The problem began with the overheating of “something” making the cooler to go to a super speed with a very loud noise. Obviously after a time it crashed giving the old blue screen saying “hardware problem”. The computer worked for a while after it crashed for good.
On my screen I was having lines and it could not load into in Windows. I’ve tried a lots of things like reinstalling Windows, installing Linux, checking HDD and RAM for errors. I’ve got nothing. No errors, no nothing. Searching on the Internet, i found that this model has a common problem with the Nvidia chip-set. And by overheating it crashed. Of course, I still tried to see if something else is making the problem by knocking down the laptop (cuz duh, I am an IT guy) but everything was fine. In the end I remained to the common problem that Sony said that it has.
So, you can find an official News And Alert by Sony here. Some images that look almost like my monitor here and here. And also a good post about the same problem here.
I decided to call the Vaio service in my country. The idea was that I have to send it to Germany for testing and repairing where the official Vaio service is located. They gave me three possibilities: if the real problem is the Nvidia chip-set, they would change it for free,… if it is another problem with my laptop, that would cost me between 200-800 euro for repairing,… if it is another problem with my computer and I don’t want it to be repaired and send it back, that would cost me 175 euro for the transport and for the testing in their service.
Talking on the phone with them, they asked me to power on my computer and tell them what is happening. In my mind I said WHAT? My laptop was in pieces. Except for the radiator and cooler from the CPU and graphic chip-set, everything was out… my HDD, my RAM, the battery, the BD-ROM… everything. It was knocked down… I said on the phone, “ok, one moment please”. And in a super speed I managed to put them together in a way to work. “The same problem” I said in the phone… “I see some lines, the Windows is trying to load and on some moment it fails to load” like I was a stupid person knowing nothing about computers. But it sounds more like i was trying to explain him what is the problem, because i told them that I think that it may be the video chip-set gone bad.
I really needed my laptop so I sent it in Germany. I’ve deleted everything from my HDD and hoped that the service would repair it even if the laptop was opened, because i made nothing to the chip-set. In 1 day, a special package was sent for putting my laptop in for the transport. This was a Friday. On Monday they called me to tell that the real problem is the video chip-set and that it would be repaired for free, but that I have also some problems with my HDD and this would cost me about 400 euro for the repair. I knew that I have some issues with my HDD. I’ve heard him making some funny noises as willing to crush. I decided that I would personally change the HDD to a better one and answered that I would like to change only the video chip-set. On Wednesday I’ve got a message that my laptop was delivered, and in the next day it already came back.
So, even if the warranty expired one year ago and even if I knocked down the laptop, Sony Vaio Service repaired it for free and also paid the transport. And this only for a common issue. In the package when my laptop came back, i found a letter from them, telling that they are sorry for causing me trouble and attached was a small wiper for my screen. Very cute.
Thank you Sony Vaio Service for repairing my laptop. I also wrote this post from it 
.
