Notebook Reviews

I bought this as a way to upgrade my laptop so that I could run my new USB2.0 external HDD. The included CD doesn't even carry the needed software to run the card it instead directs you to Orange Micro's website to download thier latest and greatest drivers. On top of that for the past 3 weeks I have used this I still run across WinXP's warning boxes telling me that I need to reinstall the software since the drivers disappear. Finally the need to attach an external AC adapter to run anything attached to the cards ports is kind of hard to take as well. In my computer I need the AC Adapter plugged in to keep the card running or else WinXP shuts the card down since it is too much of a power drain. If you are looking for a way to upgrade your computer using a PCMIA card don't look at this one. Keep looking there have to be some better ones out there.

You've got to plug in the AC adapter if you're hoping to run a non-self-powered device from it. My mouse works with the built-in port in my laptop, but I get an error if I plug it into the cardbus port. I got it paritally cuz it's smaller than a hub which I currently need to run both my mouse and wacom. But since I gotta carry the AC adapter as well, I'm returning this product, will just go back to the hub, and will continue looking for a usb cardbus card that doesn't require an AC adapter for non-powered devices.

What a consolation to find a usb 2.0 pcmcia card that works so well after my disaster with the Adaptec 1420 card! (See my other review for that one if interested....)

No fuss, no difficulty in installation - simply downloaded the most recent drivers from OrangeMicro's website before buying it. Installed the drivers and then installed the card - voila! Four usb 2.0 ports!

I have a 48x24x48 Iomega external usb 2.0 burner; the card is completely backwards compatible and there is no loss of speed as far as I have been able to tell. (I am working off of XP Pro OS - no SP's installed.) And seeing as I have seven usb devices connecting to my notebook such a thing is very handy to have.

The accompanying external power supply could be a liability for those who need to travel with the card and some device or another, but I do not - mine is a desktop replacement and if I take it somewhere I unplug everything anyway before I go. So for me it is no bother.

I would highly recommend this card if you have several usb devices of both sorts (2.0 and 1.1) to your notebook if it is a desktop replacement like mine is. If you are a notebook user of the more mobile type, though, this card might not be for you.

when i first gt my rio i thought i was able to put as much song as i can. and im a snowboarder so i was going to bring it with me next time i go bt then i found out that it isnt worth it because i want albe to pt alot of songs on it. ive been lookin on the internet ad found that i can upgrade by buying a memory backpack or whatevr it is but the only hard prt is where am i supposed to find these so called memory backpacks it seems to me they dont even exist ive been having the hardest time trying to find them. ...

hello,is there anyone know how to update the rio 600 player that could play the files with .rm?

If you're like me, half the fun of having electronic gadgets is showing them off--and being just a *little* different from the crowd. That's why I dropped the guts of my Palm IIIxe into a clear blue plastic case, and that's why I bought this simple but stylish set of color faceplates for my Rio 600.

Easy to change with a quick snap-on/snap-off, these three faceplaces (teal, white, and pink) give your 600 a dramatically different look. No, of course they don't make your player sound better or work better, but they *do* make it look cool, and face it, isn't at least *part* of the reason you got the Rio 600 is that it's stylish and sleek? You can even spray-paint them if you don't like the colors.

(Now, if only Apple would design iMacs on which you could instantly change the color of the case...)

This is a very small laptop bag. I have a Gateway and the bag was three inches to small. It would be a great bag if they had made it larger. It offers a handle and a backpack option thus giving your laptop "handles" without room for much else.

If you have a more compact laptop (mine is an IBM ThinkPad 380XD) and you like backpacks, you'll LOVE this product! The price is great and you'll have ample room for the laptop, cables, disks and more. I was concerned when I read that some buyers found this backpack too small. For a smaller laptop, this is the best for the money! Order it now!

This bag is very sturdy and compact. It holds more than it appears, and is great for travelling. It serves its purpose well. I highly recommend purchasing this lap top bag if you like back packs.

On the plus side, camera is tiny, and the spring loaded clip works well with notebook PCs. This makes it good for traveling.

On to the negatives... Image quality is very poor, espeically in medium to low light. Pictures are very grainy and even with a 60 watt lamp in the room, still seemed underexposed. Software controls were not as easy to figure out as one would expect.

I gave it a low rating, because I really think that image quality is the most important factor. Design is great - i only wish image quality was better.

I got this unit for use on a laptop. Something small, portable and easy to use. To that end it does it job. Setting, getting it clipped to the LCD screen, getting it positioned right is all easy enough. The Field of View is adequate for likely use.

The image quality on the other hand is not as great as others I have used (Logitech 4000 and Isight). The image is somewhat dark and grainy but still passable. The edges are not very well focused at all.

You should also note that there is no microphone either. You'll either need to shout at your laptop or get an external mic.

Installation and configuration was pretty much by the book on my windows 2000 Dell Latitude LS. No real surprises or problems.

As long as all you plan on being is a talking head and you need something fast and light this little guy will do the job. But if you want to do more than that your better off with something a bit bigger.

If you are strictly looking for a notebook/laptop webcam that only requires the minimum standards as far as quality goes, this may be your choice. I was not happy with the quality at all. Low lighting (zero lux +) gives slower fps (frames per second) and terrible resolution.

Pros:
Small and nice design
Install is easy though the program makes you go through hoops just to change some simple settings
Will work with decent quality with decent lighting.

Cons:
Just like any 'cheapie' webcam, the quality is par to sub-par as far as quality goes.
For $40 bucks, I think you may get better quality from other webcams. The reason why it costs more is because of its size.

Sporting a Crusoe TM5800 CPU, this super small super light notebook is bound for the dust heap of computing history. The Crusoe CPU was a novel idea: build a low power CPU from scratch and have it "emulate" a true Intel CPU. The sad reality is that the peformance is very poor and the compatiblity just isn't there with all software.

You would be much better off buying an Compaq Ipaq or similar Xscale based hand held computer. Software is being written for Xscale computers by the truckloads and it uses less power than the Crusoe. Or go for a PIII-M notebook.

Sadly Transmeta (the company that makes the Crusoe CPU) has failed to make very many of them, and is not expected to last much longer. Hopefully the brilliant ideas they created will live on in a company able to bring them to market in the kind of numbers that make software developers take notice and write stable apps for it.

I got this device mainly for it's lightweight and compact design for use on business trips and vacations overseas. The features that I think are nice are bluetooth, firewire port, and memory stick slot. It also has two USB ports, 100 Base-T Ethernet, modem, and Wi-Fi (using extended I/O adapter and Wi-Fi PC Card). The camera is fun too.

The annoying thing about this and other VIAOs is that is comes pre-installed with an avalanche of useless software whose shortcuts blind the view of the desktop. These programs make the system performance come to a crawl and make the OS unstable.

There is only a restore CD to re-install the same unstable and sloth-like configuration. I managed though to install WinXP Pro on another partition that I created using PartitionMagic, and got substantial performance gains, but at the expense of some features like the camera.

Some might complain about the choice of processor by Sony, but I manage fine for web development (Apache web server, mySQL, Tomcat, Mozilla, DreamWeaver, Flash), shell, WSH, and perl scripting (Cygwin, ActiveState, Komodo), and programming with .Net, C++, and Java (Eclipse, CodeWarrior, jEdit). I also use it to do reports and presentations for college using Office documents with OpenOffice. It's not a speed demon by any means, but without the junk that Sony bundles, the performance is adequate.

reneesmith505
u sounds like an inexperienced user. most problems u described can be easily resolved.

I've had two of the V505 series, this one being the latest. The first one suffered from touchpad problems (clicking at random) and had to be sent out for repairs for a month right after i got it. After two months of use I noticed the case was so poorly reinforced that ripples would go across the screen if you slightly touched the back. After a few more months of carrying it around in a case purchased especially for it, it had major pixel damage. Sony's telephone representatives insisted that carrying it in a laptop case was excessive or abusive use and refused to replace it for several months. They finally replaced it with this model, and now the touchpad is starting to malfunction again.

Aside from the touchpad not working and the wireless card not working on some LEAP enabled networks, this model works well enough and it would make an OK desktop replacement for someone who works from home and never moves their laptop more than a few inches. If you're looking for something you can haul around with you though, look for something that's built better.

Just got this Notebook for 3 days. It has problems maintaining it's wireless connection. I tried it on 2 different wireless access points (Netgear and SkyHawk) and Vaio drops the connection every 5 mins. I'm literally 4 feet from my access point, and it still drops. All my other wireless connection works fine and the Dell Notebook works fine. I called Vaio Support and they're useless. They first said that my warranty expired??? and then proceed to say that I purchased it from an unauthorized seller (Amazon). After I resolved that issue, they start to blame the wireless access point. That's a total BS, because my other wireless devices would be affected if it was the access point. Also, I used the Vaio on 2 access points! How can that happen to 2 different access points???

Aside from being small, light weight, excellent battery life, and slick design; this one sucks without the support. I will be returning mine back to Amazon and stick with Dell. They offer better support and quality. I strongly recommend another small notebook and avoid Sony!!!

I love this machine. The one kvetch I have is that the beautiful casing scuffed very easily, and I can't seem to remove the scuffs. Other than that--it's extremely fast, very light, keyboard size and play are great, I have no complaints.

I only got this because it was included in the deal... but anyway, the short story is that this is a bag that can't decide if it's a regular backpack or something you'd take on a hiking trip. The result is a product that is too bulky for casual use but not quite comfortable enough for hikes. It IS quite sturdy, although the innards are very strangely designed - racks are on an angle (getting a laptop in is out of the question.) I'd shop around.

The bag itself is rather heavy on its own, which is why I took away a star. I took another away because it didn't fit into my son's locker at school, even empty! The shelving makes it very big and blocky and, of course, rigid. My kid says it doesn't feel any different on than his regular cheap-o backpack, but I like the fact that's it's supposed to be balanced & healthier for his back. It's great for sleepovers because you can compartmentalize all their stuff, but for us, it didn't work out as a school bag.

The racks are lightweight and very durable. Even with heavy loads the bag feels comfortable and light on my back. It is not recommended for a loptop but it is great for students with big book load or perfect for hiking ...

I purchased the PCG-V505P from Sony in Australia. Same problems with the mousepad not functioning. Sony support in Australia is incredibly bad - it took them 3 weeks to just reply to my inquiry on their local support website to tell me where to take it in for service and then they said it would take 5 days or longer to repair. By comparison, Toshiba send a courier to pick up a faulty unit in warranty and return it the next day. You'd be crazy to purchase Sony if you're a serious business user. I'll live without a usable mousepad until my next PC purchase (not Sony)

I own this unit for 2 months. I also have the problem with mouse pad and keyboard. It usually start clicking itself. I have to use the external mouse instead. The cursor jumps during I am typing sometimes. Otherwise, this is a good laptop to work with according to the acceptable quality of monitor, performance, light weight, and speed.

The machine is fast, light and small. The keyboard works, but the mousepad has some problems. First of all, it is automatically programmed to have all these functions that they don't tell you about. Such as, to exit something you have to tap in the corner of the pad. Well, because they don't tell you about that, you could be typing an email and oops! it's gone. Even when you eliminate all but the scrolling, it clicks itself out. It is very annoying!

The only thing this will do is allow you to use a phone and computer independently on the same phone line without switching cords. Does not allow use of phone and computer at same time, does not announce incoming calls.

Love it. Quality stuff - ready to go. I'm confused as to where the short line goes...Its so short, it can't go much of anywhere. MH

I own this product. It has two advantages over a standard cable, which is essentially free. First, it's physical construction is significantly better than the standard phone cord. This may be important to heavy-duty road warriors.

Second, the shielding is far superior to unshielded cable, particularly untwisted cable. While it's true, as another review points out, that the signal travels over hundreds or thousands of miles before it reaches the final 10', that last 10' is the most important IF it is in an area with a lot of interference. Ironically, that might make this cable most suitable for an office with excessive amounts of electronic equipment.

All in all, this is not a must-have product. But it is not useless either. As a bonus, the cable splitter is quite nice. The carrying pouch is average; I threw mine away.

an amazon merchant under the name electrophreaky has advertised to sell this item as a new product. I have purchased it and the item was never shipped to me in spite of my numerous attempts to contact seller though his posted email on amazon.com. Tgeseller later dissapeared from the amazon website. Amazon.com has not made an attempt to chased down this lousy seller or provide contact ph no fo him. they insisted on applying their 30 days policy of do nothing and another 30 days and we may refund you. thats 60 days and i am out $1300 which they're banking. people stay away from amazon and its merhcants. no wonder they're losing their ass off as a company.

Toshiba may make good products, but their support is the worst i have ever come across. They have lost my laptop for over a month now and do not care a lick about it. They're tech support team is in Turkey and they dont care a thing about anybody. They kept hanging up on me and refused to help me saying it will take some time. When i called back- no one knew anything and had zero updates. DO NOT BUY TOSHIBA PRODUCTS! Get a Gateway or Dell instead...two companies that actually care about their customers.

I just got my Toshiba A25-S279 yesterday so I can't say if it will last years and years like my buddy's did. The thing that jumped out as soon as I opened the box was how ugly the notebook was. Its large size is also a bit of a problem. At 13.4" x 11.6" x 1.9", it's very hard to find a bag that fits. Most "large" bags only fit up to 13" x 11". You have to go for an "oversized" bag. This notebook looks cheap when compared to other notebooks. And I don't mean Sony which is light years ahead in term of looks.

Here are the reasons why I bought this ugly duckling anyway.
1. It's the most reasonably priced notebook among other major brands. You can't find a better deal on P4 2.8, 60GB, 512MB, DVD-CDRW, built-in 802.11g than this one. Toshiba also gives out generous rebates. Check out their website for details. The store I bought mine from didn't advertise it. Lucky I found a $100 rebate on the Toshiba website.
2. Built quality. All of my friends who bought Toshiba never had problems with theirs. The battery stopped holding charges after over a year, but all notebooks have this problem.
3. It comes with a restore disk. If anything goes wrong, you don't have to scramble for a boot disk and install all the drivers. Just pop in this disk and click OK, OK, once in a while. Your notebook will be back to its original factory installed condition in an hour.
4. It runs directly off the A/C. To preserve the battery life, when I'm at home which is most of the time, I take out the battery completely. Plug the notebook into the UPS and let it run directly off the A/C plug. You can't do that with Dell's. The Dell's circuit isn't completed without a battery. My sister's Dell's battery is completely dead (doesn't hold charge for even one second) but she still need to put her battery in its slot anyway just so the computer would turn on. Very annoying.
5. Built-in wireless. At this price range, it's very hard to find ones that come with built-in 802.11g. Some come with 802.11b, yucks!
It's a lot nicer not having to haul around a wireless card that you may lose or forget to bring with you. Being built-in also means that it frees up the PC card slot for something else you may need.

I highly recommend this notebook to anyone who's going to use this laptop as a replacement PC, who's not travelling a lot, who doesn't mind the ugly look knowing that its the inside (P4 2.8, 512, 60GB yada yada) that counts.