This Sony notebook I am auctioning for parts or repair, but the problems are not that much, for an experienced Sony notebook tech, that is - but please, ONLY buy this if you know what you are doing, notebook repair is not for regular folks, it is like working on a watch, so leave it to the pros! - This is a good notebook, but you must fix the couple of issues before it is ready to go, there is really no way to work with it in its current condition very well.
The notebook is being sold AS-IS - FOR PARTS ONLY - NO RETURNS, so let me get on to what is wrong with it:
a fresh copy of XP home SP3 is installed (using original COA license on machine bottom) and it boots right up with caveat listed in item #2 below. I also installed the correct Sony drivers for video, audio, chipset, wired networking, wireless networking, and updated the BIOS to the current revision. The hard drive was wiped before I installed XP, there is no original Sony supplied software on this notebook except for the drivers mentioned above.
As best I can determine, everything actually works on this notebook, except for 2 issues:
1. Left hinge is broken - you can still open and close the notebook by being careful, but one day it is going to completely break and you will not be able to open or close it, this needs to be fixed ASAP before it gets any worse.
2. There is a grounding or similar problem inside, because if you just hit the power button, the notebook doesn't come up, you have to apply a little pressure above the keyboard (in the black area between the keyboard & the screen, a bit left of center) while it is in the earliest stages of booting up, then it seems to do fine from then on.
I make no guarantees on this, but everything else seems to work fine for me, connecting to the Internet with both wired Ethernet as well as wireless works well, the DVD writer works fine both reading & writing, the hard drive has no bad sectors shown in CHKDSK, the RAM has never given me any errors, and I can find no flaws in the 15.4" WXGA wide LCD screen. I didn't try the modem or the memory stick ports, but I suspect they are likely fine as well, but you will need to install the appropriate drivers for those things off of the Sony website to get those going. I have actually never had a windows blue screen on this computer. I believe if you know how to fix the two issues above, you will have an very nice notebook, and for a deal since I am not an expert on repairing these. - cheers! maria
These are ADVANCED LEVEL repairs, this is not for Mr. do-it-yourselfer redneck desktop PC builder, - if the repairs were that easy, I would not be selling this very nice notebook for a parts machine low price!
WHAT YOU GET IN THE BOX: the notebook itself & the original Sony AC power adapter (works fine) - NOTHING ELSE, that's it!
I pack things carefully and I am frequently accused of OVERPACKING!
The photo shows some white lines/discoloration in the screen, these are reflections of part of my light tent, there are no defects in the screen.
QUICK SPECS:
VGN-FS980
Processor: 1.73Ghz Pentium M 740 (Dothan)
Chipset: Intel 915GM
Memory: 1GB (512x2) DDR2 PC2-4200 -- max is 2MB
LCD: 15.4" WXGA 1280x800
DVD/CD writer: Sony DW-Q58A --- DVD 8x read 8xwrite - CD read 24x write 24x
Hard drive: 80GB Seagate ST98823A ATA-6 with 8MB Cache
Wireless: Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG
Full specs are here: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/specs/VGNFS980_mksp.pdf
Original user manual is here: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/VGNFS950-60-70-80-90.pdf
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