Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO PCG-FXA36 Notebook (1-GHz Athlon, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'v had this machine for over 6 months now & I love it. I was not used to XP, but have found the operating system, doesn't crash. Programs will, and XP closes them down. XP will not handle all hardware though. I insisted on installing something, and it said that the driver was not approved for XP, but I installed it anyway. The device never worked, and XP froze the driver each boot. I uninstalled it, but it destroyed DirectX's 3D until I reinstalled XP. The modem usually connects between 49 & 52. The DVD/CDRW works great. Pulling out the 3.5 for a second battery more than doubled it's short power life. 1 battery usually lasts 1.2 hours. With a second SONY battery (nonames shorted out-By Sony's Design??) it lasts a little more than 3 hours. Cable modem is super fast either connected or by wireless PC card. And the software movie shaker lets you make your own movies. I installed the full office Suite, and Flash & Dreamweaver, works fine. My only complaint is XP, which will run SOME programs in 95/98 emulation mode but not all (Games). When the thumb pad doesn't work well, licking your finger helps. Not all function keys work like mobile Pentium, and there is no instruction. Calling Sony, they will explain it for you, but expect a long wait. Online help is usually instructions to reformat. If you want 512 MB RAM, you'll have to replace BOTH 128MB cards with two 256MB cards. Stands up to being dropped while on without losing your program. Listening to DVD's with headphones is great. One of the largest viewable laptop screens. Hard drive is partitioned 8Gig Fat32(limit) & 11Gig NTFS.

I've owned an FXA36 for a little over 2 months. It is a great machine but has some minor glitches. The modem is a software based modem. I have upgraded the software from the Sony site but still does not contect at any higher than 33.6k and disconnects a lot. My hardware based Zoom modem on my old desktop consistly connects at 52k and seldom disconnects. But I recently used the FXA36 ethernet card to connect a cable modem and it works great! The 8x CD writer (there's also a DVD and CD rewriter - all in one) works great and is intuitive. Sony technical assistance has been very helpful and knowledgable although the waits can run 20 minutes and longer. Not sure I like Windows XP it comes with as much as Windows NT or Windows 98, but maybe once I get used to it.

All in all, despite having to reload the total operating system right after I bought it because the telephone modem would not connect to the internet, I've grown to love the thing. It is speedy and light weight. I using it as a desktop replacement and except with some problems with the Windows sound scheme and various user profiles, I am very pleased (Note you should check the Sony support website at http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/support/pc/pcgfxa32-fxa36/ for software updates).

If you are looking for a super-fast laptop that's so hard to crash, and is cool enough to actually run on your laps, your search may be over.

Until I used this laptop, I was beginning to think that all the later laptops are slow, heat-emitting, energy-hogging machines with poor display, that crash every few months.
This Sony PCG-FXA36 totally made an exception in my perspective towards today's laptops.

It comes with a new generation of AMD's Athlon MPU with Powernow! technology that runs 75% more efficiently, and does more work at the same # of clock cycles than other processors with a similar speed rating. This means longer battery life, cooler computer, and faster performance. The 1GHz Athlon 4 (laptop ver. of Athlon XP) performs equally to a regular Athlon or Pentium III 1.2GHz. I thought it was just talk until I opened the new Microsoft Media Player 7, the heavy one, in just two seconds.

It also comes with a CDRW/DVD combo drive that can burn entire audio CDs in just about eight minutes, when using its really user friendly audio player/recorder. As user friendly as putting a blank CD and hitting the on-screen record button, after putting songs on its playlist.

In addition to the colorful new Windows XP OS from Microsoft, it comes with an alternative file manager exclusively from Sony that is sooo neat, where the icons float around, you just have try it yourself to appreciate it.

For the external display output, it has an RCA jack in addition to the standard 15-pin header. This feature allows users to use their home TV sets or projectors with RCA signal input jacks alternatively to the built-in LCD display. This lets its users watch DVDs or do presentations on a bigger screen, a feature I really like.

The LCD display that it has is as good as a Macintosh iBook's LCD display. Sharp, accurate colors, and has a very good viewing angle.

This little Sony laptop reminds me of a portable mono Sony cassette recorder that I owned when I was about four years old. I treated it rather roughly and played with it frequently, yet it did not break down on me even once. It was still in good condition when I turned twelve years old.

This Sony PCG-FXA36 is nothing but a product of pure quality craftsmanship!

sony has done a good job designing this machine. it has a really good cooling system for a powerfull machine, it does not crash at all, at least in my case, and is a relatively cheap but excellent machine compared to other brands. i will not bore you with the pros because you can get these all over but be aware that there are some things that sony could improve to make this computer even better.

1. this computer is powered by the new amd palomino core (a.k.a. athlon4/athlon xp) so that means it can support pc133 sdram and ddr-sdram which are higher bandwidth memory modules. the fxa currently the fxa series only support pc100 sdram so there is a relatively low bandwidth so you won't get to experience the true power of the athlon4. let's hopethat the next fxa machines have these memory
2. you cannot upgrade your operating system. a stupid thing from sony. so if you want another operating system you would have to do a clean installation but you won't be able to use the bundled software.
3. ati rage is an old video card with only 8mb sdram at a slow 2x agp so this computer actually [is bad] for games. i would recommend at least a newer video card with 16mb ddr-sdram at 4x agp because fxa machines are supposed to be powerfull. another stupid thing from sony.
4. amd processors eat up a lot of battery power so don't expect your battery to last long, even if powernow technology and the .18 micron process are big features of the athlon4. also remember that fxa are powerfull machines. the more power the more energy. amd is finally moving up to the .13 micron process and it is about time to catch up with intel.
5. their customer support simply [is bad] if your vaio happens to fail, but that will LEAST likely happen.

so this is still a great machine if you compare it with other brands. you can get all this stuff for a relatively low price. even the gr series which are also powerfull are at least $300 cheaper than dell inspirons. so buy this machine if you are lookingfor something powerfull for a low price.

I've had this computer since Dec. 2001. You name it - I've done it to this computer. Dropped on an asphalt street several times, taken on several tours with me in the Navy and even helped me meet my current spouse online.

It's still running great and has never needed repairs - I did upgreade the harddrive and the ram to 512 - runs Adobe CS2 great and downloads torrents nonstop :)

I bought another companies version of this model first and it was a bad experience. The Sony is great, powerfull, and does not get so hot htat you can fry an egg on it. I have had my machine on for 48 hours straight and the keys are cool to the touch as I type this message. The only drawback for it ( I think) is the software that they give you. Typical Sony herding us to what they want. But, I really like the laptop!!

most who attempt to write reviews do not have time on thier side. i have had a hard drive,two CD-roms,and a power card fail on this machine. after calling sony and getting either the parts or service done,i found that i always had the machine back within a week. for three years this computer has served me like a good horse,faithfully and unquestioningly,thru three schools,two states,and one international trip. however,i find sony's tech support site a runaround. call phone support,fedex it to sony,and they'll have it back PDQ.

The FXA series suffers many problems that almost require a website to build some solidarity amongst users it has been burdened with. You may wonder how I know the things below. Well having had two models of the FXA series you can find the problems pretty quickly.

1. For starters this machine has trouble regulating its internal temperature causing it to seize. This problem comes and goes.

2. The docking mechanism for those who don't have one has a flaw in it. Sony didn't do a blanket recall. They want you to call them to get it fixed. It involves putting a new capacitor to regulate the video signal.

3. Sony will try and not fix it until your warranty runs out. We excecised our retailer warranty and upgraded to get rid of our FXA49 which had been in Four times.

4. The laptop has software compatibility issues for the power user. Virus scanners will almost certainly halt the machine. Including the one provided by Sony.

I had this thing since early 2002. Bought it refurbished, with 90 warranty, and never had problems with anything! The only weak point is the built-in modem, which connects slower on my noisy phone line than another (and newer) laptop.

With a recent OS reinstall and a memory upgrade to 512Mb it is still very responsive, and works very well as my mp3 media center.

I only wish it had USB2 ports, otherwise moving data in and out in this day and age becomes a bit of an issue.

What a piece of crap!!! Thank God I bought an extended warranty...too bad for the warranty company. There have been over $10,000 in repairs done to this unit, the original cost before warranty $2300. I don't travel much with it, it sits on a desk. They have replaced monitor 2x, the harddrive 2 or 3x, the cd/dvd drive 2x and it is still broken, the keyboard 1x, the motherboard 1x (that I know of), it blue screens weekly at least once sometimes 2 & 3 times and the battery has never worked. I contacted Sony and got no assistance from them. I don't recommend this unit to anyone...get an IBM!!