Vaio VPC-Z11 hinge problem

I've had my VPC-Z11 since march and on the whole the experience has been positive.
Recently though opening the lid has started to produce some creaking sounds and become very loose and wobbly. On closer inspection I see that the right hinge has somehow come loose from the lid, see pictures below:

Lid closed:

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Lid opened:

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I am now contacting Sony to have it repaired, will go ballistic if they somehow claim that this is my fault. The laptop has been fully protected in a neporene sleeve and has been generally carefully treated.

Would love to hear if anyone else is experiencing this and what the resolution from Sony has been.
Given my past experience with their customer support I wouldn't put it beside them if they try to charge me for the repair.

 

I have the same problem with the same hinge! No I haven't done anything about it.

 

ZoinksS2k posted about this in the owner's thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-vaio-z-i5-i7-official-owners-thread-520.html

Check out posts 5192 and onward.

 

Get it repaired under warranty, shouldn't be doing that.

 

Hello - I have the same problem with the right hand hinge. When I contacted Sony UK they told me that I must have caused the damage. Like your machine, mine has been handled very very carefully and has case also. Naturally I was livid. Sent an email and am waiting for their tardy reply.... Not great service so far. Mind you - I am in Japan next week so will try to get some proper service. It is odd - when I look at Z11 machnes in airport duty free stores I see many with the same problem as ours. I believe it to be a design fault.

 

Hi there.
Sony repaired mine under warranty, no questions asked.
If I was you I would be livid as well. Demand to speak to a manager and shoot off an email to Sony UK headquarters as well.
No executive €2700 laptop should exhibit that behaviour less than six months in.

 

Funny, I've seen some in stores with that problem too. Only the right hand hinge seems to be affected... Maybe it's because 90% of population are righthanded, so the notebook is opened always with the right hand might cause wear at that hinge...

 

What's funny is that I always open my Z with my left hand, but I grab the right corner.

 

i have experienced that also.. what i did was tightened the 2 silver and 1 black screws on the lower right of the LID.. i was surprised that all 3 were loose! i guess it'll loosen up again in time.... i hope not!! as i have not experienced this kind of problem in my old VGN-Z..

now i'm beginning to get disappointed with this $$$$ laptop!

 

I'm not too sure what the issue is. My VGN-Z makes the usual 'sounds' when opening and closing; just the slight click here and there when closing. Though it never 'creaks', just 'clicks'.

Is there anyone here who owns both the VPC and VGN Zs able to put up a comparitive audio recording over the 'phenomena'? I'd say people are now starting to get nit-picky over the sound issue... But just incase some here have been living unaware.

Well, my VGN-Z and the sounds it makes are below.
In order, being closed, opened, closed again, and opened again. I would like to hear other's VGN-Z and the new VPC-Z opening and closing...

The sounds moreorless originate from the long, central / middle barrel (not the hinge), which seems slightly loose from the metal keyboard. But then, my battery is removed at the moment which probably amplifies this 'issue'. Since the new VPC-Z have the barrels and keyboards as one piece, I'd assume the sound is coming from somewhere else.

I've seen numerous VGN-Zs and all have rather poorly built hinges / barrels (ie, hinges don't look too symmetrical for example). There is a Korean 5th gen I saw though; that was perfect in form so I'm guessing Sony listened to the complaints. Not liking Sony using early-bird customers as guinea pigs of sorts for refresh models... I mean, I know it happens which is why I bought the 2nd gen VGN-Z, only to find out the problems of the 1st gen were still there...

Something interesting though; I recently had the right-side power button barrel replaced because it was getting wobbly (that plastic bit is worth US$30). Now the right hinge looks perfectly symmetrical, whereas the left-side doesn't; the hinge is slightly more to the left than the right.

@ the OP.
If your screen has suddenly become wobbly, then that warrants a warranty repair. Just drop by a Sony service center, then say and SHOW that your screen is unusually wobbly THEN state the possible reasons as to why you think that is the case. You might want to add that you recently went in store to compare. Talking over the phone doesn't really do your problem justice since the rep can't see the laptop...

 

Mine is completely that way now. It first started making the creaky sound and now it's floppy. With the lid losed, if I flip it upside down, the lid will drop about an inch. So how do I get to the screws to tighten them?

 

How'd you get to those screws?

 

I think you have to take the top casing off.

 

I just spoke to Sony service. They said there are no hinge issues on the Z11 so if I have a bad hinge it must have been because of physical damange. They will repair it if I bought the extended service coverage. Pathetic. I guess it's time to pop it open myself. I was hesitant as that would void the warranty, but it seems the warranty is useless to begin with. As much as I hate Apple, at least when I have a problem with my Apple products. They fix it, no questions asked as long as it's under warranty. Sometimes even when it's out of warranty.

Has anyone used locktite on those screws?

 

OK. It's "fixed". Opening it up was super easy. Unlike other laptops that are a pain to open even after the screws are out. The Z11 literally fails apart. That keyboard connector is scary though. Very flimsy. I expected the black connector portion to be rigid at least. Because of the foam on top. It feels very soft and doesn't "snap" as is my experience with other connectors.

For those who are curious you can see the screws that need tightening looking at the lower edge of the screen even with the laptop intact. I say it's "fixed" because it's a stop gap fix at best. I have no doubt I'll have to do it again. To do it properly, the screen has to be removed. With just the top lid off, access is not good. I was able to tighten the right side but even with my little screwdriver it was a very tight fit. The left side was simply impossible due to the power jack being in the way. Thus I wasn't able to tighten it. So it's still loose but not nearly as bad as the right was. When I first got it back together, holding it upside down with the lid close the lid was touching the base on the right side. The left side dangled down about a cm. Now, after opening and closing it a few times. The right side is also dangling by about a cm so it's already loosed up some. The next time I open it, I'll go all out and take the screen off for full access. Then I'll locktite those screws in place.

I did see my SSD finally. It does look like a 2.5 drive would almost fit in that space.

 

hello,

i'm form germany and my english is not perfectly...

and I have the same problem with my hinges on both sides of the notebook

@travfar
Can you explain it a bit more detailed how you fix it? It would be very nice

Thank you!

 

Just need to remove the keyboard, doing so will expose the screws that secure the LCD to the rest of the laptop. You can then just tighten up the screws.

 

How to remove the keyboard
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6009997-post86.html

screws to tighten, also ripped from Zoink's

 

My right hinge is also experiencing this non-issue. I open mine on the left side. I understand Sony's reluctance to admit there is a known 'hinge issue', but it would be smarter to just fix the problem without explanation or question now, and avoid a bunch of customers that feel they've been shortchanged coming and biting them in the arse later.

 

Can anyone confirm having a thin black foam sheet covering the two screws in the bezel? Not that I have the cracking hinge issue at all, but if I had, I have to take off the screen bezel before I can reach the screws or I have to destroy those foam sheet covers.

 

nothing covering mine. you are looking at the bottom of the panel?

 

Yes I can confirm that my Z12 has 2 black foam sheets covering the screws on each side as well.

 

can you post a pic?

 

I do not have a better pic since I forgot to take that with more detail. The foam covers the two left screws while the right screw is not covered - it is just about cosmetics. When you want to unmount the hinges by removing those screws, you have to take of the bezel anyways. I had to tune Brightness/Contrast a bit in this pic.

 

Maybe that was sonys fix for the screws coming loose?

 

this is something new in the Z12! are you sure it is a foam? if yes, i don't think it will hold enough to prevent the screws to get loose...

 

If it makes the screws unable to turn by themselves, why wouldn't it work?

 

The foam is just a cover, the screws lay at least 1mm beneath it. I think it is just about cosmetics. I never had a loose hinge, I guess when the screw turns by itself, the display assembly will start getting loose and wobbly before the screws stick out of the holes (so the thin foam cover could prevent that)? On the other hand, the holes shape is like a semicircle, I was not able to get the screws out without taking the bezel off at my older (returned) Z11.

Interesting that even one Z11 has the covers and the other not.

 

My Z117 also has this problem.
Guess I will have to open it up again to tighten the screws...

 

Sony should issue a "recall" and a fix this. Have people been complaining to Sony? I did.

 

Two months since my last tightening and it needs it again. Doint this every two months is going to suck.

 

I thought you complained that issue. Try using some Loctite to prevent the screws from getting loose.

 

Have there been any reports of this issue with the Z12 or has this been addressed?

 

I did. But there needs to be a lot more than me complaining about it for Sony to do anything. Sony stand is that the screws only loosed due to physical damage. So unless you bought the accidental damage warranty, it's not their problem.

I'm definitely going to do the locktite this time. That will involve a full removal of the LCD since you can't even get a screwdriver in to tighten the left side hinge screws let alone get the screws off to apply locktite.

 

For me, a full removal is unmount two screws, take the cables that are going into the lcd out of their channels and take out and lay down the lcd flat on the table with all the cables still connected. By doing so, I completely disassembled two screens and changed the display. Worked well.

Just a hint so you need less time for tightening the screws.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to hold off on the tightening until I get the caddy to swap out the DVD. I want to minimize the wear on the keyboard connector after reading about all the horror stories.

 

Simply use tweezers and be careful and it will be fine.

 

I've tried to take my Sony Z apart to tighten the screws. Managed to get at 2 of the 3 on the left side, but simply could not get near the 3 on the right. The tightening on the left side helped for about 3 weeks, now it's almost as if the screen is about to crack off. This is my first Sony laptop, and I even bought the top top model with 512 GB SSD etc, but man, this is killing all the love I have for Sony.

 

Has anyone use something like LockTite? If so, did it fix it permanently?

 

I too have this problem on the right hand side it just started last week.

As well, the palm rest is losing its color on both sides Sony said that was due to cosmetic damage. More BS from SONY as usual, the exterior quality of this laptop is very cheap, netbook style. The palm rest should at the very least be made out of aluminum not plastic.

If Sony says no to the repair then threaten that you will sue in small claims court as long as you haven't dropped it, (use the laptop as evidence!). Since there is 4 pages already as evidence that this happening to others submit this info as evidence as well.

Funny things happen when you tell Sony please tell me your legal departments address so that I can send the small claims to you.

I'm getting mine fixed that is for sure and Sony will cover it under warranty or I will take them to court. My friend is the best litigation court lawyer in the city and Sony would have to pay his legal bill when they lose. He's hoping Sony say no to the warranty fix so he can summon them to court.

Anyone else contemplating such a move? I live in Toronto, let me know if anyone else lives in Toronto with the same problem.

Lastly, I don't think its my job to start taking apart a $3,400 laptop due to Sony poor and dreadful engineering flaws.

Cheers.

 

You're clearly from America because everyone sues everyone there but okay. The repair won't solve anything other then a temporarily fix. All your problems are just design flaws and 1 repair(or court) won't fix the problem.

 

Last time I checked Toronto was not in America.
Hah.

 

LOL, That's right, clearly someone doesn't know where Toronto is and second is happy paying a repair that should be covered under warranty. Americans just don't take the crap so they sue right away for some reason Canadians are laid back and companies think they can step on us.

I've used small claim courts many times and have won each and every single time with costs. It's not as hard as many people might think and the second time is much, much easier.

I would only use it if they deny the warranty repair in which case I would send them a summons to appear in court.

And if they need to fix it again in a few months then that's what they are going to have to do. How is it my girlfriend's 4 year old Acer that cost $400 doesn't have this problem and a $3400 laptop does.

Sony stop cutting corners!

 

Ouch I got owned but then again he's from north AMERICA

 

Do you have the Z11 or Z12? Wondering if this is happening to the Z12s yet?

 

ignore ignore

 

Then how come they welcomed me to the United States at the airport? The cop even had a little American flag on his lapel. Flights to the 51st state also leave from the domestic terminals in the lower 50.

 

I own the Z11, this small problem is extremely annoying it's only a matter of time before something in the hinge breaks, those screws are meant to be tight if not something will eventually crack.

 

Totally. The thing is after a while I get used to it being loose. But then the creaking drives me crazy every time I hit a key. I then pop it open to tighten up the screws and the machine feels so tight again.

 

Ok, same problem here, fixed it today.

Unscrew all screws besides of the 3 screws that hold the bright plastic part under the battery. Take off the upper part of the chassis. Disconnect the keyboard cable.

Now comes the ty part. There is a taped screw at the left hinge and one at the right one. Unscrew both. Disconnect the antenna cable that goes through the hinge at the wireless chip. (you might not need to do that step. since i have the japanese model, there are 3 antennas)

I never tried to disconnect the other 3 cables on the left hinge, but this might be a good idea to do. Nevertheless it is not necessary. But what you need to do: There is a small cable retainer that needs to be released.

Now you need to get rid of the plastic cover of the display. OMG. This is really annoying. First unscrew all six screws of the bezel. (3 left, 3 right). Take a credit card and start from the bottom right corner to release the plastic clips up to the upper right corner. BE CAREFUL!

Then to the upper left and to the bottom left corner. Now it is pretty easy to lift the remaining clips on the bottom side.

OK, nearly done. The 4 screws (2 at the left and 2 at the right) that hold the display and the hinge need to be fastened, use loctite!

Assemble in reverse order.


Hopefully that makes life easier for you guys. It was so tedious!