Sony Vaio 13.3 Inch

[bill1960]

I'm moving down the list of 13.3" notebooks available

At first I liked the Toshiba portege M800 but have heard its a bit flimsy and only comes in white.

Next The Dell XPS M1330 looked good value but recent media articles say there are overheating issues with the graphics card.

So now I'm looking at the Sony Vaio 13.3" and trying to decide which model is best for me

I dont mind paying extra for a good display so that means I'll choose a model with the LED display.

I want to run an extra monitor when at home so which Vaio 13.3" has the best graphics for this amongst the models with LED display.

According to the singapore site these three models have the LED display

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/CompareProd...dels=VGN-SZ55GN

I dont really understand the difference between the dedicated video memory (64MB) of the VGN-SZ79GN/C compared to the VGN-SZ583N/C and VGN-SZ58GN/C which seem to have a higher total available graphics memory

Which one is better for running an additional monitor

Thanks in advance to any Vaio users that can advise

[Guest Reimar]

I'm moving down the list of 13.3" notebooks available

At first I liked the Toshiba portege M800 but have heard its a bit flimsy and only comes in white.

Next The Dell XPS M1330 looked good value but recent media articles say there are overheating issues with the graphics card.

So now I'm looking at the Sony Vaio 13.3" and trying to decide which model is best for me

I dont mind paying extra for a good display so that means I'll choose a model with the LED display.

I want to run an extra monitor when at home so which Vaio 13.3" has the best graphics for this amongst the models with LED display.

According to the singapore site these three models have the LED display

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/CompareProd...dels=VGN-SZ55GN

I dont really understand the difference between the dedicated video memory (64MB) of the VGN-SZ79GN/C compared to the VGN-SZ583N/C and VGN-SZ58GN/C which seem to have a higher total available graphics memory

Which one is better for running an additional monitor

Thanks in advance to any Vaio users that can advise

dedicated video memory is the real physical memory of the graphic card

total available graphics memory is shared memory (system memory) used if the physical isn't available or enough for a good outcome

I'm not a Sony friend because of bad service and expensive after warranty!

Cheers.

[niller74]

I'm moving down the list of 13.3" notebooks available

At first I liked the Toshiba portege M800 but have heard its a bit flimsy and only comes in white.

Next The Dell XPS M1330 looked good value but recent media articles say there are overheating issues with the graphics card.

So now I'm looking at the Sony Vaio 13.3" and trying to decide which model is best for me

I dont mind paying extra for a good display so that means I'll choose a model with the LED display.

I want to run an extra monitor when at home so which Vaio 13.3" has the best graphics for this amongst the models with LED display.

According to the singapore site these three models have the LED display

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/CompareProd...dels=VGN-SZ55GN

I dont really understand the difference between the dedicated video memory (64MB) of the VGN-SZ79GN/C compared to the VGN-SZ583N/C and VGN-SZ58GN/C which seem to have a higher total available graphics memory

Which one is better for running an additional monitor

Thanks in advance to any Vaio users that can advise

It really depend on what you want to use it for.. They can all use an external monitor just fine.

The only reason I would go for a dedicated memory solution is if you expect to run fancy 3D programs and or 3D games.

On the dedicated memory it is less likely to experience internal bandwidth bottlenecks, thus better performance.

Are you 'just' going to do Windowsing on the box, the difference will be absolutely minimal and probably not even noticeable.

I'm not a big fan of 13" systems. Unless you are on the road most of the time and the weight is very important to you (bicycle or similar), I would recommend a larger screen.

One advice: don't buy the top model as it is usually ~20% overpriced.

I bought a VAIO when I first moved here and I have had two problems with it. First I had to replace a dead battery (6k) and then the DVD was causing me a lot of problems so I replaced that too (2k). I should add that I am a power user and use the computer at least 10 hours/day and it is on 24/7.

As Reimar said, their service isn't the best, but I just wanted a VAIO, cause I hate all the flashy, blinking alternatives. VAIO simple and elegant.

Forgot: .... and James Bond has one!!!

GL with your purchase.

EDIT: Typos

Edited July 30, 2008 by niller74

[bill1960]

I'm moving down the list of 13.3" notebooks available

At first I liked the Toshiba portege M800 but have heard its a bit flimsy and only comes in white.

Next The Dell XPS M1330 looked good value but recent media articles say there are overheating issues with the graphics card.

So now I'm looking at the Sony Vaio 13.3" and trying to decide which model is best for me

I dont mind paying extra for a good display so that means I'll choose a model with the LED display.

I want to run an extra monitor when at home so which Vaio 13.3" has the best graphics for this amongst the models with LED display.

According to the singapore site these three models have the LED display

http://www.sony.com.sg/product/CompareProd...dels=VGN-SZ55GN

I dont really understand the difference between the dedicated video memory (64MB) of the VGN-SZ79GN/C compared to the VGN-SZ583N/C and VGN-SZ58GN/C which seem to have a higher total available graphics memory

Which one is better for running an additional monitor

Thanks in advance to any Vaio users that can advise

It really depend on what you want to use it for.. They can all use an external monitor just fine.

The only reason I would go for a dedicated memory solution is if you expect to run fancy 3D programs and or 3D games.

On the dedicated memory it is less likely to experience internal bandwidth bottlenecks, thus better performance.

Are you 'just' going to do Windowsing on the box, the difference will be absolutely minimal and probably not even noticeable.

I'm not a big fan of 13" systems. Unless you are on the road most of the time and the weight is very important to you (bicycle or similar), I would recommend a larger screen.

One advice: don't buy the top model as it is usually ~20% overpriced.

I bought a VAIO when I first moved here and I have had two problems with it. First I had to replace a dead battery (6k) and then the DVD was causing me a lot of problems so I replaced that too (2k). I should add that I am a power user and use the computer at least 10 hours/day and it is on 24/7.

As Reimar said, their service isn't the best, but I just wanted a VAIO, cause I hate all the flashy, blinking alternatives. VAIO simple and elegant.

Forgot: .... and James Bond has one!!!

GL with your purchase.

EDIT: Typos

Thanks for the feedback

I'm not a gamer but trade for a living.

Wrt to running an extra monitor, an additional larger monitor would have my trading screen running on it while the notebook screen would be for viewing websites and excel.

The Vaio's with the dedicated video memory are the same price as the non dedicated , at least amongst the LED models so I suppose get the dedicated ?

I'm attracted to the 13.3" for portability, carrying on a motorbike.

Majority of time (at home) I will use an additional 17 " monitor so the 13.3" notebook screen size not a big problem

[Florin]

I'm also not a VAIO fan at all...even if their hardware doesn't break (which it does), their software is EXTREMELY buggy...on my VGN-C23S the Sony Vista apps for controlling brightness/volume from the function keys don't work most of the time (requiring a restart), the DVD-RW is a highly shoddy Quanta OEM drive (this is just ridiculous given that Sony makes their own), the volume from the speakers is also crap and the VGA monitor output is not exactly pristine quality...plus it has only 2 USB ports, located one next to another (so basically 1 USB port).

Buy DELL. Excellent build quality and top-notch software.

[niller74]

I'm also not a VAIO fan at all...even if their hardware doesn't break (which it does), their software is EXTREMELY buggy...on my VGN-C23S the Sony Vista apps for controlling brightness/volume from the function keys don't work most of the time (requiring a restart), the DVD-RW is a highly shoddy Quanta OEM drive (this is just ridiculous given that Sony makes their own), the volume from the speakers is also crap and the VGA monitor output is not exactly pristine quality...plus it has only 2 USB ports, located one next to another (so basically 1 USB port).

Buy DELL. Excellent build quality and top-notch software.

I would agree to a certain extend that the software isn't all that great at all. But as opposed to many other notebook brands at least there is an option to remove the software and cut it back to a raw OS (XP in my case). Take a look at the Acer notebooks as some of the worst preloaded software and you cannot get rid of it unless you reinstall.

When that is said, I should add that I have never been more happy about my VAIO since I installed Gentoo/Ubuntu and virtualizing Windows on it.

[bill1960]

I'm also not a VAIO fan at all...even if their hardware doesn't break (which it does), their software is EXTREMELY buggy...on my VGN-C23S the Sony Vista apps for controlling brightness/volume from the function keys don't work most of the time (requiring a restart), the DVD-RW is a highly shoddy Quanta OEM drive (this is just ridiculous given that Sony makes their own), the volume from the speakers is also crap and the VGA monitor output is not exactly pristine quality...plus it has only 2 USB ports, located one next to another (so basically 1 USB port).

Buy DELL. Excellent build quality and top-notch software.

yeah, I was quite keen on the Dell XPS M1330 until I read this

Dell's recent software patch to control heating problems caused by faulty Nvidia graphics cards has attracted a fierce response from unhappy users, who say Dell is shying away from addressing the larger problem of bad hardware.......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080728/t...E9Z2nDUVbpk24cA

[Florin]

Well, you could buy the version with integrated Intel graphics...cheaper, too. Most manufacturers have had one recall or another, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless there are endless complaints over several years, which is not the case with DELL.

[A_Traveller]

The video question was caused, in part, by the changes required to meet RoHS, with some containers proving to be less robust. These have now been replaced, though the issue affected many different brands using the Nvidia brand.

Regards

[nikster]

I bought a VAIO when I first moved here and I have had two problems with it. First I had to replace a dead battery (6k) and then the DVD was causing me a lot of problems so I replaced that too (2k). I should add that I am a power user and use the computer at least 10 hours/day and it is on 24/7.

Out of curiosity, why did you have to buy a new battery? Was it out of warranty or is Sony service really that bad, or is battery warranty short?

Asking because I am also a power user and usually manage to break the battery before the 1 year warranty is over, meaning I get a new replacement one. I did it with Acer, did it with the MacBook Pro..

@OP: If you can get a 3 year warranty. Notebooks break and in Thailand they break even more (heat, humidity). Looks like you don't need dedicated graphics memory - you will actually probably never use the graphics card and run in "Stamina mode" instead. Stamina mode uses the built-in chipset graphics and turns off the dedicated NVidia card. The advantage is that it uses much less battery in this mode. It also should not get as hot. Chipset graphics are just fine for everything except heavy 3D stuff. If you just run some normal Windows apps, you'll never notice a difference.

Other things - one of these has a processor with 6MB cache, that's definitely the fastest one, newest processor and all. Other models are the same price but with a worse processor so I guess they must be older models. If they were the same generation, they should be cheaper. The latest generation of intel processors has 6MB or 3MB cache, so that's easy to tell. 4MB and 2MB are the older ones. 2GB or even 1GB built in RAM is a joke for this price, I'd get 4GB for Vista's sake. Vista needs it

[niller74]

Out of curiosity, why did you have to buy a new battery? Was it out of warranty or is Sony service really that bad, or is battery warranty short?

Asking because I am also a power user and usually manage to break the battery before the 1 year warranty is over, meaning I get a new replacement one. I did it with Acer, did it with the MacBook Pro..

It was past the one-year warranty, and they wouldn't replace it. I was pretty pissed about this, but more pissed about my notebook restarting when one of the common Chiangmai power failures happened.

[nikster]

It was past the one-year warranty, and they wouldn't replace it. I was pretty pissed about this, but more pissed about my notebook restarting when one of the common Chiangmai power failures happened.

Ah oh well, that's standard procedure. No company will replace a battery past year 1. My Acer has a 3 year warranty but the battery is exempt. And they know why 'cause these things break. The trick is to break them before the 1st year is over

[pampal]

I am partial to Fujitsu, made in Japan and excellent quality, good warranty

[bill1960]

I bought a VAIO when I first moved here and I have had two problems with it. First I had to replace a dead battery (6k) and then the DVD was causing me a lot of problems so I replaced that too (2k). I should add that I am a power user and use the computer at least 10 hours/day and it is on 24/7.

Out of curiosity, why did you have to buy a new battery? Was it out of warranty or is Sony service really that bad, or is battery warranty short?

Asking because I am also a power user and usually manage to break the battery before the 1 year warranty is over, meaning I get a new replacement one. I did it with Acer, did it with the MacBook Pro..

@OP: If you can get a 3 year warranty. Notebooks break and in Thailand they break even more (heat, humidity). Looks like you don't need dedicated graphics memory - you will actually probably never use the graphics card and run in "Stamina mode" instead. Stamina mode uses the built-in chipset graphics and turns off the dedicated NVidia card. The advantage is that it uses much less battery in this mode. It also should not get as hot. Chipset graphics are just fine for everything except heavy 3D stuff. If you just run some normal Windows apps, you'll never notice a difference.

Other things - one of these has a processor with 6MB cache, that's definitely the fastest one, newest processor and all. Other models are the same price but with a worse processor so I guess they must be older models. If they were the same generation, they should be cheaper. The latest generation of intel processors has 6MB or 3MB cache, so that's easy to tell. 4MB and 2MB are the older ones. 2GB or even 1GB built in RAM is a joke for this price, I'd get 4GB for Vista's sake. Vista needs it

Good info, thanks for that

[Ztoo]

I've got a VAIO VGN-FS415E and the battery has just died, i can't find one on Phuket including the Sony service centre who quote 4,800 Baht and then tell me they can't get one for at least 2 months anyway. Anyone got any idea where i can get one in Thailand, i guess pay by credit card and they send it to me.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[Lucifer]

Or, if you can wait a bit...........

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/26/dell-st...ue-in-november/

[Antimony]

Does anyone know why the VGN-TX38 disappeared from the Sony stores in Bangkok? I saw these in Bangkok July-Aug, but late Aug I couldnt find them anymore. As usual the sales staff had no idea why their store doesnt carry it anymore. Just last week we were informed this model was out of stock and/or discontinued because Sony released a new model.

???