Best Buy Refurb for about $650 USD
2 reference units (mine and my girlfriend's)
I really don't know what other reviewers in other places were talking about.
If you do a Google search for vpceg37fm/w, one will find
ridiculously great reviews. I have to agree!!! Both units are
especially quiet. There is barely a fan noise and the hard
drives were also very quiet. A HUGE PLUS is that this machine is
cool cool cool. I cannot stress this point enough!!! When i'm
layin on the couch and i have this machine laying on my persons
there is virtually NO heat. Whether i have it on battery or AC,
you can burn DVDs, do hdmi out, virus scan, whatever, and you
can barely feel heat anywhere on the underside. The heat vent on
the left side does a great job pulling heat out of the system...
From the reviews on Sony's website, I think that the refurbs
might have had replacement fans or shoddy heat~sink/compound
issues. Thankfully for our Vaios this is not the case.
Now here is the especially awesome part: My co-worker has a 13
inch Mac book Pro of about the same vintage. They asked me to
Boot Camp their Mac. (That means dual boot mac and another OS on
their mac machine.) As i installed the drivers for the Windows
setup, my jaw dropped to the floor. Virtually all the drivers
needed were for EXACTLY the same components that are in this
machine!!! The little MBP 13 inch which has a lower screen
resolution was hot enough to cook eggs on. Keep in mind that the
MBP in question had close to equal processors and the same
graphics chip #Intel HD 3000# which is embedded on the CPU.
I had to geek it up a bit, so I invested in 2x4gb PNY generic
memory. (Stock it had a 1x 4gb stick) and added a 120 GB intel
SATA 2 solid state drive. I was able to get my windows
experience score from 4.7 to 6.2. In comparison, another co-
worker gave me their HP dv 6T Beats Audio edition 17 inch laptop
to ensure it was ready for prime time dvd video burning. This
was fresh out of the box. The Windows Experiencee Index scored
the machine with a 5.2. This was a second gen sandybridge I7
beast, bested by the little 'old second gen I5 Vaio.
As for the audio, this Vaio has mediocre speakers. Make sure you
get the latest and greatest drivers FROM THE MANUFACTURER OF THE
COMPONENT. This goes for the audio, video, chipset and network
drivers. If you update your drivers from Sony or Microsoft, you
wont get the best. This is especially helpfull for the subpar
speakers ~ the new audio drivers greatly improve loudness of the
audio.
Other side notes are that if you be a nerd, this vaio does
support virtualization @ the bios level! Installed memory is
samsung, and they know memory chips. Battery life is on par with
the comparible mac as well. The diamond~plate design of the
plastic is great, no smudges! Chicklet keyboard is great, nice
travel on the keys and spacing is good. The dv 6 mentioned has a
chicklet as well, but the travel and spacing of the keys is
nowhere near as nice. HDMI output to a samsung 40 inch tv is
just a matter of plugging it in and hitting the hdmi button on
the tv's remote.
If you decide to upgrade to an SSD configuration, i'd reccomend
an intel. The example unit I chose was an SSDSA2CW120G3. The
retail package comes with an SATA to 2x usb dongle and a
silicone slip cover. You take out the old drive, pop in the new
drive... VOILA! you now can put the cavernous 650 gb original
drive in the silocone slip and you have an instant portable
drive. You might want to spend the 15 bucks or so on amazon and
get an aluminum enclosure though.
All and all this machine has made my fellow nerds give thumbs up
for this investment... To buy 2 of these and be on par if not
better than a spec-wise comparible Macbook Pro is gratifying.
I apologize for any typos and gramatical errors in advance.
Leave some positive comments for this machine. The cheap compaq
cq60-215DX that it replaced had served well for 3+ years, and
was junk... I think i should get about 6+ years out of this
machine, easily.
Cheers!
E
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I bought two of these VAIOs, one in pink and one in white. October 11, 2011, I bought the white one from BestBuy. I thought that for the price of this laptop and Sony's reputation, that I should not have to buy the extended plan. (Wrong!!) I have an older cheaper uglier laptop that is a Sony VAIO and it is still truckin along. So I guess 2 out of 3 Sony VAIO laptops that still work is pretty good. Not so, the laptop's motherboard should last over two years and I will not buy Sony again. I have had the same inconsistencies with Sony products in the past, i.e, televisions and cameras. But that was such a long time ago. I thought things had gotten better since my mother's VAIO desktop is a trooper and never caused a problem,But I am a girl and the laptop was too pretty to resist. I will know better to look beyond the package for my next purchase.
Is there a laptop manufacturer that puts out a product that is consistent with little maintenance required except for the usual updates that will last at least 5 years without problems?
The laptop has a sleek look to it and if looks were everything, I would give this laptop a 5 star. The only flaw I see in the design is the DVD placement. If you sit with this laptop on your lap, the CD Rom will continually pop open.
I loved the laptop while it lasted. Next time, I will buy a cheaper brand with an extended warranty. :( RIP my beautiful laptop...Now to shop for an ugly, but stable laptop.
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