VAIO's suck!

[IamDavid]

I now have a Sony VAIO PCG-FRV37 Notebook.
(2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW)

It sux. I have now owned 3 VAIO's and they all sucked.. I just can't find a single positve point to them. Besides I received 2 out of 3 of them free from work

Battery life = Sucky
Speed = Extremly poor, the more you run it the slower it gets... I'm talking SLOWWWW
Noise = My lawnmower is quieter (not really )
Heat = Way to hot - I think this is the main problem which leads to all the others..

The first VAIO I owned (1.4ghz) was a bettter Notebook then my current POS. And my first Dell 800Mhz smoked al three! Maybe it's just me but I don't see how anyone could ever recommend a VAIO to anyone.

So, if you are looking to get a notebook STAY AWAY FROM SONY!!

 

[Cristatus]

I have a VAIO, and yea, they make you think that they do suck, but you just have to format it once in a while. I noticed that my VAIO was becoming quite crappy, and just formatted over the weekend, and voila! It's much better.

OTOH I also noticed that as soon as I added some programs, you notice a speed difference. And I'm not talking 10+ programs either.

Also, make sure you don't un-install any of the pre-installed stuff (which is a pain, I know) because they all are linked together and somehow mess up the computer.

Finally, where do you work, if you don't mind me asking? Three VAIOs? lucky S.O.B

 

[IamDavid]

That is crazy.. As far as computers have advanced in the past decade having to reinstall the OS is just not right. It does work however though. Whenever I've had enough of the slow POS I put an Image back on I made right after I setup evertything. It runs a little better for a few weeks, then its back to normal..
I think its a design deal.. It overheats so easily which causes everyhting to fall apart.

My 1st VAIO was bought for me through my previous employer, McLeod USA. I purchased my second because it was in a great deal with a camcorder and digi cam.. My newest POS came from my current employer, a small publishing company. They have and Entire sony setup.. The PC's are nice..

 

[Gibson486]

All I know id that back in the day they used to have those 16 in Vaio notebooks. They were huge. Now they have 17 in. Man, it kind of beats the whole point of a laptop.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: IamDavid
I now have a Sony VAIO PCG-FRV37 Notebook.
(2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW)

It sux. I have now owned 3 VAIO's and they all sucked.. I just can't find a single positve point to them. Besides I received 2 out of 3 of them free from work

Battery life = Sucky
Speed = Extremly poor, the more you run it the slower it gets... I'm talking SLOWWWW
Noise = My lawnmower is quieter (not really )
Heat = Way to hot - I think this is the main problem which leads to all the others..

The first VAIO I owned (1.4ghz) was a bettter Notebook then my current POS. And my first Dell 800Mhz smoked al three! Maybe it's just me but I don't see how anyone could ever recommend a VAIO to anyone.

So, if you are looking to get a notebook STAY AWAY FROM SONY!!

Only a moron would recommend a vaio to someone, or a sony representative. I've got one of the first sony desktops and it is alright, but the newer version of the original desktop (PCV 240/220) is a POS, it's nice it comes with VIVO but its so slow for how "fast" it was. At 300MHZ, 384MB of ram, it runs like a Pentium 166 or 133.... It's performance is just very very low and it's due to their proprietary drivers which appear to have been implimented with those models and above.

My sister has a later model, PCV-RX470DS and like all models past the PCV 220/240, it had it's proprietary drivers which are ABSOLUTELY necessary for stable system operation. I swear, this system is probably the most unreliable sony desktop I've ever worked with, it's so unreliable, it's painful. When doing a fresh install, after installing a few programs, updating the system etc. For a while it appears as fast as it should be but then it just crashes for unknown reasons and runs slowly.. I've done everything I could for this system but it seems that no matter what I do, I find it difficult to fix what ever issues it has.

The problem is sony uses proprietary drivers and since they suck at programming, this results in slow, unreliable computers. I've had 3 sony vaio laptops (of the three, I still have one of them), a PCG F480 and while it's still intact and in fairly good condition, thats only because I took care of it. It's slower and more unreliable than it should be. Though it's fairly stable compared to the sony desktops PCV 220/240 and above. It also came with a PIII 600MHZ processor, it STILL had a sh!tty 2.5MB non 3D accelerated card.

 

[phisrow]

Sony is basically the bastard child of Apple and Compaq(pre HP). Lots of swish design, proprietary parts, and high prices; along with horrific engineering, low performance, system instability, and rootkit fun.

 

[ManyBeers]

My Vaio(notebook) PCGFXA-47 1.0ghz Athlon 4, 512 mb ram,20gb hd, 8 mb video, Windows xp box works perfectly and always has. I don't game so I don't need high powered graphics. My OS is stable as a rock and I removed most of Sony's preinstalled software with no problems. I only left in what I use; WinDvd, Adobe Elements,Screenblast Soundforge. I'm happy with my computer.

 

[aigomorla]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ive had 3 myself personally til i get ibm. The only main bait vaios laptops have is... id like to see ibm/dell/compaq make something as pretty as the Z505, X505, and SR Those are the 3 i had.. I broke the z505 when i dropped my bag.. Snaped the X505 when my mom sat on it by mistake... and The SR just refused to turn on one day. So yeah... i dont like sony either, there built terribly poor but... whenever i went out to the library and pulled any one of those out... girls would come by and go

O M G THATS SOOOO CUTE!!!

So bleh... need i say more?

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ive had 3 myself personally til i get ibm. The only main bait vaios laptops have is... id like to see ibm/dell/compaq make something as pretty as the Z505, X505, and SR Those are the 3 i had.. I broke the z505 when i dropped my bag.. Snaped the X505 when my mom sat on it by mistake... and The SR just refused to turn on one day. So yeah... i dont like sony either, there built terribly poor but... whenever i went out to the library and pulled any one of those out... girls would come by and go

O M G THATS SOOOO CUTE!!!

So bleh... need i say more?

Yes, you do. Who gives a sh!t if girls think "it's cute", the point is for them to check YOU out and not be checking out your laptop... Great, you have something that girls would also buy for themselves :roll:

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: IamDavid
I now have a Sony VAIO PCG-FRV37 Notebook.
(2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW)

It sux. I have now owned 3 VAIO's and they all sucked.. I just can't find a single positve point to them. Besides I received 2 out of 3 of them free from work

Battery life = Sucky
Speed = Extremly poor, the more you run it the slower it gets... I'm talking SLOWWWW
Noise = My lawnmower is quieter (not really )
Heat = Way to hot - I think this is the main problem which leads to all the others..

The first VAIO I owned (1.4ghz) was a bettter Notebook then my current POS. And my first Dell 800Mhz smoked al three! Maybe it's just me but I don't see how anyone could ever recommend a VAIO to anyone.

So, if you are looking to get a notebook STAY AWAY FROM SONY!!

You bought an incredibly large "notebook" with an overheated desktop CPU in it and you're complaining about battery life and heat?

"Speed" is more than likely determined by the software and what you did to it -- not the hardware. Chances are the hardware is working just fine and the OS is just bloated down. Sony may be responsible for bloatware, but I'd bet dollars to pesos the hardware works just fine.

I'm not trying to defend Sony, as I think they are overpriced and sometimes the build quality is inferior, but from what I can see here your complaints are somewhat ungrounded....

 

[IamDavid]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Originally posted by: IamDavid
I now have a Sony VAIO PCG-FRV37 Notebook.
(2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW)

It sux. I have now owned 3 VAIO's and they all sucked.. I just can't find a single positve point to them. Besides I received 2 out of 3 of them free from work

Battery life = Sucky
Speed = Extremly poor, the more you run it the slower it gets... I'm talking SLOWWWW
Noise = My lawnmower is quieter (not really )
Heat = Way to hot - I think this is the main problem which leads to all the others..

The first VAIO I owned (1.4ghz) was a bettter Notebook then my current POS. And my first Dell 800Mhz smoked al three! Maybe it's just me but I don't see how anyone could ever recommend a VAIO to anyone.

So, if you are looking to get a notebook STAY AWAY FROM SONY!!

You bought an incredibly large "notebook" with an overheated desktop CPU in it and you're complaining about battery life and heat?

"Speed" is more than likely determined by the software and what you did to it -- not the hardware. Chances are the hardware is working just fine and the OS is just bloated down. Sony may be responsible for bloatware, but I'd bet dollars to pesos the hardware works just fine.

I'm not trying to defend Sony, as I think they are overpriced and sometimes the build quality is inferior, but from what I can see here your complaints are somewhat ungrounded....

Ungrounded? I can have it boot up, run fine for a few minutes until I hear the BIG LOUD fan kick on, then it slows to a crawl.. I'd understand it if I were playing a game or encoding maybe even eding a large file in photoshop but nope. I could be watching a streaming video or some other trivial job and it happens. I don't expect it to run like my desktop, I would however like it to run better then my old Dell P3 800...

 

[IamDavid]

Originally posted by: ManyBeers
My Vaio(notebook) PCGFXA-47 1.0ghz Athlon 4, 512 mb ram,20gb hd, 8 mb video, Windows xp box works perfectly and always has. I don't game so I don't need high powered graphics. My OS is stable as a rock and I removed most of Sony's preinstalled software with no problems. I only left in what I use; WinDvd, Adobe Elements,Screenblast Soundforge. I'm happy with my computer.

That's what I don't understand myself.. My old 1.4 Sony blew my new one out of the water. It wasn't the best but WAY better then my current one.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: IamDavid
Ungrounded? I can have it boot up, run fine for a few minutes until I hear the BIG LOUD fan kick on, then it slows to a crawl.. I'd understand it if I were playing a game or encoding maybe even eding a large file in photoshop but nope. I could be watching a streaming video or some other trivial job and it happens. I don't expect it to run like my desktop, I would however like it to run better then my old Dell P3 800...

Have you tried to diagnose this problem? It isn't just happening because the Sony name is on your machine.

Have you monitored temperatures?
Monitored IO access?
Monitored CPU load?
Monitored process creation?
Reinstalled Windows?

 

[TheCanuck]

I've seen this happen with a P4 Vaio notebook as well. The heatsink's fins get plugged up with dust and need to be cleaned out. If you blast the vents with a can of compressed air you can usually dislodge the dust thats collected. A better fix is to take it apart and clean out all the dust.

Once the CPU temp goes past 65C it starts throttling down the speed. Try using mobilemeter to monitor the temps: Mobilemeter

Also, a laptop cooler might help, but the main thing is to make sure that the heatsink isn't plugged with dust.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: IamDavid
I now have a Sony VAIO PCG-FRV37 Notebook.
(2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW)

It sux. I have now owned 3 VAIO's and they all sucked.. I just can't find a single positve point to them. Besides I received 2 out of 3 of them free from work

Battery life = Sucky
Speed = Extremly poor, the more you run it the slower it gets... I'm talking SLOWWWW
Noise = My lawnmower is quieter (not really )
Heat = Way to hot - I think this is the main problem which leads to all the others..

The first VAIO I owned (1.4ghz) was a bettter Notebook then my current POS. And my first Dell 800Mhz smoked al three! Maybe it's just me but I don't see how anyone could ever recommend a VAIO to anyone.

So, if you are looking to get a notebook STAY AWAY FROM SONY!!

Eh, all of those problems can be attributed to the Pentium 4 cpu it uses.

 

[IamDavid]

Thanks TheCanuck, I will give the MMeter a try.. I opened it up and you were right, lots of dust.. Will see what happens now..

 

[simms]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ive had 3 myself personally til i get ibm. The only main bait vaios laptops have is... id like to see ibm/dell/compaq make something as pretty as the Z505, X505, and SR Those are the 3 i had.. I broke the z505 when i dropped my bag.. Snaped the X505 when my mom sat on it by mistake... and The SR just refused to turn on one day. So yeah... i dont like sony either, there built terribly poor but... whenever i went out to the library and pulled any one of those out... girls would come by and go

O M G THATS SOOOO CUTE!!!

So bleh... need i say more?

If your laptop is the only reason why girls talk to you, then you need some serious help. You know from experience that Sonys will break, snap, or just plain not work - so why not just get an IBM that is built to last?

And then you can make the girls say something else is cute...

 

[The Linuxator]

Originally posted by: simms

Originally posted by: aigomorla
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ive had 3 myself personally til i get ibm. The only main bait vaios laptops have is... id like to see ibm/dell/compaq make something as pretty as the Z505, X505, and SR Those are the 3 i had.. I broke the z505 when i dropped my bag.. Snaped the X505 when my mom sat on it by mistake... and The SR just refused to turn on one day. So yeah... i dont like sony either, there built terribly poor but... whenever i went out to the library and pulled any one of those out... girls would come by and go

O M G THATS SOOOO CUTE!!!

So bleh... need i say more?

If your laptop is the only reason why girls talk to you, then you need some serious help. You know from experience that Sonys will break, snap, or just plain not work - so why not just get an IBM that is built to last?

And then you can make the girls say something else is cute...

Thinkpads are a man's computer, when girls around campus see me using my Thinkpad they don't know what to say, becasue they are used to complementing other guys with notebooks like VAIOs that reflect a metrosexual identity while my Thinkpad reflects pure machoo which scares them a bit but they are still atracted but too afraid to admit it

 

[fbrdphreak]

Hahahaha, same here with my T42

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: The Linuxator

Originally posted by: simms

Originally posted by: aigomorla
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ive had 3 myself personally til i get ibm. The only main bait vaios laptops have is... id like to see ibm/dell/compaq make something as pretty as the Z505, X505, and SR Those are the 3 i had.. I broke the z505 when i dropped my bag.. Snaped the X505 when my mom sat on it by mistake... and The SR just refused to turn on one day. So yeah... i dont like sony either, there built terribly poor but... whenever i went out to the library and pulled any one of those out... girls would come by and go

O M G THATS SOOOO CUTE!!!

So bleh... need i say more?

If your laptop is the only reason why girls talk to you, then you need some serious help. You know from experience that Sonys will break, snap, or just plain not work - so why not just get an IBM that is built to last?

And then you can make the girls say something else is cute...

Thinkpads are a man's computer, when girls around campus see me using my Thinkpad they don't know what to say, becasue they are used to complementing other guys with notebooks like VAIOs that reflect a metrosexual identity while my Thinkpad reflects pure machoo which scares them a bit but they are still atracted but too afraid to admit it

Dude didnt i say i have a thinkpad? The sony's were something i used to use. Yes its true, my t-41p will own almost any VAIOS laptop out now, but as in cute factor and which one would attract more attention, hands down the sony will. And honestly ive noticed a lot of people bash other people for just lending out comments. GROW UP dude.
This Post was ment to express his discomfort with sony, so im basically telling him, they attact a lot of attention but plastic/silcon wise, there better off being used in there TV's. AND ALSO, id like to see any company minus oqo.com to build a laptop as small as the x505. If u ever had the fortunate oportunity to have one, or see one, u'll see what a true ultra portable laptop is.

 

[MaxDSP]

Im in the market for a laptop and between the 2 I've owned, and the 3 our company had at work, all 5 of them had something go wrong with them, ranging from random restarts due to heat generation (Z505 I think) to parts falling apart at the seams. I HATE VAIOs. They may look good, but thats about it.

On a similar note, if I have a budget of about $800-$1000, what can I expect to get in a laptop? I mainly will use it for browsing, DVD watching, and some work.

 

[Xylitol]

I had a 7-8 year old vaio and it worked fine until I sold it to my neighbor for 100 bucks cuase I got a new desktop (Another Vaio )

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: MaxDSP
Im in the market for a laptop and between the 2 I've owned, and the 3 our company had at work, all 5 of them had something go wrong with them, ranging from random restarts due to heat generation (Z505 I think) to parts falling apart at the seams. I HATE VAIOs. They may look good, but thats about it.

On a similar note, if I have a budget of about $800-$1000, what can I expect to get in a laptop? I mainly will use it for browsing, DVD watching, and some work.

can't go wrong with a used x31. I bought mine 6 months ago. It arrived to me like brand new, the battery only has 4 counts. I still have 1.5yr of warranty now.

or you can push your budget a little higher, try this one link

 

[Zadillo]

Hrmm, I guess I'm sort of the exception; I have owned a Sony Vaio s360 notebook since April and I've been really pleased with it............... I love the performance of it, battery life, screen quality, the performance of the Mobility Radeon 9700, etc.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: IamDavid
I now have a Sony VAIO PCG-FRV37 Notebook.
(2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW)

It sux. I have now owned 3 VAIO's and they all sucked.. I just can't find a single positve point to them. Besides I received 2 out of 3 of them free from work

Battery life = Sucky
Speed = Extremly poor, the more you run it the slower it gets... I'm talking SLOWWWW
Noise = My lawnmower is quieter (not really )
Heat = Way to hot - I think this is the main problem which leads to all the others..

The first VAIO I owned (1.4ghz) was a bettter Notebook then my current POS. And my first Dell 800Mhz smoked al three! Maybe it's just me but I don't see how anyone could ever recommend a VAIO to anyone.

So, if you are looking to get a notebook STAY AWAY FROM SONY!!

:thumbsup: :laugh: