This is really just a rant... Bought a new hard drive yesterday;
tonight I turned my computer upside down, scrathed my head, looked in
the manual... and the truth dawned: Sony don't *want* you to replace
the hard drive, they want to be able to charge you for *them* to do
it. B**tards.

My last laptop was a Dell. Took *30 seconds* to replace the hard drive
on that. GRR.


--- www.dogsticks.org ---

On 20 Mar, 23:20, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:
> This is really just a rant... Bought a new hard drive yesterday;
> tonight I turned my computer upside down, scrathed my head, looked in
> the manual... and the truth dawned: Sony don't *want* you to replace
> the hard drive, they want to be able to charge you for *them* to do
> it. B**tards.
>
> My last laptop was a Dell. Took *30 seconds* to replace the hard drive
> on that. GRR.
>
> ---www.dogsticks.org---

Follow-up rant: guess how many hits a search on

sony vaio vgn-a21m hard disk

gets?

Am I being overly cynical or does Sony actually go round the Web
telling people to remove instructions for replacing hard drives?


--- www.dogsticks.org ---

On Mar 20, 4:20 pm, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:
> This is really just a rant... Bought a new hard drive yesterday;
> tonight I turned my computer upside down, scrathed my head, looked in
> the manual... and the truth dawned: Sony don't *want* you to replace
> the hard drive, they want to be able to charge you for *them* to do
> it. B**tards.
>
> My last laptop was a Dell. Took *30 seconds* to replace the hard drive
> on that. GRR.
>
> ---www.dogsticks.org---

Sony hides their hard drives. One common place is under the keyboard,
dead center of the laptop, and another is under the palmrest. Once you
get the strip above the keyboard off, and remove the keyboard, you'll
find where it's hiding.

On Mar 21, 2:33 am, "pau...@efn.org" <pau...@efn.org> wrote:
> On Mar 20, 4:20 pm, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:
>
> > This is really just a rant... Bought a new hard drive yesterday;
> > tonight I turned my computer upside down, scrathed my head, looked in
> > the manual... and the truth dawned: Sony don't *want* you to replace
> > the hard drive, they want to be able to charge you for *them* to do
> > it. B**tards.
>
> > My last laptop was a Dell. Took *30 seconds* to replace the hard drive
> > on that. GRR.
>
> > ---www.dogsticks.org---
>
> Sony hides their hard drives. One common place is under the keyboard,
> dead center of the laptop, and another is under the palmrest. Once you
> get the strip above the keyboard off, and remove the keyboard, you'll
> find where it's hiding.

I've found the hard drive. It's at the front left side, below the palm
rest, underneath some port or other - looks like they've made it
absolutely as difficult to get to as they can.

I undid all the screws and can see what's going on down there, but
can't lift the keyboard off, just peer under it: it seems to be glued
down at the top. Is this the strip you're talking about? I assume I
need to carefully prise it off and then when I'm done glue it back on?

I won't be buying another Sony. A hard drive is a piece of equipment
that lasts 2 years with regular use. At some point you're going to
want to replace it. Having to take your computer apart completely to
do it, including ungluing everything, is a joke. Dell and IBM don't
work like this.


--- www.dogsticks.org ---

On Mar 21, 2:33 am, "pau...@efn.org" <pau...@efn.org> wrote:
> On Mar 20, 4:20 pm, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:
>
> > This is really just a rant... Bought a new hard drive yesterday;
> > tonight I turned my computer upside down, scrathed my head, looked in
> > the manual... and the truth dawned: Sony don't *want* you to replace
> > the hard drive, they want to be able to charge you for *them* to do
> > it. B**tards.
>
> > My last laptop was a Dell. Took *30 seconds* to replace the hard drive
> > on that. GRR.
>
> > ---www.dogsticks.org---
>
> Sony hides their hard drives. One common place is under the keyboard,
> dead center of the laptop, and another is under the palmrest. Once you
> get the strip above the keyboard off, and remove the keyboard, you'll
> find where it's hiding.

Sorry, in my fit of rage I forgot to say thanks :)

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

On Mar 21, 4:06 am, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:
> On Mar 21, 2:33 am, "pau...@efn.org" <pau...@efn.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Mar 20, 4:20 pm, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:
>
> > > This is really just a rant... Bought a new hard drive yesterday;
> > > tonight I turned my computer upside down, scrathed my head, looked in
> > > the manual... and the truth dawned: Sony don't *want* you to replace
> > > the hard drive, they want to be able to charge you for *them* to do
> > > it. B**tards.
>
> > > My last laptop was a Dell. Took *30 seconds* to replace the hard drive
> > > on that. GRR.
>
> > > ---www.dogsticks.org---
>
> > Sony hides their hard drives. One common place is under the keyboard,
> > dead center of the laptop, and another is under the palmrest. Once you
> > get the strip above the keyboard off, and remove the keyboard, you'll
> > find where it's hiding.
>
> I've found the hard drive. It's at the front left side, below the palm
> rest, underneath some port or other - looks like they've made it
> absolutely as difficult to get to as they can.
>
> I undid all the screws and can see what's going on down there, but
> can't lift the keyboard off, just peer under it: it seems to be glued
> down at the top. Is this the strip you're talking about? I assume I
> need to carefully prise it off and then when I'm done glue it back on?
>
> I won't be buying another Sony. A hard drive is a piece of equipment
> that lasts 2 years with regular use. At some point you're going to
> want to replace it. Having to take your computer apart completely to
> do it, including ungluing everything, is a joke. Dell and IBM don't
> work like this.
>
> ---www.dogsticks.org---


I can honestly say I've seen 386s with their original hard drive that
still works.


No glue. May be held in by long screws from underneath, or slide one
direction or the other. Sometimes it's just Pry with all your might...
I had one OLD compaq presario like that, the strip above the keyboard
bent up about 70 degrees, I thought I'd snap it, but i didn't. Bending
it that far allowed me to loosen the screws holding the keyboard, and
remove it. That was one of the harriest ones.

I've never seen glue. But there are often screws under the battery, or
cd, the stuff that comes out easy.

On Mar 21, 3:50 pm, "pau...@efn.org" <pau...@efn.org> wrote:

>
> I can honestly say I've seen 386s with their original hard drive that
> still works.
>

Dunno, perhaps modern ones last less long because their speed and
capacity mean they get more of a hammering?

More likely, they're just made less well so as to keep the
manufacturers in business - that's the usual pattern in mature
markets, I guess.

> No glue. May be held in by long screws from underneath, or slide one
> direction or the other. Sometimes it's just Pry with all your might...
> I had one OLD compaq presario like that, the strip above the keyboard
> bent up about 70 degrees, I thought I'd snap it, but i didn't. Bending
> it that far allowed me to loosen the screws holding the keyboard, and
> remove it. That was one of the harriest ones.
>

Hmm, OK, thanks. I'll dive in again tonight.

> I've never seen glue. But there are often screws under the battery, or
> cd, the stuff that comes out easy.

There are some ominous-looking screws under the screen. I hope I don't
have to try and get at those buggers :\

Francis


--- www.dogsticks.org ---

Well, I've finally given up. I'm sitting here typing at a laptop with
a keyboard warped like radar dish from attempts to prise it off.

Looks like I'll be paying £50 for a computer store to do a job that I
should have been able to do myself for free and in a couple of f**king
minutes.

Lesson: NEVER buy a computer just 'cause you like the screen :((((

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

On Mar 20, 11:24 pm, "Francis Turton" <ftur...@3glab.com> wrote:

>
> Follow-up rant: guess how many hits a search on
>
> sony vaio vgn-a21m hard disk
>
> gets?
>
> Am I being overly cynical or does Sony actually go round the Web
> telling people to remove instructions for replacing hard drives?
>

Yes, it would have helped if I'd typed the model number in correctly:
duh... :\


---www.dogsticks.org---