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Any Sony Vaio Desktop opinions?

B

badbilly27

Member
Hey all,

Anyone have any experience with Sony Vaio desktops? I'm looking into their RX600 series of computers for example:

Gamers choice

I've heard that some people encounter driver issues when installing new hardware on vaio's since their meant to be closed boxes. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks



 
I put a Radeon 8500DV in one of the "digital studio" VAIO's for a family member. It came with a DVD-RW drive, but only had a TNT2. I also noticed at the time that it had no sound card, just onboard AC97. They are using this PC to make some DVD's and it also serves as a kitchen television with LCD monitor and the Radeon TV-tuner. No problems at all with the ATI drivers, XP Home edition.
 
All I can tell you about the VAIO desktops is that we bought four of the 500 series boxes -- more or less on a whim -- and they have been great. But we haven't done anything to them, hardware-wise, except for adding memory. They're pretty much what I expect from Sony, a nice, well-finished consumer-grade product. Their web site has a lot of online documentation for the various models, and that seems to be pretty good compared to the online info at the Dell site, for instance. They weren't as easy to work on as an OptiPlex, but not nearly as hard as a lot of the consumer-grade boxes out there. And they were finished nicely inside, too.

These boxes aren't being used for their intended video-related purposes, but they've worked very well for a variety of applications and all took the upgrade to WinXP without any preparation whatsoever. (We didn't try to keep the old video editing apps, however. Just blew everything away and did clean installations.) The cooling fans are kind of loud, but that's about my only hardware-related gripe. And I'll put up with a lot of noise before I'll risk a meltdown.

Don't know why drivers should be an issue for new hardware installs on the systems -- unless Sony has done something weird with the BIOS. Looked pretty standard to me. I have heard that some types of specialized video cards are having problems on a lot of P4 systems. I've seen the recommendation that these units be used with Sony's included (on some models) GigaPocket device rather than aftermarket stuff.

- Collin
 
Dragcity - thanks for the post. Do you remember what model your family member purchased? Just curious.

c0rv1d43/Collin - Thanks also. So are you saying that it's best to purchase one with the gigapocket built in rather than aftermarket to avoid P4 issues? Just clarifying as that is one of my current considerations now or later.
 
I've had a PCVJ120 at one time and have an RX550 now and have had no complaints. My only initial gripe was with the memory cap of 512MB but that's a total lie. Installed a separate 512MB chip with no problem and now have 768 MB recognized by all hardware. The vid card is not the worst you could get but a simple upgrade to a Ge3 Ti 500 had me benchmarking 200 points higher than an Alienware machine from late last year. What's good about the VAIOs is they may not come with the newest and latest hardware, but what they do have is by prime manufacturers and easily expandable. Asus P4B series mobo, Pioneer DVD, Maxtor HD. The Soundmax integrated soundchip is actually very decent, but installing a Fortissimo II was too easy, and cheap, to pass up. Overall, a very solid buy.
 


<< If you are going to get a VAIO, then get it with the Sony DV editing stuff. The features are very limited, but you can edit video with one. That said, if you want important features such as timeline playback, sophisticated batch capture or real-time FX, do not get a VAIO. Adding one of our video capture cards into it can be a nightmare, often resulting in having to completely strip the machine down and rebuilding it from scratch. >>



That's a quote from this site, which appears to have a lot of decent information and common sense advice on it. I have no direct experience with any kind of device not working with a Sony VAIO, but I haven't tried any of the specialized hardware and software these guys are discussing on their site.

On the other hand, the third party hardware and software they're talking about are pretty costly. The Digital Studio systems I've seen might be about the best pre-built "low-cost" solution to video editing out there -- from what I've seen.

If you check out that site you'll see a section which contains warnings about a number of different systems. The Dell Dimension 8200 seems to be a really bad bet for video editing, but their Precision workstations seem to do be one of the best pre-built alternatives for adding on this sort of stuff.

My guess is that this is all about immature drivers, and possibly immature BIOS revisions. Might get sorted out in a few weeks to a few months.

I hope things work out well for you, and that you have tons of fun with the toys!

- Collin
 
Well, speaking purely on repair/service basis, I can tell you that Sony CS seems to lack in many areas........🙁 I've worked on several and on occasion had to contact Sony CS for information. I had the information, and contacted them posing as the owner. Not only were they not very helpfull, on several occasions they were rude and condecending. The systems were out of warranty and basicly the CSR's opinion was that they did not care to give assistance to models out of warranty even on a fee basis and their main recommondation when asking about availability of proprietary parts was to replace the system with a newer updated one! Their online site as far as tech support and system info seems to be vague and information is sparse on particulars. The reason I needed to deal with Sony directly on a couple of occasions is, the systems were owned by a business, and they wanted to stay with proprietary Sony hardware for updating/repairing. After a few times speaking with Sony CS (and messing with them after they basicly refused to be of any real assistance) IMO they are geared more to convincing owners to buy new systems if theirs is out of warranty than offering any real assistance. We finally did the updates/repairs, but, I convinced the owner to use hardware other than from Sony direct and he was quite pleased especially when he saw the $$$$ savings!😉 The systems seem to be put together fine albiet a bit cramped for space, and seem to run as well or better than many other big name builders, but, having dealt with many companies CS, I have to say Sony's is the least helpfull of all I've encountered..................
 
Ive had good experiences with Sony Vaios....im on one right now. Its only a PIII 500 and it worked pretty darn well with video editing by firewire which suprised me.
 
Don't do it!! If at all possible, stay away from the Sony computers. I love their monitors and passionately hate their computers. If you really, really must buy a computer from a store, and don't want to pay a lot of $$$$$$$$$ I reluctantly recommend a D. :disgust:
 
Thanks for the input all. Just due to the sheer video editing features and firewire inclusion that Sony has over the big brands I am still leaning towards them. I really dislike Dell, so no go. Anyone like Gateway better?

More Sony Vaio owners please speak up, I need to move off this fence. Thanks 😉
 
Badbilly, it seems the clear majority of users have spoken well about VAIOs, you should feel confident enough to decide. If I may add that the two VAIOs that I've had-one running ME, the other, current, running XP-for a combined time of 3 and a half years never onced crash. Seriously. I've been through Compaq, Gateway, Dell (insert Simpson-esque cringe) and Alienware, and though I'd prefer not to denegrate those others (usually people who offer such extreme opinions as "Those PCs stand for Pieces of Crap - don't do it!" are usually coming from a very emotional place) I'd have to admit I've felt most comfortable with VAIOs. I won't say anything about their customer service except to ask who here has been made to feel warm and fuzzy by the CSRs of any company? Hope that helps.
 
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