Laptops Dell and Sony report mass hardware failures

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awestriker

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That reminds me, read an article in yesterday's HINDU, about a whole lot of Vaios being recalled by Sony.

Design problem = Excess heat generation = too hot to handle.
 
Dell did shipped faulty hardware (Mobos in Optiplex PCs) but between 2003-2005, NOT in recent times. Read the article.
And the recalled vaios are ONLY the C and F series. A fix is already up on their site if you own these 'rare' models.
Don't panic just because you saw some catchy headlines, read the details.
 
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That's why i never buy Dell or Sony notebooks. i have been using Hp for over 7 years and never faced any issues.
 
^^ wow!! i had always heard the reverse... My colleague has a HP and it has severe heating problem. It shuts down every 5-10 mins due to overheating.

On the other hand, i have found Sony(CW series) to be super cool. temperatures have been around 20c at idle and 30c at load. Dell(14R) has been around 40c at idle and 53 at load.
 
My office laptop (HP DV 9000) recently developed problem with its hinge and when I searched the net, it was found that it was a very common issue and HP used to repair it free of cost whether under warranty or not, but only till May 2009. It was purchased little more than two years earlier and had only one year warranty. So finally sent it to HP authorized service centre at Trivandrum where they kept it for about 10 days, everyday saying that they are ascertaining availability of parts. Three days back, they said the parts (the hinges and the plastic behind the panel) are not available. Only after three days of coercion by my staff, did they give in writing (yesterday) that the parts are not available!
 
I bought a Sony F11 just about 15 days back. It's the same one as shown in the gizmodo picture. I checked my serial number on the sony website and it says that mine is not a part of the affected series. can't be sure whether this is checking tool has some problems as mine is an F11! I hope trying to flash the available bios should'nt be a problem as if the bios is not compatible, it should'nt flash itself to the notebook..
 
HP sucks. They had a problem with the nVIDIA cards on their laptops which lead to overheating and then the burning of motherboards. They gave support in the US but in India they just ignored it.
 
simoncherian said:
HP sucks. They had a problem with the nVIDIA cards on their laptops which lead to overheating and then the burning of motherboards. They gave support in the US but in India they just ignored it.
i agree, but the nvidia cards were geforce 8 series and also some amd processors (like the dv6-2005ax) which caused the heating and they've been replaced with much more heat efficient hardware (intel i-series and ati cards) and design. The lastest dv6 models (which have similar design of ENVY 14 and 17) have been reviewed to be the coolest one hp has ever produced! Also they look much more sexy with macbook like gloss free body.
 
simoncherian said:
HP sucks. They had a problem with the nVIDIA cards on their laptops which lead to overheating and then the burning of motherboards. They gave support in the US but in India they just ignored it.
Not really. It was a typical problem of nVidia based AMD systems & they did offered extended warranty of one year to all existing customers in India as well. I got my v3000 mobo replaced free of cost after warranty ran out, which died second time after first replacement due to same problem...

It was only that HP never informed its users directly or through media to get to know about this FREE enhanced warranty. I was lucky to find it out on HP website & even posted a thread here @ TE informing others... :)
 
bhupatib said:
Dell did shipped faulty hardware (Mobos in Optiplex PCs) but between 2003-2005, NOT in recent times. Read the article.

And the recalled vaios are ONLY the C and F series. A fix is already up on their site if you own these 'rare' models.

Don't panic just because you saw some catchy headlines, read the details.

I second this. But the point here is, truth about something shipped in 2003-2005 came out now. We can only be skeptical, about skeletons tumbling out of closet.
 
Still after going through all the posts i will put my money on HP rather than investing on others ...
 
Dell is mostly known for its Latitude and XPS series, though expensive but are quality built. And I hope Dell is properly sued for selling trash and taking customer for a ride :@. Technical support for dell died long time, only to be replace by salesmen.
 
^^^ Are you sure I received a quick replacement adapter and had my motherboard, fans, heatsink etc changed in no time. Dell sure has an excellent after sales service.
 
thetoxicmind said:
That reminds me, read an article in yesterday's HINDU, about a whole lot of Vaios being recalled by Sony.
Design problem = Excess heat generation = too hot to handle.
Oh i suppose now i understand why those VAIO kareena kapoor ads have been playing so often...
 
HP service is worst in India. I've seen so many friends suffer because of it. most of them give up after a few months and get it repaired from outside by paying for a product in warranty.

One friend made a youtube video, wrote a blog, found out all hp mail ids (150-200) and sent a mass email with his problem and links to video and blog. They replaced his laptop within on week and he also demanded to for 1 year extra warranty he lost (yep he struggled for more than 8 months with this). He also threatened to sue them with mental harassment.
 
anirudh said:
I got sony vaio vpccw26fg laptop and now im worried. Wat to do ?
I have the sony vaio vpccw26fx model. Nothing to panic about. Just follow the instructions and update the firmware. Though i didn't face any issue so far, upgraded my firmware.

Got this mail form sony.

Dear Sony Customer,

Sony takes pride in the quality of its products. Recently, we became aware of a potential issue affecting certain units within the VPCF11 and VPCCW2 series of notebook PCs.

In rare instances, these notebook computers may overheat due to a potential malfunction of the internal temperature management system, resulting in deformation of the product's keyboard or external casing, and a potential burn hazard to consumers.

If you have one of the VPCF11 or VPCCW2 series models, Sony recommends that you download and install a firmware update specifically designed to prevent the potential overheating symptom.

Please click on this link to access the web announcement: Sony eSupport - Electronics - News & Alerts

If you have any questions or need additional assistance with the firmware update installation, call Sony technical support at (866) 496-7669 for assistance.

The satisfaction of our customers is our number one priority, and we will work diligently to ensure that your VAIO notebook is in top working order. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your support in this matter.

Sincerely,
Mike Lucas,
Senior Vice President, VAIO
Sony Electronics Inc.

By the way, my lappy CPUs runs at average 25 degrees.
 
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