VGN FS115Z performance problem

[e.verna]

Hi,
I own a VGN FS115Z laptop. A few days ago when I tried to play a dvd movie (the disk was authentic) i noticed some serious permormance drop. In particullar the player (preinstalled intervideo windvd) played for 5 secs intermittently and finally freezed. When i finally removed the disk, the player crashed and the sound became jittery and somewhat prelonged. Also, the mouse movement was very problematic. The disk activity was constant and generally the system seemed to be "slowing down" as if it was under serious load. Restarting didn't solve any of these problems: problematic sound, mouse, and motion picture and excessive disk activity. I upgraded the whole system (available vaio software / firmware and windows upgrades/updates) but again the situation didn't get any better. I have left only a month of waranty for my portable so I can't afford any temporary "quick-fix" via system restore (note that a friend of mine has the same notebook and the same problems and lacking time for repairs he manages to get 1-2 months of normal operation via continuous system restores)
Please answer as soon as possible.
Thank you in advance

[rich912]

Hi e.verna and welcome to the forum.

The symptoms you describe point to overheating, but if a system recovery cures this in the short term it may not be the problem. However it may be worth checking CPU temperature as this will at least eliminate one possible cause.
MobileMeter

[e.verna]

Hi again,
Thanks for the interest. I don't think it's a temperature problem because as I said before a friend of mine has exactly the same laptop and his facing the same problems. Due to business pressure he can't afford to sent it for repair and he' been restoring periodically the system when the problem shows up. The problem occurs when he tries to play a dvd movie or even browse a data-dvd. The strange thing is that this doesn't happen with all dvds. The advice he got from sony service was to intall the firmware update for the dvd-drive and when that didn't have any particular results, they advised him to be very careful of the brands of dvd-roms he used and that he should only use sony dvd-roms (which is totally absurd). Therefore I need advice on whether there is a easy way of fixing the problem myself or should I sent it for repair before the waranty ends.
Thanks for the time.

[jaxtheking]

Hi e.verna,
I got the same problem. Imagine that I found out about it the very first minute I unwrapped my VAIO at Xmas. What a let down. Now, everytime I put a DVD in, I fear it is going to break when it keeps spinning like an elicopter. I phoned up to Sony (raging) demanding a new one and all they said was to do a system reload. Of course it fixed the problem, but only temporarily.
I heard that the DW56 drive gave a LOT of problems, they even founded a club. But i got the DW58. Could you tell me which one is yours?56 or 58?
And please, post any solution if you find one, as I will do for you.
I know it's gonna break soon anyway...what a let down.