Anyone have a Vaio laptop?
polycounter lvl 18
I'm looking to purchase a small, light-as-it-can-be pc laptop that has enough umph to still play some current games (not Crysis and the like, but not just Nethack either). This would be for working on the Caltrain, so batt life is important.
A few of my friends have Vaios and really like them, but other than their comments I know little about them.
Would anyone care to share their experiences if they have one or perhaps recommend something better?
Thanks very much.
A few of my friends have Vaios and really like them, but other than their comments I know little about them.
Would anyone care to share their experiences if they have one or perhaps recommend something better?
Thanks very much.
Replies
I haven't looked at them since though, so they may have improved since then.
5hr battery life!
Though they are sexy laptops, haha
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macbook air with bootcamp?
5hr battery life!
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I actually use a macbook pro with bootcamp on it now, and it runs pretty damn amazing.
$1800 gets you:
- 1.6ghz
- 2gb ram
- 80gb PATA hdd (4200rpm!?)
It's pretty sad, really. That's far to low end a PC to spend that much money on, regardless of how small and light it is.
The $3100 version has an extra 200mhz on the CPU and a 64GB solid state drive. While that's nifty, it's nearly double the price. It's highway robbery
-1.8ghz Core2Duo
-2gb RAM
-160gb HDD
-8600GT
-15.4" LCD
-5 hrs battery life
All for about $740 after tax+shipping. It plays TF2 on highest settings, Crysis on medium, Guild Wars/WoW on highest. It is ridiculously sturdy and theres no crapware installed. It is solid black and has a few tasteful blue LEDs (not like those new HPs that glow blue in every possible spot). It is THE best deal you can get.
If you are looking for a light-weight yet powerful laptop, the vaio is a great machine, but as many people say it has far too many buttons and widget doo-dahs bells and whistles both hardware and pre-installed, that a macbook air just seems to be the simple choice compared.
If I were about to splash some cash on a laptop not already having one, I'd go with the air, or a mackbook. Currently I have a 12" powerbook g4, and while it doesn't run windows or games, it does fit in my bag without me knowing and has a long battery life. I just wish I was more clued up to it when it first came out - because 2/3 or even 4 years ago if I could have illustrated, webshited, bloged and modeled without any pain induced whatsoever on this is a sturdy little powerhouse I would have flipped out.
The macbook air is a companion laptop really. You'll need something else and a fast wireless connection to get the most out of it.
I checked out the Vostros and while they are indeed an awesome value, the 6lb + weight is a turnoff for me. It is possible that this is a case of wanted to have my cake and eat it too, but I'll still try for something lighter.
The Air is an interesting choice, would love the portability of it all, but I'm not sure I'm ready to take the mac plunge. Running boot camp is not a fix all from what I understand as plenty of games still won't run when using it- but correct me if that's totally wrong.
I'll keep looking.
-no DVD drive
-no user replaceable battery (have to have apple install a new one for you)
-very slow 1.8" 4200 rpm hard drive (same as iPod)
-no ethernet port
-only 1 usb port
-can't upgrade RAM
but hey at least it can fit inside an envelope
-external DVD drive
-battery can be got at, who replaces their laptop battery anyway?
-4200 is not slow. 5400 is only marginally faster, any higher generates too much heat.
-usb ethernet dongle
-1 is a bit wimpy
-it ships with 2gb ram, do you really need more?
Newsweek
- "When I slip it in the sleeve of my backpack where my six-pound MacBook Pro usually travels, the pocket still looks empty"
- "diminutive dimensions pretty much evaporate the eternal quandary of whether or not to take your computer along with you."
http://gizmodo.com/348769/macbook-air-tear-down-sexy-on-the-inside-too
-external DVD drive
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Costs extra, something else to keep track of.
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-4200 is not slow. 5400 is only marginally faster, any higher generates too much heat.
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What's slower than 4200rpm? Anywho, my MB Pro has the 7200 drive, no heat probs.
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-usb ethernet dongle
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Costs extra, something else to keep track of.
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-it ships with 2gb ram, do you really need more?
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Depends, doesn't it? I do a lot of After Effects work on mine, and it eats 85% of my 2GB on nearly anything I do.
MB Air is neat and all, but you can get the 15" Pro for just $200 more. Rather than ask who needs optical media/faster HDD/ethernet, I ask who needs a laptop that weighs under 5lbs? It's not like the 15" Pros are bulky.
The Air is an interesting choice, would love the portability of it all, but I'm not sure I'm ready to take the mac plunge. Running boot camp is not a fix all from what I understand as plenty of games still won't run when using it- but correct me if that's totally wrong.
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I went all Apple a while back since my office is almost 100% Mac and things have been fine so far. On my MB Pro, I currently have UT3, HL2/TF2/Portal, LotR:BfME2 and Planescape:Torment (oldskool!) installed and running fine.
The only tricky one was UT3. My MB Pro is a year old and Apple doesn't update the Windows drivers, so UT wouldn't run at all. ATI doesn't support the card because it's integrated into the Mac, but I was able to install some Omega drivers and things work fine. I figure if an older MB Pro with a Radeon can run UT3, the new ones with the Nvidia 8600s would handle anything you throw at it that isn't named Crysis.
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http://gizmodo.com/348769/macbook-air-tear-down-sexy-on-the-inside-too
-external DVD drive
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Costs extra, something else to keep track of.
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-4200 is not slow. 5400 is only marginally faster, any higher generates too much heat.
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What's slower than 4200rpm? Anywho, my MB Pro has the 7200 drive, no heat probs.
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-usb ethernet dongle
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Costs extra, something else to keep track of.
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-it ships with 2gb ram, do you really need more?
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Please take note I was only correcting "no DVD drive" etc to reflect the truth.
7200 is way too hot for such a thin machine
We'll see though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...;name=Microsoft
Or just take the OEM sticker from one of your old machines (it is a little Windows sticker) and it will have a license on it. Use that key and download or borrow the actual CD.
Please take note I was only correcting "no DVD drive" etc to reflect the truth.
7200 is way too hot for such a thin machine
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Gotcha. Your point about 7200rpm for the Air makes sense, I thought you meant laptops in general. There's always the 64gb SS drive, if you want speed and have the cash
nitzmoff- your thread got jacked son! Haha. My two cents is a Lenovo Thinkpad [NOT the 3000 series] my friend has one and it runs great. Very solid and inexpensive. He is a hardware programmer, and says the R61 Thinkpad is one of the best laptops on the market right now. I'm getting one in a few weeks, because I liked his so much.
Which model do you mean. As far as I know, thinkpads are not anything close to gaming/graphic apps laptops. All the ones I've seen have only the on board cards as graphics options.
its beautifull on the iinside, the outside is more plasticy ps3, which makes me worry about build quality.
Honestly, I am a student and I carry a Vostro all day long. It doesn't bother me one bit. I'd rather spend $700 for a powerhouse that is durable and have a little bit of weight than $1500 for a slimline and flimsy version of the same thing. There is also a 14" Vostro that is smaller and lighter. It is about the same price.
I will second though that for office work, Thinkpads are the shit.
yes I wouldn't recommend any windows machine
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jesus, as much as I am windows PC fanboy, I agree, I am totally content with with my macbook pro with windows, serisously, it's a solid machine, and the new ones have the full version of Bootcamp, I am only running on the beta (did the trick with setting the mac's time back to allow me to still run it, what a sorry loop hole), and it runs everything great, in fact I may even turn that into my desktop by just hooking up all my shit to it.