Miscellaneous laptop discussions forum: sony vaio, touchpad behaving badly ?

Interesting - let us know how long it's been working since your scotch tape repair, and perhaps give us an update in a month...

Great! I have been waiting for my notebook to go out of warranty to try something like this. You can find breakdown instructions if you google for vgnsz.pdf

Is there anything else we need to know about detaching the touchpad from the palmrest?

Immediately fixed the problem.
Lets hope its a permanent fix.

Can you supply a link to the breakdown please?

You aren't a scotch tape guy Petemd, are you?

This was supposed to be in reply to toadman16 below.

Yesterday I got a call from Sony. They said they were in the process of fixing my computer, and in addition to the things I indicated, they thought the hard drive was going to fail shortly, so they were asking my permission to install a new one (I wrote on the sheet to not erase my data without authorization over the phone, so they called to say the new drive would entail my data loss). Today I received the computer back. Here is the list from the invoice for repair:

LCD Unit (This will be my third)
Keyboard unit (why...I don't know)
BPS2C
Complete PWB SWX-21
Fuse, Micro
Tape (Harness)
Sheet Cover CPU
Touch Pad
Foot Bottom
ODD (PCC/SMQL/9.5/8)
HDD

What some of these parts are I have no idea. On their check sheet, they checked, LCD, Cosmetics, Keyboard, Firmware Upgrade, Bios Upgrade, Battery Pack, Touchpad (why not just give me a new computer huh?).

It was nice of them to give me a new battery. I wrote it on my sheet but never told a CSR, and I got a new one at the end of my warrantee for free.

As for the touchpad, it seems to be working well right now. The tech who called me for permission to replace the hard drive had really bad English, but he said the touchpad has a "bad chip" when I asked about the inverting. We'll see if the problem comes back.

Took a week in total, not too bad. They replaced what I told them to and more. We'll see if it fixes the problem. If it doesn't, it's just a bad design and there isn't much to be done

To tell you the truth, I wouldn't buy a Sony again, and I'm one of the guys that has gotten it repaired and seemingly fixed. Had I seen this thread prior to purchase, I would have gone elsewhere myself. There is a Toshiba that is almost as small, with better options, cheaper. My last toshiba, now going on its 7th year, is still running like a champ (after 5 years, there were things that broke because of extended abuse, but, I can't blame it. I'm very happy and still use it daily). I also so an ultra-thin voodoo the other day which looks amazing. Shop around, although this is a pretty laptop, it's not the quality you'd expect for the money. (And sony's software sucks too)

WTF is with the hard drives? I sent mine in last week, to get the touchpad fixed, and they called me yesterday to tell me that they were replacing the hard drive. I'd really like to know what's going on with that! The machine will be back in my hands on Monday. The touchpad replacement had better solve the problem.


You're right, why didn't they just ship you a new computer? ;o)

Glad that worked for you (if it actually did), but if it worked for everyone, this thread wouldn't even be here. In fact, it's just kind of an asinine post.

Harsh? Not nearly enough. Read the thread. Not only have people posting here tried numerous software solutions, most with poor results (including the return of the problem after days, even weeks), but Sony has stated that it's a hardware problem. You don't want "harsh" treatment, browse the topic before posting!

I called Sony about a week ago and reported the problem with my machine. They were quick to acknowledge that the touchpad thing is a hardware issue and they asked me to send it in. I got it back yesterday. They replaced the touchpad and, for some strange reason, the hard drive. So far, it works great. I'll report back if the problem returns.

Oh, and wouldn't it be nice if, when they replaced the HD, they didn't insist on reinstalling all the crapware!? Took me two hour to purge the junk from the machine.

I read all of this about 2 weeks ago, and tried the deleting two files solution with absolutely no success. Finally, last night, I emailed Sony, and they gave me the typical troubleshooting list to go through (restart computer, reinstall drivers, restore BIOS stuff...whatever). In my email, I gave them the link to this forum. His response? "We aren't allowed to comment on quotes from websites other than Sony" He also claimed this problem is not "a known problem" and "no one else is having it"

I just wrote him back, pointing out 50+ people seem to be having the problem on this website. I told him I don't give a sh** if you want to comment on what these people on this forum are saying or not...USE IT TO FIND A SOLUTION.

Finally, I threatened a class action lawsuit. I am 100% serious about this. I am a college student at the University of Michigan, and have many friends in law school. I am sure between them and their professors we can figure out how to get the ball rolling on that.

For the record:
Sony VGN-SZ220
Its like 2 years old...been having the problem for as long as I can remember

I have experienced the inverting problem, but its mostly the beserk deal where the cursor jumps around and closes/resizes/opens windows. POS.

So I followed the consumerist's advice and emailed all the Sony America executives telling them of my problem. My computer was recently fixed, as noted in this forum, but it's third LCD came from the repair center with dead pixels. I got tired of dealing with reps on the phone, so I emailed the following people:

ryoji.chubachi@jp.sony.com, stan.glasgow@am.sony.com, Mike.Abary@am.sony.com, Rick.Clancy@am.sony.com, Ed.Cotter@am.sony.com, Michael.Fasulo@am.sony.com, Charles.Gregory@am.sony.com, Jay.Dellostretto@am.sony.com, Hugo.Gaggioni@am.sony.com, Steve.Haber@am.sony.com, Hiroshi.Kawano@am.sony.com, Rintaro.Miyoshi@am.sony.com, John.Scarcella@am.sony.com, Nobu.Kurita@am.sony.com, Stuart.Redsun@am.sony.com, Dennis.Syracuse@am.sony.com, Marjorie.Thomas@am.sony.com, Randall.Waynick@am.sony.com, Jay.Vandenbree@am.sony.com, Michael.Williams@am.sony.com

I sent a respectful letter, telling them of where I purchased it (include the company you work for too), when, and what the history was with the laptop. I then requested that they replace it by a certain date, or I would file with the BBB and consumerist.com.

NO JOKE, WITHIN 20 MINUTES FOUR PEOPLE FROM SONY HAD CALLED ME, INCLUDING THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF SONY AMERICA. They told me to send it in, and they will most likely replace it with a superior model. We will see if that actually happens, but at least I got someone's attention. I followed the advice given by the consumerist.com for someone else with a Sony problem that can be found here: http://consumerist.com/364718/sony-doesnt-repair-your-laptop-for-3-months-accuses-you-of-warranty-fraud

I swear this is a solution, but let me give you some background info on my system.
OK, so Im on the SZ460N model, vista, alps touch pad.
My problem was erratic cursor; window closing, right clicks and jumps, etc, as well as a 90% inverted cursor; up goes down, left goes right, and visa versa. (I say 90%, because by random when i would restart cursor would not be inverted.)

I had tried 100's of steps from different forums to fix this. Re-installing driver, old and new. Even synaptics driver, even though its an alps touch pad. Following sony's 20 step process to recover the system, bios, etc. Solutions sometimes would work temporarily, no more than a week.

The only permanent (about a month now) solution is listed on page 12 of this forum.
The metal palm rest of the SZ model seems to be interfering with with the poorly grounded alps touch pad.
So if you insulate the touch pad from the palm rest using insulating electric tape (the black rubbery kind), all problems go away.
My cursor is now right side up, as well I have not had any erratic behavior episodes.

For detailed information on how to do this go to this great site:
http://doube.org/sztp.html
He also has a link on how to open up the laptop if you are uncomfortable with that.

I am not sure if or how this voids any warranty, however don't be afraid its really easy.

Lastly, please right back after trying and let us know how you make out.

If we are certain this fixes the problem, maybe we can start to relay this info to Sony tech support, or someone.