Vaio Z palmrest slightly discolored - possible to fix?

The palmrest on my Z is slightly discolored. The areas I rest my palm are darker. Is it possible to fix that? I tried wiping with soap on a damp cloth but it didn't make any difference.

 

I think you can send it to sony service center to get it replaced; but you need to pay for it of course

this also happened to me but I took another alternative - just ignore it

 

This is a common issue with the VPC-Z, the plastic palmrests are painted and the color wears off after some time. You can have the palmrest repainted, cover it with some invisibleshield layer or something or live with it. I guess you have a black/gunmetal Z, they are reported here to be more prone to palmrest discoloration.

 

Choices are to replace (expensive) or cover up with some sort of vinyl wrap (new trend in car customization) or SGP's leather cover (which I find tacky) or nothing (ugly). Disclaimer: biased answer.

 

Here is mine:

 

Uhh... I actually got mines replaced by sony under warranty... Try it! (I literally had 2 days left on my warranty) I'll try to find pics

I'm in cali, so on-site visit and repair... although while placing some skin on the palmrest i think i murdered the cable. gunna get that fixed.

here's the link to the picture of my new palmrest next to my old one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...586007-sony-reps-idiots-cheaters-_dsc0487.jpg

 

Mine palmrest is also being replaced by Sony warranty, and also the noisy fan, as well as one of the loudspeaker that gave distorted sounds and finally died on me. It's on its way back now, been 2 weeks in sony repair shop, Germany.

 

They wouldn't replace mine under warranty and I didn't feel like fighting with them about it. If I really want it replaced I do have CC warranty but I don't want to be without my computer for a few weeks. So I don't really care. I wish mine was as faded as yours though.

 

Depends where you are... I'm getting my touchpad fixed this time... and for the second time they're sending a onsite technician... I'm in CA so I guess they have more techs around. I didn't buy any extra warranty, etc so I dunno about you guys.

 

I came into the Z1 game late, so I had the benefit of all of my predecessors' experience to guide me to silver models only. I feel lucky to have been forewarned, but does anyone know why the silver paint doesn't appear to fade noticeably while the other two colors do? I mean, it's still painted plastic. Still, I've yet to hear a single instance of a silver Z1 showing wear or even getting shiny.

For all looking to buy the few new ones around or a used/refurb: SILVER IS YOUR COLOR!

 

There was one member on here who reported of paint wearing down on one of their silver mouse buttons. But the general consensus is that silver is much more durable than black.

 

Is the CF "gun metal" color as susceptible to wear as black is?

 

There are only two body colors (although multiple lid colors) for the Z: Silver and black (where the latter looks more like gunmetal and is the same for black, carbon fiber etc models). The black/gunmetal is reported to be more prone to wear and discoloration. There is yet a silver Z owner to report discoloration on the silver model, so it seems that those models are not affected. I can imagine two other reasons why we did not hear bad reports for silver machines yet:
- The silver paint matches the underlying light gray plastic better than the gunmetal, so actual wear is not that visible. When you open your Z and flip over the keyboard assembly, you can see the light gray color of the palmrest on its back, where it is not painted.
- There are less silver Zs than there are black ones, so less people can actually report back issues with the silver models.

Anyways, I keep asking myself why is it cheaper for mfrs to paint their plastic parts rather than pigment the molded parts itself. The latter won't suffer from color degradation/wear at all (albeit those parts also will get shiny due to the daily sweat-polish after time). Particularly in a high-end machine like the Z, it's not a bad thing at all to invest another 30c for proper pigment content in the injection molding process including QA for proper body color matching.

 

@pyr0 Instead of asking why isn't the plastic pigmented, I ask why it isn't metal. Mine has multiple dents from holding the computer with one hand putting my thumb in that area. It drives me nuts along with the damn creaking sound!

 

Know this is a old thread, but my palmrests have also faded on a Z13.. after like 10 month. Exact same way how you guys one looks, just alot less... i think achu sneezes on his palmrest =\

I still have the stickers on mine though.. win7 / i7 core / cuda... and on the right side energy star. i raped the big ugly chamfered rectangle spec sheet one in the early months though.

 

Shortly after getting the Z13, I got the "KH Special Laptop Carbon Skin Cover For SONY Z Series" off of eBay. The cover skin and palm rest skin were perfectly cut, the right size and very easy to install. I think that it actually improved the look of my black Z.

I was worried that the edges of the skins might curl or lift with use, but after a few months of daily use, the skins are still on tight. If you like the look, it will solve the fading issue.

 

So true. First generation Z has full metal excluding the hinge area, but had single piece aluminium including the palm rest nonetheless. Why couldn't they do it on this second gen? The whole thing is spoiled by cheap plastic palm rest. I use mouse most of the time and yet the palm rest has also faded somewhat.

 

Wanted to post my "fix" to this problem. Bought one of these SGP faux leather skin covers, turned out decent. I thought it might collect lint and junk but after a few weeks it hasn't really, and a little scotch tape would probably pick it right off. No clue how well this will hold up over a year or 2, but seems fine so far. Gone is the unslightly "smudge" on the left side of my palmrest from gaming and I even prefer this look and feel to stock.

Application tip: first trim the paper backing close around the skin, so you can get the alignment about right before applying. Then only apply one half at a time. I got someone to hold down the left side while I applied the right side.

SGP Sony Vaio Z Wristrest [2010 Model] - Z Series - Sony - Laptops

SGP Sony VAIO Z11 Series Laptop Skin - Wrist Protector

 

What I did was I went to clear protector and bought a large 12"x12" cut of their material and used it on my palmrest, I kinda like it more since it's stickier so your hands dont slide all over the place (then again i'm one of those people who like to plant their palms down and type) The stickiness also helps with holding the laptop down (preventing it from sliding all over the place).

p.s. sorry, my first time here in a LOOONG time

 

good topic!
if everyone who palrest vpc-z changed the color of the palmrest will submit a claim SONY - it will be very interesting!
why is the series of VGN-SZ and VGN-Z pamres not change color from wrist!?

 

"claim dormice"? warranty claim? I'm not sure, (maybe because some are out of warranty). I did submit and I did get them to come replace mines so .

The VGN SZ and VGN Z didnt have a fading palmrest because they had a metal palmrest which was an extension of the keyboard tray, the VPC-Z has a plastic one which is a separate piece altogether.

 

I think so - plastic in a laptop worth $ 2,000 should not have a tendency to change color )))

 

miss the old Z machine, some models were using whole piece metal, and no such issue.

 

Their palm rest was made of a different material. Namely metal, instead of plastic.

 

The plastic is the same color , just the paint rubs off . They gave you nice internals but went cheap with the paint