Sony VAIO PCG-FRV26 Laptop (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB DDR RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) | List Price: $1,499.99
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Platform: Windows XP Home Edition
Brand: Sony
Binding: Personal Computers
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: Excellent workhouse for business and pleasure [Posted on 2005-03-08]
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 !
I'm out 1300$. Sony shouldn't be making laptops. [Posted on 2005-05-09]
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.
Too many flaws; not worth the money [Posted on 2005-08-10]
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.
I'm sure there's better out there [Posted on 2005-12-14]
I have had mine for a couple of years. Strange, but my Sony camera and this laptop aren't compatible. Each time I would try to viev a movie from my camera, the laptop would shut down. Sony said it's a Microsoft problem and Microsoft said it's a Sony problem. I got with Sony tech support. They had me erase all my programs and start all over again as if it was a brand new laptop. While on the phone talking to them, the dvd player broke. They immediately had me send the laptop to them. They repaired the dvd and said I didn't have to erase my programs after all. I started the computer and on the first try, the computer shut down again. I told them it still doesn't work properly. That's as far as it went. If I would have known I was going to have this much trouble with the laptop and support, I would of purchased a different brand.
A great machine! [Posted on 2006-03-08]
I got this machine 2 1/2 years ago as a replacement for an earlier Vaio that was a lemon. I was a little skeptical about Sony at the time due to my experience with the earlier machine, but I've found this notebook dependable, fast, and an altogether excellent machine. Since it was the only computer I used for about a year and a half it has gotten a good workout. About the weight that so many object to: It doesn't seem excessive to me, but then I've been lugging book bags or cameras around most of my life. If you can't carry 7 lbs. around an airport or campus then you'll want to avoid this terrific computer, and should probably think about getting to the gym. After two years the CDRW drive stopped burning, although it still reads fine, and with the heat generated by making CD's and the confinement due to size, two years seemed reasonable. Doing 48 bit scans in the summer produced too much heat and the unit balked. But a cooling pad with fans takes care of that problem. Except for very large graphics files, though, going into the hundreds of Megabytes, I never found overheating a problem. 3 USB-2 ports seems generous to me for a laptop and the 15 inch screen is just beautiful. As a photographer and photo-restorer I've had no problem using Photoshop on this machine and having my prints come back matching what I see on screen, provided, of course, that the printer is using the same color profile. Music restoration goes like a dream, although I agree with others that the built in speakers are awful. Plan on using earphones or external speakers. I almost always delete most of the preinstalled software from computers since I have programs I like and prefer not to have pre-installed stuff taking up space. So I can't comment on the software Sony provides. But Microsoft Office 2000, Adobe Photoshop 7, DartPro xp all work fine. And I installed and have used Nero Burning Rom on it since I got it. In short the pcg-frv-26 has been a great workhorse for me and restored my faith in Sony. Others seem to hate it, but I have found it the answer to my laptop dreams. Chacun à son goût.
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