NZ90 Camera died

[NIKKI]

Recently my NZ90 camera started to show only black viewfinder window and to make black photos. Do anyone know what is it and how to fix it?

[hausponce]

It seems the NZ cameras are dropping like flies all around the world. I heard you can contact Sony and arange repair. But, it will cost you. I've heard $170.00(US)est. How lod is your NZ? Depending on age it might not be worth it.

[ferg0]

anyone want to sell a broken PDA ?????

[wmoritz]

Just a heads up for everyone.

A friend of mine had a Sony Digital Camera DSC-P72 die and after some investigation I found this:


Needless to say I checked my Clie and it had the same problem. Sony is covering a wide range of models of both cameras and Clie's - the NZ-90 is covered.

Go to http://esupport.sony.com/ to check your model and see the offical statement I have copied and pasted.

Posted: 10/03/2005

Thank you for your support and patronage of Sony products.
It has recently come to our attention that a limited number of products, manufactured prior to March 2004, that incorporate a certain type of image sensor device (CCD) may exhibit the following:
When the product is used in camera mode, the LCD panel and/or electronic viewfinder exhibits either a distorted image or no image at all.
We have determined that this only occurs in a limited number of devices, but may be accelerated if they are exposed to hot and humid environments.
From October 3, 2005 through October 2, 2007, Sony will repair, free of charge, affected products exhibiting the above-mentioned problem where it is caused by the image sensor device. Sony will also cover the cost of shipping and handling to service to correct this issue.

Please contact the Sony Customer Information Services Center for further assistance at 1-866-703-7669.

[xplorer]

Thanks for heads-up. A few weeks ago, Sony Canada quoted me $280 plus tax (CAD) to repair the dead camera. I hope Sony Canada will honour this notice. I am from Toronto and have a european nz90; a strange combination. Thanks again.

[wmoritz]

Here is some more info after I talked to Sony.

First as is to be expected the rep I talked to had no idea about the situation. I pointed him to the website and he put me on hold and went a checked with someone. When he got back on the line he took all of my info and then put me on hold again. Upon returning he asked me a few questions (is the battery fully charged, what does the picture look like after you download it, that kind of stuff). I answered the questions and then he explained that I had 2 options as such: 1 - I could send the device in for repair, however they would not be able to repair it until Jan 2006 at the soonest or 2 - they would buy it back at a pro-rated price. Since I use this device daily I really wanted to have it repaired (I use the camera alot and nothing else has a good 2mp camera) and I said so. He again explained that Jan 2006 would be the soonest (I took this to mean probably later than that) so I asked about the buy back. I have to fax my proof of purchase and all that fun stuff to them and they will let me know how much they will give me. I will let everyone know once I get a $$ amount.

[kbxrx1]

I have a 'new' nz90, from Staples with a broken screen, camera works fine. Someone make me a good offer, and its yours. (reasonable, my idea of good and yours may vary, so make it count) you will get the pda only, no battery, stylus, just the PDA.
email klysons@telusplanet.net

[wmoritz]

Well, here is the latest news on this.

After faxing over my proof of purchase and waiting a day I called Sony Support to find out if they got everything.

After talking to the first level support guy who confirmed they had received the fax and confirmed my info again he transfered me to another support person (level 2 I assume) who confirmed everything and then said he would be sending out a prepaid Fedex shipping package for me to return the Clie in and they expected to have the unit repaired in about 6 - 8 days.

A far cry from January 2006.

Needless to say I was happy for the news as I couldn't find anything to replace the NZ with that had everything I needed (Good Camera, Voice Recorder and Keyboard). If they get this fixed and returned to me within 2 weeks I will be one happy customer and my wife will be happier as I won't have to spend more money on another PDA.

I will keep everyone updated as things progress.

[maximus_44]

Is this for real??

This scould be real great for me.I really need to get my Clie fixed.But i doubt that is going to be possible for me.I reside in good old Pakistan,(where the earthquake hit) and i don`t think our service centres know anything about PDAs,they do tvs,hifis,dvds and everything but pdas.

Any suggestions.I may not be able to produce proof of purchase either.I mean like this pda is OLD.but i`d like to save it cause it`s great. :D

Cheers

[xplorer]

I thought everyone in Pakistan just wants blanket, water and food... instead of having their pdas fixed. I guess I won't donate as much as I was going to.

[nlode]

I thought everyone in Pakistan just wants blanket, water and food... instead of having their pdas fixed. I guess I won't donate as much as I was going to.

Even if it is a joke, this comment is mean...
He could live in Karachi, which was unaffected by the earthquake; I am sure he is concerned about the disaster, but this does not mean he can't follow his normal life.

[dragonsgames]

Do all the NZ90 cams die? Do the NX camera die? :(
I feel so bad for you guys. :(

[kbxrx1]

mine works perfectly, is a few years old, used non stop, and loaded with so many programs it is damn slow, but works fine.

[dragonsgames]

200mhz, right? How many apps did you load it with to slow it down that much :eek:
Are they background apps? :confused:

[maximus_44]

I thought everyone in Pakistan just wants blanket, water and food... instead of having their pdas fixed. I guess I won't donate as much as I was going to.

Thats sad man.....So sad. :(

The quake was in The northern region.If you were from New Orleans I would`nt think that of you and your God forsaken homes under 15ft of water.
Its not the same everywhere.Come pay me a visit and we`ll talk.

By the way I am in Pakistan but it doesn`t mean everyone is poor and in a third world state.Don`t stereotype,it`ll harm your judgement.

Any solutions to my query.

[maximus_44]

Even if it is a joke, this comment is mean...
He could live in Karachi, which was unaffected by the earthquake; I am sure he is concerned about the disaster, but this does not mean he can't follow his normal life.

Close....off by 1000kms.Lahore it is.

[tunguyenlosusa]

mine works perfectly, is a few years old, used non stop, and loaded with so many programs it is damn slow, but works fine.
Recently, I buy 1GB Sandisk CF card. I put in my nz90, and install CF ultility. When i take the CF card in, it make nz90 hang up, some one can help ?
Thanks.

[wmoritz]

Ok now that everyone is done arguing here is the latest update on my NZ.

Sony did indeed send out a Fed Ex package which I received in a couple of days. The package contained a box and packing material and a Pre-Filled Fed Ex label. All in all a very nice package. The instructions left a lot to be desired but I was able to figure everything out and boxed up my NZ with the cradle and charger as per instructions. Slapped on the Fed Ex label and placed it in the Fed Ex drop area at work.

2 days later Sony in California received the package and signed for it. 2 days after that I received an email with an estimate for the cost of repairs (who knows why). I called the phone number in the email and asked what was up with the estimate and the person I talked to said to ignore the estimate as the only issue was the camera and they were repairing that at no charge. I asked how long it would take and she said 1 week and that I should call back in a week to confirm everything.

That is were we stand right now. All in all not bad service but not the best. I have had better experiences with Sony in the past. On another side, I recently had to send my Archos Gmini 400 in for warranty repair and they handled everything a little better. Better communication and quicker however I had to pay the shipping to get it to them.

I will update as things progress.

[wmoritz]

OK, not sure how I missed this in my inbox but 1 day after I talked to Sony they emailed me saying that they had backordered a part for my repair and they would expedite the repair as soon as the part is recieved.

It is starting to look like Jan 2006 may in fact be the timeframe after all. This does not look very good for Sony considering that just 1 day before they told me 1 week, now things are backordered.

I will give them a week or so and see where things end up.

It may be time to buy a new device.

[wmoritz]

The title says it all.

I came home from work today and the package from Sony was on my doorstep.

I wasn't sure what it was at first because of the email about the backorder.

When I picked it up you could here the NZ rattling around inside which needless to say didn't make me happy. I opened it up and everything was inside. The stylus had come loose from the trip since it wasn't packaged worth a crap.

I tried to turn it on and nothing happened so I started to worry and looked at the packing slip to see if it said anything. Low and behold had they not only replaced the CCD Block and something called a PWB they also included a new battery. I pulled the battery and sure enough it was a different battery and from the looks of it it is brand new. I put my spare battery in and everything started up just fine and the camera works fine.

All in all I would say the whole process was slightly below average. The communication was horrible, the service itself was fast, the return packing was totally unacceptable, however they did repair everything and I got a new battery out of it.

The biggest thing I learned from this is just how dependent I am on my Clie and how much I use it.

Glad to have it back and working.

[Earthworm]

I had the same experience, but with better results (subjective). I sent mine back two weeks ago because of the "black screen" camera problem. I also had to point the service tech to the web site citing the free coverage of the problem.

I received the same FedEx box, sent mine back, waited two weeks, and got mine back yesterday. But lo and behold, it was a brand new NZ-90 (refurbished, but mint)!! This turned out to be a great surpise, because my old Clie had some hinge problems - the screen part of the unit was a little crooked. I had lost my stylus and was using one from an old Clie (which didn't fit in the slot), and my audio remote jack had gotten loose so would cut out in my left ear all the time. well, I got all new everything, including battery, stylus, audio remote, and the unit itself.

I am one happy camper! Glad to finally have my Clie back so life can resume as normal....

[dragonsgames]

I bet the Sony guy who sent that to you got fired :D

[wmoritz]

Glad to hear you got taken care of also.

All in all I can't complain. Everything works, I got a new battery and I don't have to replace my PDA.

I suspect the reason I didn't get a refurb is that I have really babied this thing and it looks like brand new except for a little brassing along the edges. Functionally the thing was perfect except for the camera so I suspect they didn't see the need to send a refurb and that is why I got the battery.

I must say however that your level of service is what I am used to from Sony.

Since no one has built anything close I have no reason to upgrade and am glad my NZ is back working where it belongs.

[redwal]

Too little, way to late..
I purchased a NZ90 approximately a year ago for work, mainly because of the camera. The camera died after approximately three weeks and CompUSA agreed to exchange it for a TH55. I love my '55 but actually miss "Godzilla", with it's keyboard and rotating screen. If Sony would have repaired/replaced the NZ90 would probably still be my pda of choice.

[Rugby10]

My screen looks pixelated when in camera mode with distorted colors..Is that what is being discussed here?

[Rugby10]

Is anybody still reading this thread? I would like to verify that this is the same issue others spoke of before I contact Sony. :confused:

[wmoritz]

Your basic description of what you are seeing does sound alot like the problem.

The easiest way to find out is to call Sony and they will walk you thru determining if that is the problem.

Additionally, if you go to Sony's wensite and go thru the suport pages they have a really good description of the problem. You might want to start their and see if the description matches what you are seeing.

[Ymcapolis]

Hi boys! (Sorry for mi english).
I have the same problem, but i have an aditional problem...
I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and i speak spanish....
Do you think can i resolve this problem, whith Sony?
Can i send the NZ to Sony for the repair from here??
How??

Thanks!!

[JOEKILLA]

I know this is an old thread but I am sure that there are still some
NZ90 owners out there who are just now experiencing the camera issue.

FYI, the warranty repair is extended until October 2008.

JOE

Fromt the site http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=95&mdl=PEGNZ90




Posted: 10/03/2005


Thank you for your support and patronage of Sony products.

It has recently come to our attention that a limited number of products, manufactured prior to March 2004, that incorporate a certain type of image sensor device (CCD) may exhibit the following:

When the product is used in camera mode, the LCD panel and/or electronic viewfinder exhibits either a distorted image or no image at all.


We have determined that this only occurs in a limited number of devices, but may be accelerated if they are exposed to hot and humid environments.

From October 3, 2005 through October 2, 2008, Sony will repair, free of charge, affected products exhibiting the above-mentioned problem where it is caused by the image sensor device. Sony will also cover the cost of shipping and handling to service to correct this issue.

Please contact the Sony Customer Information Services Center for further assistance at 1-866-703-7669.