Z11 Holiday Mishap

So I bought myself a Z11 off eBay a few weeks ago, it was used but in good condition, a bit of palmrest wear and a few marks on the lid. Got it for £1200 with the following spec, which I didn't think was too bad:

Core i7-620m
256GB SSD
8GB RAM
1080P Screen
WWAN
New genuine Sony replacement battery (Very impressed with battery life btw!)
Sony slip-case cover thing in black leather

So i've been absolutely LOVING my Z and wish i'd sold my MacBook Pro sooner! However I loved it that much I took it to bed with me whilst on holiday, fell asleep, rolled over and it fell off the bed onto the tiled floor. See photo 1 -I was close to tears.

So anyway, i'm back home now and this needs fixing. Just got a few questions I was hoping you guys could help me with!

1) How easy would it be to change the colour from the premium carbon to the silver?? I prefer the silver, my OCD doesn't appreciate fingerprints, and the carbon lid is a bit of a magnet.

2) Does anybody have the part numbers for the following:

- Wristrest (the dreaded palm-wear)
- 1080P LCD (cracked )
- Top lid (covered in weird marks, no idea what the previous owner did to it!)
- Screen bezel (mine has a few marks on it)

So basically all the parts seen in the photos. Apart from that the laptop is in awesome condition. Tiny bit of wear on the spacebar, but I think I'd have to replace the whole keyboard to fix this? Is that right?

3) Does anyone know a cheap place to source these parts in the UK? Or does anybody on here have them? I'd like the parts brand new or in absolutely MINT condition if possible!


Thanks very much in advance

 

The weird marks on the lid and spacebar (and perhaps on the palmrest as well - can't really tell from the pictures) could be grease marks (natural body oil). Try wiping with a soft cloth moistened with warm, soapy water (make sure no granules are left in the soap/detergent), then repeat with plain water.
WARNING: Do not allow water to get inside under any circumstances.

 

I've given it multiple deep cleans but to no avail

 

I think you will spend a lot to change the lcd screen, having a cracked screen is not comfortable, as for wrist rest, if you dont want replace the whole thing, I think you should get a SGP wristrest for vaio Z11 <it will fit, as long as you have VPC-Z1 series>

 

the wristrest shiny thing is something I have on my Z11 too. I believe it is simply down to microabrasions from a wrist and skin polishing it smooth over the course of a year. It is nothing to do with dirt or grease and as such cleaning will do nothing to help that.

My only suggestion is to get used to it ...or find a covering / coating / patch that can be applied - possibly an adhesive thin stubbled rubber or neoprene patch that when offset a few mill' from the edge will not interfere with the lid closing. It would have been nice if the "premium carbon" upgrade replaced the wristrest with a brushed carbon plate as well.

p.s. my specs are near identical to yours (with a CD disk drive) and cost about double when new. Good value after a year

 

First, I'm so sorry this happened to you! I don't know anyone this hasn't happened to. One thing to remind yourself: you got a really good price for the one you own, so whatever you have to do to take care of it, you will end up closer than you think to one who paid "full market value" in the first part. Sit down for the next part.

I hate to say this, but you might be better off to find an equivalent deal but on a base (silver) model with only 128GB, i5 cpu, minimum RAM and other components. With comparable pricing that should be around L800 (you can definitely get them for around $1,000 here - I just sold one!) Then put the extras from your dropped one (the SSDs, the cpu, the WWAN, the extra RAM) and sell what's left as salvage or just keep it in case you have a future accident or need spare parts.

Point being, it will cost almost as much to replace all those parts - screen alone is over $500 US - as to get a lower end Z1 with a newer (undamaged) chassis in your preferred color with no marks nor possible as-yet undiscovered internal damage from the drop. You could probably get it done cheaper if you just wanted to replace the screen and live with the rest, so it's as much a budgetary issue as a repair strategy. But if you really want to make all those changes and fix it "like new" I think you are better off with an unblemished chassis and screen (even if it's the 900p, that's fine) and carefully (with help from the geniuses here on these threads!) extract all those primo components from your dropped unit and have a safer long term bet. I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't sell the dropped unit with the lesser parts swapped into it for at least L300, so perhaps you get a good-as-new chassis and screen and all the power components you had for a net out-of-pocket investment of about 500 quid.

Btw, this may sound like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped, but in the US, you can insure things like notebook computers as you might jewelry or fine arts in a homeowners' insurance policy, and things like accidental damage are covered at a very low premium - about $25/yr in the U.S..

Good luck.