never buy a Sony Vaio

[MetalGear]

well... what can I say... My Vaio is now just over a year old and so out of warrenty...just as I find out that the problems I have been having with the sound turn out not to be a driver issue (driver support is also the worst in the world) but likely a CPU memory addressing issue. Having replaced the sound card, and the memory and just about ever other replaceable part I can and having recieved no replies from Sony about anything else it can be I have assumed it must be the CPU. anyway... my 1.5 year old Vaio might aswell be junked now since I cant use it for playing games as the sound starts to crackle and screach. And to top it off the wireless has just stopped working.

So.. in summary.. thanks Sony for what is the most expensive useless peice of metal I have ever purchased and I applaude you for your clever evasive customer support, pure genius.

If anyone wants to buy a GOOD laptop... steer away from the Sony Vaio, thats the advice I give all my friends, colleagues and clients.

[ProperBritish]

Exactly, you cant really blanket all Sony Vaios as bad with a thread title such as 'Never Buy A Sony Vaio' (silly place to state that, a sony vaio support forum, where i can guarantee, its a bit late for them). This is a technical support forum, sound there are bound to be people with problems My FZ21M is perfectly fine, solid build quality, support has been good to me when i enquired about my hot CPUs. The term, 'bad luck' comes to mind. Also, if Metal Gear hadnt apprached this with such a scattergun approach, (replacing parts willy nilly by himself), i comfortably can say he wouldnt gotten it fixed easier, and probably in warranty, by Sony.

[MetalGear]

sorry to hear you had these problems..... this forum seems FULL of issues with Sony VIAO's... I know everyone hates it when people complain


Thats the bread and butter of this forum..trying to help those who have technical trouble.
The fun and general chat makes a nice distraction though.

I thought so too.. But then why does 'Kee-Lo' (VAIO Master) say he tries to steer clear of these threads? hmmm.. maybe he is just here for the fun bits.. im all for that.. i like fun forums:)

[MetalGear]

Exactly, you cant really blanket all Sony Vaios as bad with a thread title such as 'Never Buy A Sony Vaio' (silly place to state that, a sony vaio support forum, where i can guarantee, its a bit late for them). This is a technical support forum, sound there are bound to be people with problems  My FZ21M is perfectly fine, solid build quality, support has been good to me when i enquired about my hot CPUs. The term, 'bad luck' comes to mind. Also, if Metal Gear hadnt apprached this with such a scattergun approach, (replacing parts willy nilly by himself), i comfortably can say he wouldnt gotten it fixed easier, and probably in warranty, by Sony.

There are SOOO many VAIO's on here with problems.. I have owned a LOT of different makes of laptop and have never experienced any thing remotely similar to my experience with the VIAO. There seem to be a lot of people with problems with them, far more than I have experienced with other brand. As for a this being a silly place to state 'dont buy a sony vaio' well... thats your opinion, other people may not think so.

As for approaching it with a 'scattergun approach' , please... do me a favour. If you actually took the time to read the posts I dont think replacing the sound card and memory really counts as a 'scattergun approach' and 'replacing parts willy nilly'. And what does 'i comfortably can say he wouldnt gotten it fixed easier, and probably in warranty, by Sony mean? what is says is I wouldnt have got it fixed easier... I agree.. As I said in my previous posts (which you obviously have not read) I did contact Sony and they just told me to remove all the software, which would have meant the problem would go away, how is that a solution????? The problem is only apparent when 3rd party software (i.e. games) are running and according to Sony that is not thier problem.. I know for a fact its not a driver issue as I replaced the sound card and had the latest drivers and all my games still have this problem. As I said before the only thing I can think it could be is a CPU or Motherboard issue but I cant demonstrate that with all the software removed. so I am a little bit stuffed because Sony wont even consider the problem if it only does it with 3rd party software running......

[jumpsuit]

We all have to own Vaios to be members here, but of course you can tell people not to buy another one.

Yes I would have approached the problem differently, for example self repair invalidates warranty.

Also if you can prove you opened a complaint with them at the time and have the details then you still may be able to get help.

Yes this forum does have alot of queries regarding faults, software etc but that is what it is here for.

Other companies have the same problems. Dell even shut their support forum.

[MetalGear]

We all have to own Vaios to be members here, but of course you can tell people not to buy another one.

Yes I would have approached the problem differently, for example self repair invalidates warranty.

Also if you can prove you opened a complaint with them at the time and have the details then you still may be able to get help.

Yes this forum does have alot of queries regarding faults, software etc but that is what it is here for.

Other companies have the same problems. Dell even shut their support forum.

ok.. first.. what is this hang up with 'self repair'. are you SERIOUSLY telling me that adding new memory and a PCMCIA sound card voids the warrenty??

I am currently trying to get help from them. I CAN prove that I had this problem when I was in my warrenty period. I spoke to them only a couple weeks ago but they want me to do a full system restore thus removing all of the games on my system and then seeing if I have a problem. of course I wont have a problem because there wont be any software on the laptop to make any sounds and thus give me any problems.. So I really am unsure what to do.

I have had 3 Dell Laptops... never had a problem with them:) hehe..

[Thalamus.]

I spoke to them only a couple weeks ago but they want me to do a full system restore thus removing all of the games on my system and then seeing if I have a problem. of course I wont have a problem because there wont be any software on the laptop to make any sounds and thus give me any problems.. So I really am unsure what to do.

If you don't have a sound problem when the games has been removed then have you tried contacting the games manufacturer regarding your sound issue..

[MetalGear]

i didnt contact them no.. but I am now using a brand new sound card with the very latest sound drivers. And the sound issue is present on ALL of the games I install on the VAIO. 😞

[MetalGear]

its also worth noting that I do get a very slight issue (a minor version of the games sound issue) when playing music on Windows Media player, its very intermitent though.

[jumpsuit]

Go On - try a full system recovery then possibly reinstall each game one at a time just to be certain it is not them causing the problem.

Heck you could even save an image of your pc as it is now if you are worried about losing data etc.

In terms of invalidating the warranty I always believed if you even removed the screws from the back of your notebook you were on dicy ground. Its not me that makes the rules - but it is always wise when you buy something to actually check what invalidates your warranty.
Just as its always best to follow the company's advice that actually gives you the warranty.

[MetalGear]

Go On - try a full system recovery then possibly reinstall each game one at a time just to be certain it is not them causing the problem.

Heck you could even save an image of your pc as it is now if you are worried about losing data etc.

In terms of invalidating the warranty I always believed if you even removed the screws from the back of your notebook you were on dicy ground. Its not me that makes the rules - but it is always wise when you buy something to actually check what invalidates your warranty. 
Just as its always best to follow the company's advice that actually gives you the warranty.

oh ok....:) i will try a system restore....man!!! do you realise the massive pain in the nuts that I am going to have reinstalling all the patches etc for World of Warcraft heheh..

well... i dont think that the memory section counts as invalidating the warrenty.. but we will see. seems a bit silly but i do agree, screws are screws and them are the rules for most manufactures..