topic Re: knackered display in PCs & Accessories

knackered display

chickpea1980 — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:34:24 GMT

I have a PCG-K series today when i turned it on, the display was very dark & you can just make out the windows screen. Cant even log on as I cant see the mouse or login. Have tried the brightness, nothing happens. As the online support isnt working, can anyone offer any ideas as to what is wrong and how i can get it looked at? And also, what would they charge to take it away to look at? Only just registered so this is all new to me. Thanks

Re: knackered display

kee-lo_ — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:36:46 GMT

You are best calling them tomorrow morning about it

Re: knackered display

TygerTyger — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:42:02 GMT

Bit odd. The screen is obviously OK because you can see something, sounds like the syptom of a loose connection or a faulty display component.

Re: knackered display

Ash911 — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 17:46:39 GMT

Yeh sounds like a faulty LCD cable. This is known to cause either flickering or severe brightness problems, and appears to be quite ubiquitous on K-series models 😞

Best bet is to wait till tomorrow when the eSupport should start working again and start up a new case. If my experience is anything to go by they should respond to this quite quickly and it'll all work out with you calling them and arranging a pickup and repair etc. All of this is free as long as your warranty is valid and you didnt cause the damage yourself :S

Only thing is to be wary of the turnaround times, which are quoted as 10 days at most, yet Im still waiting for my K-series to be returned 1 month and a week later 😞

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

Re: knackered display

jammold — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:18:36 GMT

You know what I have found to be a most valuable tool in these cases?

One Energiser torch and two new Duracell batteries, shone at the display.

Works wonders.:smileygrin:

It is a shame this affects the K-Series, it also affected a Dell laptop my friend has had for a few years. Never bothered getting it repaired, but Iwould definately get this sorted out.

it can take as long as 6 weeks to get the computer back from Germany, so be prepared for a long wait. It is sometimes more, sometimes less.

The trick is to be persistant and assertive with Sony, things get escalated rather better that way.

Good luck!

Re: knackered display

Ash911 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 11:22:10 GMT

Unbelievable how many threads there are involving variants of the K-series having problems with their LCDs.

Those affected should also post about their dealings with Sony in this matter tbh

Re: knackered display

TygerTyger — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 11:28:50 GMT

We do share our experiences when someone appears with a similar problem

As I said, there are quite a lot of consistent problems across the model ranges. The laptops have a vast majority of them.

Re: knackered display

kee-lo_ — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 18:50:49 GMT

Unbelievable how many threads there are involving variants of the K-series having problems with their LCDs.

Those affected should also post about their dealings with Sony in this matter tbh

Yeah it's really bad news

Re: knackered display

jammold — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 19:14:57 GMT

ESPECIALLY when it did go back for repair, and the problem is STILL not fixed.

I am one such example.

When I have time I will detail everything, blow-by-blow.

Re: knackered display

kee-lo_ — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:53:31 GMT

You're not alone James, thats whats even more embarrasing for Sony

Re: knackered display

feederfan — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 21:35:46 GMT

Sounds like the Cold Cathodes that backlight the screen have gone, which is actually a common problem on many laptops,...

Re: knackered display

jammold — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 21:50:48 GMT

Can I ask a question?

With cold cathode technology, does this mean that eventually the backlighting will permanently fail and VAIO owners could be left with a permanently black screen?

Re: knackered display

Ash911 — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 13:24:27 GMT

Can I ask a question?

With cold cathode technology, does this mean that eventually the backlighting will permanently fail and VAIO owners could be left with a permanently black screen?

No, because LCDs will still work but be very difficult to view as they dont generate their own light; OLED screens wouldnt have this problem :smileygrin:

Re: knackered display

kee-lo_ — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 13:44:25 GMT

Yeah you'd need to light the screen up to see anything

Re: knackered display

feederfan — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:21:44 GMT

All Cold Cathodes fail after a certain amount of time, Therefore no LCD panel will last forever, however most panels will last at least 5 years or more.

Re: knackered display

kee-lo_ — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:06:41 GMT

Hmmmm that's OKish

Re: knackered display

jammold — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 00:17:44 GMT

Oh right. Its OKish but not ideal.

I might sell my VAIO on by that point and hope OLED screen technology is standard in new VAIOs in 5 years time.:smileygrin:

You know feederfan that explains a lot.

On the occasions where Windows starts without backlighting, when I shine my torch at the screen I can actually see the Windows XP welcome screen where I can pick a Windows XP account.

The next question on my lips is if these backlights are flashing now, and on occasion failing completely during system startup, do you think it might last until May 2006? I cannot carry a torch with me all the time thats just impracticable.

I may end up having to buy a cheap TFT or CRT to put with the laptop.

Re: knackered display

kee-lo_ — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 01:27:55 GMT

Yeah shame its not 10 years

Re: knackered display

guckles — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:00:55 GMT

Same issue here on a grx616mp. No help from the local Sony experts (sony.si) at least not with the Vaio line. Found aqstech in the States offering some kind of a solution. Perhaps These guys could also give some pointers.

I will go through the loops to try and solve this problem; will keep you posted.

Dennis