So far, all I've gotten from Sony is the standard repair procedure -
despite the fact that I have pointed out that, with shipping, the
questionable reputation of the unit, and no stated warrantee on the
repair, this might not be a very smart move on my side. Apparently this
has not escalated beyond the normal, and it doesn't look promising.
Shame on them.

Were this not the emotional "first purchase" of my son, I would have
tossed the unit, and learned that Sony's reputation is not as sterling
as I once believed. However, I'm stuck - Sony will only give me canned
answers, and I'm not thrilled with paying more than it's worth to fix,
on spec.

Getting back to the repair option - someone mentioned a board
modification on a service bulletin - is this on the optical pickup
assembly, or elsewhere in the unit? I've found where to buy the
optical unit (apparently there's a demand for this), but is that the
solution, or will this get fried without the board mod elsewhere?