Notebook Reviews

Adaptec has a Duo Connect PCMCIA card that has both a firewire and a USB 2.0 port. This is perfect for video editing on a PC laptop: connect a camera to the firewire port and an external hard drive to the USB 2.0 port. When not video editing, you can use the extra USB port for your printer, mouse, etc., or keep the hard drive attached to run games.

This is one amazing product, I got this for my laptop Inspiron 8100. Though, I already had a 4 pin firewire port but the problem as you may or may not know is, 4-pin firewire can not supply power to the connected device. Most of the firewire devices i have are dependent on bus-power e.g. Compact Flash reader, so I chose adaptec card bus as it have an optional power input line so the connected devices can draw power.
Overall, its very handy and useful plus the installation was smooth (you just plug & play, XP will instantly detect it).

p.s. just a little thought, firewire have nothing to do with "video editing" nor it will improve with using different software. FIREWIRE is a communication standard i.e. IEEE 1394/1394b , the later is also known as FireWire800 and gives twice as fast speed as normal firewire.

Installation was a snap.
I was downloading movies from my Sony Digital Camera and burning movies on a CDR in 10 minutes.

This notebook has almost every feature you could ask for. For the sake of brevity I will point out the one weak point (all the other features are first rate):

Sony has equipped this notebook with a nice big 15" screen, but it only has 1024x768 pixels. This is more in line with a 14" screen or a value priced notebook. A 15" screen notebook in this price rang should have 1024x1280 pixels. The quality difference is very noticeable. On most other points (response time, luminescence, contrast) I would rate this screen about average.

If display quality is important to you then this may not be the right notebook for you. Otherwise this notebook is really well featured.

I was first considering a desktop of about the same specifications as this computer. 2.4 GHz, 512 MB ram, not much difference, and it was [$$$] more expensive! A sony, and I would have to buy a monitor.

Alot of othe other reviews complain about hte noise the fan makes... There's an option to put the fan it quiet mode... And besides it doesn't really make any noise at all for any length of time, so I don't even notice it.

I've completely replaced my desktop with this computer and have had no problems. The only bad thing I ca say is that the graphics card is only 16 MB, but if you want a Radeon 9500 128 MN card then buy a desktop...

I love it alot. I play games on it, do my graphics editing, chat online, etc. It doesn't come with MS Office on it, or maybe it did and mine was special, but that's easily obtainable. This is the first lap top I've bought, and it has been perfect, not a single problem at all and I havn't had to restart is a single time.

I bought my PCG-GRZ660 about 6 months ago, and I'm delighted with it. It has many qualities not unusual in a laptop twice its price, and yet it still manages to come in at under a grand.
I'd always wanted a laptop computer, and when I finally had the money to buy one, Sony was my brand of choice. They're always styled nicely, and previous experience with other Sony products has led me to believe that Sony produce well-built, high-quality items. I wasn't disappointed either.
On opening the box, I found the laptop itself (duh), the mains adapter/charger and an 'egg box' containing assorted cables, CDs and manuals. The laptop was packaged very securely, minimising the risk of damage in shipping.
Once I'd unpacked the laptop and plugged it in, I powered up. First I had to go through the final bits of Windows XP Home setup, entering the required personal information and accepting the license agreement, and then I was in. I was presented with a very attractive desktop wallpaper and icons for many programs. One of the nice things about this laptop is the amount of bundled software.
First thing I did was register the laptop, followed shortly by updating the BIOS. This was a complete cinch; all I had to do was download a file and it makes a boot disk. Insert the disk and restart and everything is done automatically.
The 256MB RAM is enough for most things, and runs Windows XP quite comfortably.
The quoted battery life is a little on the generous side; however, I can get about 3 hours out of a single charge, which isn't bad at all.
The 1GHz Duron CPU has quite a bit of grunt when throttled all the way up, but PowerNow! allows it to throttle right back to 500MHz when it's not in use, doing a fair bit to conserve battery life.
The 10GB hard drive fitted to the laptop is an IBM model, and works nicely to save power when combined with the power management utility from IBM's own website, which uses performance controls to reduce power consumption when on battery, but boost performance on mains power.
The on-board ATi 8MB graphics have caused a few crashes, but nothing major. Driver updates for this card seem to be nonexistant, but I don't think that's too much of a problem.
Sound is quite good for the size of the speakers; it uses the on-board VIA AC97 codec to provide audio, which is perfectly adequate for the machine's intended role.
The keyboard is fine for extended typing sessions, and the trackpad is perfectly usable.
My only real gripe with the laptop is the on-board modem. It's not the best, and it's not overly reliable. Having said that, what more can be expected from a soft-modem? Also of minor irritation to me is the fact that the socket for the on-board NIC (which is also very good) is behind the flap on the back, so when you're connected to a LAN you have to have the flap down. However, both of these are minor when compared to the overall standard of the laptop.

Overall, it is a good quality leather case. However, it could be bigger in order to hold the Palm better. When you fasten it, it looks sort of bulky.

Sleek and stylish though. And, I got a good price!!

i bought this little case for my visor delux about a year ago but it was a little small for the delux. However i kept it around any way just in case some one else needed one. low and behold when i got my treo 90 about a month ago i dug this little deal up and it fits perfectly with the smaller treo 90. It also has space for the memory cards and credit cards and money and such. the case is extremely functional and i gurantee you'll get some excellent use out of this pda case. aside from the fact that it's suede and a little difficult to keep clean(or maybe i'm just a dusty guy) i would highly recomend this little case. a little trick for the masses. if your like me and you don't want to apply those velcro sticky things directly to your pda i suggest taking one of the clear over lay screen protectors, stick that to the back of your pda and then stick the velcro to the over lay. the over lays always come off clean and you don't have to worry about sticking those velcro tabs to a $300.00 pda.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I have been looking for a case that was different and reasonably priced. The manufacture (Targus) says it is for the Palm III Series, but my Palm IIIc fit perfectly! The case is beautifully made and it looks like I paid 50.00 for it and not 19.99.

Overall, it is a good quality leather case. However, it could be bigger in order to hold the Palm better. When you fasten it, it looks sort of bulky.

Sleek and stylish though. And, I got a good price!!

i bought this little case for my visor delux about a year ago but it was a little small for the delux. However i kept it around any way just in case some one else needed one. low and behold when i got my treo 90 about a month ago i dug this little deal up and it fits perfectly with the smaller treo 90. It also has space for the memory cards and credit cards and money and such. the case is extremely functional and i gurantee you'll get some excellent use out of this pda case. aside from the fact that it's suede and a little difficult to keep clean(or maybe i'm just a dusty guy) i would highly recomend this little case. a little trick for the masses. if your like me and you don't want to apply those velcro sticky things directly to your pda i suggest taking one of the clear over lay screen protectors, stick that to the back of your pda and then stick the velcro to the over lay. the over lays always come off clean and you don't have to worry about sticking those velcro tabs to a $300.00 pda.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I have been looking for a case that was different and reasonably priced. The manufacture (Targus) says it is for the Palm III Series, but my Palm IIIc fit perfectly! The case is beautifully made and it looks like I paid 50.00 for it and not 19.99.

I HAVE BEEN USING THE NOTEBOOK FOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS AND FOUND IT TO BE 'EXCELLENT' IN TERMS OF ITS OUTPUT.SONY COULD HAVE ADDED THE 'FLOPPY DRIVE' OR THE 'WIRELESS CONNECTION',THE BATTERY LID IS BIT LOOSE, BUT ANYWAY UPTILL NOW IT'S MONEY'S WORTH.OVERALL GOOD BLENDING OF' DESIGN' AND 'SOFTWARE'COLLECTIONS PRE-INSTALLED BY 'SONY'.

I just purchased this Sony Vaio PCG-GR370 about 3 weeks ago, and everything is really great. This model is nice when you see or compare with other brand styles such as Compaq, Dell, or so on. Also, I upgraded memory to 512MB that makes me satisfied with its speed when I am running many programs in the same time. LCD is clear when you watch DVD or playing the Game. If you are looking for the portable laptop, this is the one of your choice for today and long terms.

This Vaio , my first notebook that it was bougth six weeks ago , has great performance (PIII ,1.1 Ghz, 30 HD ,etc.), nice design with 3 USB ports.
Maybe should have 512 mb of RAM , but it is not great problem.
I give 5 stars without doubt.

summary: if you own a dv camera, it's probably similarly sized to the panasonic dv-600 camera (a little bigger than the size of a mid-sized nerf football). this bag works well for that sized camera, and it looks sharp, too!

more info: this bag has a few nooks and crannies that are good for taking around important accessories. i'm able to carry around about ten tapes, an extra battery, and the various cords* that connect the camera to the tv and computer. in addition, it seems to be padded well - i feel confident that the camera is safe in the bag.

and it looks sharp, too. a couple of people have just randomly stated how they like the bag. i'm not sure why, exactly, maybe because the leather looks like it's of good quality, and the construction looks sturdy.

i like this bag, and i think you will too if you own a dv camera.

Nice quality. Very compact. Will not have room for tons of extra cords and batteries for your camcorder but the essentials will fit. I have a Sharp VL-AX1U and it fits perfectly. If you are buying this for a digital camera it would also work very well.

The great advantage of this bag is that the entire top unzips (it's actually a double run zipper which gives you a wide storage space while everything stays in place). It was great for my movie camera so I got another one for my digital still camera. I can keep 20 mini CDs plus marking pens, extra battery and charger, and my bulky but essential viewing hood. When the bag opens you can see everything, place everything, and when it closes everything stays in place. After a year I've decided the design is probably the most convienent I've used in 30 yrs.

The biggest problem was that it only had two USB ports, and one of them was intermittent/broken on my unit. It also seems to run hotter than most other laptops. The loud fan is almost always on and interferes with audio and recording. I think the heat may lead to early failures and reduced reliability. If you do get this, test it thoroughly in the 30 day guarantee period.

Other minor complaints are the heavy weight, and the lack of 802.11 wireless or DVD write features.

I bought this laptop mostly for the speed and the price. I really got more than I bargained for. The unit is sturdy, although a bit heavy. It is a year and a half old and it has worked flawlessly. I put a 801.11G Netgear card in it so I can use it all around the house. The DVD works great and the JBL speakers are good but you may want headphones for the best sound. It could have had the USB port on the side or the front but you get used to the rear location. I am in an online University and this is the best decision I have made on buying an electronic item EVER. I will buy another Compaq and pass this one down to my daughter.

I got this laptop because my dad's friend who is a computer programmer was getting this same laptop. I got it for school and it works great for everything. Gets all the work done without any errors or problems. Games work very well on it too. The JBL speakers are great for listening to music, and watching DVDs on it are great. The keyboard is actually quite comfortable and easy to use. The touchpad is much better than the Sony laptop that my friends have. It's just a great all around laptop.

OK, I know that people are going to think I'm stupid for saying this, but this was just so bulky that I felt like a geek carrying it around and it wasn't exactly what I expected when I ordered it, I guess I thought it'd be more like those backpacks that just have a sleeve for a laptop but are otherwise, you know, backpacks. On the flip side it seemed very sturdy and like it would offer a lot of protection for a laptop, but if you're a student like me and planning to cram huge textbooks into the big compartment you won't get very far, and you'll probably feel geeky carrying it around too. My friends have backpacks that aren't as clunky and seem to offer the same amount of protection and sturdiness to their laptops as well as having plenty of space and pockets, I wish I could mention specific ones but I can't, so if that's what you want this isn't for you.

Inside of each compartment, there are additional pockets for your A/C adapter, a mouse, pens, a calculator, business cards, a cell phone, and just about every other imaginable item you might want to take with you. The main compartment has an internal sleeve to safely hold your laptop and still leave plenty of space for more stuff. (Heck, I can fit my flat-bed scanner in there!) The back pack will comfortably hold a 14"x11"x2" computer. It's overall dimensions are 17"x13"x10". (Ten inches! A little too fat for my taste.) Empty, the bag weighs about 3 & 3/4 pounds... Add a 5-7 lb. laptop, and fill all those little pockets and you'll be very happy you bought a back pack and not a brief case style case. If you like to take everything with you, and keep it all organized, you'll like this back pack. Despite it's excessive pockets and more than generous capacity, the price it right for this functional laptop case.

The size and sturdiness of this pack is what is best about it. It has alot of space and everything is easily accessable. I highly recommend this backpack.

I have had this notebook for over a year and a half. It is reliable, practical, and cost effective. The size is perfect for mobility and the built-in wireless has been one of its best features. My only complaint is that the hard-drive is slow. I am thinking of upgrading the hard-drive to give it some new life.

This notebook is small and light, has built-in wireless with PCMCIA slot to spare, and has a good keyboard. What more could you want? The speed is more than adequate. I have had this for about a month and a half, and I am very pleased with it. Get an extra charger on ebay, so you can have one at work and one at home. I am getting about 4.5hrs battery life (thats without the DVD drive). I did try watching Lord of the Rings and it looked great! It didn't seem to affect battery life too much.

For you Linux nuts, I am dual booting with XP. Here is what you can expect: You can install redhat if you have a USB floppy drive []. The firewire CDROM is not yet recognized by Linux. Redhat 8.0 works well, but you have to install a newer kernel or patch the 2.4.18 kernel to get the wireless card to work. The patch is needed to deal with the ACPI IRQ sharing. Suse Linux wouldn't even install! The boot floppy loads half way and hangs. hmmm.

This little jewel of a computer is really a laptop. It's light weight and built in wireless (2.4 ghz) make it great to use on the go or just around the house with a wireless network. I got the extended battery and get 6-8 hours of use on one charge! Wish DVD/cdrw were built in but it is not. At least it comes witht the unit (Japanese version does not. I shopped a long time before buying this unit. Considered smaller picturebook but hated that little pointer stick. Touch pad works much beteer on the srx99. I also got the 384 Meg Ram version. Wish HD was larger (only 20 Gigs and it is partitioned as ttwo 10 gigs)
Two thumbs up from Me.

I have found this to be an excellent light-weight laptop bag for my 4 pound Sony Vaio, but it would easily accomodate a much larger laptop (say, the Dell Inspiron with 15 inch screen). I bought it based on the light weight and unique design compared to many of the traditional laptop cases that you see out there. Even with the laptop and media slice, there is still room in the bag's compartments for my firewire hard drive, headphones, and AC adapter (plus pens, papers, and other sundries). The shoulder strap has a nice quick-adjust feature and the shoulder pad is well bolstered with a non-slip material, so you don't have to worry about it sliding off and falling. Obviously, this case isn't going to be quite as sturdy as a larger, heavier case, but in a year of use it has protected my goods without a problem. The rubberized bottom "tire tread" protects against accidental drops and there is adequate padding inside to protect the screen (but I wouldn't go slinging it around). The only thing that kept it from getting 5 stars is the fact that it may not be secure enough for the largest laptops on the market, those with 16 inch screens. For anything under 6 pounds, I would definitely recommend it.

I looked and looked for a bag that woudl fit my dell 8100 and this was really the only one I could find that was under [money]. its great but I I wish there were a couple of more pockets for CD's or disks etc.

This is a 2-main compartment bag. In my determine of size, single compartment bags have just 1 compartment for the notebook. Flat flap pockets do not count. So this is the 2nd thinnest bag and possibly close to the lightest(1 1/2lb I think). It comes with nice soft strap and soft flexible compartments to accommodate odd shape objects. Its modern looking, suitable for most applications. I think this is the best size, weight, layout, look combination. Mine carries my HP notebook+PS+mouse, with space for cell, small digital camera and 2 books. The only downsides are the lack of a handle; and being a messenger bag, it can't stand upright.