Sony Vaio Laptop problem

[RCDD1]

Hi

I have a problem with my Sony Vaio PCG-FX140 laptop. The problem is as follows:

If I turn the laptop off, it will not start back up without many attempts. What happens is that when you push the power buttons, it quickly cycles through the lights, then stops (all of this happens in less than a second, immediatley when pushing the power button.) If you hold the power button down, it just continues to cycle through the lights. Sometimes, the lights will stay on, and then it will start up and everything is fine. If I do a restart, I never have a problem. This problem started by occurring occasionally, but now is a problem everytime I turn off the laptop.

Things I have tried:

I have tried different batteries and AC power supply, and that makes no difference.

I have downloaded and installed a BIOS upgrade from Sony, and that has made no difference.

There is a switch that turns off the laptop when you close the screen. I am sure this switch is ok because if I hold it down with a paperclip when trying to turn the laptop on, the lights will not even come on.

My laptop is configured with the following:

Sony Vaio PCG-FX140
700MHZ
128M RAM
10G HD

Any help will be appreciated. I think it would cost $700 to repair through Sony. That is not worth it to me.

Thanks

[RCDD1]

<bump>

Please Help with any ideas!

[Yayo4ya]

I was just given a Vaio with the same problem I was told that if I can fix it, I can keep it. It has the same exact problem as stated above. I simply cannot get it to turn on. The lights come on for a second. That's it. Nothing else happens. Please help.

[iron455]

I have the same problem. It was sporadic, but now it is locked up solid... just out of warranty!

http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com quoted me this:

Sony 874901900 IC HYM71V16M655AT6-P $588.00 or 874901900 Exchange Price $350.00