Sony VAIO X505 Review (pics, specs)

The Sony VAIO X505never made an appearance in a James Bond movie, although it should have. It's the notebook any decent secret agent or highly image concious person needs. But if you're a normal business person, studentor just looking for a good home PC thenbuying afeather-light, noiseless, gorgeous looking andthin $3,000 notebook (did you think I was going to say supermodel?) just doesn't make sense.

Sony VAIO X505 Overview

The Sony VAIO X505 was released in Japan last year. We assumed it would never make it to the U.S. Demand for this style of notebook is higher in Japan that it is state-side. But a lot of companies that import Japanesetech productsand configure them to be able to sell to U.S. buyers, such as iCube (www.icube.us) and Dynamism(www.dynamism.com)found that they were doing good business with the X505. SoSony took heed to this phenomenon and released the X505 in North America in the Spring of 2004.

Sonyalso realizes it's always good to have a top of the line product to boost a brands image. The X505 certainlysolidifiesthe VAIO brandas being very cutting edge with design and image, and that helps improve the image of even the low-end VAIO products since they can claim to be part of a well-respected brand.

Sony VAIO X505 in all it's thinness and glory (view larger image)

VAIO brand talk aside, let's answer the question as to what kind of laptop the VAIO X505 is and who the notebook is targeted at for it's buying audience. Without a doubt the VAIO x505 belongs in the category of being an ultraportable notebook. It in fact redefines the category. I used to tell people that an ultraportable notebook is any machine that weighs between2lbs - 4lbs and has some type of low power chip. Well, the VAIO X505 is 1.85lbs so it kind of dips below my definition. Maybe we should make a special exception for the VAIO X505 and put it in the new category of "insanely thin and light ultraportable" notebook. Kind of a mouthful. The target audience? Well, that's the mystery, and the only group I can say right now this notebook makes sense for are business people that travel a whole lot and crave light and thin laptops, have money to spend and want to appear cool. Maybe Hollywood types that just want to look cool would do well with this notebook too.

Sony VAIO X505 Specs

• Processor: 1.1-GHz Intel Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M


• 512MB DDR SDRAM


• 20GB hard drive


• 64MB Intel 855GME graphics


• 802.11 a/b/g wireless (using card that's supplied)


• 2 USB 2.0 ports


• 1 FireWire port


• 10.4-inch display


• 10.2 x .38-.83 x 8.2 inches (width x height x depth)


• 1.8-pound system wegiht, 2.6-pound travel weight


• Windows XP Professional

VAIO X505 Design

Sony VAIO X505 Notebook and Paper Notebook (view larger image)

This is the section where anybody who reviews an X505 gloats. If you know anything about this notebook you know that is the thinnest of the thin-and-lights, it's the ultimate in providing ease of mobility and travel. Youcan put it in your briefcase and not only will it fit as well as any paper notebook, you won't even notice the extra weight it adds.

The body of the X505 is made of a composite nickel-carbon fiber. This material is commonly used in the biking world, Carbon Fiber provides an incredibly strong body at a fraction the weight of other metals; the only catch is this material costs a lot. The nickel-carbon compositegives the system a very rigid and sturdy feel, the material is cold to the touch so it looks and feels like metal. The dark-grey look is sleek on the outside, and then on the inside there is a graphite type of finish that also looks nice. But who are we kidding, you'll be trying to impress onlookers so it's the outside-facing look that counts. To add to this cool outer look the power button is incorporated right into the hinge and glows neongreen to indicate when power is on. At first I struggled to find where the power button was on the X505, since with every other laptop I've owned it's placed on the keyboard somewhere. The hinge location just goes to furthershow that Sony engineers are both innovative and design-aware.

Checkout the cool neon green power light in the hinge (view larger image)

The screen is 10.4-inches. It's the same size as any other ultraportable notebooks screen, such as the Sony VAIO TR series, Fujitsu P7000 series orSharp Actius MM20. The Sony screenhas very good brightness.It is a crisp and clearXGA resolution screen. I'm not a fan of small screens with a relatively low resolution (I prefer SXGA or UXGA, so to me XGA is "low-resolution") so I struggled with being able to fit enough on the screen to satisfy my viewing pleasure. But that's of course the trade off with an ultraportable notebook, you get a really small and really light computer but lose screen size and other features.

Top View of the Sony VAIO X505 with memory-card reader PC card and VGA dongle by its side (view larger image)

VAIO X505 Keyboard and Input

The keyboard is somewhat tough to use on the VAIO. The keyboard is small, with key pitch (key pitch is defined as the distance from the center of one key to the next)only measuring 13mm (19mm is the norm). The key pitch must be 18mm - 20mm to qualify as full-size according to ISO standard. To compensate for small key pitch, Sony adds substantial spacing between the keys. This translates into a keyboard that is 90% full-size (equivalent to 17mm key pitch). This issimilar to other mini notebooks such as the Sharp Actius MM20.Aside fromthe size issue with the keyboard, it is actually quite responsive, as is the pointing stick. Because it's 90% full-size you have to scale down the amount your fingers are used to travelling, but this is the same challenge for any ultraportable notebook.

At a first glance of the X505 you might actually look at the surface area on the keyboard and think, why didn't they extend the keys up a little for all that space that's not used between the keys and the screen? Well, the answer to that is the hard drive, processor and motheboard are all housed just above the keyboard, there's no room for anything else up there! The Sony design innovators pushed all of the internal components back above the keyboard to allow for the thin design.

Sony included a pointing stick instead of a touchpad, obviously to save on space. I love using a pointing-stick over a touch pad, so for me this was a big plus. The pointing stick is small, nothing like the nice sized one I have on my ThinkPad T40, but it is responsive and works well for moving the pointer around the screen so no huge complaints.

At the base of the keyboard are your standardmouse buttons for performing normal right-click and left-click actions. Also included is a middle button that acts as a scrollbar. If you hold this in and move the pointing stick then instead of moving the mouse cursor it will scroll the page you're viewing in the direction you push the stick. This makes for easy viewing of long web pages, and since the screen is small and XGA resolution you'll find that most websites don't fit on one page on the X505. I love this middle button/pointing stick scroll feature, I'm very used to using it on my ThinkPad T40 so its use comes very natural to me.

X505 Processor Performance

The X505 uses a Pentium M 1.10GHz ultra low voltage Pentium M processor. So it's not the fastest chip on (or off)the block, but the name of the game is to sacrifice a little bit of processor speed for improved battery life. When a notebook is as small as the X505 the battery is going to be a significant percent of the weight, the only way to help with this issue is downsize the battery and then use a processor that sips power and runs more slowly. Having said this, don't think that the X505 is going to trundle along. The performance, given the fact 512MB of RAM is included, is not bad for using your everyday applications such as Word, Excel or Internet Explorer for web browsing. But if you throw any games at the VAIO X505 it'll choke. The integrated graphics processor and low voltage chip can't handle shading and complicated polygon rendering. Just stick to the bread and butter applications and you'll be okay though.

We often use the program Super Pi to measure a notebooks processor performance. This program allows you to calculate Pi to a chosen number of digits, we always calculate it to 2 million for our processor performance test. View the following thread in the NotebookReview.com forums to post your own notebook calculation of Pi speed and see how other notebooks performed: http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2657

Using Super Pi to calculate Pi to 2 million decimal places of accuracy with theX505 achievedthe following results.

	VAIO X505 1.1GHz PM	IBM T41 1.6GHz PM	Fujitsu P5020 1.0GHz PM
Plugged In	3 mins 53 sec	2 mins 23 sec	3 mins 50 sec
With battery *:	5 mins 5 sec	4 mins 50 sec	5 mins 29 sec

As you can see, the VAIO X505 gives comparable results to the Fujitsu P5020 1.0 GHz Pentium M based notebook, but is outpaced quite handily by the more powerful IBM T41 1.6GHz Pentium M processor.

* The Intel Pentium M is designed to scale back on power and performance in order to save battery life when the notebook is running on battery power

VAIO X505 Features

The VAIO X505 does not have internal wireless, but Sony does provide you with a wireless card (802.11 a/b/g) that is easy to slot into the one availableType II PC card slot that resides on the right-side of the X505.Sony also provides a Type II PC card slot memory card reader this provides the ability to read Secure Digital, Compact Flash and of course Memory Stick cards.

The included FireWire port and Two USB 2.0 ports allows you to add devices to the X505 that are missing. The missingdevices I refer to is thatbeing any type of optical drive. If you want to load software onto the VAIO X505 you'll have to network it and get the install from another machine, download the install program, or splurge and buy an external DVD/CD optical drive that attaches via a USB connection.

VAIO X505 Sound

The speakers on the VAIO X505 are horrible. They're absolutely the quietest speakers I've heard on any notebook to date. I'm sure it was a design decision to use tiny low power speakers to keep weight down. So you'll want headphones to get any decent sound from the X505.

VAIO X505 Noise

Aren't noise and sound the same thing you might be wondering? Well, yes, but in the sense I'm speaking, noise is undesirable. It is the sounds produced by a notebook such as fans blowing, a hard drive clicking or optical drive spinning loudly that I refer to as "noise". The good news is the VAIO X505 is as silent as a whisper. It has no fans, and it has no optical drive to spin. This thing could be used on a submarine in which they're highly concerned about making as little noise as possible (since sonar is used to detect submarines, the less moving parts and the quieter the submarine and onboard equipment is, the better for staying hidden). The X505 is for sure the most whisper quite notebook I've ever used.

VAIO X505 Battery

In my battery drain test of charging the notebook up all the way and then forcing the screen to stay at full-brightness while Windows Media looped through an MP3 set of music the VAIO X505 went into hibernation at 5% charge remaining after 2 hours and 57 minutes.

The VAIO X505 battery isn't too much bigger than a pen!

VAIO X505 Conclusion

There's no tellingwhat inspired Sony engineers to successfully create this notebook and design it the way they did -- it's simply an amazing product design-wise. Likely it was another case of Sony Product Developers coming up with specs for a product and then barking orders to the wilful engineers to just meet the specs they set forth. According to Sony folktale, in 1994 Sony manager Shizuo Takashinowhen told by his staff thatSony's new videocamera couldn't get any smaller because there was no more space inside to eliminate, he challenged them to dunk it in a bucket of water. If bubbles come out of the camera, there's still room to trim he argued. The engineers went on to create a camcorder the size of a Japanese passport. It's likely that some product manager did the same thing to the group of engineers responsible for producing the VAIO X505.

VAIO X505 Recommendation

The two Sony VAIO ultraportables -- the TR series on the left, the X505 on the right

So to get to the point, do I recommend that anybody spend $3,000 for this notebook and is it practical? Well, honestly the answer to that is no. You absolutely have to be a geek and somebody in love with technology gadgets and innovative products to need this notebook. It would also never make sense to buy unless you need the ultimate in portability for travelling. And furthermore, you could get the Sony VAIO TR5for the exact same cost as the X505 and it has built-in wireless, a built-in DVD Burner, built-in camera and 1GB of RAM and weighs just under 1-lb more -- although granted the TR5 ismuch thicker than theX505. In my final opinion,I have to say there's no practical reason for buying the X505unless there's $3000 burning a hole in your pocket (if you're so lucky) and you're a sucker for the latest in design and technology.

Sony VAIO X505 Pricing and Availability

The VAIO X505 is available worldwide and specifically in the U.S. from SonyStyle.com for $2,999.99.

Tip Jar and Word From the Author

I hope you enjoyed and found this review of theVAIO X505informative and helpful. I'm a freelance writer and programmer based in New York. If you did find this review helpful and have a $1.00 to spare as a tip or contribution to the "Baxter Fund for Buying More Tech Gadget Junk" it would be greatly appreciated, just click the button below to donate via PayPal.

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Thank You! Thank You!

 

Amazingly thin. I wouldn't mind having that as a second notebook if I had a big DTR or something of the like.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

Wait, the X505 uses XBrite? I thought it didn't? Correct me if im wrong, but in the article, it is stated that it does?

 

I was surfing in the net to see what people were saying about the X505, and felt I'd add my own 2 cents to this review.

I recently purchased an X505 at SonyStyle's New York store, and I absolutely love it. I also have several things to disagree with on this review. I am not someone who has 3 grand to drop on a laptop any day of the week nor am I someone who always has to have the latest and greatest (I'm happy with my custom 3.0C P4, Ti4600 Desktop). But I did need a laptop for college, and I have always had something thin and light, always with an external CD-ROM (My first laptop being an Acer 340T). So a super-ultralight seemed like a good idea for college, since I was going to do some minor upgrading from my main desktop (just a video card/Shuttle XPC case upgrade) and didn't need a major gaming laptop.

Firstly, the keyboard on this laptop is simply amazing considering its size. I have not had one major issue with typing on the keyboard. The depth that the keys go down to, as well as the size of most of the keys (except maybe the up and down arrow keys) is simply amazing.

Second, just to clear things up, currently the only recent ultralight by Sony so use Xbrite is the TR series. The X505 does NOT use it, however the screen at full brightness is still very vibrant.

Third, just a side note regarding the ability of this laptop. I have Counter-Strike 1.6 installed, and it plays wonderfully at 1024x768 32bit color, OpenGL rendering. I get about 40fps constantly. And 3DMark2001 scored an impressive 2800 for an Intel Extreme Graphics based system.

One thing that the review doesn't mention is the wireless card. It didn't bother me to not have an interla wireless card, because the bundled one is a slim line card. However, the reception on the card absolutely sucks, 100%. Its range is horrid. I tested an Orinoco based card and I was able to surf at about 2x the range.

And I've recieved different results then most reviewers on the internet in the battery test. I use Sony's bundled power management software to maximize battery life, and I only recieved 1 hour, 53 minutes playing a continuous MP3 with the brightness maxed out. Figuring the Sony software had its own issues, I just used Window's built in power management software, and only edged out about 2 hours, 10 minutes.

All in all however, I am quite happy with my purchase. I did purchase Sony's 60gb external drive because I knew the 20gb would not be enough, and I can say that it has helped alot. The only thing that I hope Sony does is add a dual capacity battery like most of their other notebooks. True it would add significantly more weight, but it would then make it practical to use the External DVD+RW/-RW on a airline flight (rather then ripping a DVD to the HDD and taking up close to half of the drive). I say that it would take up close to half the drive, because the drive is parititioned into a 16 and 4gb partition, the 4gb one being for Sony's recovery image and software. You have to make your own recovery discs using this image, and there is no way to remove it without either wiping the drive or using a program like partition magic. You'd think for 3 grand, actually 3400 (for the DVD writer), they'd include premade Sony Recovery discs, but they didn't. Also, they have no case for the DVD+RW/-RW, and a case much like the one for the laptop or the accesories case would be a perfect addition for that.

 

Im glad you cleared up some parts for me. I am currently thinking of purchasing either the X505 or the Fujitsu P7000. I need something ultralight, as i am a college student as well, and will purchase the X505 only if i can get it at about $2000. Don't ask me how i plan to do that, but if i can't, i will be purchasing the P7000.

The fact that the X505 does not have a internal optical drive doesn't bother me, however the fact that the battery life is only 2 hours greatly concerns me. I never needed all those different ports that the P7000 came with, and i would love to get rid of them to form a smaller, thinner laptop which is what the X505 is. Even the fact that the HD is that small will not bother me as well since i have a main PC as well. (3200+ Barton with 9800pro)

Do you think that the battery life will differ if you used an outside program, not made from windows or sony, or is that the reality of using this thin of an ultralight notebook? This is the part that may form or break my decision. I know that the P7000 has very good battery life or at least one that will exceed 3 hours easily. =i

 

As a TR user, I would like to add my opinion in answer to the last couple of replies. (Sorry but it is a forum)

I agree, I have seen this baby (X505) recently in use at a Starbucks in Boston during the Democratic convention and it truly is cool in the style department, but for the extra 1.3 pounds in weight, I feel that the TR series offers much better value for money and it makes better sense as a College machine. (Its also a head turner as well, at least as much as the Fujitsu P7010 is, if thats what you want it for) The one down side to working on an X505 is that everyone will stop and ask you about it, as did the four people including myself that were stopping the Journalist I saw using it in this Starbucks. In the 15 minutes I was there, he did nothing apart from demonstrate this machine to onlookers! Just like the Vaio commercials I suppose!

With the TR3 now coming in at $2200 ($200 more than the P7010) with integral optical drive, integral Bluetooth and Wifi, 40gb HDD (20 gigs less than the P7010) coupled with Xbrite Wide screen and better battery performance why would anyone consider the X505? For the same price as a X505 you can get the TR5 with built in DVD burner and a gig of ram.... Also don't forget the very usefull built in Web Cam..... I use it all the time now and had never used a web cam before owning this laptop.

In my experience with both Sony & Fujitsu, I would pay the extra and go for the Sony, (and did with the the TR1) but that is purely personal as I had a bad experience with Fujitsu which I believe is not the norm.

This is just my opinion mind you.... I am sure there are many that would disagree.

Peanutt uses
Sony TR1MP / Sony A190 (New) / Toshiba E805 PPC / Sony Ericsson P900

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Peanutt

 

Well, I did say it was an opinion and although I respect your opinion mainly because it is different to mine, there is one thing that you didn't comment on....

The TR3 is Sony....
The P7010 is Fujitsu.... (need I say more?)

You only get what you pay for, that's probably why there are so many Sony users who would rather pay for a quality product than a cheap fake from Fujitsu. I don't know what the sales figures are in the North American market, but I tend to see a lot more sony's around than Fujitsu's or maybe that is just my imagination.

Oh yeah and although the P7010 is a nice shade of black, the TR3 has a perfectly respectable Silver outside casing incase you hadn't seen it.

Edit - One last thing, you forgot to mention that the Fujitsu has an additional USB port as well.

I am sure that will fire all you Fujitsu owners up! Bring it on!

Peanutt uses
Sony TR1MP / Sony A190 (New) / Toshiba E805 PPC / Sony Ericsson P900

 

Peanutt -

I'm not sure why your trying to start a riot in here. Your comments about Fujitsu quality and sales are ignorant at best. This shows me you really don't understand notebook marketing and the way Fujitsu prefers to operate.

I'm not going to take anything away from the Sony TR series, they're nice machines. However, dollar for dollar, the Fujitsu offers superior value and the ability to do simple upgrades, like adding a faster hard drive.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

Fujitsu and Sony are both good brands but with different strategies and will appeal to different people. Did I diffuse that argument [ ]


I don't know what lead me to believe the X505 wax XBrite, that's an embarassing mistake and I have updated the review to take that out. The screen is however very bright, and although not branded or officially an XBrite screen, it is still very good.

 

Just an update regarding battery life.

I was flying back from Orlando yesterday to get away from Charlie, and an hour sitting and the airport and after 2 and a half hours or so on the plane, I still had 9% battery left. I must have missed a setting somewhere, because I got a good 3 to 3 and a half hours of solid power on my X505.

Regarding on why I didn't purchase the TR5, I did look at it as well. I felt the keyboard was awkward and the touchpad was way to small. My previous laptops have both had touchpads, and I always disliked a pointing stick, but between the TR5 and the X505, the pointstick was much better. Being a college student that wanted an ultraportable Sony laptop (I wasn't going to go with an IBM or an unproven ultraportable), I felt I needed a comfy and easy to use keyboard, and the X505 had that over the TR5 by alot.

Over the last week however, I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't look at the TR3/5 longer however. I only had about 15 minutes with it vs. an hour with the X505 at the Sony Store (They had to find a TR3 for me to use, and by that time I had to head back to baltimore). But sadly, the X505 is not returnable, so I was out of luck in that regard. But I'm sure I will enjoy my laptop no less for the next 3 years of school, at which point I'll probably find a new ultraportable that I like [ ]

 

Brian,

My comments are derived from personal experience. My Fujitsu Lifebook L470 was DOA and it took them 9 weeks to get me a working machine. This was the worst experience of any customer support I have dealt with. If you think after this, I would have ANYTHING good to say about Fujitsu, then maybe you are deluded, although I would never call you ignorant.

Every one of my 12 notebooks has been paid for out of my own pocket and not supplied by a company. (There are numerous other Notebooks that I have used supplied by the companies I have worked for and these have also included two Fujitsu's which were less than impressive in my opinion)

Of course not everybody has the same problems or experiences and I am sure some people have had similar experiences with Sony, but I thought the purpose of forums was to share personal opinions or experiences, my mistake, must be my ignorance showing through. I appologise and will be sure to keep mine to myself in future. (at least in this forum)

Viva Fujitsu!


Peanutt uses
Sony TR1MP / Sony A190 (New) / Toshiba E805 PPC / Sony Ericsson P900

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Peanutt

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by gamempire

 

Brian,

Point taken, I am not an expert or a professional, obviously unlike yourself. I am a mere user. I do however have an opinion which differs to yours. (To my knowledge, it has never nor will ever be expressed with the use of profanities)

I must say, I find that by implying that someone with poor opinion of a manufacturer is ignorant because their view or experience is not the “Norm” or because it is different to your view, is a way of censorship by the administration of this forum as I feel that my comments are not “welcome” and that I am merely a village idiot who should not grace your pages.

In answer to your other comments, surely the aim of any marketing strategy is to maximize sales and increase market share isn't it? My comment refers to the fact that as a mobile user frequenting Wireless access points etc. and encountering other mobile users all day at work, I see a lot of other Notebook PC’s, many of which are Sony, certainly more so than Fujitsu. It is merely an observation not a marketing study.

I agree people buy Sony because they are a globally branded company whose business is generated mainly because of their name. Surely that says a lot for the brand itself. People buy Sony because it is Sony not because they are another brand with a Sony badge on them. (Although I assume that most manufacturers including Sony use a lot of the same components and sub contracted manufacturing processes. I am sure if I were bold enough to crack open my laptops I would find plenty of Fujitsu components as they are such a large company in terms of Silicon technology) I also realize that Sony market towards the high end consumer rather than the corporate user, the latter being a far more competitive market in North America but the former being a large part of the contribution to these forums.

I'm not saying their marketing is correct as we all know Sony are having their fair share of troubles corporately, but instead of reducing quality and costs to gain more business, they have continued and have tried harder (in my opinion) to make stylish, functional and quality products that offer above average performance. People are willing to pay a premium price for what they believe will be a quality product. Do you think that all people that buy Sony are suckered in to purchasing inferior products because they are stupid or ignorant? (Please don’t answer that as it may offend me further and I really want to put an end to this topic) Instead they invest millions in to research such as Qrio and new Plasma/TFT processes that will eventually benefit all consumers.

I repeatedly purchase Sony Notebooks because they are the most reliable manufacturer that “I” have encountered. When and if that is no longer the case then I will switch my allegiance to another brand but that will not be Fujitsu and probably not Dell or HP/Compaq who have all failed me personally in the past. As far as I am concerned as a "personal" customer instead of a corporate user, these manufacturers have limited opportunities to get my money. Would you not agree that Corporations tend to be more forgiving with reliability issues if the cost saving warrants it? Is this not one of the reasons why Dell and HP/Compaq are so successful in the corporate sector?

I understand that Sony products rarely have the newest/fastest technology available such as the fastest HDD, Chipsets, processors or memory. Maybe that is because they use components that are tried, trusted and reliable? That is a question not a statement by the way.

In summation, I do understand that these two companies have two completely different marketing strategies, one offering a premium product at premium price and the other with high spec models aimed at corporate users who demand lower costs. As a high end customer I am personally happy that Sony have not chosen to lower costs or produce an inferior range because they are having corporate difficulties. I feel that their user ratings will rise in the next 18 months due to their current product range (although I don’t like the S series, I am sure there are plenty of satisfied users) especially if they can improve their apparent support problems.


Aspects,

I agree that Sony equipment has a lot of additional features such as Web Cams on the TR series and AV docks on the A series that some people regard as gimmicks. One mans gadget is another mans tool! If people didn’t want them, they won’t buy them. I personally find the TR's camera very handy for communicating with friends and family on the other side of the world and it saves me carrying another external component in my back pack. You only have to look at the European forums where the A series does not have the AV dock to see that demand for this add-on is high. Personally a fingerprint sensor does not appeal to me as I have no use for it, but I am sure there are thousands of corporate users who would find that "gadget" a very useful tool.

I merely suggested the TR3 as it has closer specs and cost to the P7010 and the TR5 offers a lot more features than the X505 for a similar cost albeit at an extra pound and a half in weight.

With regards to your comment “Just the fact that you said that x505 is mainly for name/looks, if you chose the TR3 over the fujitsu P7000 you are doing the exact same thing”. I explained in the post before, I chose the TR due to my previous bad experience with Fujitsu but I will add it also has a lot to do with my lack of problems with previous Sony equipment.

I guess this can be summed up by the saying “Horses for courses”. Good luck with your decision.

My final word,

I hope that my ignorance has not offended anyone, especially any Fujitsu users/owners. This was not the intention. I was just instigating & participating in a discussion by expressing an opinion. After re-reading this thread, I do not understand why Fujitsu are not the foremost Notebook manufacturer in the world and why their equipment receives such average ratings in magazines, maybe they should spend more advertising dollars with those magazines like Dell, HP, IBM & Sony do!



Peanutt uses
Sony TR1MP / Sony A190 (New) / Toshiba E805 PPC / Sony Ericsson P900

 

Did Sony just stop production of the X505 laptop? A few weeks ago I was on the Sony website reading about this model. Tonight I returned to check it out again and can find no reference to the X505.