My Laptop Upgrade-Sony Vaio
I recently had a major problem with my old laptop which had traveled with me for at least five years, it gave up the ghost. It was a Dell xps gen 2, and it served me fairly well over that time. I had been having some trouble since my recent virus attack and thought I had a handle on the problem, I was wrong.
After fighting the virus and it’s after effects, I had to reformat several times, and eventually even bought a new hard drive for it and thought this had fixed the problem, I was wrong again.
So, after much debate as to what was the next step, I figured the old laptop was a losing battle. My wife suggested just taking the plunge and go with a new pc that would not die in a few months or sooner. I was glad I listened. I went down to a Best Buy and started looking as to what they had to offer. I had not been keeping up with all the up to date video card and other changed in hardware like I should have.
There have been so many changes in just a short time to hardware like broadband slots for the laptop. No more pcmia slots, now they have just usb or express slots for the cards. Much smaller of course and the bandwidth was faster. Problem was I had the old style, and this was just the first hurdle. I needed this broadband in my travels to access the net. The next was an external antennae cable port that I could install my power system to and get a much better signal for the net. This was solved by the umw190 usb broadband modem from Verizon. It has that external hookup built in. I had luck that Best Buy gave me the modem with my purchase of the pc, and I got a hundred bucks off the total price too.
The next problem was entertainment in the form of games and movies. I like to game in my spare time and the newer games required pixel shader 3.0 or better to play the game. The old video card in my dell would not even allow the game to start, let alone play it. This new Sony Vaio has a card with a gigabyte of dedicated ram just to the card. It really does a good job and I have no complaints. I was actually shocked to see how far some of the games have come and how real the player models looked. The Sony did a good job of making the game fun. I can now play left for dead 2 with no problems in seeing the special infected.
Ram included in my machine was six gigs, I was pleased at how well my apps and games run with no real problems, I had been running only 2 gigs in my old machine.
Windows 7 is new for me, I am still getting used to the placement and function of different programs and where to find what I need. I like it though and taking the plunge is not that bad. I had xp pro before and it was fine, but windows 7 is really cool. I never thought I would say that. I just have to get used to it.
The video cable I am using is hdmi to dvi conversion. It produces a really great image with no real problems. You just have to use a really good cable to make sure the connection is secure, and I would avoid hot swapping as some report the small voltage can cause issues when connecting.
The blu-ray player plays movies fine with no hassle. I watched a few short movies and saw no issues.
Best Buy did a good job with customer support. I like the way I was treated and will return to the store for more shopping.
My gripes:
I really don’t have that many, but the floor model on display showed what I think or remember was 4 usb ports. This one sold to me only had 2, so buy extra usb hubs to plug in extra stuff.
They did not include a windows 7 operating system disc as was reported to me before purchase, but software is installed to make backups. You should be able to handle this issue yourself or have them do it for a fee.
Overall I am pleased with the decision to upgrade and replace my old failing or dead laptop. I would buy this one again if I had to do it all over again. I see no buyers remorse in the future.
Jim