SZ series motherboards interchangeable?

I have an SZ480 that I just fried the battery circuit on the motherboard of due to a bad battery. THANK YOU VERY MUCH supermart168 on ebay (also known as www.1800emart.com ) !!!! DO NOT BUY FROM THEM!!

Anyway, I called Sony and of course they want $700 when a new laptop is $650 at best buy, obviously not a premium model like the SZ480 though. They said the part number is A1253322A and the cheapest I've found elsewhere is $255 from sparepartswarehouse.com . $500 other places, still stupid.

There are a ton of other SZ series motherboards for cheaper on ebay but they are different part numbers, however some people on ebay have a list of compatible models that list the SZ480.

Does anyone have any idea if other SZ series motherboards are interchangeable? Would CPU's be swappable between them? Sony appears to have a model number of MBX-147 for a lot of SZ series laptops, but different part numbers are all under that model for the specific SZ series models. Just not sure if I really have to have the expensive one or if any MBX-147 would work fine.

Even if I have to downgrade to a lower processor than mine came with I think that'd be fine. I have to have no battery in the laptop right now and unplug it for 10 sec before trying to plug it in and power it on with just AC now. Battery light flashes fast constantly, but it does run... so it's currently not a total loss.

Last option which I wouldn't mind trying is fixing the capacitor(s) that probably fried. Any have any idea if this would be worth trying at all?

Details:

Laptop - Sony VGN-SZ480
Sony Part number for SZ480 motherboard - A1253322A , $255 + shipping
SZ series Part numbers available all over ebay - A1216480A, A1171213A , $150 or so

Just found sony specific forum, sorry about dupe.

Thanks. Any idea where specs on the boards can be found. I am not having very much luck trying to find out what bus speeds/voltages/memory/etc... each of these part numbers take.

Thanks, added part numbers to original post.

Yeah, that's what I'm noticing about Sony... It took them a while to look up the part number too when I called. Since it works at all right now and I mostly use it at home, but have some time before my next trip where I need battery, I may just end up keeping an eye out for another exact replacement board that comes along on ebay.

An ultra thin premium laptop like this doesn't get the proper use if it has to be plugged in all the time... grr. Pissed at ebay seller and no response yet!

Nope 8800mAh 11.1v grey market... haven't ever had a problem before with grey market batteries besides maybe not lasting as long or just not able to charge at all. 11.1v right on the battery casing as the laptop needs but I measured 12.93v coming out of the two main leads on the terminal. Some of the other inside ones came up around 7v. Tested other batteries that are not charged and got 5v on inside but almost no voltage on the two main leads. I don't know what is correct. Under a load the voltage may drop to 11.1 as the battery advertised. You have a good S series battery to test?

Wont believe this either... I thought that I caused the problem by switching batteries while the laptop was on or by getting it in wrong (yes, i know, bad to do in the first place).... so I put it into our S260 and it fried the charging system in it too!! Not too concerned about the S260 as it's pretty old now and not taken outside of the house by my wife, but still pretty pissed about this and wish i could fix without replacing motherboards... I used a high capacity grey market (7000 something mAh) before in this s260 too...


I will never go with another non-OEM battery from now on though, that's for sure.

Yeah... agree now .


So thoughts on being able to fix the laptops vs replacing motherboards? Sent a bill to ebay seller but assume i'm screwed. Going to dispute the charge with paypal and ebay, no way in HELL i'm paying for the battery that cost me two motherboards.

Yeah, keeping my fingers crossed! On the S260, I think I will probably take it apart and look the motherboard over very well and see if there is any hope at figuring out what busted and if I can replace the component itself. A motherboard on ebay is the same price as what the whole computer it worth probably.

I've gotten two canned replies from 1800emart.com, but today they finally said:

"Sorry we only warranty our product. Both the battery and the motherboard have overcharge protection circuit build in. If the current is over limit then the fuse will burn and the motherboard will not be damaged. It is a common sense. You need to find the other real causes."


I replied back with:

"I'm sorry, but that is not how this works. The battery killed the charging system of TWO different model Sony laptops that you specified in the listing as compatible. The only possible problem here is your battery! Like you said, stick to common sense. If you do not believe that it is your battery that is the problem, I encourage you to put this battery into a brand new Sony laptop of your own and watch the results.

You have a quality guarantee on your website that has been severely broken. Please do not make me escalate this to the next level. Do the right thing and offer a full refund plus compensation for the hardware your product destroyed."





Some other things they have said:

The open circuit voltage is always higher. For the Lithium-Ion battery, the voltage changes depend on the load. It does not matter. This kind of battery will not cause any damage to anything.
- supermart168


(below received twice)
Please include a copy of the original receipt or paypal invoice and return the items to the following address. Refund will be given as soon as we received it. Please do make sure the items you return belong to us.

RMA eBay6352
Supermart168
1180 Centre Dr. #B
City of Industry, CA 91789

Sorry for the inconvenience
Suprmart168
- supermart168

BTW, any idea on how to find out the value of a fully working SZ480?

I haven't seen any on ebay in fully working condition. Just not sure whether it would be worth it to go ahead and fix the laptop and then sell for around $700ish (maybe?)... Or to just sell it as is for $400 something maybe.

Cost on motherboard for refurbished is $255 from http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com, and they said labor is $65 (very surprising on labor, was expecting over $100).

Yep, that's what i'm leaning towards... or a family member who needs a faster computer but doesn't ever take their current laptop away from home.