2 months old and SOny Laptop Breaks

[NagaSurayami]

Im having a huge dilema.

Im in the Royal Navy and can't take my laptop to the store which i purchased it.

The laptop works fine until windows XP kicks in then the screen brightness goes so low the only way to view it is to shine a light source such as a torch onto the screen.

Its been like this for 2 days now and i dont understand why its started doing it as the laptop is only 2 months old.

The laptop itself is fine its simply when XP kicks in.

I have tried all the settings i know such as battery, screen saver, screen resolution, driver settings but none of this has helped i even reset the laptop to factory settings and its still faulty.

If anyone can help me please do...

[kee-lo_]

OK ok ok! I getchya, I've watched too many movies.....

We don't have an IRC chan, sorry.
Your problem is hardware related.... not much we can do.

[stevep-4]

IS this one of the laptops with the light sensing device which automatically adjusts the screen brightness??


Since the screen is lit whn it starts, it is most likely a software issue, not a hardware fault.,

When did the problem begin to occur? Have you loaded in any new software recently??

Have you tried starting the laptop in SAFE mode ?

Press F8 repeatedly aqs it starts up (around the same time the VAIO screen pops up). This will load XP with the minimum of drivers and should not load up other programs.

If this works, go to RUN, type MSCONFIG and look at the startup list. It may be that there is a program which is causing the problem.

CHeck on VIAO-LINK if there are updated drivers for your laptop.

You could also try downloading XP updates from Microsoft.

[NagaSurayami]

It must be the screen as i have just plugged it into another monitor and it works fine.

SO i will take it back to the shop i purchased it form and get a replacement.

Thanks for the help guys.

[kee-lo_]

No problem

[stevep-4]

Give the shop a call or e-mail / letter. Let them know NOW that the unit is faulty.
Also register the unit with Sony and try to tell tehm about the problem.

Any problems with warranty issues, and you can tell them you told them when the unit was only 2 months old.

[kee-lo_]

If you get it in before 12 months of purchase you shouldn't have any worries.

[diverse]

12 months is not an issue if you bought it in the UK!

You have 6 years to return an item if the fault is workmanship based or proven to been a manufacturing issue.

Ditto if your laptop breaks down 367 days after purchase, your rights extend beyond 1 year by law!

The item should be fit for the purpose (which for a laptop costing several hundred or even thousand pounds is not 1 year!

TV's are deemed to last for at least 5 years under the rules applied by Courts in the UK and 3-5 is not unreasonable to be expected from a PC!

[diverse]

Answering the question, have you done a factory fresh re-install? this will bring it back to how you got it (software wise!) or an XP System Restore?

Start
All Programs
Accessories
System Tools
System Restore

Good Luck!

[jammold]

You have 6 years to return an item if the fault is workmanship based or proven to been a manufacturing issue

Really?!?! GREAT:smileygrin:

[kee-lo_]

Yep, Rob told me this a while ago.