Many many reasons not to buy a 3200

I had the notebook for less than 30 days and got rid of it. I could have dealt with some off the technical issues but when the technical support flat out lied to me about issues with the built in wireless G I was done.

Lets talk about the technical issues and compare them to the Sony S260 I bought

Battery life- even after "training" the battery in the bios I was lucky to get an hour to 90 minutes of use. The S260 gave me 2 1/2 hours of batter and this was with the screen at full brightness.

Heat - This system got way to hot, even propping it up on something to increase air flow didn't make much of a difference. Can't tell if the S260 is running or off, it's that cool.

Performance - Is this systems supposed to be 1.2+ Ghz? Even with 512 MB ram is was painful waiting for apps to come up switching back and forth. My last Sony FXA-36 was a 1GZ AMD system and it blew the doors of the 3200. The S260 is a 1.7 GZ processor, no comparison there.

Wireless G - Ok this is the kicker. I use Phone over IP services frequently so it is important that my wireless stays up. I sat the 3200 6 inches away from the wireless access point along with the older laptop I had, my Sony fxa-36 which had a wireless B adapter. The 3200 would drop every 7 to 10 minutes then take about 30 seconds to reconnect. The FxA-36 was sold the whole time. So I called tech support and here is what I was told. First I was told that wireless G is unstable and drops out often and that I should setup the card to run under B, I argued that was just nuts and that wireless G is very stable. Then I was told that built in wireless G adapters do not have a good antenna like a card would have. 6 inches from the wireless hub and it drops? I asked, was told yes. Then I was told that other things in the "air", other frequencies would cause issues with G and make your connection drop. I could not believe this guy! He was back peddling after I disproved every little thing he came up with then he finally said I should send it back for repair. I have read many reports that the Wireless G is flakey on the 3200's and Avertec will not admit it. My new S260 has wireless G and is solid up to 300 feet away!!! Sure the speed drops but that is what it's supposed to do, not drop out and have to reconnect.

So after being lied to by Averatec I decided to get rid of the 3200 and buy the Sony S260. I know what you are thinking; comparing a $900 system with a $1900 system is not fair. My point is that the 3200 is like the Datsun you drove in college, you had no other choice so you did. It's like the car or girlfriend or anything else you are not happy with because you it was all you could afford. If you are one of those people who could only spend $1000 then you have to deal with the downfalls of the system, if you can wait save up another $500 or $750 and get something that works well that you will be happy with.

I have learned my lesson with generic laptops, its Sony or Dell for me from here on out.

OK so who has a 3200 that works well? Let's here from you all.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about the speakers. They are so low they are useless.

 

Let me just tell u that all sony laptops are shyt besides the S series! all others are shyt ok. expensive and shyt.

Xin

 

I had a Sony FX-A36 for 18 months, it was a 1GZ AMD notebook and it outperformed the 3200 hands down. I put them next to aach other and run multiple apps, the 3200 couldnt keep up. I can't say anything about the other Sony models but my FX-A36 was awesome and so is the S260 that I have now.

 

Dude you have to realize something Sony, Dell, Averatec etc don't make their own notebooks they are made by ODM's like Uniwill, Clevo or Twinhead. They just stick their names on them. BTW Quanta makes the sony notebooks. If you want a perfect notebook by a barebone system and build it your self. After all a perfect computer is one you build.

 

I bought my 3250 last week from CC and I'm very pleased. Last year I used an HP ZT3000 (6.5 lbs) with a 15" screen and it was too clumsey and heavy for me. I wanted something that's: easier to handle, light weight, good screen, acceptable keyboard. I just use it for email, browsing and for wordprocessing. Maybe watch a movie when traveling. I love the 3250...it's a go everywhere notebook.

I installed all the 3 power management utilities recommended on averatec board. I don't really understand them but they boosted my battery life (while playing a dvd) from 1 hour to a little over 2 hours. I get around 3 hours for wireless use reading email and some wordprocessing. If I need longer battery life it's cheaper to purchase a spare battery.

As a result of the new power management utilities the notebook no longer runs hot but even at it's worst it's not hotter than my old IBM 560 thinkpad which was 5.5 lbs.

I'm happy with my notebook!