Battery Problem discharge for no reason

[arthurfitz]

Hi All,

Really need some help here as Sony tech support are totally unsupportive on my issue. I purchased a new Vaio (3rd Sony Laptop) model VGN-SZ71VN with windows Vista Business. All the latest updates have being installed. However recently (last 4 weeks) my battery is discharging in a matter of days when turned off completely. For instance last friday I had a fully charged battery 100%. I turned off the laptop in the normal way and tonight I powered up the laptop on battery power to discover 2% battery remaining needless to say the computer shut down.

Sony's answer is for me to remove my battery from the laptop everytime I shut it down (daft me thinks). Anyway has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks
Arthur

[micdonal]

I had this problem with a new AR51SU. I reported to Sony that the battery competely drained (after having been fully charged) whilst turned off, in 5 days. The support person I was speaking to said that it sounded normal. I said that it certainly shouldn't be normal on a brand new £2000 laptop and asked to speak to a tech. I was put through to a supposed tech guy, who said that it was common for batteries to drain while still attached to the laptop. I agreed that to an extent that would be true but to completely deplete a fully charged battery (which wasn't used for 5 days) to the point of not even starting to boot up was ridiculous and sounds to me that something more serious was happening. He said that it is Sony policy that when using a laptop and the battery is fully charged you should remove the battery whilst plugged into the mains supply. Also that the battery should be removed when the laptop is not being used.

Haven't had this problem with Packard Bell, Toshiba or Dell laptops.

[arthurfitz]

It would appear that there is a serious problem with Sony laptops and certainly there is a more serious problem that Sony is aware of and won't admit to. I have owned Dell laptops and never had this sort of problem before. I think we should collect all the information we have and pass this on to Sony in a group. Then if we don't get a good response we should take legal proceedings against Sony in order to get our battery problems solved. I mean this is happening to new laptops with new computers.

[steve9861]

Hi,
My VGN-FZ31Z also experences battery drain.
At 01:00 I switched it off fully charged & running on mains.
This is a Vista off, not hibernate or sleep.
At 10:00 it booted at 82% battery life? - not enough battery left to play a DVD:-(
The battery is 5200 Mah.
So when it is safely tucked away in a case it is drawing power?
Could this potentially be a fire hazard?
I also understand inbuilt battery time/loss for lithium-ion batteries, I will try to reseach an expected graph for this.

I have heard of a battery recall due to a fire hazzard;-

"Dell and Apple Computer announced large recalls of laptop batteries in the summer of 2006, followed by Toshiba and Lenovo. Sony manufactured all of the recalled batteries, and in October 2006, the company announced its own large-scale recall. Under the right circumstances, these batteries could overheat, potentially causing burns, an explosion or a fire."

Any comments?

Cheers,

Steve.

[pausimps1]

I have exactly the same problem with my Sony VGN NW20SF - not an expensive model, however I do expect it to be fit for purpose.

I bought this laptop end of February this year and believed it to be still under warranty so I contacted the online help and chatted online to customer support. I explained that my battery was fully discharging over a period of 5 days or so. He confirmed that it did indeed sound like a battery problem but asked it I could follow a few steps first to confirm exactly how long the battery was lasting.

I followed his instructions and contacted him the next day. He confirmed that there was a problem with the battery. I asked if he was going to replace the battery and he said he couldn't as batteries are not included in the warranty. He was quite adamant.  I told him that the product was not 'fit for purpose' whereupon he relented and promised to send me a new battery. The new battery arrived, I charged it up as instructed and everything seemed fine until I went to use it a couple of weeks later (on return from holiday). The battery was completely dead.

I have just come offline having chatted to another Sony advisor and I am not happy. Part of the transcript of our online chat follows to give you an idea of what was said.

"Advisor:  Are you aware even if you are not using the VAIO and it is turn off it will still discharge the battery.
Pauline says:  No

Advisor: This appears to what is happening, does this sound correct?
Pauline says: Yes, but my husband also owns a Sony Viao and doesn't have this problem.

Advisor:  It is not on all VAIO, most new VAIO would have this as the power button has an open circuit. It constantly requires power, this in within specification and cannot be changed.

Pauline says:  I think it's unacceptable to have to charge the battery fully before any journey where you plan to use your laptop. This is the complete opposite of what laptops are about. Is there nothing I can do about this?

Advisor: You can remove the battery and this will stop the discharge.

Pauline says: OK - if that's what I need to do, then I'll do it. However, I am bitterly disappointed with this Sony product."

I am really amazed that Sony can get away with fobbing of its customers when there is clearly a design fault with one of their products.

Like others, I am very unhappy, but I am at a loss as what to do.