H@lp... My Sony Vaio Laptop Crashed...

[_=DeltaForce=_]

I was doing some Java Programming and suddenly the laptop turned off . I turned on again and it turned off immediately.. There is no problem with the battery and power supply adapter. When I turn on, I can see the LED lights but there is not display on the screen. From then, the LCD doesnt display. I just got this laptop 12/31/2004 from staples ( yeah thats where I work). I got a full 1 year warranty but the bastards at sony told me they wont help me untill I fax the receipt. I faxed the receipt yesterday and they tell me today that they still havnt received it and may take 24-48 hrs for them to know... Total BS :puke: . Should I just return the laptop or wait for Sony to fix it? I mean I got this laptop for around $400 including tax after some discounts and coupons...

Here are the Specification.

Pentium 4 2.66 ghz
256mb DDR ram
DVD/CD RW
40GB
Nvidia Geforce 4 420go 32mb ram
802.11 g
15' SXGA display

Should I return it to staples or wait for sony to fix it??
:throw:

[cheapie]

wait! and then sell it to me for $400. ;)

[AlpineJay]

Having worked retail myself, I know the kind of abuse that display laptops take and would be VERY hesitant to buy one for that reason - laptops are delicate works of technology that do not typically take abuse very well... If it turned on and turned off immediately chances are it's something wrong with the mobo - I've seen this happened to laptops of virtually all brands and 90% of the time it was the motherboard.

Sonys widely vary in quality in my experience. Sometimes you get a good one that lasts you a very long time, or you get a dud. Sounds like there's an outside chance that this one can be a dud - along with all the beatings it took sitting on that display, it may increase your risk later on down the line. The laptop you got is a pretty good deal all things said and done so if you really need the laptop then keep it.

But if you just bought this one just because it was nice and cheap, you may wanna consider returning it (I think you have a good desktop, right?) and just foregoing all the trouble you might run into down the line. If you are gonna keep it, then do consider buying the Staples extended warranty for some money - that way you can at least hold those guys responsible down the line when things go wrong, and I presume it's a small price to protect your 400 dollar investment further down the 1 year because it's after that year when things start going haywire. Sony's customer service is average at best and may take long trying to "diagnose" and "fix" the problem.

I know I'm probably gonna get flamed for suggesting the extended warranty but it seems like it makes sense in your situation. But consider returning it altogether if you don't have a need for laptops.

[eSDee]

Return it if you can. My first laptop was a Sony Vaio and it worked great for about a year. It died shortly afterwards and now sits in the computer graveyard in my office. In my experience, Vaio laptops blow.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

well I think the Processor overheated and got burnt... I was just playing some games and doing multitasking and the laptop was turned on for 4 days straight.. I might get the extended warranty but I am really not sure about that... I also got a Sony 19' LCD monitor from staples for $240 and the display was messed and sony gave me a brand new monitor and I still have 3 years warranty. Well I am not the one who is going to use it but still I killed the laptop in 9 days!. It was a Christmas + Birthday gift for my mom and she will be using it mostly for internet, word processing and excel. she still doesnt know about the problem.

[AlpineJay]

Are you sure that the processor got burnt? I've had desktop-P4 based laptops be turned on for days in my office before and have not really encountered that kind of a problem... Most laptops I believe have some sort of a feature where the system either just locks up or turns off if the internal temp reaches a certain limit...

Sony's monitors and laptops are two different products they make. I definitely don't trust their reliability in their newest of lines. I personally think that a desktop P4-based laptops are a liability in the long run though - I'd still suggest return or extended warranty.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

well I am just taking a wild guess that the processor could have been burnt but I am going for the extended warranty.. Its $99 for 2 years.. I hate buying extended warranties but I have to now

[AlpineJay]

That's actually not too bad. CC or BB would charge close to 200 for 2 years. Consider it a deal and an insurance on a system that you knew wasn't brand new.

[brainsmile]

get a thinkpad :)

if you can return it

[_=DeltaForce=_]

thinkpad is gonna run around 1000+... I aint spending more than $500... Its going to run me $500 including the warranty and so I dont mind.

[kimchicowboy]

eh, i wouldn't get a sony. just all fluff. my dell inspiron has been good to me for 2.5 years before the HDD failed and the dvd-rom stopped reading DVDs. hahaa. but otherwise it's still good! :) next lappie though: powerbook. w00t.

[Jeffbx]

well I am just taking a wild guess that the processor could have been burnt but I am going for the extended warranty.. Its $99 for 2 years.. I hate buying extended warranties but I have to now

You MUST have an extended warranty for a laptop... that's one of those things where one component can blow (like the LCD or MB) and render the entire thing useless. At least with a desktop machine you can throw a new piece of hardware in there - not so with a laptop, and ESPECIALLY not so with a Sony laptop.

If you bought that thing 'new' for $400 & can get the extended warranty for another $99, by all means keep it. That's a great price, and once Sony replaces the faulty parts you'll hopefully have a nice stable machine.