First Impressions

Well I received my laptop today. (Although it is the wrong model so I am returning it for the correct one) Sony's GRT series

First impressions:

The weight being 9 lbs isn't an issue for me at all. It is not a lot larger than my previous Toshiba, either in dimension or weight (from anything that I can perceive--I didn't weight them on a scale or anything).

The screen is drop dead gorgeous and SUPER BRIGHT. Wow. It is amazing, I STILL can't get over how good it looks. There is no tearing or ghosting playing games (tried out Call of Duty and some WCIII). DVD's look great (watched The Others) and much better due to the size/brightness of the monitor.

Glare is not an issue either--it actually shows less glare than my CRT does, certainly not more.

The fit and finish is very good. Their are many "little" details that I see on this laptop that most other brands do not have--I'll get into all of those in my mini-review coming up.

The keyboard has a wonderful feel to it and it isn't excessively noisy.

This thing is svelte looking. Definitely gets kudos on the design department.

Performance was BETTER than I expected. I don't want to "ruin" anything for you but it scored very well in all of the benchmarks that I ran. Its screaming fast. I'll have exact numbers in the upcoming mini-review.

Integrated wireless hooked up to my network w/o a hitch and is comparable in performance to my Linksys pcmcia card--a good thing so I don't have something sticking out of the laptop.

The software bundle is pretty nice although I haven't delved into it completely yet. Check back for the mini-review.

I'm very pleased with the laptop, it certainly exceeded my (fairly high) expectations. Unfortunately as mentioned, this model doesn't come with the Gigapocket (tv tuner) or a/v input which I need so I am returning it and have to look for one that does. Anyway, its what I expect out of a Sony product (or any of my products for that matter), great performance, features galore, and a high level of refinement.

Those are my first takes, they may change for better or worse in the future. I'll be sure to update this when I recieve my new one.

Regards,

Slat

 

Congrads. You might want to mention the model # of your laptop for those who haven't followed up from your orinigal post.

Can't wait till you give a full, indepth real user's review after a few weeks of usage.

 

Slat, thanks for your first impressions, that's just great and we really appreciate the post! Sorry about the troubles you have with the wrong model showing up though...it sucks to wait once for a laptop and waiting again is twice as painful.

Looking forward to the mini review. And for those of you who aren't familiar with what Slat ordered:

Specs:
Mobile 2.8 Ghz P4 533 FSB
512 DDR266 RAM
80 GB 4,200 RPM HD
2x +- DVD Burner
64 MB GeforceFX 5600Go
16.1" UXGA Xbrite Screen
Integrated TV Tuner
Integrated A/V Input
Integrated 802.11g

 

Slat, thanks for your impressions. I have a nearly identical machine to yours, with the exception of these specifications:

Hitachi 7K60 7200rpm HD
1GB Ram

The hard drive makes an incredible difference from the stock 4200 rpm unit - with it also being quieter. In addition, reviews mention that it doesn't run any hotter either! I don't understand why Sony doesn't make this drive at least an option, especially on their flagship desknote GRT line.

Have you had stuttering issues with your mouse/keyboard? I've had this infamous problem, and have traced it to the built-in 802.11g mini pci unit stealing cpu cycles. This is a well-known problem (extensive thread over at clubvaio on it) with no fix thus far.

Otherwise, I've been quite satisfied with my machine. It's noticeably sturdier than my previous GRX unit, and as you've mentioned, the screen is absolutely incredible. If there's a brighter, more legible notebook LCD out there on the market, then I want to know about it.

Keep those benchmarks coming!