Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO PCG-GRZ610 Laptop (2.0-GHz Pentium 4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive)

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

 

 

I recently purchased this notebook and would recommend it as a good performer. The major drawback of this notebook is its noisy fan, which kills the spirit of this otherwise good notebook, getting it only 3.5 stars. The cooling mechanism is not good, which is required for a P4 2.0 processor (considering that it is not P4-m). Moreover the fan remains on all the time, which is irritating while working in a library or a quite office. In terms of CPU performance the notebook performs very good when operating on AC power. It is good for watching movies, writing and debugging extensive code using heavy weight IDEs such as Visual Studio. It is also good for gaming. However, when running in the quite mode or on battery, the CPU speed drops down to as low as 735 MHz (As shown in the system sub panel of the control panel). The display while good needs to be addressed - The TFT screen of my seven day old notebook has developed black areas near the lower corners. The CDRW/DVD drive is very good and extermely fast in burning CDs. The battery generally operates for 1.5 hrs before draining completely. The note book however is certainly better than a Toshiba 2415 and Compaq 2500, which has an even noisier fan. Overall I would rate it as a good notebook but sony needs to work hard in improving their cooling mechanism and fan noise.

In buying a new notebook computer, I had three criteria: I wanted a 15 inch monitor, a processor speed of at least 2 GHz, and a price under [$]. Only a handful of computers satisfy all three of these criteria, and ultimately it came down to a choice between the Vaio and the Toshiba Satellite (2410/2415), which cost virtually the same but have slightly different features. I have used many laptops over the years, and the Vaio has significant plusses and minuses in comparison with other notebooks I've used.

The Vaio has a slim, compact design, a very bright and clear display, and a very nice full-sized keyboard. It has 32 MB of video memory (compared with 16 for the Satellite), and it handles graphics-intensive tasks with ease (I'm not a high-end gamer, though, and I doubt that this computer would be sufficient for that purpose). It is pleasant to use and it has some decent built-in tutorials to help you navigate the many multimedia applications. The Satellite is a little more "chunky" looking and the display did not look as sharp or as bright when I saw the two computers side by side.

The Vaio does have some limitations. Whereas the Toshiba Satellite has a "mobility" processor (designed for a laptop, it runs at a lower temperature and requires less cooling), the Vaio has a standard Pentium 4 processor. As a consequence, the fan operates continuosly with the Vaio, and if you are doing anything processor-intensive, the fan becomes quite loud. In a quiet room, such a library or office, it would be clearly audible for 30 or 40 feet at top speed. It is much louder than the fan on any notebook computer I've ever used. When operating normally (for example, doing low-demand tasks such as word processing) it is not unusually loud. The fan can be switched to a "quiet" mode although I believe that this also slows the processor speed. Surprisingly, there are no external controls for playing CDs. On the Toshiba (and most notebooks I've used), you can play CDs and adjust the volume using controls on the exterior of the case, without turning on the computer. With the Vaio, you can't. Also, the Vaio does not come standard with a 3.5 inch floppy drive. I almost never use floppies, but sometimes they are just the only convenient way to get a file onto your computer. Both the Toshiba and the Vaio come with three USB ports; in the case of the Toshiba they are USB 1.1. I believe that they are USB 2.0 on the Vaio, although I am not certain of that.

A limitation of both computers is that they use the "touch pad" pointing device. I had one of these on my last computer and I hated it from day one. They are just not accurate enough for long-term use and clicking the right mouse button is very cumbersome. The IBM-style "pencil eraser" pointing device is a much better mouse substitute for a notebook computer and I wish that more computers would adopt something similar. I usually use a plug-in external mouse so it's not a huge problem for me, but if you frequently need to operate the computer in cramped conditions or where you do not have a desk or hard surface on which to use an external mouse, consider buying an IBM for the pointing device. Also, the battery life on both of these computers is relatively short.

The Vaio packs a lot of power and features into a relatively low price. It is a good computer for people who need to be able to take their work with them but who are usually able to sit down at a desk and plug in the AC power and an external mouse. Because of the touch pad, the short battery life, the lack of a mobility processor, and the lack of a floppy drive, it is probably not the best for someone who needs maximum mobility and flexibility.

I was very, very wary of purchasing this computer due to the claims of excessive fan noise described here on Amazon. However, after checking it out at the store thoroughly, I found the fan noise to be no big deal and went ahead with my purchase.

The fan is loudest when changing rpms, and for a few moments it can be pretty annoying. However I found the fan noise overall to be pretty negligible. The CD/DVD rom drive, I found could be much, much louder though, especially when combined with the fan. This was, to my suprise, more of am issue when using cds and cd-roms than with DVDs, which ran relatively quietly.

Conclusion: The fan makes a cooling-fan sound. If you are used to laptops that do not have fans (some macs, for example), or completely silent ones, this may be an issue. Under normal operation (not in 'silent' mode) I found the grz610 fan noise to be very tolerable and not a disturbance to those around me.

Otherwise:

Performance: Very good. However, I think that this system will benefit from the addition of 256MB RAM under windows XP.

Design: Large - nice, big screen, but this laptop did not fit into my carrying sleeve, so buy a big one. Heavy - this is a beefy laptop, and if you are toting the AC adapter as well, you will definitely be feeling it.

Software extras: The usual bunch of bundled software which I ritualistically delete and replace with professional versions.

Other: I thought the speakers actually sounded pretty good for a laptop.

Overall satisfaction: Very good. I'd give it 4.5 stars if they would let me, but it is better than 4, so I give it a 5.

I recently purchased this notebook and would recommend it as a good performer. The major drawback of this notebook is its noisy fan, which kills the spirit of this otherwise good notebook, getting it only 3.5 stars. The cooling mechanism is not good, which is required for a P4 2.0 processor (considering that it is not P4-m). Moreover the fan remains on all the time, which is irritating while working in a library or a quite office. In terms of CPU performance the notebook performs very good when operating on AC power. It is good for watching movies, writing and debugging extensive code using heavy weight IDEs such as Visual Studio. It is also good for gaming. However, when running in the quite mode or on battery, the CPU speed drops down to as low as 735 MHz (As shown in the system sub panel of the control panel). The display while good needs to be addressed - The TFT screen of my seven day old notebook has developed black areas near the lower corners. The CDRW/DVD drive is very good and extermely fast in burning CDs. The battery generally operates for 1.5 hrs before draining completely. The note book however is certainly better than a Toshiba 2415 and Compaq 2500, which has an even noisier fan. Overall I would rate it as a good notebook but sony needs to work hard in improving their cooling mechanism and fan noise.

This is the second laptop I bought. I had a wonderful experience with this laptop, and no problem with it at all! I don't have an overheating problem with it and I don't have a fan problem with it. The fan just gets a bit louder when I load an application that uses a lot of memory or CPU. It is really fast and I upgraded the ram to 1 GB. It's perfect for anything!

Overheats and shuts down all the time, to the point where I can't even use it. DVD player doesn't work (could be related to the overheating problem).

Sony not only not helpful, actually wasting my time by giving me misleading, time-consuming solutions to try (which of course are useless)

laptops are not supposed to do this. I know, because I've seen my friends buy cheaper(!!!) ones that work fine.

This computer does function fairly well as a good looking, solid paperweight though.

With all due respect... lap tops do run hot. Though, often the problem with over heating is due to poor maitenance or atempts to use software at the far reach of capacity for the system.
I had many of the same problems most of the reviews speak of. Then, I learned to clean my computer. Free of dust and programs not really intended for its capacity. Since, I havent found another lap top that comes even close to the Vaio GRZ630! Its over 6 years old and I use it for all my media!
I used to agree... then I realized I was the problem!

Computer worked fine for 6 months. After that computer began shutting down unexpectedly. We found out that this was an issue with an overheating CPU. Sony has not been helpful, we sent the computer to get fixed by them. When they sent it back the computer worked fine for another 2 months. This has been the worst experience with a laptop that I've ever had from a hardware point of view and from the service that we have received from Sony. You pay extra dollars for a recognizable brand only to get the quality of a cheap brand.

Do yourself a favor..... get a Dell.

We have a house full of Sony products - computers, monitors, TVs, DVDs, even an original Walkman that still works. I never thought twice about buying Sony notebooks, a PCG-GRZ610 for my wife the author, and a PCG-GRZ630 for my son going off to college. Now a little more than a year later both are having serious problems overheating. They shut down without warning after 30 - 60 minutes of work. Won't burn a CD without shutting down. It didn't take much time in the Amazon reviews to find out that MANY Sony users are having the same problems. Search for "Sony shutdown problem" in Google and see for yourself.

Sony's support is terrible. Their phone rings in India. I'm OK with that, but the staff reads prepared text from their monitors and avoids all questions about overheating. Standard reply: "Reinstall the factory software." Out-of-warranty phone "support" costs $20.

Save yourself some frustration. Buy a Dell, Compaq, or Toshiba notebook untill you can verify that Sony has resolved this problem.

I agree with the first reviews. Never buy Sony Vaio notebooks.
The design of the mainboard is really old and is not conceived to support the modern processors, so the notebook overheats and shuts down after some time.
I also had a really bad support from Sony, it seems they are joking with customers, they should be aware of this problem and recall the systems for a free repair, instead they ask about 650$.
With that money is better to buy a new laptop, surely not from Sony.