Sony Vaio Laptops any good?
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microcosm
Senior Member
I am using the VGN "S" series... very hardy! Very well built. Been part of my check in luggage for months... still working fine, except that the optical drive died after 14 months, when I dropped the VAIO. Everything else is working perfecto! I would recommend the VAIO. Stand up to my abuse very well. Anything that survives being check in luggage is a good lappy. I am not sure about the other series from VAIO though... but I am very happy with my "S" series lappy...
The SZ series is decent enough but as always , not the price. The 10 hour battery and dual graphic card option are its key strengths.
The problem is that every vendor has inflated prices to varying degree here in SG. Go overseas and you'll find more down to earth pricing. That is why I prefer to purchase overseas especially when total freight + insurance + basic cost is still lower than local. On top of that you'll get better options (like 4 yr warranty) and customization.
Try to get stuff with international warranty or some agreement that the local agents will handle. Failing that, work out a plan that should you need to send overseas for servicing, have something to fall back on. Never rely on a single laptop anyway.
The other problem is non-customization. We are always shoved with the mediocre packages that the marketing dept has picked for this country. I guess they want maximum profit rather than anything else. Head over to Japan/US, you'll find the basic Vaio just a little higher priced than Acer. You can have the fanciful stuff like name engraving, antenna addon, casing colorization etc which you simply don't get here. Bottomline, with all these addons, you still pay less. You pay even lesser if you soup up the memory and harddisk yourself (easy to DIY).
Not just laptops, we find other electronics treated the same way. HDTVs are one of the worst. The major vendors are pushing mediocre models here while keeping the high end ones out for whatever reasons. Milking the market slowly i suppose. :angry:
The problem is that every vendor has inflated prices to varying degree here in SG. Go overseas and you'll find more down to earth pricing. That is why I prefer to purchase overseas especially when total freight + insurance + basic cost is still lower than local. On top of that you'll get better options (like 4 yr warranty) and customization.
Try to get stuff with international warranty or some agreement that the local agents will handle. Failing that, work out a plan that should you need to send overseas for servicing, have something to fall back on. Never rely on a single laptop anyway.
The other problem is non-customization. We are always shoved with the mediocre packages that the marketing dept has picked for this country. I guess they want maximum profit rather than anything else. Head over to Japan/US, you'll find the basic Vaio just a little higher priced than Acer. You can have the fanciful stuff like name engraving, antenna addon, casing colorization etc which you simply don't get here. Bottomline, with all these addons, you still pay less. You pay even lesser if you soup up the memory and harddisk yourself (easy to DIY).
Not just laptops, we find other electronics treated the same way. HDTVs are one of the worst. The major vendors are pushing mediocre models here while keeping the high end ones out for whatever reasons. Milking the market slowly i suppose. :angry:
microcosm
Senior Member
Yes, but the screen and graphics card on the Thinkpad is really crap...
swimcraze
Senior Member
i was told that matted screen shows a more accurate colour to the original photo instead of being too saturated....not sure how true it is.
i personally prefer matted screen as there is less glare and reflection.
I'm using one, but I don't like it. Nice to look at. Screen colors aren't accurate for photo editing (not even close after calibration). The rest of the features are ok... nothing to complain about
I got the lower end models at abt 2.8k. I'm not sure about the higher end models tho. Bought it for a year and the half.
I got the lower end models at abt 2.8k. I'm not sure about the higher end models tho. Bought it for a year and the half.
microcosm
Senior Member
I'm using one, but I don't like it. Nice to look at. Screen colors aren't accurate for photo editing (not even close after calibration). The rest of the features are ok... nothing to complain about
Interesting... what is the graphics card on your Vaio? Mine's a NVedia 6800 and it served me pretty well. I have it calibrated and it is as good as my Apple studio display. Just wondering what you used to calibrate too. I used the Eye-One.
i think it's an onboard one. it's really way off, compared to my 2 other displays. using the eye-one as well. someone told me it's because of the video card, but i'm not sure. i think the higher end models may do better?
nightpiper
Senior Member
for sony, only the SZ series i recommend. light, powerful & quality assured. if weight is not an issue, then go for the highest end multi media type which cost more than $5k. very lasting. those cheapo ones like the C series r not value for money, at least the hi end ones u r paying for quality.
i'm running a fujitsu Lifebook series S7111, the quality of the parts r very good. no regrets but the only thing is.... there's no dedicated graphics, juz integrated.
also running XP even tho i have the Vista. so far Vista has a lot of apps compatibility issues. my fren was pulling her hair for 3 weeks. however this will change in the coming mths when developers recode their apps for Vista.
enjoy ur shopping
(ps. i only heard about overheating issues with MB & MB pro, Sony has pretty good thermal design juz like the fujitsu)
i'm running a fujitsu Lifebook series S7111, the quality of the parts r very good. no regrets but the only thing is.... there's no dedicated graphics, juz integrated.
also running XP even tho i have the Vista. so far Vista has a lot of apps compatibility issues. my fren was pulling her hair for 3 weeks. however this will change in the coming mths when developers recode their apps for Vista.
enjoy ur shopping
(ps. i only heard about overheating issues with MB & MB pro, Sony has pretty good thermal design juz like the fujitsu)
i was told that matted screen shows a more accurate colour to the original photo instead of being too saturated....not sure how true it is.
i personally prefer matted screen as there is less glare and reflection.
the screen resolution of 1400x1050 is very pleasing to the eyes,
only thing is that i cannot afford the 1600x1200 version with a 256MB graphic card.
lower the brightness by one bar and u get very comfortable viewing screen, i hate those bright screen from fujisu. very poor in resolution, if want high end one must pay a bomb sia, and must get from japan.
swimcraze
Senior Member
there is a set i saw for $2k and it says made in Japan....
I'm using the VGN-FJ58GP. The screen looks good (graphics looks crisp and I've heard that their panel are good), but the colors just doesn't match up. I kinda regretted getting this one. Should've gotten something with better graphics card if that's the case. Overall, it's good, except it gets really hot and the battery life... hmmm... better to have an AC plug on.
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