VGN-FS315B notebook has DIED on me. Won´t start up. PLEASE HELP!

[brinners]

My notebook is two years old. It was on the other day, I was using it whilst charging from the mains and suddenly the whole thing went dead. I tried to turn it on again but to no avail. All the lights come on but stay on permanently, they don´t flash like normal, nothing boots up, the screen stays black. My local computer shop have had a look and say it needs to go back to Sony for repair. They have managed to access the hard drive and backup my documents. They said it may be an electrical fault.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I would really appreciate any help as I´m very wary of sending it back to Sony and being charged a fortune! Thanks in advance.

[Thalamus.]

Hi brinners,

If I was to guess, I would say you'll probably need a replacement main board, which Sony class as a High Flat Fee repair..

If you contact Sony to arrange an out of warranty repair, Sony support should provide you with an indication of the repair cost when arranging to service of your Vaio..

[kee-lo_]

How about going through insurance? Sony are going to literally charge you the world for the repair.

[brinners]

I appreciate your help guys.

Thalamus, it would be the mainboard wouldn´t it...

Kee-lo, what a fantastic piece of advice, I hadn´t even given it a thought. Am going to call up my insurers today and found out if it´s covered. Thanks very much.

[Thalamus.]

You're welcome, let us know the outcome..

[kee-lo_]

Kee-lo, what a fantastic piece of advice, I hadn´t even given it a thought.  Am going to call up my insurers today and found out if it´s covered.  Thanks very much.

No problem, it'll be worth asking what your premium will go to though, weight up the pros and cons.

[brinners]

Guys you´re not going to believe this ...

I had an email from e-support asking me various questions about the AC adaptor. I plugged it into the laptop to see which lights came on. The usual battery charge light came on. I then pressed the power button out of habit ... and IT STARTED UP!

I´m in shock. I don´t know what to do now. Is there a test I should carry out to see where or if there is a fault? I´ll keep it turned on until I get a reply (if it doesn´t crash on me again). I must have tried to turn it on at least 20 times without success, so there´s obviously a problem somewhere. By the way, start up was normal, and it looks like everything is running smoothly...

[brinners]

One thing I´ve just thought of, not sure if it has any relevance or not, is that the AC adaptor wire is slightly faulty. Sometimes it doesn´t work when it´s plugged in, you have to wiggle the wire around in the socket and it starts charging again. The laptop crashed the other day when it was plugged into the mains. Could it be a problem caused by the adaptor? (even though the laptop didn´t work with the battery either...)

[brinners]

Just to update you all ... the happy news is that the laptop is still working.

I´ve just received this reply from Sony e-support:
We would like to advise to turn off Your Vaio notebook and turn it on again. This issue you had is called static charge on motherboard. Somehow you made a static discharge, which brought you Vaio back to life. If this problem occurs again do the following steps first:

1. Unplug everything from You computer (USB devices, Extension cards, memory cards, AC adapter)
2. Remove the battery from the unit
3. Press and hold the power button on Your Vaio for at least 10 seconds
4. Now you can put in battery, plug in AC adapter and turn the unit on

If these steps won't help, please contact us.

This is the same advice that you guys gave me. I appreciate it very much, thanks a lot.
Let´s hope the happy outcome lasts. I´m keeping my fingers crossed.

[Thalamus.]

Just to update you all ... the happy news is that the laptop is still working. 

Glad to hear your Vaio is working again brinners..

[jumpsuit]

I am currently having a similar problem with my desktop.

It shuts itself down randomly for no reason, despite the temperature not being high at all.

When I try to power up again its as if it is unplugged.
The only way I can get it on again is to turn the wall socket off, leave for about 30 seconds, then turn back on.

I suspect this too could be static / electrical related. Any ideas?