NEVER EVER buy a Sony laptop...

Here's why.

My friend has one. The light has gone. I was informed by a Sony reseller that Sony do not supply the lamp on it's own. For those not in the know, a ligth tube (cold cathode tube) is usually around $60-$100 for a new one from online retailers.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, you have to buy the WHOL LCD SCREEN to get the light. And anyone want to hazard a guess a s to the price?

Over $500 US. $500 for a lamp replacement!?!

ANTITRUST is definitely one to file against Sony. It is EXTORTION!!!

So, dude, PLEASE get a dell (or anything other than a Sony!!!

Arghhhh I HATE THEM!!!!!!

And I might add, her laptop is a new model. Not an old one. It is a Pentium4-M 1.6ghz just over a year old.

You can easily find replacement bulbs and screens on ebay from around $75.00 to $150.00 bucks.

Good luck, and happy shopping.

antitrust?? where did you get your law degree?

sounds like somebody dropped it.

companies are allowed to charge anything they want for replacement parts. Just ask GM or Ford. Volvo and MB are even worse.

Sony makes excellent equipment. That could happen to a laptop from any manufacturer.

I think the post should be titled, "Never buy a laptop." Every laptop manufacturer has custom-made parts for each particular model, and they all charge a premium for those parts. Unlike desktops which are generally standardized and interchangable parts...

-Bob

Your opinion is based on one bad experience, isn't it? I don't think that's enough to doubt the manufacturer.
I understand your fustration and anger, I honestly do, but like Chuck said, it could happen to any laptop from any manufacturer.

Lizette

Sony laptops are bulky. If you look at closely ,even the thinnest models are not that thin.
Their spacy design make the laptops look leading edge.

I don't have any Sony equipment as far as computers, but I do have a Camcorder, DVD player, REMOTE COMMANDER!!!, and a few other things. I find it hard to believe that Sony would not cover that display under warranty. They have great equipment, and as others have said don't blame a company over 1 bad incident. I know your only saying laptops, but as I said Sony is a great company.

I´ve got another one for you. Had to repair a 3 year old laptop Compaq for a friend ; the harddisk (6Gb IBM travelmate) was dead . First phoned IBM but they could only sell me an IBM harddisk if it was mounted into an IBM laptop, otherwise it had no adequate part number (although the harddisk was full of part numbers). They advised me to phone compaq which I did. A very friendly lady told me that she could supply me with a replacement HD for the price of € 900 (!!!!). She agreed that this was a exorbitant price but it was like that on her sparepart list so ...
Bought a second hand one at That´s It store in The Hague (which is a shop with a marvelous stock and excellent service) for € 60 and three months garantuee and is running fine.

So avoid these brand guys, they suck your money !!

Mr T

Ok thanks for the not-so-intelligent comments from those offering up their daily batch of witless sarcasm. Online, everyone thinks they're a comedian for some reason.

This laptop is about 1 month out of warranty. The bulb has died, laptop has never been so much as breathed on (why did you feel the need to type that stupid remark?). The owner is a lady in her 50's not some lan party kid who drags it around.

Unlike Sony, other manufacturers will provide you with a bulb and not at a cost of over $500 before labor charges!!! SONY WON'T. I used to work for Sony, and I knew they were pretty bad for ripping off the customer, but this takes it to a whole new level.

Just offering a heads up to anyone out there thinking of buying a Sony laptop. I am not bitter incidentally, it isn't mine!

Wasn't expecting a debate. Just want to post an anti-Sony remark on here as they have well and truly ripped off my friend, freedom of speech and all...

Looks like you lost the debate. :-(

I service laptops for various vendors and the backlight invertor is normally part of the LCD panel. Since there are so many different panels out there it would be hard to tri matching the invertor without knowing the brand and specs on the panel installed in the laptop. I might have an Hitachi panel and the replacement might be a Toshiba one. As another post points out if the unit is in warranty then why didn't you contact tech support for repairs. As a rule all LCD's no matter who makes the laptop run from $500-1000USD. Even my 5 year old HP costs $700 to replace if I had to. When you decide to get a laptop then you should expect that parts will cost more. The HP's, Sony's and Dell's that I repair all work the same for service.

Richard

Yes, but I DON'T NEED A LAPTOP LCD OR INVERTOR.

Listen. I have dismantled many a laptop in my time, and I build machines too. I know Sony and all other laptop manufacturers use Hitachi and other brand lcd screens. My point is still, that I need the long, white, very thin light tube. Nothing more.

And what I am trying to say is.... they make 'em, they ship 'em, but they WON'T allow me to BUY ONE unless I take the whole damn lcd panel too!

When you last went to get a tyre changed on your car, did they force you to buy a wheel in order to get the tyre? NO. It's the exact same thing. If I dismantle the thing, read off the model number of the tube, Sony will be able to send me one. But they refuse to. Because they like to screw the customer.

And I said already, it is OUT of warranty by about a month.

For all consumers out there, be warned. Sony are not interested in helping you after they have your money.

I would like to comment on this. I bought a grx580k and the same thing happened to me.
I tried replacing the inverter and it did not fix the problem. It started out as a rose discoloration on the screen and eventually the bulb burned out. It was determined to be the backlight went. This happened approximately 1 yr and 4 months after I bought the unit. It was actually used sparingly for the first 6 months. This is a definite issue and should be dealt with.
Just because a light bulb goes doesn't mean you should repalce the whole screen. Sony made this piece a part of the screen. Ship it to Sony to be fixed and you will pay 700 to 900 bucks. There are sources out there who will do it for about 400.

One question, did you ever think of getting an extended warranty for the unit? I work for an extended warranty company and have seen enough Sony Vaio's come through to last me a life time.

They are made for such occasions, it could have been shipped out and fixed. But that's beside the point this far into the game. Sony produces well made equipment. You know the biggest reason I see a lot of Vaio's come through? The biggest reason is people dropping them.

Rarely is it a major problem with them, usually a hard drive or AC adaptor. The biggest joke in computing is Hewlett Packard/Compaq. Hell, they can't even make good printers, let alone any computer. I see 3 times the amount of HP's come through than any other make.

KDS might come in first as the worst computer you can get, but they don't count now because they are not making them anymore. As far as Dell goes, it seems to me that if you just stay away from their digital cameras, you'll do fine.

Ok, I went way off track here, lol, back to the subject. Next time you invest the kind of money needed for a high quality Vaio, think extended warranty and you may avoid these little finacial fiascos