Sony VAIO A17 Dothan Powered Notebook - Page 7

Congrats!

Did you opt for the wireless mouse?

I've never had problem with Crucial memory, but I know alot of people swear by Corsair for high-performance (and high price ) memory.

PLC: Is there a price difference between the ready to ship and custom order? As I understand it, the ready to ship will not have BT.

eju201: You can get your laptop memory from Crucial, they are reliable. DDR333. If you opt for Corsair or some other 'faster' memory, you can get lower latency DDR333, which is 'better' but your laptop cannot exceed DDR333 speed. And importantly, if you use 2 sticks of memory, your laptop will go as fast as the slowest speed of the two.

mikedc: Installing memory is easy. Just go to Crucial.com website and put in your model number and they will tell you what you need. In the case of this Sony A series or any just released computer, it's still too new and hasn't appeared, in which case you can read in your manual the spec that you need. Most laptops are real easy to install Ram. They have, usually, a small cover on the bottom that you unscrew and open up and there are usually only two slots. Make sure you ground yourself before touching the memory module or work on the computer, and unplug the power and remove battery. In the case of this Sony A however, installing Ram is a little more work (2 screws on the bottom will release the keyboard, and the module is under the keyboard. Another module is at the bottom of the laptop that you open like usual).

To those two lucky new buyers, let us know how the highest resolution available on a 17" feels like to your eyes. Also how you find the AV dock, how does the speaker hook up and sound, and how loud is it. And if so inclined, do include comments on the tuner and the Tivo like feature. Bt, does it work well..... gee, let us know about everything I guess! Thanks in advance.

I didnt check price difference... i just wanted the fastest shipping model (custom config takes 3-5 days longer)

Im really just going to test overall build and 3d performance since I am waiting for the VAIO S type... I assume sony owes me for not releasing it earlier ;p

The config and components should be identical to the S series

BTW Farcry demo ran beautifully at VERY HIGH settings on the G556 with 128mb 9700 Radeon (390core 222 mem) at 1024x768

I could not see a difference between MEDIUM and HIGH settings... VERY HIGH had the dynamic lighting/shadows from trees and objects

Well before I buy it ill just wait too see what RAM eju201 bought and how it all worked out. EXE what do you suggest for memory, get the Corsair or the Crucial? And that if it cannot exceed DDR speed then what is the point of getting it?

Your laptop (Sony A) will not exceed DDR333. But there are many different specs of DDR333, and the best is the one with the lowest latency. That' just the specs, how it works in reality is a different story. Reliability and heat tolerance differ between manufacturers.

How much the price difference is and if you want to pay for that is up to you. In addition, I don't have the data to tell you how much of a performance boost you'll get between two different modules. But with that price difference, you could add a faster hard drive or more 'regular' ram. Frankly, I am more interested in bang for the buck and am not a gamer. If I were looking at pure performance, I wouldn't be looking at a Sony A nor a Pentium M.

So far I've found these 1GB 200-pin DDR333 modules:

From crucial.com who only sell Micron
http://www.crucial.com/store/PartSpe...64X335&cat=RAM
$450.

From memoryx.com who claim this is low-power (whatever that is) Swissbit
http://store.yahoo.com/memx/xdp1024.html
$390.

Also memoryx.com but not sure the difference
http://store.yahoo.com/memx/mod00229900.html
$300.

From some unknown place selling Kingston (don't know what quality of Kingston, they make 2 levels)
http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp...42D-KI&cat=RAM
$335

And the apparently best deal going, from oempcworld.com
http://www.oempcworld.com/Merchant2/...GCID=C8090x015
$255
I can get two! On resellerratings.com this site gets excellent reviews.

Anyone have any advice here? I'm tempted by oempcworld.com but don't have any idea what the difference is between the various modules...

Thanks so much!

whitemdx posted a review of the S in this thread, and I thought I might as well post it here as well as the pictures of the review.















Edit--> It appears to be that this had already been posted before.


Thank you Bloke and White

The more info that is posted on the S Type, the more I want it...

Damn you people!

Anyone receive their A-series yet? =)

My custom rig is still on order (1.8, 80GB 5400 RPM HDD), but I saw and played with an A190 at J&R in NYC today!

It is simply STUNNING. On a sales floor full of notebooks, this one really stands out. The screen is breathtaking. For those of us waiting for a 17" WUXGA, this is the one. The screen could not be better. I'm a photographer and I can't wait to start editing pics on this thing.

The case design is sleek and unassuming. Overall it looks a little like a Toshiba P-25 crossed with a Apple Powerbook. It is however MUCH lighter than the P-25 and you can really tell the difference in the screen quality and resolution. The power brick is smaller than I expected (I just returned a Dell I9100 which really had a huge adapter).

The keyboard felt perfect. The ports were all in the right place. The only small drag to me is the Ethernet port is on the back and inside a small pull-down "port hider" (with the monitor port, video out and 2 more USBs). The port hider is a lot like the little rectangular plastic hinged things that cover the controls on the front of a TV. I use Ethernet a lot and I wonder how long the hider cover will last (I might take it off).

This is really a unique-looking and feeling machine. I'll post a review as soon as mine shows up next week I hope.

So far I am glad to have returned the 9100... these two computers do not even look like they were made on the same planet.

Also, I have discovered a company called Insight (www.insight.com) that resells Sony Vaios. They are a public company with a great reseller rating. Most importantly, their prices are significantly lower than sonystyle.com. Plus they can sell an on-site next business day, accidental damage extended warranty for Sony Vaio that comes directly from Sony. The service is provided by Banctec, the same firm that handles this for Dell. My rep at Insight is Dan H x6512 and he's working directly with their Sony rep.

Hope this is helpful...

delivery date on stock order A190 is June 4 Friday... memory from crucial arrives same day

wont post review till i have memory installed

will compare to ECS G556 which is what I currently have

Thanks for the info!

Did you notice if the computer you played with had Bluetooth?

if one could get 3 hours of battery life out of it. I would take it over a asus m6 or W1

The stock A190 at J&R had the word Bluetooth on the printed tag... but I had no way to test it. I am pretty sure they all have Bluetooth, even if the Sony web site is a little confusing on the matter. I think it's standard-issue.

I played with an A190 today at Fry's in Austin, TX which they just got in.

It's a GREAT looking computer. Even better than the pictures, IMO. The speakers sound very good, on par with those $100 mini home systems you can get. Had some problems with the touchpad, it would stop recognizing as I moved across it and unintentional clicks, may have been the setup. I have no problems with touchpads in general, my current comptuer is a Sony TR2.

Screen was just beautiful. I'd agree that the Fujitisu 16" looks slightly better but the viewing angles, clarity, and color was terrific and I can't think of any other laptop screen that looks better than these two.

Bluetooth IS included in the A190, I looked in device manager.

Couldn't pick it up as it was attached to the docking station....but I did close it, cover is very handsome with a very gentle sloping feel to it, reminding me in a way of the old clamshell iBooks in spirit. Makes it seem alot more luxurious than the normal rectangular laptops.

Overall, a very very nice computer. I'm going to probably end up getting a Ferrari 3200 sight unseen if only for the price issue. (even though I think it's garish, it's what's inside that counts. =) )

pls, was it orange like was seen in the pictures?

I think you're thinking of a different (smaller) model. The A190 is the 17" 1920x1200 WUXGA model.

Oh, ok, i was under the impression that both the 15.4 inch and the 17 inch would come with the orange

thanks.

The orange Vaio is the 'type E' which is a different line than the A series and S series. Celeron M 1.3GHz, 15" XGA and Intel 855GM integrated graphics.

Model numbers are: VGN-E50 and VGN-E70

It's available in three colors: orange, black and silver

Vaio type E

I just talked to Sony on the phone and they told me they are will not be coming out with the 15.4" model in the A Series ... so VGN-A160 and VGN-A150 are not even going to be produced. Bummer. I was waiting for the 15.4" to place my order.