Sony Vaio

hibrat

Hey sorry if this has been asked before but i searched and got no joy...anyways am thinking of investing in a laptop and im wondering if anyone has any info on the Sony Vaio laptop range. Apparently Sony DVD players cannot play copied dvds or be made to play multiregional dvds-I dont know if this is true or just a rumour-but if it's true i wonder are their laptops set up the same way. any info would be cool and much appreciated :cool:

Ghost Train

hibrat wrote:

Hey sorry if this has been asked before but i searched and got no joy...anyways am thinking of investing in a laptop and im wondering if anyone has any info on the Sony Vaio laptop range. Apparently Sony DVD players cannot play copied dvds or be made to play multiregional dvds-I dont know if this is true or just a rumour-but if it's true i wonder are their laptops set up the same way. any info would be cool and much appreciated :cool:

in my experience vaios are no different from other laptops when it comes to dvd playback.

pc/laptop dvd drives can only have the region changed a number of times (about 5 times) before being locked to one region, so better to use some software solution for multiregion playback than switching the region hardware setting.

Tom Dunne

hibrat wrote:

Apparently Sony DVD players cannot play copied dvds or be made to play multiregional dvds-I dont know if this is true or just a rumour-but if it's true i wonder are their laptops set up the same way.

Whatever about laptops, my Sony DVD player has no problem playing copied DVDs, nor did I have any problem making it multi-region. Not that I condone either, ahem.

As eolhc says, there are many ways around this on laptops, including using software such as VLC, which bypasses region protection on DVDs.

Bluefoam

I have vaio c series and its the dogs *s, no problems with dvd playback...

hibrat

Tanx a mill for da feedback...i have to say i am swaying majorly gettin something from the sony range Cheers everyone for the info

sambora

I've had my Vaio for about 19 months now and I can honestly say I haven't come across ONE problem. Now that's a first with computers! lol

Mr Alan

i'm looking at buying a Vaio FE40 series today, so i hope you're all right!

BostonB

hibrat wrote:

Hey sorry if this has been asked before but i searched and got no joy...anyways am thinking of investing in a laptop and im wondering if anyone has any info on the Sony Vaio laptop range. Apparently Sony DVD players cannot play copied dvds or be made to play multiregional dvds-I dont know if this is true or just a rumour-but if it's true i wonder are their laptops set up the same way. any info would be cool and much appreciated :cool:

Its not true.

Mr Alan

superb, picking mine up this evening!

rabbitinlights

What model did you go for?

Im thinking about the SZ range? but I dont think I can justify the higher model?

Ive always found vaio's to be very well built and give little or no problems

Block (8

I've bought a SZ model and have it for about 2 weeks now and really pleased with it.
But for one of sony's top of the range laptops the build quality is a bit disappointing.

rabbitinlights

Really? Thats one of the main reasons im going for another sony, Which model did you get?

Im in Australia so model specs could be different?

Im going for the middel spec one (Cant afford the fancy carbon one)

Core™2 Duo Processor T5600 (1.83GHz)
1GB DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive: 100GB
NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7400

What would this be like for gaming? I understand it wont do full res, but HL2 and F.E.A.R would be ok?

Whats the battery life like?

Thanks
Sean Burke

BostonB

The Dell M1210 is broadly comparable.

Block (8

Rabbitinlights I picked up a SZ3XWP/C it's a 2ghz 2gig memory.
I haven't tried any games yet.
Battery life not sure either as I have it plugged in all the time at the moment.

Go to http://www.notebookreview.com/ there's plenty of info there.

I wanted led screen, it really is gorgeous much better than my old acer but haven't really did a a/b comparison with the normal screen of the SZ

Rabbitinlights I didn't realise the build quality until I brought it home, but I can live with it as the pros outweigh the cons in my eyes but disappointing nonetheless as it's not cheap.

Next time when your in the shop pick up the laptop by the sides and you feel how flimsy the two side panels are.
They seem to be only snapped on and readily going to snap off!
Also the there seem to be flex on the front panel where you rest your wrist (where all those intel stickers are) and a bit of flex where the speakers are (the grill at the top) press down on them they're not too bad but really shouldn't be there.

If you can live with these it still is a very nice laptop.
I can install HL2 if you want me to, just haven't got round to it.

wheresmybeaver

I've been using a premium SZ (SZ3VP/X) for a few months now and I'm pretty happy with it. Running Vista Business and with brightness at half, you can browse the web on the battery for a little over 3 hours.

Build quality is good for the casing (the carbon lid is tough and looks the business) although the plastic bits at the side of the keyboard look a little iffy. No problems yet though.

One thing about the DVD drive on the SZ: it has hardware modifications that mean that even if using multiregion software such as AnyDVD, there is no way of playing multiregion DVDs. If you set the Vaio to region 2, then that's all it can play. No software hacks can change this. However, discs can still be copied alright. To get around this limitation, I simply copied my Region 1 discs using my old laptops, thereby removing the region protection.

Some games work fine on the SZ. Half Life 2 looks great on the Vaio with recommended settings, as does the new STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl. However, games like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion don't work that well. Its not primarily a games machine.

Highly recommended. The Vaio SZ Carbon is the dogs bits.

rabbitinlights

Thanks a million for the feedback, I should be getting mine before the weekend. Thats great news about the games, I was not really getting it for that but its an added bonus, I wonder how it will look on a 32" LCD?

The models over here in Australia only come with 1GB (1 x 1024mb), and I can get another Gig for $130 (70 euros) which seems pretty good to me, do you think it would make a big difference?

Thanks
Sean

wheresmybeaver

rabbitinlights wrote:

The models over here in Australia only come with 1GB (1 x 1024mb), and I can get another Gig for $130 (70 euros) which seems pretty good to me, do you think it would make a big difference?

That extra 1Gb will make a fairly decent difference, more so than upgrading any other component. Especially when running games (better load times, less lag etc). Definitely a good idea.

rabbitinlights

I was thinking as much, Ill give some feedback when I actually get the laptop tomorrow!!

Then its only a few days till I get connected to 24MB ADSL2+!!!!

S.

wheresmybeaver

rabbitinlights wrote:

Then its only a few days till I get connected to 24MB ADSL2+!!!!

feckin langer

Mr Alan

how long should a battery last on Vaio?

Bluefoam

Depends on the model, screen size, graphics card, processor, whether you have wifi on or off, wheather you are running cd/dvds, etc...

I Have a 13" C-Series and get about 2.5-3hours out of mine while doing basic stuff like sending emails & using the interweb over wifi.

wheresmybeaver

Pretty much any relatively new laptop with a 15 inch (or less) screen will have enough battery life to at least watch a 2 hour DVD. Battery life on larger Desktop Replacement (17 inch etc) laptops is usually shi-ite though, and might not make it through a full film.

BostonB

I've had a 17" 9400 and a M1710 both had 2.5 hrs battery life.

rabbitinlights

Ive had my Sony SZ44GN for about a week now, and its brilliant. The extra ram really helps and Games run very well on it, expecially output to a LCD via VGA.

The Screen is very crisp and battery life is well over 3 hours on power saver (speed) and 5 hrs on stamina.

Vista is taking a bit to get used to, very swish looking but easier than XP.

Overall Im very happy with it. I splashed out and got the CKSZ1 case, Its perfect for the laptop and is really well made.

S

wheresmybeaver

rabbitinlights wrote:

I splashed out and got the CKSZ1 case, Its perfect for the laptop and is really well made.

I did the same Excellent case, very sturdy and saved the life of my SZ when I slightly dropped it on my way to the car one morning... :rolleyes:

rabbitinlights

Yeah, Its the best made case ive ever used. I only used to have a cheap sleave from ebay for my TR1 and its just not enough.



I paid au$100 which is about 60 euros, which isnt too bad.


S.

Bluefoam

I use a Crumpler Gimp & just throw it into a record bag, looks less business like & means that theiving knackers don't spot you a mile off carrying a laptop bag...

http://www.imagejoker.de/mall/9/pic/it54868image1128436406.jpg