Vaio Con Dios
Written: Oct 03 '04
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Pros: Nice price; great processor for the bucks; solid casing; Sony reputation.
Cons: Puny hard drive, flimsy CD/DVD tray, too large to tote on a daily basis.
The Bottom Line: For the price, you get a quality laptop backed by the Sony brand; great lappy for office workers; gamers, however, steer clear.
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| zcardriver's Full Review: Sony VAIO FRV27 PC Notebook |
This is my second laptop, and admittedly, for me, coming from an older (166MHz Pentium MMX) Compaq Armada to this Sony was like going from a 1988 Honda Accord to a 2004 Nissan Maxima! A lot of the same stuff, just slicker and lots more power!
The only cons I can truthfully admit to with this computer are (1) its puny (relatively speaking) hard drive, (2) its weight, and (3) its flimsy CD/DVD tray. Something that is going to be used that often should be built a bit sturdier. And I expect better quality out of a manufacturer like Sony. But the rest of the laptop seems rugged where it needs to be (hinges and latches), and beautiful and elegant.
The screen is nice and large, large enough to almost make me ditch my desktop in favor of this laptop as the workhorse computer. But I'm very attached to my LaCie 22-inch monitor and it would take a lot to make me give up that screen real estate.
The processor is very fast, faster than my desktop (which is 1.3MHz). It plays DVDs and music CDs flawlessly. It runs all the programs I ask it to, some of which are notoriously hoggy (e.g., Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, Links 2001). But it's not a gamer's machine by a long stretch.
The big draw for me besides its price ($1499), was the fact that it uses the proprietary Sony MemoryStick. Since I already have a Sony Clie and a Sony Cybershot (both of which use MemorySticks), I thought this was a nice extra touch.
I was able to network this Vaio with no problem at all. It has several USB ports, which come in handy for my jump drives, USB mouse and USB pocket printer. If you are content with the onboard touchpad, you can free up one more port for another toy. Me, I have to have that mouse. (My Compaq Armada had an interchangeable touchpad and roller ball, a feature I've yet to see any other laptop makers adopt.)
It's a big guy, requiring an extra wide laptop case. I only tote it around once a month, to take minutes of my car club meeting. And it rolls with me on a dolly, otherwise, I'd probably pull my shoulder out. And of course, it's a must to take on a vacation to use at your final destination. I can't fathom pulling this behemoth out on the plane and using it! That's what the Clie is for!!
Eventual upgrades will include a larger hard drive and more memory.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1499
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
zcardriver
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Reviews written: 3
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