Sony used to be my brand of preference. Powerhouse machines, nicely built to order (via their web site) and they came mercifully free of pre-installed crapware. But Sony has decided to discontinue its VAIO brand of computers (both laptop & desktop), so I'd like to get some opinions on the next best thing that's available here in Thailand. Lenovo seems to be popular, but I have absolutely no experience with them and I don't think I even heard of them before I came here. I'm not too crazy about Dell as I've had a few in the past and they didn't last long. I have an Acer Iconia (dual touchscreen) laptop that developed a nervous disorder with its touch sensor, and I had to disable the touchscreen driver to make the machine usable. I've never had an HP but I've had enough of their printers fall apart on me to make me think twice about buying anything else from them.

I really don't know where to go from here.

I'm presently using a Sony laptop as a desktop. It's still going strong but my main complaint is that I can't use the VGA and HDMI outputs at the same time. They're too close together for both plugs to fit. It drives three monitors (onboard screen + two externals) just fine but it freaks out when I connect a fourth (a projector to watch movies), forcing me to do endless fiddling with the display settings to make it work. At the moment I'm using VGA to one monitor and USB/VGA external adapter for the second. To use the projector, I have to climb under the desk and unplug the VGA and plug in the HDMI cable. iTunes also hates this setup because it thinks I don't have an HDCP monitor, and therefore refuses to let HD movies play. A reboot is usually required after all the cable switching to set things straight.

I want to move to a desktop, but don't want a massive tower taking up the entire space under my desk. I'd also like to be able to drive two monitors via VGA and/or DVI with an HDMI port for the projector. I know that some desktops are being made with very small form factors (example the HP mini) but I don't want to sacrifice size for performance. I'd also like to have a SSHD or at minimum a hybrid drive. The HD doesn't have to be enormous because I have NAS. Price is not an option as long as I can be assured that I'm getting what I pay for. That's why I loved Sony. I didn't mind paying two thousand dollars plus for their top of the line laptop because I knew it would be a battleship.

Any suggestions?

Top four world PC makers by market share are Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer... but sounds like maybe you would be best off getting something custom built as you aren't keen on three of them... otherwise try Amazon or Newegg and do a search on those sites selecting the features you want and see what turns up, then check if sold in Thailand.

This one perhaps:

Top four world PC makers by market share are Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer

Well then I'm going to have to rethink HP and look into Lenovo. I guess I shouldn't write them off just because I've never heard of them.

Lenovo is IBM's old PC business from when they decided to get out of making PC hardware.

It is effectively their old PC division.

Decent quality kit, I have their 27" AIO and a nice convertible laptop and haven't had a problem with either.

Hard to find SFF computers in Thailand. Thais don't seem to go for them. But HOW small you gotta have?

Best to commission a shop to make one for you using one the cases they sell. You can have a great graphics card in any of these, SSD and hard drives, and the great thing is they will be easily maintainable and upgradeable.

http://www.invadeit.co.th/search/small-form-factor-computer/

http://jedicool.com/product.php?id=2545

http://jedicool.com/product.php?id=2258

http://tkcom99.com/product_detail.php?p_id=1532&is_product=Y&s_type_id=1&s_cat_id=112

If you need smaller than the above, then you'll probably have to browse among the shops in Panthip and maybe find a case at least that can be configured.

Edited September 6, 201411 yr by JSixpack

I'm really liking that Brix Pro, although it's bare bones and only one display port. I guess I'll keep on using the external USB/VGA adapter.

Vaio computers will continue to be made, just not by Sony. For your needs, it sounds as though a custom build would be best so you could select a video card with VGA, DVI and HDMI. The R9 is nice if you like AMD.

If you are looking at SFF and uATX and can wait for availability you might take a look at the new EVGA X99 micro. A lot on it for a uATX including M.2 SSD support.

Build your own. That way you get what you want/need.

I just built a high end graphics machine. Bought everything on line through InvadeIT.co.th. Check them out.

If watching movies is a high priority, you might want to look at media players, such as the WD HDTV or Minix X8-H. Sould be less than 5000 baht.

Edited September 6, 201411 yr by WhizBang

You can Order one from DELL directly ...... good bargain . . . . they send from there factory in Malaysia to Thailand ,

If you are looking at SFF and uATX and can wait for availability you might take a look at the new EVGA X99 micro. A lot on it for a uATX including M.2 SSD support.

Yes that looks nice although I don't have the time to put one together myself. Where does one go in Thailand to be assured of quality work for a custom build?

And what do you mean about availability? It appears to be available all over the internet. Is it not available in Thailand yet?

http://www.maingear.com/solutions/custom-computers.php

They are good!

Top four world PC makers by market share are Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer

Well then I'm going to have to rethink HP and look into Lenovo. I guess I shouldn't write them off just because I've never heard of them.

Large brands usually aren't the place to look for high end PC

I second all the advice given to commission your own, you will also save money in the process.

SONY VAIO by the way made me very angry with one of their laptops (the absolute top of the line at the time), their warranty policies, their CPU - GPU locked software, their repair pricing... everything sucked !

http://www.maingear.com/solutions/custom-computers.php

They are good!

I'm sure they are, but... New Jersey?

I actually just finished building a new PC from parts purchased in Pantip. If you want to discuss specifics of hardware and what you're looking for I'd be happy to help.

Where does one go in Thailand to be assured of quality work for a custom build?

THE classic enthusiast shop at Panthip: http://jedicool.com/

Fast, honest, reliable. Talk to Judy.

They can build it while you wait or you can just order by email and they'll build and send it to you. Earlier this year they sent me my new Corsair C70 case in gunmetal black.

If you are looking at SFF and uATX and can wait for availability you might take a look at the new EVGA X99 micro. A lot on it for a uATX including M.2 SSD support.

Yes that looks nice although I don't have the time to put one together myself. Where does one go in Thailand to be assured of quality work for a custom build?

And what do you mean about availability? It appears to be available all over the internet. Is it not available in Thailand yet?

Yes, I meant availability in Thailand. Invadeit.com are very good and a TV sponsor and will put together a system based on your requirements.

If you are looking at SFF and uATX and can wait for availability you might take a look at the new EVGA X99 micro. A lot on it for a uATX including M.2 SSD support.

X99 Motherboards Are Failing Already

If you are looking at SFF and uATX and can wait for availability you might take a look at the new EVGA X99 micro. A lot on it for a uATX including M.2 SSD support.

X99 Motherboards Are Failing Already

Thanks for the link. Surprising as EVGA are highly rated but it appears to be a fundamental issue with the Haswell-E processors as other brand boards with it are symptomatic with the power issue. Seem to remember the first Haswell CPUs were also having issues. Guess will wait for the Haswell-E processors to mature and mainboard manufacturers correct the power distribution issues.

I own a Samsung S9 and I love it. I had HP and Sony before and not happy with Sony quality and HP seems bulky, even their ultra notebooks.

S9 comes with 512 gb now which is perfect. Mine only has 256, which I will upgrade next week to 512 gb

cannot really mix REAL "high-end" and small form

depends on your usage but .. personally I wouldn't call anything from Lenovo, Sony, HP or whichever high-end, lol

what I did.. and what you can look into is I got myself a Cooler Master HAF XB Evo case and custom built it (like i always do)

it's not super small form factor to be honest but it looks nice and there's plenty of space to put whatever you would "need"

and I don't doubt that one second, especially if you were happy with retail prebuilt system in the past

i would suggest i5, 8gb ram, an SSD (120gb+) and maybe a 1TB WD Black drive for other things, some nice 6k+ baht video card (if you wish to game) and.. yes Invade.it can fix it up for you and ship (and they are very fast too)

Edited September 8, 201411 yr by kekalot

First of all. u said u are running 3 monitors ? at what resolution ?

2nd of all what needs do you have ? games ? casual browse ? video editing ? graphic design ?

you be better of building ur own pc at 2000 dollars u can get a pretty high end pc that can last u years to come.

i will show u a example why below lets take this for example a DELL XPS 8700 desktop from their website http://www.dell.com/sg/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=w210327sgwin8&model_id=xps-8700 will set u $1899

But at $1899 u can build this

MSI B85 G43 Gaming + i5-4460 ~ $384
Avexir Core Series 1600mhz 2x4gb kit Red LED ~ $129 (OPTIONAL if u want to upgrade to 16gb)
WD Blue 1tb ~ $67
Crucial MX100 256gb ~ $152
Powercolor r9 280X 3gb Turbo Duo ~ $408 (OPTIONAL if u wanna go for 290)
Superflower HX600 600w 80+ Gold Semi Modular PSU ~ $108
Sharkoon BD28 ~ $73
LG DVD Drive ~ $21 (OPTIONAL)
Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU Cooler (Night Hawk Edition) ~ $58
Corsair SP120 Performance Edition Twin Pack With choice of white/red/blue rims

Total price comes around $1400 and around $1800 if u op to go for 290 this system pretty much trash that dell 8700 in a heartbeat Plus this is a red and black theme pc sorry all price is in SGD im too lazy to convert it to baht for ya

Edited September 8, 201411 yr by bearzz