Sony VAIO PCG-GRX-550 Notebook Computer (1.6 GHz Intem Pentium IIII, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 14 x 1.8 inches ; 5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000065UPS
• Item model number: PCG-GRX550
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,054 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 4, 2002

Product Description

Set up shop and complete your work just about anywhere with this Sony PCGGRX550 laptop. See everything clearly with the 15M-^T XGA TFT display and power through your favorite applications with the 512MB DDR SDRAM memory, 30GB hard drive, and new, ultra-fast 1.6GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 processor. A combination DVD/CD-RW drive lets you take your movies and music with you wherever you go, and a 56K V.90 modem makes accessing the Internet a breeze.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True desktop replacement at reasonable price, May 12, 2002

By 

Richard Bloss (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-GRX-550 Notebook Computer (1.6 GHz Intem Pentium IIII, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive) (Personal Computers)

If you are in the market for a laptop that will do everything your desktop will do and more, and still be portable with decent battery life and lots of features, this is your machine!

I continue to be impressed with this laptop two weeks after I have bought it...it does everything I ask very well.

First, the tech info:

1.6Ghz P4 mobile, 512 MB DDRAM, 32MB DDRAM Video card, 30GB Hard Drive.

The ports are many and varied: Memory stick, PCMCIA, 3 USB, 1 Serial, 1 Parallel, 1 TV-out, iLink (Firewire), Microphone, Headphone.

Cons: lack of external volume control is a big one for me. I like to be able to adjust the volume of a movie without messing with the screen, impossible on this laptop. Also the sound level is a little low, external speakers will probably be a good idea if you are watching a movie in a group.

The lack of a 3.5in floppy drive is fustrating, as the adapter to use a Memory Stick in a 3.5" drive is 80 bucks.

Performance: completely blows away any laptop I have ever used. Plays movies, games, any software without a hitch, and the high quality LCD screen looks great (best at native resolution, 1024x768).

Things Sony doesn't tell you -

1) TV-out. Works great, but you need a special cable from Sony that of course is not included. Luckily I had one already from my Sony digital camera, so I do not need to buy one.

2) Second battery bay - What they don't tell you is you have to remove the DVD drive to use it. So forget about watching Braveheart with no interruptions from a DVD....

All in all, I am very impressed with the features and performance of this laptop, and am totally satisfied with it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best screamer notebook for its price, April 12, 2002

By 

TD PD "G" (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-GRX-550 Notebook Computer (1.6 GHz Intem Pentium IIII, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive) (Personal Computers)

P4-1.6GHz : faster applications
30Gb : more storage than you usually need
512Mb RAM : virtually no paging : all applications run in memory, more open applications without compromising speed
DDR : faster RAM than before
16Mb Video Ram : better screen colors and faster graphics.
DVD movies : as smooth as ever.
CD-RW : cut your CDs easily
Win XP Home : Highly stable OS (despite what some may claim, this is not 98-class anymore. I develop real apps on this)
Quicker suspend and restart Never ever have to shutdown.
3USB ports , one for your digital camera, one for keyboard and one for mouse
1 iLink port for your camcorder
15" display : great for a notebook
Jog Dial : Just a gimmick :->

Looks good, runs fast, but you need a cart to carry it around.

love it... be the first one to buy it...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best laptop, May 30, 2002

By 

sanjay sinha (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-GRX-550 Notebook Computer (1.6 GHz Intem Pentium IIII, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive) (Personal Computers)

i bought this laptop 3 weeks ago. earlier i had toshiba and hp laptops. but i sold both the laptops. i saw the laptop on net and i bought this. this is a wonderful machine. it is really powerful and very attractive look. i must say taht you can do anything with this machine, what so ever is possible with a computer. screen is large enough to see movie. key board is very sleek. i don't see any cons...