[LUNI] Sony VAIO laptop opinions wanted

[Burnson, Richard]

I have owned two Toshiba laptops and have run Linux on both.  I have really
liked them, and had no serious issues.  My one suggestion is to avoid any
that have a Trident video card, they have 2D drivers now (originally I had
to use the framebuffer) but no 3d support.  Trident refuses to release the
specs for a 3d driver to be built.  I also had a Compaq Armada laptop about
6 years ago, and will never buy one again.  I never ran Linux on it, but
constantly had to rebuild the M$ OS (more often than in my experience was
typical) and it was a very slow system.

HTH,
Richard  
 
    

-----Original Message-----
From: David Ehle [mailto:ehle at agni.phys.iit.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 12:43 PM
To: Linux Users Of Northern Illinois - Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: [LUNI] Sony VAIO laptop opinions wanted



> Does anyone have a Compaq/HP or Toshiba laptops?  What do you like/hate
> about it?  I'm looking at getting a new machine.  The Compaq/HPs around
> $1000-1300 look like a good value, and a decked out Toshiba I'm drooling
> over is around $2000; it has a 16" display, GeForce 4 440, 512MB, and
> a 60G drive.  I'm also looking at another Toshiba (2G Celeron) for $1100.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelly Martin [mailto:kmartin at pyrzqxgl.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 6:25 PM
> To: Linux Users Of Northern Illinois - Technical Discussion
> Subject: Re: [LUNI] Sony VAIO laptop opinions wanted
>
>
> Patrick R. White wrote:
> > Does anybody have experience with these laptops?  Specifically, the
> > keyboard action, durability in general and the ease of installing Linux
> > and FreeBSD on them? What are the warranty options on them?  Are they
> > still functioning 5 years out? Are accessories easy to get and reliable?
>
> VAIOs are notoriously fragile, and expensive to repair both in dollars
> and in time lost.
>
> Kelly
>
I generally avoid sony/HP/Compaq machines like the plauge in any format.

I only have experience w Dell and Gateway laptops.  My experiences with
the Dells have been very good. Expensive, but quite good. The gateways we
arn't going to be buying any more of... the lack of quality is not worth
the difference in price.

One thing I did learn from my gateway purchase is you can't pick a laptop
by its specs.  Before you lay out a couple grand, find a way to physicly
examine what your considering buying.  Pick it up for weight, shake it a
bit, and type a bit.  SQUEEZE the case and see if it feels flimsy. (when
the sales rep isn't watching ;) ) The weight thing especially - 8.5 pnds
doesn't sound like much on paper, but once you put it, its cables,
removeables ect... it adds up quick.

Also, Think about service plan.  On a desktop if it breaks you can
probably fix it faster than they could, but I don't like opening up
laptops... too much stuff too tight to work on for me.

my $.02

David.


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