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Sony VAIO PCG-FRV26 Notebook (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)| Manufacturer: | Sony | | List price: | $1,499.99 |
| Our price: | that is 100% off! |
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| Sony VAIO PCG-FRV26 Notebook (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) |
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Average rating:  | |
Too many flaws; not worth the money |
I bought this laptop for $1499 at Best Buy, something I deeply regret now, and here's why:
- Terrible battery life (While it tells me I can get 1 hr 30 min once I unplug it, the best I've gotten out of it was 45 min). This makes it impossible to use wirelessly in a practical manner.
- Ridiculously heavy (this is largely, I think, due to the battery, since once I took the battery out its weight lessened significatly)
- 1GB RAM maximum upgrade. It comes with 512MB, but you can only upgrade it to 1GB max, not a lot considering that many laptops now let you upgrade up to 2GB RAM.
- Built-in speakers are horrible. I can barely hear anything even on max volume; I've had to hook it up to external speakers to have a decent listen to my music.
- No 6-pin firewire ports. It only has a 4-pin firewire, which is quite useful if you have a DV camcorder, but that's pretty much it.
- Too little USB ports. Three ports are NOT enough.
- Heats up VERY quickly and easily. I've had to have it repaired because the cooling unit was insufficient...I've since bought a notebook cooler to keep it from heating up on me.
- Too many bundled software, 75% of which I don't need and have had to uninstall.
Some pros:
- Nice, fast, reliable CD burner.
- Excellent recovery program. I've reformatted this computer numerous times and it's been very easy to use as well as efficient.
- Memory card slot. Since I use Sony camcorders, this makes it very convenient for me.
All in all, I can't afford to buy a computer for another two and years, and I'm stuck with this one. I'm really disappointed to have to say that, since I've always relied on Sony products in teh past. After buying this computer, though, I'll have to think twice about purchasing another VAIO. If you get this for under $1000, then it might well be worth it. Anything above that, however, is not worth it. |
| Sony VAIO PCG-FRV26 Notebook (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) - Sony |  |
I'm out 1300$. Sony shouldn't be making laptops. |
This was without a doubt the worst investment I have ever made.
Within sixth months of my initial purchase the cd writer stopped working. Sony's tech support was horrible (even while this laptop was under warrenty.) I sent the laptop in 3 times to have the cd writer replaced and each time it came back in non working condition. This back and forth lasted until the laptop was no longer under warrenty. I took the writer as a loss and continued to use this laptop.
It's about a year and a few months after my purchase and now I'm having problems with it overheating. It gets so hot it just shuts off randomly. The fans still work so i'm not sure what the problem is. I did some searching on the net to find out about these laptops overheating and it turns out this is a very common problem. If I had done research before my purchase I wouldn't be in this situation. The fact that you're reading this means you're smarter than I was.
Even if I was able to look past Sony's extremley high service repair prices, I would never send another item in to them again based on their horrible offshored customer service (I couldn't even understand them.) The customer service staff also isn't very knowledgable. They couldn't understand my problem and made me jump through hoops for 10+ hours of 5+ phone calls making me do all sorts of troubleshooting when I knew exactly what the problem was. They just don't listen.
The only good thing about Sony was the turnaround time when my laptop was serviced... but I suppose anyone can have fast turnaround times when they don't actually fix anything.
On a side note, this laptop also didn't come with ANY discs. No WinXP disc, not even any VAIO recovery discs. If you have to reinstall windows your screwed.
I'll never purchase a sony computer product again. |
| Sony - Sony VAIO PCG-FRV26 Notebook (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) |  |
Excellent workhouse for business and pleasure |
I bought the PCG-FRV26 in december 2003.
I needed a good workhouse with good size screen. I also wanted to use it for video-editing. The standard software it came with was an additional criteria.
I used to install laptops for a living, but now needed a good stable machine, which did not need a re-install or driver every so few months.
I choose to keep the OS to XP home. The built in Ethernet card works flawlesly. I hardly use the built in modem, as most hotels have high speed internet.
The system automatically creates savepoints before a software is installed, which is really handy if you regularly install demo software.
I liked the Macafee security center, especially since i had so much performance issues with Norton Antivirus with a previous laptop. It cleans and protects adequately.
I choose this laptop, because it looks (and still is) very sturdy and rugged. I also use the laptop for video editing. In 1999 I bought a VAIO desktop Digital Studio Desktop (455Mhz) , and it never let me down, actually we are still using it now at home.
The laptop, when at home is
connected to a Sony DCR-TRV310 Digital 8 camera via ilink, a Sony DRX-510UL USB and Ilink DVD+-RW/+-R, and a western digital WD1200B007 external Hard disk.
With 3 USB ports, a Ilink , 2 PCMCIA and Memory stick , compostive video out, audio out this laptop is great for multimedia.
Three sore points :
-There is no built in Microphone, just a mic input
-Finding a connector to hook up the Component video directly to TV is something I am still pursuiing.
- As a real road warrior, I carry this laptop in a roller due to its weight.
Battery is acceptable, but not extraordinary.
I could not find a docking station, which would have come handy.
I use a laptop stand/Lap platform to prevent heating problems, as the main fan outlet is underneath.
The Keyboard is a real natural. althought my thumbs regularly hit the touchpad which, I would like to be inactive if I connect a USB mouse.
I have no problem keeping 5 to six programs open simultaneously (word, powerpoint,excel, outlook , visio and Mindmanager)
I even use the laptop for gaming (FFXI in low res) using a Sony Playstation original gamepad with a USB adapter. The ATI Radeon IGP 345M does a good job. Don't understand me wrong, this is not a gaming machine, but for the occasional gamer, it works ok, especially if you are stuck in a hotel room every week.
For video editing, I use Pinacle studio 9 , a great software for its price compared to Adobe Premiere.
I installed a Linksys Wireless G adapter (I originally had a d-link, but too much trouble loosing signals and changing channels)
If you want to keep it simple and working, buy Sony, sony sony.
and do not upgrade. (no need to in my opinion).
My next laptop will be a Sony again. Instead of upgrading, I will probably give this one to my wife.
Occasionally, I add a USB removable HDD (12 GB hard disc recovered from my old 1998 Thinkpad. Just don't toss the removable HDD arround. They dont like it. Don't use it for video editing either as these non-cooling HDD enclosures heat up pretty quickly !
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