Source of spares for old laptops?

April 5, 2006 3:44 PM

Where can I get hold of spare parts for an old Sony Vaio laptop?

I have a Sony Vaio PCG-F707 (PCG-92A1 in the UK, I think - it's known by one or both of these two numbers). It's about 5 years old, I acquired it second hand about a year ago, and the battery life isn't great so I want to install a second battery instead of the floppy drive. The machine originally came with a 'weight saver' (as described in the manual) which seems to go in the hole left by the floppy drive and is either empty and prevents dust getting in or has a space for a second battery. I am having trouble sourcing this part - I found the same model for sale 'for spares' on ebay and contacted the seller but he didn't have this part.

Any ideas as to where I could go to find this part, or even how I would find out the part number so as to order it direct from Sony? I'm in the UK.

posted by altolinguistic to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Hang on, which part are you after? The weight saver or the battery? Your question isn't very clear.

A weight saver is just an empty plastic box that allows you to remove the CD or floppy drive without leaving a hole in your computer.

Replacement batteries seem easy to get hold of and should last much longer than a 5 year old one.
posted by cillit bang at 4:48 PM on April 5, 2006

I think altolinguistic is looking for a secondary battery that can go in the expansion slot. I didn't see it listed here as an available replacement part, though.
Have you tried calling Sony or one of their service centers to ask if they sell it?
posted by Coffeemate at 6:11 PM on April 5, 2006

I have almost that exact same Vaio - well, my girlfriend has it now... it's seen better days. I've dropped it several times, spilled a big glass of water on it... the sound card is fried and if you bump it while it's on it will blue screen. Works fine stationary - I keep screaming at my girlfriend that she needs to buy a new computer, but it surfs MySpace like a pro which is all she cares about - bless her heart.

eBay is your friend for older laptop parts. Just look at all the stuff a search on "PCG-F707" turned up.
posted by wfrgms at 9:57 PM on April 5, 2006

Response by poster: (Sorry, it was late). No, I've got two batteries, but as things stand the hole is too big for the second one, so I need the weight saver to sit around it (the manual is clear that the weight saver serves a dual function - empty plastic box and battery holder).

thanks all, will look on ebay - I think I might have been looking under the wrong model number.
posted by altolinguistic at 1:15 AM on April 6, 2006