computer experts! Sony VIAO?

[Kento-Moto]

OK gang, I have been a computer user for about 10 years now and still dont get all of it but ... I was thinking of checking a Sony Viao not sure if note book or desk top ye6t but do you have one and whatcha like or not about it?

Seems like Capt Doug has one ...

I do mostly simple excel, works ... type of tasks... lots of internet, here mostly... and just started digital video editing for home use and my Toshiba Celeron 1.7 and 256 30 gig HD just aint gettin it ... so I am lookin into P4 with HT 3.2 80 gig HD ...

any thoughts ?

Thanx - Kent

 

[WWJD]

if you are editing more than a couple minutes of video, you can never have enough speed or space. get as much as you can of both. 80 gig should do you for starters. if you dont play games, almost anything should work fine.. gaming is THE MOST demanding application for computers, except for maybe CAD. really good stuff has become very cheap, but it's STILL good. just remember: everything breaks and everything glitches from $300 el-cheapo to $3000 mega boxes: they all run Wind0ze

 

[greyrocket]

i like the sony notebook also hp is good thinking about geting one of those two. one of my relitives has a sony its a few years old now still kicking. the sony will have more editing and video crap

 

[flrider]

I have had my vaio for almost 2 years now. Great computer. I just replaced my old lcd monitor with a Sony and it is excellent also. I can recommend the Sony with no reservations. Bob

 

[ralnsplder]

I've heard a lot of good things about sony, they are just a little pricey compared to other comps though. I jsut bought a Hp p4 3.0 with hyper thread tec and it seems to run slow as crap. My old 1.8 ran faster. I think it has to do with this computer having a 200 gig hd. my 1.8 had 3 60 gigs. ran a lot better.

 

[busahaya]

I bought my girlfriend a Sony Vaio notebook, I think it's a p4 1.8, 40 gig hd, and its about 2yrs old, runs smooth, no complaints so far. Have you considered building a pc? It might be cheaper, and you'll know whats really inside that box.

 

[Revlis]

WEll Here I am once again, Mr. Fuggin Know It all...  But I'll tell you what, over the last 3 years I have had 5 Dells, all of them were refurbs, all come with the full factory warranty, and all have performed flawlessly.

Personally,  AVOID SONY COMPUTERS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!  This is from personal experiance,  Desktops kinda suck and everything is too damn proprietary... If they hit a bump...they are a mother F'r to rebuild... Their laptops are cute but totally helpless, again because of the amount of Proprietary (Cutsie Add ons) Software and hardware.

If you really want a sweet a sweet Video editing machine Get A MAC G-4 or G-5.  They are simply better, Faster, more stable...  This is a professional opinion, if you want to get semi serious get a Mac.  They come with just about everything you would need right outta the Box.  Downside?  They are a little pricey. But they rock, seriously...

OK For what you want to do, some video editing, Excel, etc... in the PC world? I still recommend A DELL REFURB, or maybe build your own.  

Dell Refurb Or "Outlet" Example...

<span style='color:green'>SYSTEM SPECIFICATION  
   Dimension 8400 (System Identifier DDEGG991)  
   Dimension 8400 Desktop: Pentium 4 Processor 530 with HT Technology (3.00GHz, 800 FSB, 1MB)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

System Price $1,144.00
Promotion Discount ($300.00)
Discounted Price $844.00
Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional


  Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  Memory: 512 MB DDR2 400MHz NON-ECC SDRAM (2 DIMM)
  Floppy Drive: 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
  Hard Disk Drive: 160 GB EIDE SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
  Video: 128MB PCI Express ATI Radeon X300 SE
  Modem: 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
  DVD Drive: 16X DVD ROM Drive
   8X DVD + RW Drive</span>  


Another.................

<span style='color:green'>SYSTEM SPECIFICATION  
   Dimension XPS Gaming Series (System Identifier 0971R6M6)  
   Dimension XPS Gaming Series: Pentium 4 Processor at 3.2GHz with 800MHz front side bus
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

System Price $2,249.00
Promotion Discount ($300.00)
Discounted Price $1,949.00
Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional


  Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
   Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP
  Memory: 2 GB DDR SDRAM 400MHz (4 DIMMs)
  Floppy Drive: 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
  Hard Disk Drive: 250 GB EIDE SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
  Video: 256MB DDR ATI RADEON 9800 XT
  Modem: V.92 Data/Fax/Voice WinModem
  Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy?2 (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, and IEEE 1394 capability
  DVD Drive: 16X DVD ROM Drive
   8X DVD + RW Drive</span>
This second one is somethign I wouldn't hesitate to snap up...  It's cutting edge not Bleeding edge...  Good Value for your Money.  Then get yourself a new 20" LCD and your good to go...  they are getting much cheaper.

Also a couple good websites to check...

-PriceWatch, Helps you find the lowest prices on damn near anything on the web

-Dell.com Outlet.  Like I said they all come with full warranties and are backed by Dell just like they were new.

 

[Revlis]

Oh and a note, I started writing the above post BEFORE there any other responses with folks loving their Sony's ... I'm not trying to say your all full of it or anything, Just my experiances and the experiances we had a work with Sony Laptops, just not good... Do some research, poke around out on the web, then buy what works for you...

 

[BigBSBusa]

Don't have any experience with Sony laptops because I have avoided them and the high prices. The base notebook sounds pretty cheap, but then the add-ons are amazing. The laptops I have had are all Toshiba and haven't had any trouble with them. Desktops I build myself to my own specifications.

 

[Indy03BUSA]

Tell you what go to a Tigerdirect.com they have some good deals I have been buyintg computer parts from them. They seem to have good deals on alot of PC stuff hope you find what you are looking for

 

[captain]

Kent, I have had 3 Sony laptops in three years (I upgrade every year) and have not had any problems with them.. I have the laptop with a 17inch screen, 512 ram standard (upgraded to 1 gig) 120 gig HD DVD+_ Burner all the hookups you can imagine including fiber in from video souce and a built in tv tuner.... Just plug a little antenna in and viola your watching the local news... Never had any problems with Sony, as a matter of fact everything I own is Sony, Home theatre, digital camera, computer and thats because they are designed to work together and there are a million different things you can buy that will connect them all together to integrate all of your electronics together..... I like mine mostly because of the monitor, dell has a good product but no 17 screens.

CAp

 

[Big O]

I got my VAIO last year and no problems so far. I'm with Cap about Sony products, TV, VCR, DVD, Digital Camera,video camera. It's been my experiEnce, that you get what you pay for, Sony is best.

 

[sageronin]

I have used both ... Dell laptops at the office and Sony laptops and desktops at home. Both brands have performed flawlessly for me. I got my Sony's refurbished from ubid.com
Hopefully you'll also have good luck with either brand. I also agree that Mac's are the best for video and other graphics applications.

 

[moondog]

As always, Sony is great stuff but pricey. I had a two year old Dell that worked just fine until lightning hit last year and fried the power supply. Instead of going back with dell, I had the folks I use at work, Protocol, build me a really nice machine for about $200 more then a replacement Dell. Intel 4 3.2 gig, 1012 gig of dc ram, dual power suppy (dual fans too, kind of noisey), they put the original (undamaged) 80 gig hard drive in plus another 80 gig drive, gforce 512 mg video card, blah, blah, blah.....the point I'm getting at is a good builder can build one hell of a machine for the same price (or a little more) with better components. they talked me into a Luin Luiaan (spelling?) case, all brushed aluminum, looks like art work. This thing smokes, it's like a busa computer.... build one dude....

 

[BigDawg_03Busa]

I've got an hp custom built notebook with 40GB hard drive (I need 80+), 512 ram (I need 1024 & only sony sales a notebook with that output) and 3.0ghz p4. I like my laptop for it's convience when traveling, but I'm looking to upgrade to a SONY in the near future. Whatever you buy, get the extended service plan/warranty. My hard drive mucked up on me and it cost me NADA, to send back to Best Buy warehouse for hard drive replacement. Happy shopping.

BD

 

[tbonebusa]

I've been using a couple different Viao laptops for the last few years.....zero problems. On the other hand, my company has about 70 dell desktops, and their performance has been spotty at best. Not terrible, but not flawless, either. We have a really good IT guy in house, and he's not wild about the dells, but with their volume pricing, they really can't be beat. We dabbled with Gateways a few years back, and they were hands down the worst.....they spent more time in shipping and in for repairs than they did at work.

 

[04busaVA]

I would say depending on how serious you will get with video editing I would spend my money on a MAC. This perspective comes from working on them for over a year in a video editing environment. The PCs running the same software were typically slower and locked up on occasion.

I have Dell workstation/laptops(3), IBM laptops(4), Sony laptop(1), Compaq Servers(2)/Workstation, and an old 386 laptop running Linux. I have not had a single problem with there performance and have upgraded most of them.

It really depends on how much money you want to spend.

just my .02... nothing more, nothing less. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Narcissus]

I've had the same Vaio for four years now. Still works well, although I think I am a bit overdue for an upgrade.

 

[Revlis]

This could easily turn into a brawl... SONY? They make good TV's, DVD players, and other consumer electronics. But they fall flat when they over reach... Sony is like the Best Buy of the Electronics world, Great if you need a piece of gear to do the basics, but when you start needing that something extra, they just cannot hang. Prices do not justify the content IMO... (Kinda sounds like a Harley Huh?) Now, the only place I have really found serious Value for the Money with Sony is their ES line of Audio Equipment, their ES stuff is the Mutts-Nuts.

For just about any piece of equipement made by Sony? You can find an alternative that will produce comperable results for less money. Exception being the ES Audio Stuff, and their TV's are sweet.

IMHO Just Firestarting...

DELL has been suffering lately, there quality control seems to be slipping.

Personally If I were buying new today? It would be a Macintosh G5 and a Powerbook laptop. They are just years ahead in terms of processing power, cool features and quality of construction... Good Stuff...

 

[Mrs. Revlis]

Hmmm...

If you're not really computer savvy, I'd recommend a Dell or a Mac - simply because they've got great customer service. Dell recently outsourced a bunhc of their thech support to... guess where? India! Of Course... so we'll see how that goes. They've generally been pretty responsive to my needs at work (I'm IT by default, not by knowledge - I rely on outside expertise), and we haven't had any trouble with our cpus at home. Mac has reportedly had great customer service, and everyone I know who has one loves it. I've also heard some good stuff about HP lately... but no real experience to speak of.

If you know enough about computers to handle your own troubleshooting - then pick your brand based on the internals used. Pick good quality parts and you'll usually do pretty well.