Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO PCG-FRV25 Laptop (2.66-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The machine is nicely constructed, my wife loves the keyboard (which for her was the determining factor for the purchase). The 2.66ghz processor with 512m ram will be more than enough for anything she can throw at it for years to come, the machine is well suited to her needs. It sits in the same spot and rarely moves. The screen is sharp and bright.

Here are some of the things that would bother me, but have no impact on the casual user:

1) It is not suitable for 3d gaming, it is an integrated graphics chip. You are much better off going with a discrete graphics package (ati 7500, 9000) rather than the 345 package. That being said, it plays dvds smoothly.

2) As someone has mentioned, the power brick is ENOURMOUS. I have literally never seen a power adapter this large before. It weighs at least a pound by itself.

3) Loud fans. This is a good thing and a bad thing, without the fans there would be internal damage due to heat, but the fans are really loud. The pitch of the noise isn't bad (doesn't whine). I guess that is what you get with a 2.66ghz processor.

4) Power cord plugs into the right side of the computer, not the rear. It sticks out a bit and you have to be careful when moving it.

5) No discs with software. Sony has implemented a backup image on the hard drive. If you ever need to reinstall you just run their software to get back to the factory installed software image. What happens if your hard drive dies? I don't know. I would rather just have the recovery CDs, but they don't supply them. The manual says you can buy them online, but when you goto the link they don't sell them. This also means you can't reformat the HDD or reinstall to get rid of the stuff they install on the machine.

Other than these things, the notebook is well constructed. My wife has no real complaints, but I'm glad I have a centrino based laptop which is portable, powerful, and quiet.

When my older Toshiba laptop escaped from my custody by being stolen from the locked cab of my Ford pick-up truck not too long ago, I mused awhile about my options for a replacement. But since my Homeowner's insurance policy subsidized the cost for another, I did a brief but intensive market search and finally settled on this superb and cost-effective choice offered by Sony, one that is quite compatible to my home computer system, which is also a Sony VAIO system. This laptop is small enough to be light and extremely portable and yet has a relatively large and quite bright screen with terrific color and resolution. It is a rugged and hefty package at nearly 8 pounds, and it delivers a lot of capability with features such as a 2.66 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, has 512 KB Level 2 cache, a 533 MHz system bus, 512 MB DDR SDRAM upgradeable memory, and a 64 MB ATI Radeon IGP 345M graphics chipset. With all this built-in capability, this laptop will more than adequately meet or exceed all of your needs.

Sony outfitted the laptop system with a 40 GB hard disk, and features an internal CD-RW/DVD drive for burning and listening to audio CDs, one that will backup important files and allow you to view a DVD movie. One of the best features is its large 15-inch XGA TFT display, which is capable of 1024x768 resolution. It also has an internal V.90 modem for low-speed e-communications and an Ethernet interface to facilitate high-speed connectivity. It also serves your needs by providing both headphone and microphone ports as well as an 86-key keyboard that has an electro-static touch pad, and a built-in pair of stereo speakers with surround-sound imaging. It comes preloaded with an interesting and useful selection of resident software, including Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Money 2003, Microsoft Works 7.0, as well as a number of audio, video and photo utilities. This is a terrific unit at a very reasonable, and one I have already had a lot of fun with in the several months I have owned it. Enjoy!

I looked at the Dell, great price but I didn't like it's looks. It was too "blue". The Compaq was too whimpy in power and their customer service sucks at Hewlitt-Packard. And Gateway is too expensive for their lap tops. I wasn;t about to pay 2 thousand bucks....

Sony has always been a name brand best seller in the line-up of electronics. I can hook up my Sony digital camera to my lap top, and then I can print stunning pictures from my lap top to my photo printer. So basically this lap top is a desk top replacement that serves a variety of applications.

The BEST thing about this lap top is this... I am in college and live in a tiny dorm room. So this lap top is great for watching dvds and movies. No more dvd player and wires hooked up to the tv set. Finally, this lap top is great because I can download my music, and burn a cd which I can then pop into my cd player in my car and cruise on down the road!

A smart buy for any college student like myself!

Now, I am on to my 2nd replacement FRV25, after the first 2 broke down. Pointing device was broken on the first one, the screen was broken was on the second one (since these were within the first 14 days, I got replacements from BestBuy). On this third one, the screen is slightly tilted and one of the keys popped out, so I need to take it back to BestBuy for repair.

If you are looking for an advice and recommendation (from a software professional), I am warning you about this computer. Do NOT waste your money on this computer.

Besides its extremely poor quality, original CD's don't come with the computer. So, if you want to have the original CD's, you need to buy them from SONY separetely.

When I first beheld Sony's VAIO PCG-FRV25 Notebook computer, I could see that it was slightly less portable than other laptops in its price and power range. I tried it out in the store, but one rarely gets a 'feel' for a computer without extensive home use. Fortunately, I had a friend who owned this computer, and he graciously allowed me access for several hours. I put it through its paces, including a thorough testing of its DVD, internet capabilities, CD burning, downloading time, embedded software, ease of screen, and keyboard access. This SONY notebook passed with flying colors. What was particularly impressive was the overall speed of its 2.66-GHz Pentium drive. Yet it was not only for this that gave it its zip. Most computer users calculate speed mostly in terms of the often touted drive speed. Certainly there are both desktops and laptops that feature faster speeds than this one, but what may get overlooked is a far more reliable barometer of throughput, the internal bus speed. A speed of 266 is considered fast. This laptop has a bus speed twice that. The screen was well-lit with no fuzziness anywhere. True, the slightly reduced keyboard takes a little getting used to, but I adapted within minutes. For those who like to play Hollywood DVDs, the result is as crisp as one could desire. Generally, this SONY laptop does what it is supposed to do: provide portability and functionality at a price that most of us can live with.

This is a fine laptop. It is fast and has been dependable. It is no hotter than any of the other laptops that I have owned, and I have held all of them in my lap while I did work. It is a superb value in todays market.

I recently bought this VAIO to replace my desktop, and so far it has surpassed almost every aspect of it...
It is heavier and louder than most laptops but when you are edtiting video you need a very powerful machine, and the FRV25 is no exception...
...the weird thing is that the ilink is ONLY for video capture!

I use firewire hard drives and the fastest data rate through the ilink is 3.6 MBs/s and not my usual 15-20 MBs/s... I found this rather unusual... I mean why would you even have to limit the bandwidth of the firewire port? that's just damn crazy!

The good news is that I scored a firewire PCMIA port and hooked it through there, so everything is good......

But if you're not into video editing, this is probably one of the slickest laptops available in this price range.

Thanx, SONY!

Bad things:-
1. All usb ports on the left side - make sure to buy a mouse with long cable
2. External cable connection next to CD drive - why complicate things dear SONY
3. Many keys not working - Just after two months. Am still try to figure out the SONY dealer in ISRAEL.
4. There is no International free one year service like what TOSHIBA offers.

While it is hard to say that 1 machine is the best in every area of performance, I have to say the Sony comes very close.

Everyone always wants to save money and some feel that technology is changing so fast that whats the difference if you buy a new machine every 6 months.

Whats the difference ? Have you ever tried movign all your personal files over with a flash memory card ? what about those programs and games you installed and now cant find the original disks to install them on a new machine ?

Also, I can't speak for other people, but I become very used to my machine and hate to just dump it or lose it when it finally gives way to time and us.

With the Vaio's and the Compaq's, you get a longer life span then some of the budget brands out there. I am not talking about major brands, but those specials for a $$$ machine with an unknown name on it.

Its hard to see the future, but this Vaio seems to have everything most people will ever want on a machine, unless some new technology comes out that we don't know about yet. The DVD surprised us all I'm sure. I watch movies on every flight I take on my laptop.

Sony seems to give you the highest quality but then ask you for the highest price. Its up to you, but honestly with Sony, you get what you pay for, their machines are high quality and they last.

Best regards to All, MC -TheStickRules...

I have had the Vaio for several months, and the software installed on Vaio has finally crashed out completely. Sony now freely admits the cd recovery disk program included with the machine does not work, in fact has never worked, and they still want you to shell out 60 bucks for the cd recovery kit, which takes up to four weeks for delivery.

The Keyboard on my unit arrived with the 'delete' key not working, and Sony told me that since I had purchased it mail order, I would have to send it to them for repair, and it would take three mothns MINIMUM to fix. I have instead learned to live without a delete key.

Overall, a very poor experience with Sony. I will stick to Toshiba or Dell in the future, companies who were far more supportive of their products and customers.