I just purchased a new vaio s460/b today. I have been running it for
about 2 hours now and right from the start I noticed the screen
flickers about every 30 sec. to 1 minute. It is a faint flicker, but
definitely noticable.

I thought it might be related to when the fan comes on or hard drive
starts working, but it is not. It almost seems as if the screen gets a
tad brighter, and then darker again. It does this both when it is
plugged in and on the battery.

One other issue I have found is that the scroll feature does not work
with any drop down menu items. It works fine in a document or on the
web, but not in any drop down menus where you need to scroll. My IBM
and Sharp laptops scroll feature work fine in drop down menus. I
haven't had a chance to do any updates, but I will be doing them right
now in hopes that it will fix one or both of these problems.

If anyone has the same computer and has experienced either of these
problems, or not, please let me know.

Thanks.

Here is a quick update to my previous message. After using the
computer for a couple more hours. The screen has stopped flickering.
Not sure why.

About the touchpad scroll issue. I spoke with Sony and they told me
that the scroll issue is not supported in any menu lists. I pretty
much laughed, but I don't know what to think now. This feature works
perfect on my IBM and Sharp, and it also works great on the Dells and
Gateways I use at work. How can Sony decide to remove a scroll feature
from menu lists?

Here is a quick example. If open a windows folder, then select Tools,
Folder Options, and then select the View tab, I can not scroll through
the list of items using the touchpad scroll feature. I am forced to
use the slider bar or arrow keys to move up and down through the list.
When I move the pointer onto the list and slide my finger along the
right side of the touchpad, nothing happens. Yet it works great on
everything else but these menus.

I really hope this is not normal becuase I would be pretty upset
spending almost $2K on a laptop and having it dissabled this way.

Thanks!

<terry.gaston@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1121840357.411051.237740@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
The CCF tube (or indeed any flourescent type tube) can suffer from
'striations' when it is new. Basically the discharge current through the
tube isn't even and tends to rotate round the tube - hence the flicker. The
effect should disappear once the cathodes burn in after an hour or three.
If it doesn't disappear then there is some other fault and a trip back to
the store may be in order.

Ian.

Thanks for the info. Yes the flicker is now gone.

Now I just want to figure out this touchpad scroll issue and I will be
100% satisfied with this computer.

Terry wrote:
What touchpad is installed? Is the touchpad app running in the system
tray? Try accessing the settings from that. Alternatively, Control
Panel, Mouse, Device Settings tab, select the touchpad, then Settings
button. This provides access to all of the Synaptics Touchpad features
for enabling and customization. It might be the same for whatever
touchpad is installed on the new laptop. Also, check Sony for driver
updates that might apply.

Q

It has an Alps Pointing device for VAIO version 5.3.511.2 dated
7/28/2004. I also went to sony support and there were no new or
updated drivers.

I tried my friends PCG-GRX570 laptop, and it does the exact same thing.
I guess it is a Sony thing (bug in my mind). Can anyone else that
owns a sony laptop try my example I metion above and see if it scrolls.
I really hope there is something I can do to make it work. It doesn't
sound like a big deal, but even when I am browsing the web and come
across a drop down menu which I need to scroll through, I am forced to
use the slider bar.

Thanks.

Terry wrote:
My wife's TR3a with the Alps touchpad will not scroll in any system
window it appears. That seems to be the only place that the scroll
function does not work. My GRV670 with the Synaptics touchpad does
scroll in system windows. I do not see any Alps setting that will
enable scrolling in a system window.

Q

I have pretty much written of trying to figure out a way to use the
touchpad scroll feature in menus.

As far as my screen flicker. It has come back again. Does anyone else
experience this? The computer has well over 10 hours on it now. The
screen seems to flicker whenever something is going on. For example,
when I burn a disc, it seems to flicker more often. Also, when the
battery becomes discharged, and I plug it in and use it on AC, it seems
to flicke a lot. Not sure if any of these things have to do with it.

Just wondering if this is something I need to be concerned about. I
don't want my display to quit.

Thanks.

Just for the record, I spoke with Sony and my flickering problem is
fixed. There was a video card driver update that addressed the problem
of the screen flickering when the brightness control was dimmed. And I
had mine set to around 7 or 8 (out of 9). Haven't seen the problem
since I updated the driver about an hour ago.

Just to confirm your touchpad "issue", I have a Vaio VGN-S260P with the Alps
touchpad and driver ver. 5.3.511.2 and I can't scroll in the windows you
mentioned either. Didn't realize I had this problem until I read your post.
Thanks a lot!:-)
Hope you still enjoy your Vaio.

Kenneth Wolf
kwolf8380@comcast.net

"Terry" <terry.gaston@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1121981277.259010.75500@g49g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

I also spoke with Sony and had them check some of their other laptops,
checked sony laptops and compusa, and all had same results (problem in
my opinion).