Sony VAIO's good?

[uplz4588]

what do you guys think of Sony VAIO notebooks?

im looking into one for christmas
i want wireless interent built in...
some specs for it are
3.06GHz mobile P4
512DDR ram... 1GB expandable (most likely will expand it) if it will noticbly inprove performance
built in LAN... is this wireless internet?
15in screen...8.2LBS.
laptop will be from bestbuy... what do you guys think... any specifics i should look for

[SonicSpeed]

If your going to get a lap top get a Dell.

[felo3769]

I think they are overpriced. I dont know, I like my dell. the only problem Ive had with it is the headphone jack that finally broke on my this weekend (I temporarily fixed it once) but now its broken. Im gonna have to take it somewhere so taht they can solder a new one to the motherboard.

Built in LAN is not wireless internet. It would say it has a built in wireless internet card.

[zamboniengr]

Not sure about Sony laptops. Old roommate of mine had one and it would freeze constantly, whether he was running it hard or not. But it wasn't a VAIO.

Get the upgrade to 1GB of RAM, it will make a world of difference. LAN is not necessarily wireless, it stands for Local Area Network. LAN can either be wireless or hard-wired. All it is saying is the computer is setup to communicate with a network. Whats the asking price?

[uplz4588]

i think its like 1700MSRP... w/ 150 mail-in rebate... plus a best buy discount (5% over what BB pays)

[felo3769]

Plus, if it doenst have built in wireless you could just get a wireless card and just put it in whenever you need it, but I like the built in feature myself because you dont have to worry about taking it out, but im just lazy.

[uplz4588]

anyones opinion on
Centrino VS. P4 M?

[uplz4588]

also i forgot to add it has a DVD/CD +/-RW drives... full multi drive... no built in floppy... but i doubt ill need one

[felo3769]

But damn 1799, that sounds pretty good for a sony. Ive seen them amount quickly to 3k. if this is the one, http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....4&type=product then it does have built in wireless. Also, jsut to note, its windows xp home. Not a bad deal if you ask me, but shop around first though to see quality ratings and what not

[felo3769]

Originally posted by uplz4588
also i forgot to add it has a DVD/CD +/-RW drives... full multi drive... no built in floppy... but i doubt ill need one

I never use my floppy. I always have an extra battery in where my floppy is supposed to be. Just get a usb key.

[mmrandle]

i used to be a sony whore (3 vaios, 3 clies, 2 cybershots)

i have since given up on sony products. In my personal experience, they have all looked super sexy and stylish, but the build quality is not that high. Latches break, components stop physically working, etc. Furthermore, sony's warranty people were exceptionally hard to deal with every single time i had to do so. I have since switched to HP products and have been happy thus far. This is just one person's experience, but I will never buy sony again.

[mmrandle]

Originally posted by uplz4588
anyones opinion on
Centrino VS. P4 M?

All depends on what you want to do with it.

Centrino is a better choice for a more mibile person (longer battery life, generally lighter books (not just because of the chipset, overall design). The extra cache is great. For most users the centrino will be the way to go.

Gamers and photoshop people will likely want the P4 (although a desktop is better suited for these applications). The extra HP of this chipset is felt in these cases, but not in general use. BAttery life is going to be much shorter.

I really really hate carrying a wireless card around. It seems simple to do, but a big pain for me. Centrino has a wireless built in, which i love. P4 machines can have this as an option and i'd highly recommend it, but that's just me. I also love bnluetooth built in, so that i can use my mobile's internet connection on my laptop when i'm on the road.

All this being said, i consider myself a "power user", but for my needs I went with a 1.7 ghz centrino with 1 GB of ram and have been very very happy. Only drawback is I can't play some of the games i wish i could, but, again, a desjtop would be better suited for this anyway.

good luck.

[uplz4588]

Originally posted by felo3769
But damn 1799, that sounds pretty good for a sony. Ive seen them amount quickly to 3k. if this is the one, http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....4&type=product then it does have built in wireless. Also, jsut to note, its windows xp home. Not a bad deal if you ask me, but shop around first though to see quality ratings and what not

yeah thats one of the choices... how about i broaded this topic to saying any laptop from bestbuy is on the chopping block... i just thought the sonys look nice, and since its a sony w/ a gang of good stuff in it it will be a nice machine... keep the opinions comming

[dCeption]

well i do have a sony vaio a190 notebook, with warrenty n everything cost nearly $2,500.00.., the new ones are much better and more reliable than the old ones.., such as 350z compared to 300z....

17in, wireless centrino, dvd-r/cd-r combo drive, 512ram, the whole works.., havent had a problem with it....

[felo3769]

you should take a look at dells too. Buying online isnt that bad and there are always rebates. I think dell has some now too. I dont know, I might just be partial to dell because I currently own 3, but havent had any major problems with them. I have owned hp and compaq in the past and those were really bad experiences. The compaq was crap and the 2 hps I still have them, but they just sit around, they take like 10 minutes to load up and I have reformatted them and everything.

[felo3769]

Also, before buying your notebook, ask yourself what you are going to use it for. I made this mistake and now sometimes regret getting it. Yea, I could take it to class with me and play games with it when I am at home, but most notebooks that you can do that with are large, and you dont want to haul them around any more which is what happened with me. You can play games and do graphic stuff, but a desktop will do this a lot better.

[rsccarlson]

Originally posted by uplz4588
what do you guys think of Sony VAIO notebooks?

im looking into one for christmas
i want wireless interent built in...
some specs for it are
3.06GHz mobile P4
512DDR ram... 1GB expandable (most likely will expand it) if it will noticbly inprove performance
built in LAN... is this <a href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=11&k=wireless%20internet" onmouseover="window.status='wireless internet'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">wireless internet</a>?
15in screen...8.2LBS.
laptop will be from bestbuy... what do you guys think... any specifics i should look for

Sounds like your talking about the sony k33. great computer.

[zephyr111]

based on your post, if you plan to be more mobile=centrino (better battery life. i have a toshiba tablet pc with centrino. great battery life and perfect for students). if you want more performance and plan to be stationary= amd 64bit/pentium 4. i'd say to get the gateway/emachine notebook with the 64bit processor at best buy for like 1299.99 (instant savings). get the extended warranties on the notebooks...you'd be crazy and stupid not to get in on the MOBILE computer. battery life is descent on the 64bit mobile processors from AMD and the notebook is basically the same as the emachine 6809 model which was cnet editor's choice (9/24/04). i dont think you can beat that price for the specs it holds. try customizing or finding a notebook at that price lol. 64bit amd chipset (3200series), 512megs of ram, 80gig, wireless, dvdburner/cdburner...this notebook is basically like a desktop replacement with a great screen, great processor, bitchin graphics card. dell's quality has gone down the hole and complaints have tripled since they've been outsourcing. i saw an article about that. best buy is a great organization. they're #1 for a reason. best of luck. ps-i think you just pay for the SONY name. their brand slogan is "it's a sony." lol just because you buy a particular brand name or that it's $XXXXX amount of dollars doesn't mean it's going to be perfect or not break. hell, even ferraris and luxury car companies have REPAIR centers lol.
-ben

[Altimate_Dream]

Just for the sake of God buy some extra batteries for the Sony if your going to be doing alot of travel. My Vaio eats batteries. But, as far as quality I think they are built quite well. I have one with the 17inch Widescreen Xtrabrite screen and I love it. But, like I said the batteries will become an issue. Good luck...

[rsccarlson]

Originally posted by zephyr111
based on your post, if you plan to be more mobile=centrino (better battery life. i have a toshiba tablet pc with centrino. great battery life and perfect for students). if you want more performance and plan to be stationary= amd 64bit/pentium 4. i'd say to get the gateway/emachine notebook with the 64bit processor at best buy for like 1299.99 (instant savings). get the extended warranties on the notebooks...you'd be crazy and stupid not to get in on the MOBILE computer. battery life is descent on the 64bit mobile processors from AMD and the notebook is basically the same as the emachine 6809 model which was cnet editor's choice (9/24/04). i dont think you can beat that price for the specs it holds. try customizing or finding a notebook at that price lol. 64bit amd chipset (3200series), 512megs of ram, 80gig, wireless, dvdburner/cdburner...this notebook is basically like a desktop replacement with a great screen, great processor, bitchin graphics card. dell's quality has gone down the hole and complaints have tripled since they've been outsourcing. i saw an article about that. best buy is a great organization. they're #1 for a reason. best of luck. ps-i think you just pay for the SONY name. their brand slogan is "it's a sony." lol just because you buy a particular brand name or that it's $XXXXX amount of dollars doesn't mean it's going to be perfect or not break. hell, even ferraris and luxury car companies have REPAIR centers lol.
-ben

Sometimes best buy will even price below the internet and other
geographical locations. lots of rebates and discounts to be had.
you know some things about Dell that the general public hasn't
been enlightened with. with sony you pay for the name but you
also get quality.