovery CD's, then realized they would be worthless and that I really needed my Windows XP CD's which are not included with the PC. Huge thumbs down.