Nvidia G84m/G86m faulty chip happen to Vaio??

[6800gt]

I just wonder if anyone has the alleged graphic problem with your vaio series. I got AR51J with 8400m GT early this year. So far it works fine, but not sure it would die shortly :smileysad:. What's the sony's response?

origin story: All Nvidia G84 and G86s are bad
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/09/nvidia-g84-g86-bad

Channel Vendors Demand Graphics Cards Suppliers to Recall Potentially Faulty Nvidia GeForce Graphics Cards.
Resellers Want to Return Potentially Faulty Nvidia GeForce Graphics Boards to Makers
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20080725123120_Channel_Vendors_Demand_Graphics_Cards_Supp...

[felixyo]

Another affected user. I have an VGN-NR21S/T which is not in the list of supported laptops, although I'm having the same problem as all people: vertical lines, right part of the laptop extremly heating. Video card: Nvidia 8400M GT

I bought my laptop in Spain so I have 2 years warranty. Buuuuut unfortunatly my laptop is 2 years and 1 month old (damn!).

I've just contacted the support center via email. We will see what they reply, but I guess I will have to fight with them if I want my laptop repaired for free cos my laptop "isn't in the list".

I've been a Sony fan all my life, and that's why I bought this laptop. I hope I won't have to regret buying a Sony laptop... it's not fair paying so much for a "top brand", and just get to use a laptop for 2 years.

Anyone with a VGN-NR21S/T is suffering problems too?

Greetings to all

[rocketman91]

I've got a VGC-LM1E and I've been experiencing these problems just yesterday and now my VAIO has been completely disabled.
I have contacted support and I have received no reply from them.
I really would like to know if I have to pay to fix this GPU problem associated with the 8400M.
If its repaired "under the 4 year warranty" will I have to pay for the DHL service?!

[TrollJester]

The same issue cropped up with my Sony Viao FZ21Z last Saturday, prior to this I was competely unaware of the problem. I've been passed from pillar to post by both PC World and Sony Viao, with all sorts of conditions having to be complied with. And, after lots of running about, phone calls, research and increased stress levels, I've decided enough is enough,the gloves are off!
Here's a copy of a letter that I've made Sony Viao aware of (currently waiting on a return call from a Customer Service Manager at Sony Viao) and that in the 1st instance I'm going to take to my local PC World this afternoon in the hope that I can get what I'm after by way of a satifactory outcome (see letter below).
My immediate problem is that I have a big client job on tomorrow, and my FZ21Z is the only machine I currently own that can do the jo

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: Faulty goods and the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)

On 7th March 2008 I bought a Sony Viao notebook computer: ModelNo; VGN-FZ21Z, Serial No; 2*2*9*5* 5*0*0*3 from the PC World branch in Dundee for £802.98 and which, on 3rd April 2010 stopped working.

The heart of the problem is a manufacturing issue with an Nvidia chip (GeForce 8600M GS GPU) that, according to my research, is a well documented problem, (see appendix) and which, in the experience of other Sony VIAO customers is neither easily, nor conclusively being resolved by the manufacturer.
See Appendix (overleaf)

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) states that when a consumer buys goods from a trader they must be: as described; of a satisfactory quality; and fit for any purpose made known at the time of sale to the seller.

Therefore as my computer is not fit for purpose nor of satisfactory quality, I wish to claim an alternative machine as replacement (PLUS tranfer of all data & settings from the HDD in the original machine to the replacement). In addition to this I am pursuing a legal claim for financial recompense for loss of business, loss of time (28 hrs so far @ £35.00 per hour) due to research and pursuance of this case plus recompense at a rate deemed appropriate by the courts for the stress and anxiety caused by both PC World’s & Sony VIAO’s reticence to address and rectify the problem promptly and satisfactorily.

Please respond to my complaint within 7 days from receipt of this letter. I am prepared to pursue this matter further through the civil courts.


Yours faithfully,



G Campbell


Appendix

Ref:
http://club.vaio.sony.co.uk/clubvaio/gb/en/forum/viewthread?thread=55888&offset=90

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t90875.html

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=349&mdl=

http://genesis.sonyeurope.com/instranet/ccil_sony/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=35880&l=en_GB&m=VGN-F...

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1528907/sony-admits-failing-nvidia-chips-months-late




Posted on ipetitions.com:

My FZ21Z packed up on Sat 3rd April 2010 (25 months after purchase) with the same or similar graphics distortion showing on the screen, and as described elsewhere on this petition and other forums.
I am truly shocked at what I've been reading here and on the other forums.
Having now experienced both Sony's and PC World's reticence to address this well documented and widely reported issue without causing me distress, worry and a potential hefty bill for a repair, that seems likely not to fully resolve the issue.
I'm going to action my consumer rights and demand a replacement machine from PC World. Along with this I'm going to demand that all my data on the Viao's HDD be transferred to my new machine.
Not only will Vaio never see my money again, but a once avid supporter of Sony will boycott all it's goods.

[seregap]

just to let everyone know: sony were super quick at repairing my two (fz31m and fz21m) laptops with the same nvidia fault last week. took no more than 4 days to get each of repaired laptops back since first contact with sony. More than that, one of them, surprisingly, came back with 512mb video RAM instead of original 256

[vicky4sony]

Hi,
I am back again. My sony vaio VGN-FZ11L was repaired for nVidia geforce 8400 MT graphics problem few months ago and perhaps some work was done on the motherboard. Yesterday, I had connected it with my TV with extended display and then close the lid. I had to do some work again on the laptop so immediately took the lid up but nothing appeared on the screen. I pressed power, enter button to wake it up but it did not work. I thought it is still in middle of sleep mode.

I put down the lid after some time it shows all the LEDs (HDD, wireless) blinking so I opened the lid again. The screen came in normal way but not responding then I tried to close some programs from task manager, but still it was not responding. I pressed the shut down and then it started it to shut down and started installing updates for my laptop then shut it down coolly. But after that I have tried to boot it many times. Every time power LED gets on but nothing happens. I can’t hear any sound of fan or hard disk. Screen remains blank. System does not go for reboot. Might it be related with earlier repair?

I hold power button pressed for sometime but it does not restart. I tried with removing battery, only on battery, only on power. In all situations it shows power LED on (also battery LED when on battery) but nothing happens. I remember that I had installed a registry error checking software suggested by veoh.com . I don’t know what really happen. Please help.

[smiley_mikey]

HI

I had a similar problem with an AR41s, it wasn't on sony's list, I had owned it for just over two years, first contacted sony who wasn't very interested and quoted figures of 500 to 700 pounds (uk) for repair. In the end I got some advice from consumer direct, where they told me about the sale of goods act.

I went back to Comet who I had purchased it from and told them the problem, where I was given the same story, out of warrenty, you will have to pay for it, down to sony etc.

I therefore asked comet to send it away and quote for a repair, comet charged £60, and I contacted the repair company and asked to fax the report to myself. Repair company said graphics chip had over heated causing the solder to detach from the mother board and chip, being that the chip has a bad reputation I beleived I had a good case for repair being free.

Paid comet £557, who in turn sent laptop back to sony to change motherboard. Upon receiveing working laptop back, wrote comet a letter asking to be reimbursed and attached report and various web page articles. Got the response I expected, out of warrenty blah blah, ever so sorry blah blah.

This is where it gets good, went to small claims court, paid £50, filled in simple form with all my documeted evidence, report and print outs of web pages. Under the sale of goods act, you have up to 6 years in which you can do this, as the goods sold to should be of satisfactory quality, waited 4 weeks, got no responce from comet, filled in form at county court for judgement, couple of weeks later received judement that comet was to pay me every penny back, 2 weeks later receved a cheque for the full amount.

So if you have any of these problems, manufacturing defects, you have 6 years to do something about it ! And also don't bother with sony, your first port of call will be who sold it to you (unless it was a sony shop !), and remeber don't let them fob you off !

Have fun at the court!

[dodge2008]

Another affected user. I have an VGN-NR21S/T which is not in the list of supported laptops, although I'm having the same problem as all people: vertical lines, right part of the laptop extremly heating. Video card: Nvidia 8400M GT

I bought my laptop in Spain so I have 2 years warranty. Buuuuut unfortunatly my laptop is 2 years and 1 month old (damn!). 

I've just contacted the support center via email. We will see what they reply, but I guess I will have to fight with them if I want my laptop repaired for free cos my laptop "isn't in the list".

I've been a Sony fan all my life, and that's why I bought this laptop. I hope I won't have to regret buying a Sony laptop... it's not fair paying so much for a "top brand", and just get to use a laptop for 2 years.

Anyone with a VGN-NR21S/T is suffering problems too?

Greetings to all

[Stevey100]

Having the worst customer service with this on the NVIDIA issue...

Here is a letter wrote to Sony's CEO!


Dear Mr Stringer,

I am writing to you regarding the poor service I have received with
regards to the repair (or lack of) of my Sony Vaio in the hopes that
you can help me get some support from your customer services team in
the UK. To date, they have failed to help me, hence me writing to you
in despair.

I have been experiencing severe graphics distortion and hanging on my
Vaio for one month now. A quick Google search revealed the likelihood
of the problem was a defective NVIDIA chip in the machine. To my
relief, I discovered that Sony were aware of the problem and would fix
this for free, despite my Vaio being out of warranty. The link to your
press release is below:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=VGNFZ190N&news_id=349

I rang the Vaio support service (Premium Rate number), and explained
the problem I had and the steps I had taken to try to resolve the
issue (rolled back the driver and re-installed). I explained that I
thought this likely to be the defective chip. The person I spoke to on
the phone said that my Vaio would be picked up, the cause would
diagnosed and that it would be fixed free of charge if it was the
graphics chip. I explained I would be on holiday for 2 weeks, but
would have access to email once this had been diagnosed.

On the 28th May I received an email from the Vaio repair team,
describing the issue as HDD related and quoting me £370 to repair
(Particularly stressful to receive on holiday). I replied explaining
that I felt this extremely high and that I would not take up the
repair. My Vaio was returned to me.

Imagine my surprise when, on the 13th June, I took my laptop to a
local independent repair centre to find that the issue was not a HDD
issue at all, but the graphics chip? The service centre even went as
far as to take out the HDD and switch on the machine which continued
to exhibit the graphics distortion. This experience caused me to
reflect on the original Sony diagnosis and has dented my confidence in
a brand I have always previously trusted.

At work the following day, I tried to call the Sony Vaio repair centre
again, and was unable to get through due to my workplace barring
premium rate numbers. I wrote an email to Vaio asking for someone to
call me. I heard nothing that day.

The following day, around 8:30 am, I called the premium rate number
from home, and was advised to roll back the drivers and re-install
them, despite having explained I had already done this in the original
call. I then spent several minutes having to explain to the person on
the phone the original call, and the events that had happened since.
It is disappointing and also time consuming to have to repeat
everything I had already explained – something I wouldn’t expect to
have to do to an organisation as professional as Sony.

Due to my frustration over the service I had received, I requested to
speak to a supervisor. I was told none were available. The Vaio
employee explained she would log a complaint, and when asked if this
meant I would get a ring back from a supervisor and was told ‘not
necessarily’. I think this is unacceptable – as a consumer if I am
dissatisfied I’d like the opportunity to express that to someone’s
superior – something your employee denied me.

The Vaio employee went through a further basic checks and felt that
the issue was not the chip itself. I (again) explained that the hard
disk had been removed in front of my eyes and the graphics issue had
again occurred, at which point she suggest the Vaio be picked up
(again). She gave me a new case number. I requested the Vaio be picked
up from my place of work. The following day, I took the Vaio to my
work place and left it with the post room for pick up. This never
happened and my faulty Vaio is still sat in the post room at work.

Today I received a phone call from Vaio which I believe is in response
to my email 2 days ago. During the call, I had to yet again explain
the entire process I had been through before I was informed that they
could pick the Vaio up, but if it was not the NVIDIA problem, I would
be charged either for the repair, or to return the laptop (£149). On
request to speak to a manager or supervisor, I was told the fee was
non-negotiable. I asked several times to speak to a supervisor, and
was rejected on each occasion. Eventually I said that all I wanted was
for a supervisor to call me back and that I needed nothing else from
her at this stage. The call centre member hung up on me. This is not
helpful, nor is it delivering any kind of service to someone who has
had a number of Sony laptops now.

I am not technically minded, and therefore cannot guarantee that the
issue is the NVIDIA chip, however I have been told by an independent
source that the problem is not the HDD issue as given in my quote. If
I send the laptop in and it is not the defect chip, I will have to pay
£149 to have it returned to me. In order to guarantee that it is the
chip, I would need to be technically minded. I hope from this you can
see I am in an impossible situation where I cannot send the laptop in
for fear of charges, even though it may contain a defective graphics
chip supplied by Sony. Not only this, but on the previous call I was
not advised of the charges mentioned today, which would suggest you
are not always clear and transparent with your customers about prices.

At this moment:

- I am without a functioning laptop.

- Sony have misdiagnosed the problem (with full proof from a friendly
local store).

- Sony have charged me premium rate numbers

- A Sony call centre staff member has hung up on me

- Sony have not picked up my Vaio when they said they would

- Sony have threatened to charge me £149 to return my PC if the issue
is not a specific NVIDIA issue (despite there being no way of me
knowing this 100% being a customer)

- I have invested ridiculous amounts of my time in trying to solve a
problem which your organisation is failing to help me with.


This has left me both frustrated and upset. I went with Sony believing
they were well established and trusted company, and feel that Sony
have abused that trust. If this situation is not resolved within the
next 5 working days, I feel I will have no choice but to seek the
advice of a consumer group, who I am sure will be able to advise me.
However, the risk to your business is that they expose this experience
to would-be Sony customers.

I would be grateful if you could get someone to not only rectify this
issue immediately, but also address each of the areas where the Sony
repair centre process has failed. In addition I am expecting to be
fully compensated for my time, the premium rate calls, the cost of
petrol to take my laptop to a reputable London-based repair centre and
to compensate me for the extremely poor service and consequent stress
I have suffered over the past month.

I look forward to a speedy response.

Regards,

XXX

[paudent]

I also have the same poblem vgn-ar71m
nvidia gefoce 8400m GT GPU
on boot up coloured squares then lines on screen vertical
laptop 1 year 5 months old out of warranty
so if this common problem has to be paid for which could cost about £200 plus
looks like a £1000 pound lap top is neither use or orniment
its not worth paying as it will happen again and again
or has any body have any advice to help with getting this sorted
some other way
yours hopefully the mechanic

[bpshah]

Having similar problems on my AR31S, already posted thread "Crash lines all over my AR31S"
http://club.vaio.sony.co.uk/clubvaio/gb/en/forum/viewthread?thread=70386

But just been reading through this thread and have yet to find a single offical response from Sony on here, I just can't believe how bad things have got with Sony customer service, makes you sick. I hope my vaio is repaired but just reading this thread no more sony products again, manners cost nothing!!