Laptop Update

I have been so upset about our Sony Vaio PCG-FXA59 laptop that I didn’t want to follow up. But here’s where we stand. It’s been nearly two weeks since it went to the hospital in Orange. Once the tech took the cover off – the computer stopped booting!

I was furious. No one wants to hear about a patient getting killed in the hospital.

We think, now, this model won’t boot unless fully assembled! But, it’s taken a while to come to that conclusion.

It also seems like the dead LCD panel actually does work… sort of. LCD’s are passive in that they don’t emit any light. If you look at a laptop screen or LCD monitor you are looking at the light from a cold cathode tube passing through the LCD array.

If you hold the LCD away from its housing, allow ambient room light to drift in, you can see what’s supposed to be there.

So, it would seem the LCD works but there’s no light. That narrows it down to the inverter (which produces higher voltage than what the battery produces natively) or the cold cathode tube, aka the bulb, itself.

Omar, he’s the tech, tried plugging in another inverter. Nothing. So, it’s most likely the tube – a $10 part!

Of course, with vacation looming on Monday, I’ll need it immediately. So, for the $10 tube, I’m spending nearly $30 for shipping. If the laptop can be recusitated it will be well worth while.

With the thought this machine might have bought the farm, I went looking for a replacement. As it turns out, I had bought a pretty good machine, because even today its specs are excellent – nearly state of the art. What really sets it apart is the 1400×1050 screen. That’s immense!

Tomorrow, when the bulb comes, I’ll bring it to Orange. Maybe it will be case closed – maybe.