VGN AR71E Graphics card broken, blank screen

[happytourist]

I have a VAIO VGN AR71E with  Nvidia G84M, which i bought in 2008. A couple of weeks ago I got a blank  screen.

I  was wondering anyone knows whether the VGN AR71E's graphics card  is discrete? I've heard that a lot of Vaio laptops have to get the  entire moterboard replaced when the graphics card is broken. Is this the case with my particular model?

There was also rumour that this is a common problem, and that the the USA Sony  are replacing the faulty graphics card for free. Does anyone know if this is happening in  the UK? My laptop is now well out of warranty, and for the price they   seem to charge to get this fixed I could buy a new laptop!

Any help would be very much appreciated.

[Blencogo]

Sadly the news is not good.

In common with 99% of laptop computers, the graphics adapter in your model is a chip soldered onto the main board.  The only sure cure is to replace the main board although some repairers can attempt a 'Reflow' of the solder which can fix the problem in many cases - but not all.

Further bad news is that Sony say that your model does not have the batch of defective nVidia chips and so, there is no free main board replacement available.

If I were you I would probably proceed as follows: -

1.  Contact Vaio Support to check that there has been no chamnge in their policy for your model.  Unfortunately you will have to use the premium phone line as this is the only avenue for out-of-warranty support.  Go here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/index.aspx?m=0&l=en_GB

and enter your Vaio's Serial Number and choose 'Get in Touch'. and click on "click here for further contact options".

2.  If there is no good news, then contact one of Sony's Service Partners near where you live and ask about a repair or a reflow.  You can find a full list of Service Partners by following the steps in (1) and instead of clicking on "click here for further contact options", click on the Out-of-Warranty Tab.

I presume you have checked for other causes?  Have you tried attaching an external monitor to check if your screen is defective?  Also have you tried shining a torch onto the screen with the Vaio turned on to see is there is a dim image which could indicate a problem with the backlight?

Good Luck.

[happytourist]

Hi, thanks very much for your swift and conclusive (if depressing) response; you've been really helpful.

I will try what you suggest, but unfortunately think it might be time for a claim on the insurance ...

Cheers