Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO PCG-FXA32 Notebook (900-MHz Duron, 128 MB RAM, 15 GB hard drive)

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

 

 

I bought an FXA-32 laptop for home use, and it is a very good product given the price. It comes with an impressive 15" display and graphics are fantastic. The speed of FXA-32 is O.K. But to my suprise, it runs much faster after I added in an extra 128MB RAM (total 256MB). Kinston is running a promotion for Sony and I got the extra 128MB almost free (just pay $9 shipping cost). The machine is very reliable, and I don't see any reason to buy a desk top computer for home use.

However, the customer service of Sony on FXA-32 is the worst I have ever seen (not even remotely close to Dell). They do not return your email!!! I tried more than 10 times to reach them by phone, even at odd hours. But not a single time that I can get through. Circuit City alwayse refers the problem to Sony, but that is a black hole after many tries.

Here is a list of things I found on my machine:
(1) It needs to download various updates from Sony Web site and install them one by one (an hour job with a good IP connection).
(2) Volume control can only be set through control penal.
(3) Brightness control is not found and disabled from keyboard.
(4) System reading on CPU speed is buggy. I got a wide range of readings from 564MHz to 900 MHz.
(5) The manual is poorly written and not helpful.
(6) On my machine, Microsoft Word is not properly installed, missing wordret.ini. But without support, there is no way to fix it.

These are all minor problems if there is proper technical support. But overall, it is a very good machine and I give it a 4 star.

I bought this computer for my wife and have been pleasantly surprised by it. The screen is 15" which makes for very nice veiwing. The touch pad is a good size and responds well, but we bought a mouse for it, and hooked it up with no problems.

We also wanted to do wireless internet through our cable hookup. Installing the wireless card was fairly easy but Windows XP said it had not approved the card for the XP OS. But after installation I have never seen that warning again, and the wireless card works fine.

Another plus is that you get "free" 128mb ram upgrade. Yes the ram is free but they charge you 10-12 dollars (depending on type of shipping) for shipping. I found the shipping a little high but heck its free, I cannot complain to much.

There are a couple of drawbacks. 1)The operating speed which says 900 duron, but is actually about 667mghz. Getting a P3 or P4 drastically increases the price of a laptop, so I can settle for the speed. I have a P3 800mghz desktop, and can notice very minimal slowdown when comparing the two. 2)The sound is very light. Having the sound maxed out still seems to be very quiet. I do not know if buying external speakers would help or not. I venturing to say they would help.

The programs are fairly good ones. The DVD player works good, and is very clear on the screen. Windows XP, while still in it's infantile stage runs smooth. I also do see some ghosting from time to time that another consumer wrote about. I am guessing this is an XP problem.

Overall a very good first time laptop. The screen is top notch (which to my wife matters most), just wish the sound was a little better. I would recommend this laptop for first time buyers. Vetrans of laptops may want to look elsewhere.

Battery life: 30 minutes doing nothing
Tech support says this is normal!
What?
YES, they say this is normal. Now I Know they have no sense.
What can you possibly acomplish in 30 minutes on a laptop, assuming you are doing something productive. Forget about using this laptop in the airport.
The poorest, most sorry, stupid, neanderthal tech support on the planet.
Opposite of a Toyota product, wish they made a laptop.

This is my first laptop purchase and I am somewhat diappointed with the speed of the 900MHZ Duron processor. My 400MHZ desktop is MUCH faster. The screen is bright and large (15"). I am extremely frustrated witht the Windows XP OS...what a joke! Don't count on using Netscape, the mail settings are lost with each reboot. I believe I would spend the extra ... for a Pentium or Athlon to speed things up. Instant access buttons would be nice as well such as dvd controls or internet quck start. No hardware problems, however.

The 15 GB hard drive these days doesn't conform to today's demands. Sony's Technical Support indicated that the 15 GB was the maximum feasible, running contrary to some online information that I'd uncovered before considering an upgrade. I went with a vendor on Ebay who assured me that the 120 GB drive he offered (for $76 total price) would work, and posted a WEB source to help in its installation, which is not an intuitive (but not too difficult) procedure. The information divulging that the Sony PCG series is one of the more amenably upgradable notebooks turned out to be dead-on. The 120 HD has transformed the unit, and actually works better with XP Pro. It makes a very good notebook an excellent one, with good battery life using a high-capacity battery. I'm very pleased with the unit's performance in the year I've owned it, at a fraction of the investment for a contemporary model.

I purchased my PCG-FXA32 nearly two years ago, when they were offering the free 256MB RAM upgrade. It's served me well. It does not feel sluggish compared to other notebooks running WinXP. The screen is crisp and clear -- there aren't many notebooks at this price with a 15" screen. Mine has been rock-solid, never crashing unless I've put it to sleep with my wi-fi pc card installed (hibernate works fine.)

Sony would like to sell this model as a video editing platform (it does include a FireWire port.) Their software works ok, but with only 15GB of hard drive space, an upgrade there is in order unless you're just making short videos for the web or something.

Overall, a good notebook, and a great value.

I purchased this Laptop in December, I have had a couple before this and I decided to go with a Sony. The computer is pretty good, there is 2 things that I have problems with....

1. The processor does not know how fast it is...It ranges between 550 to 900mhz.

2. The mouse like to stall for a second or two..which is kinda annoying...

other than that this computer is not that bad...I am goin to try an Athlon or Pentium 3...in a Sony brand...but like I said before...this does the job O.K.

I just recently got the Sony Vaio FXA-32 notebook and I am completely satisfied! For a [very good price], you get a 900 MHz notebook with a 15" screen from Sony! The 15 GB is more than enough for home office purposes, the ATI Graphic card is not the best choice but it works. Just upgrade the Memory and buy an external CD-Writer.

I live in Japan and I decided to buy a Japanese computer. I went to the local computer store and bought a VAIO notebook. The first night I got it I had problems. It froze often. I really didnt think much of it. It also would say "not enough memory....." I bought more memory and it said the same thing. I would have to turn it off then back on. Sometimes it wont turn off. Then, files started to disapear until it could even boot up. I sent it off to sony to get fixed, but when it came back it was still messed up.

My friend in college told me never buy a Sony computer I should have listened. He had a Sony and had problems with it. Sonys are eye candy for PCs. Buy an America comptuer.