Customer Reviews

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

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

 

 

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.

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...

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...

Before this, I had a Toshiba laptop (I had to exchange it--the dvd rom combo drive had problems--so I traded it for this one). This one is better looking. Sony has a good reputation to me, so I wasn't surprised to like this one. So far, the laptop has impressed me, no problems yet (unusual!)

The 32 mb video ram, 30 gb hard drive, 1.6 P4-M and 512 mb ddr-sdram makes this laptop a great buy for the price!

I work on my computers daily. Sony laptops are exactly what you want. Turn it on, work, turn it off. No problems. Cool!

I went through three lapetops in a month in a half it being the most scarest purchase in my life they were falling apart walking out the door on my fourth try I chose the GRX550 by SONY IT will not be beat! better graphics,speed,512mbram @ much more.I would mention teck support but I have had NO need for it not 1 proublem in 3 months. Thank you sony the grx550 is #1 please dont stop building this modle

Bought it in Sep 2002. It has been very disappointing. THe keys falling apart. The cd drive door broke. Keys getting stuck etc. Was not at all happy with the model.

its pretty pricey at the price, and 2nd is the ram they give you is maxed out meaning 512 is the maximum ram it can handle in total. the processor itself is stuck on 1.6 meaning it cannot go any higher or lower then the 1.6ghz they provided, its a pretty dissapointing thing in total so my rating is very poor since the fixed processor means that if you short it out its VERY pricey to replace