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Buy high end VAIO? Or buy cheaper model & upgrade?

post #1 of 12
12/29/05 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 
I am in the market for a new VAIO Laptop and have a few questions for you guys. I chose the FS series (although I am open to other suggestions), but am having trouble deciding whether I should purchase a high end model, or buy a cheaper model and upgrade the internals. This will be my first ever laptop purchase, and I am unfamiliar with upgradeability.

I will be using the machine primarily for graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) and need something with lots of power. The machine won’t be used for games, so the difference in graphics cards isn’t a concern. I am most concerned with: cpu speed, lots of ram, hard drive speed & access time.

VGN-FS660/W - $1499.00
Pentium M 740 (1.73ghz)
1GB Ram
80GB 4200rpm Hard Drive
DVD Reader/Writer
Nvidia Geforce Go 6200

or

VGN-FS625B/W - $1024.00
Pentium M 730 (1.6ghz)
256MB Ram
40GB Hard Drive
DVD Reader / CD Writer
Intel GMA Graphics

Upgraded with:
Pentium M 760 (2.0ghz)
Gigaram 1GB Ram (pc2700)
Toshiba 100GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive

Total Cost - $1598.00

Any input you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated.
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post #2 of 12
12/29/05 at 12:28pm
both of them arent very good choices.

ive configured the fs790 on the sony site with the geforce go6400, a 1.73 pentium m, 80 gb, etc for less. go on sonystyle right now and try it. they have got the free upgrade to the nvidia 6400 because the intel gma upgrade is sold out. you can configure what you like and upgrade the rest. for example, the upgrade to 512x1 ram is like 20-40 but to 1gb its like over 100. so you have definately buy that. hard drive upgrades are expensive too so you might want to upgrade that after buying.

ALSO THERES A $100 REBATE ON NEW FS790s. personally, i would sign up with the sony credit card and get another 100 back. so basically $200 off, the laptop with a strong config should be less than 1300 even after all the upgrades.
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post #3 of 12
12/29/05 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your response.

I received a gift certificate from Newegg.com so I will be purchasing it from there.

I tried configuring a similar laptop on Sonystyle.com to the one previously mentioned and the website said that configuration wasn't available. I tried several different variations and they all gave me the same message.
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post #4 of 12
12/29/05 at 5:58pm
Best Buy this week has the fs760/w on sale for $1099.

p4 m 1.86
512mb ram
dvd +/- burner
geforce 6400 128mb dedicated ram
15.4 xbrite screen
100gb hd
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post #5 of 12
12/29/05 at 9:21pm
now thats a nice price.
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post #6 of 12
12/30/05 at 4:01pm
Good enough price that I trundled my butt down to local B&M and bought one. I'll post details.
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post #7 of 12
12/30/05 at 6:54pm
yup i picked one up also, ill post details/thoughts later this weekend.
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post #8 of 12
12/30/05 at 11:41pm
I also bought one - partly because of what a let down my dell 6000 was. And also because the price was comparable to what I would have spent on the dell.
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post #9 of 12
12/31/05 at 8:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rok
I also bought one - partly because of what a let down my dell 6000 was. And also because the price was comparable to what I would have spent on the dell.

Yeah, the screen on this thing is insanely nice. Two issues i have with it that might be a deal breaker and me return it is:

1. The AC power plus seems extremely flimsy to the point I say in less thne a years time it will be very loose and possibly not making contact to make a charge.

2. the paint is extremely rough anbd seems it will show sings of use fairly quick.
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post #10 of 12
12/31/05 at 5:08pm

ac plug

If it's anything like my s360 it's seperate from the motherboard wich is a bonus and build quality if you ask me. Most notebooks I've opened up the dc pin is connected (soldered) onto the motherboard and thus creates a problem in the future. This is not the case with the sony's. It seems flimsy but, it's really just because it's a seperate piece that connects to the motherboard through a pigtail and clip.
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post #11 of 12
1/2/06 at 9:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxrule
Best Buy this week has the fs760/w on sale for $1099.

p4 m 1.86
512mb ram
dvd +/- burner
geforce 6400 128mb dedicated ram
15.4 xbrite screen
100gb hd
Yeah, I just bought one of these today at BB . It is an excellent price, especially for what you get. They do load a lot of unneccessary things to begin with, which is why I am going to wipe it all clean and install XP pro after I make a driver cd.

Hopefully this laptop isn't too picky with ram as I want to upgrade to 1 GB.

Does anyone know if the HD is 4200 or 5400 rpm's?
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post #12 of 12
1/3/06 at 6:28pm
Its 4200 RPM. (Amazon's descriptions).

I am considering one of these as well.
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