:( I have been using a PCG-TR3A for 11 months. Yesterday, without any warning and while watching a DVD movie in bed, it turned off. I tried to power on again and it immediately turned off. I took it to CompUSA and the technician told me to scrap it since it was probably a bad motherboard and it would cost more to replace this than to get a new computer. I have tried powering up with the battery, with the power supply, taking the battery off the computer and trying the power supply alone and the results are always the same. The 2 lights on the left of the power panel turn on momentarily and then shut down. Any ideas if there is any hope for this without spending megabucks to revive it? Thanks in advance! :cry:

Is it still under warranty?

It shd come with standard 12 months warranty, right? Better send it in for repair before it expires.

Definately, send it to Sony for service. The only down side is, if Sony decides they need to touch your hard drive, they will reformat & load the original Windows. So if you data is not backed up, that could be an issue. But of course, your data is always backed up ... right????

You guys are probably right….faulty motherboard.  There are tools that will test the power connector on the mobo, but the easy way to do it is if you have a working TR.  You can swap out various parts to test for the point of failure.  The symptoms do sound as if the mobo is fried tho, which make sense.  I’ve had to replace enough mobos in my lifetime to know that manufacturers are generally willing to accept a high level of variance in the quality control process.

I would poke around e-bay or similar venues to see if anyone is selling an old TR.  Isn’t there also a Sony Parts website?  Unfortunately you’ll probably have to look for and buy the official sony mobo as i’m not aware of any manufacturer that produces a similar form factor.

Good luck.

That’s a bummer. I know it’s too late for this lappy, but this is why I usually spring for the extended warenty. It’s really just an insurance policy, but sometimes it pays off.

Well done ... the saga is finally over.