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Forums - PC Discussion - Sony Vaio, are they good?

tedsteriscool on 04 May 2009
Dodece said:
@Lightning_24

As far as gaming goes the answer is no they are not quality gaming computers. I owned one, and I can tell you the machine needed a major overhaul in under six months. I found issues in the graphics card, the system ram, the plug and play, and slot allotment. There are a lot of places to cut corners in a personal computer, and Sony did a great job in finding all of them.

They had a generic graphics card with outdated support. Specifications can be deceptive. Without quality driver support you will find yourself in a bind, and no I am not just talking about updated drivers, but the entire catalog of drivers being available.

The memory was equally laughable. You would think that with two slots they might only fill one, but they filled both. Meaning when it came time to upgrade the memory I was not doubling it. I was only increasing it by twenty five percent. That may seem minor, but it definitely made the whole process more expensive, and as we all know memory isn't cheap.

Mind you I was not purchasing a low end computer either. I shelled out a good eighteen hundred dollars. So to fork out another two hundred dollars more in parts just to play a new game that wasn't even particularly intensive was a real kick to the crotch.

Beyond this I have no real complaints with the system. The machine as a whole was quite reliable, and the software included was quite decent. In fact it held up exceedingly well for the use I put it through. I just did not like the fact that it was not upgrade friendly, and Sony cut corners.

I would say however if your serious about gaming its just going to be better to pay up front for what your going to need. Make sure your getting a name brand model card, and know about the systems ram, and the available slots, and how they are being used. Your not going to save money if your going to be replacing a card immediately, and replacing all the RAM.

 

Erm...I don't know where you're shopping but I bought 4gb ddr2 800mHz RAM (not fast but hey, its 4gb for cheap) for $30 from Frys with a $20 mail-in rebate! RAM is not cheap, in this case it was $10 for 4GB. They're readily available as 2x2GB sticks for about $40, which is chump change when talking about PC components.



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kanariya on 04 May 2009

I suppose they are good. Even MS is using it in their I'm a PC TV ad.

 

My TR series lasted 5 years and still working.



mrketchup33 on 04 May 2009

Good style bad quality (From my experience).



Proud owner of all three consoles and handhelds.

Gamertag: MrKetchup911 (Add me up)

NeoRatt on 04 May 2009

Cool style...

Bad durability... I bought them over a two year period... Went through 5 and finally switched to Toshiba...



Dodece on 04 May 2009

@tedsteriscool

Remember cheap is a relative term, but it does seem like any more you spend on a computer is expensive after having spent a couple thousand for hardware, service plan, and applicable taxes. Personally I ended up spending around eighty dollars on memory for my Vaio five or so years ago.

I however applaud your thrift. I never had that kind of resolve to thrift shop for memory. I always found myself looking for memory when I absolutely had to have it yesterday.



http://live.xbox.com/member/Dodece

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tedsteriscool on 04 May 2009
Dodece said:
@tedsteriscool

Remember cheap is a relative term, but it does seem like any more you spend on a computer is expensive after having spent a couple thousand for hardware, service plan, and applicable taxes. Personally I ended up spending around eighty dollars on memory for my Vaio five or so years ago.

I however applaud your thrift. I never had that kind of resolve to thrift shop for memory. I always found myself looking for memory when I absolutely had to have it yesterday.

 

I do see where you're coming from but couldn't it also be argued that after spending say $2000 on a computer that throwing another $40 at it is something that can be done with little reservation?



BMaker11 on 04 May 2009

Said this before......it's the only Sony product I would NEVER buy.

A regular VAIO costs the same as a Macbook....and both are overpriced



Dodece on 04 May 2009

@tedsteriscool

That depends on how much you have left in the bank account, or in your budget for such things. Most people I know live within a budget. Major expenditures tend to tap out their budgets. I would say the original poster is working within a budget, and trying to find best value. So they simply might not have any money left over for immediately tricking out their rig two weeks after buying.

You might gather I have had this conversation with people before, and that reservation is rarely little. More often then not they just spend a couple months being pissed until they can scrape the cash together. You can kind of see where they are coming from they spent all their free recreation money on something expecting to be able to do things, and now they have to wait. I mean people can get real tearful over these things.



http://live.xbox.com/member/Dodece

One_touch_KO on 04 May 2009

Yeah they're neat.

But also overpriced. Sony has to take the profit they don't have with the PS3 somehow you know ;)



NJ5 on 04 May 2009

No, go for one of the established laptop brands (whichever). They're cheaper and certainly not worse in terms of quality (probably better).

Sony can't even make good batteries, let alone the whole laptop. Don't let the "Sony = quality" mantra fool you in this case.

 



My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957