OK Deal - Sony PCG-SR7K Vaio laptop

[zuffy]

Here's an OK deal @ Egghead for a Sony PCG-SR7K Vaio laptop for $1899.99 - $100 rebate + free shipping=$1799.99

http://www.egghead.com/category/inv/00003812/03495926.htm

Don't spam me if it's a bad deal for you. I feel this is an OK deal for someone who's looking for a less than 3lb power laptop. This laptop can be purchased @ a cheaper price but this offer comes with an external 16X cd-rom (cost $250-300 if purchased separately). The only bad about his laptop is that you have to purchase a floppy drive if you need one since it's an optional item.

 

[her209]

Any deals on the Sony Slimline series?

 

[hanybanoub]

This is actually not a bad deal considering that it comes with the external cd drive!

Also, there are coupons *around* to drive the price about another 100!!

If anyone has had any experiences with this sweet laptop please, please let us all know.

This could possibly be one of the best ultra light laptops with the most functionality.

Please give us any info everyone

Cheers

 

[Blindman]

where is the extra coupon?

 

[hanybanoub]

Because of the rules, I cannot tell you exactly, but using the best search engine located here with keywords coupon, Egghead or such could help.

Good luck

I'm hoping to hear from others who actually have this lovely laptop

Cheers

 

[Blindman]

not helping cant u note which site u got it from?

 

[hanybanoub]

PM me

 

[Blindman]

PM who?

 

[hanybanoub]

Private message me, hanybanoub

 

[zuffy]

Expecting my laptop to arrive on Friday... I will post an update on Sat or over the weekend.

 

[hanybanoub]

thanks for the reply zuffy. I'll await your review

 

[zuffy]

When I open the box the first thing that came to my mind was... THIS SUCKER IS SMALL!!!

Here are the Pros and Cons:

Pros

• Small and light weight... very good for portability.
• Good battery live so I can watch my 4 seasons of South Park inside a plane.
• Decent video quality for watching DivX and VCDs.
• Awesome video quality @ 1024 x 768 for a 10.4" screen. I have a 15" and seen some 17" that don't produce the video clarify @ this resolution compare to the Vaio.
• Love the Jog Dial control... you can program it to launch any applications you want just from the dial.
• Memory Stick slot... one of the main feature why I purchased the laptop. Excellent for my Sony S70 digital camera. Now transferring pictures from camera to laptop will be a piece of cake. Love the USB but can be a bottleneck sometimes when you want to use the camera right away and not wait for the transfer to finish.
• Lots of software bundled with the laptop.
• IEEE 1394 connector. I'll put it to good use if I get the Sony digital recorder
• Include recovery CDs and Microsoft Word 2000. Useless if you don't have a cd-rom.
• Good performance for a laptop this small.
• Slick looking laptop.
• Good connection the Internet with the built in modem.

Cons

• Feels fragile. Compare to the IBM Thinkpads, it's like comparing plastic to metal.
• External cd-rom is heavy... feels solid though.
• Weak speakers but you can't ask for more from a laptop this small.
• Small screen
• Can get quite hot where the left palm rest.
• No velco strap for power cord. How much can it cost? IBM includes it.
• Not a glide pad fan... prefer a mice or the pointing device
• Can't use cd-rom if you're on the network with a network PC card occupying the PC slot
• Comes with 4 Recovery CDs but you will need to purchase a cd-rom if you want to take advantage of this feature.
• No serial and parallel ports.
• You need to use an adapter (icluded) to connect to a monitor.
• Beyond ripoff you need to purchase cd-rom, dvd, floppy drive, battery, or memory for this laptop.
• No built-in NIC.

 

[hanybanoub]

Wow Zuffy thanks so very much for the detailed review It was much more than I expected.

How does this machine perform? Granted you've only just got it, but if you could please let us know (at you leisure of course

1) how fast (or slow) it is. For example doing all the normal work, email, Word, Net surfing, it'll be very quick, but what about compiling code, or perhaps, even though I do NOT expect this machine to game, have you tried any simple games with it that don't require a lot of 3d work? For example age of empires or so?

2)does it actually feel like plastic or is it a design issue? Sony usually makes quality solid products

3) How about a carrying case? Does it only take the (expensive) magic gate memory sticks or the normal blue ones (which I have)

4) What's the longest you've had the battery running the laptop before you had to shut down? Hopefully at least 3 hours?

5) you mentioned it gets hot, but is it too hot to actually have on your lap, or just very warm...especially when typing/using it

6) granted the screen is small intentionally to keep it light and portable, but is it too small to do work, or is it ok and just need time to get used to it. can you use it at 800 x 600 and make everything larger? It does seem to to be a wide sort of screen to fit everything.


Sorry for all the questions, but I'm so tempted to buy this cool laptop. Would you reccomend it or is it too early to say.

Thanks so much Zuffy. GREATLY, GREATLY APPREICATED !!

I'll point the other thread to this for your review as well.

 

[bipin]

I got this laptop yesterday ! Bought it with the external CDROM

As far as my opinion goes....

• Light weight & tiny (I wanted a tiny laptop that gives me 1024x768 resolution). I am used to 1600x1200 on a regular desktop!
• Battery life over 3.5 hrs.... I kept it on for about 2 hrs and the status showed 50 % left so I am assuming that the battery lasts for atleast 3.5 hrs.
• The palm rest area gets warm and not hot. I think you still can keep it on your lap and work. It's even mentioned in the instructions book.
• I am going to install linux on it soon and this notebook would be faily fast while compiling code. I have tried compiling some tiny C codes on it under windows 2000 but all I can say is that it is faster than a Pentium II 333 Mhz desktop in my office.
• CDROM and floppy can be used to boot the computer.
• For those who would be using windows 2000 on it can buy a usb hub (around $30) and buy a USB-ethernet adapter(around $50)instead of a PCMCIA card. That way one can stay connected to the network and use the CDROM and the floppy at the same time.

 

[hanybanoub]

Hey bipin thanks so much !

This is some great info. I've always wanted a laptop like this, powerful enough, light and portable, and why not cool looking

Those are some wonderful ideas to get around the using the cdrom and not the network issue. Nice work

All your words sure sound assuring. I am so very tempted !

Do you know if I'd have to use only the magic gate memory sticks, or can I use the regular blue ones?

How light and little is this laptop? Can it be put next to a writing (not those large ones with subjects, folders etc.) notebook and carried as one??

Thank you very much again bipin...this is such important info

 

[bipin]

"Computing versatility is achieved through the copyright protected MagicGate Memory Stick slot, which is backward compatible with the original Memory Stick."

.... taken from http://www.sel.sony.com/clubvaio/newsSRK.html

It is almost equal to(read smaller than) a "letter size" paper.

weighs 2.98 pounds. Very light and portable (Though it may not seem as sturdy as the IBM thinkpad). This one is as sturdy as any Dell laptop.

The battery would definitely last for more than 3.5 hrs. Try searching for "sr7k" on Google.com and you'll get a lot of info on it. Remember the floppy drive is also external!

The screen is excellent! I love this tiny little thing and am sure you would like it too.

I have heard that Sony's customer service sucks. That's the only disappointing factor for me.

 

[hanybanoub]

Wow bipin. Thank you LOADS and LOADS

It gives me more to think about. Sooo tempting

If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to ask you

Also, as you go along and continue to use your awesome laptop, please let us know what you discover, like, or anything at all really.

Cheers,

 

[zuffy]

Bipin,

Here something to consider when you install Linux... I think the Fn will not work. I tried to use any of the Fn combo and nothing happens when I'm not in Windows 2000. It seem like software control than BIOS control. If this is the case, then wouldn't where ever you left off will be the settings when you're in Linux? I didn't see any Linux drivers for this laptop.

I was thinking of a USB hub but find it annoying that 1) I need to buy one 2)I need to carry another piece of equipment 3) I got a ethernet PC card already 4) I need to buy a USB ethernet PC card.

 

[zuffy]

One more thing... the palm rest area is too fragile and warm for my taste. I personlly like the IBM Thinkpad 600 palm rest area... more solid and feels good. While I'm at it, the palm rest on the IBM Thinkpad T20 sucks.

 

[kesmeg]

Egghead now have the SR7K with ext. DVD and only $100 difference with the one with CD-Rom. The DVD Rom itself worth $400. I think this is a very good laptop deal.

Does anyone know the coupon code for Egghead? PLease email to loek0001@yahoo.com
Thanks!

 

[hanybanoub]

That's a nice idea kesmeg, but I wonder if anyone will watch a Dvd film on this tiny screen.

Perhaps it's good for the future, when Dvd recordable is used instead of Cdr by everyone, and we'll need to read recorded dvd in addition to cdrs. And this will happen you can be sure of it.

And since the hard drive in this laptop is fixed (I believe), it would be good to have access to large amounts of data from the dvd instead of the hard drive.

Keep those thoughts and comments coming everyone

 

[foo]

zuffy, thanks for the review. How long did it take Egghead to ship?

 

[zuffy]

hanybanoub,

My friend has the Sony Vaio XG series and the DVD quality is quite good (definitely better than the Thinkpad 600X). I expect the DVD quality to be similiar except the screen size.

foo,

I ordered the laptop on 11/14 @ nite. The laptop arrived 11/17 afternoon by Airborne Express 2nd day. I don't trust UPS Ground shipping for my laptop.. too long of a route from CA to NY. I wonder how many times they would drop the box I know Egghead offers the UPS Ground shipping free but $18.99 for Airborne Express 2nd Day is not much and you will sleep better at nite knowing your laptop is not bounced around too much

 

[hanybanoub]

Wow zuffy I can't thank you enough for all the great details

It's sincerely appreciated

I'm sure I'll think of other questions

 

[jonnyfin]

ok, hate to do this but...

i'd recommend staying away from these pos's. i recently had to do some work on a pcg-z505r which went south, and it was a nightmare! if for any reason you have to take this thing apart to work on it you will damage the case, and the glidepad, and the modem door...etc. and the way this thing works with its perhiperals is rediculous! I would defititely recommend anything but a sony laptop. buy and find out for yourself