Sony Outlet Store Is The Way To Go!

Hope this is posted in the right place... (Kinda confusing....)

Just bought a SR590 CTO from the outlet. It originally was $1289.00 and got it for 700.00.

Was really worried it would come with blemishes/scratches, but not only is there NOT A TRACE of a previous owner, the screen itself looks brand new, not a fingerprint on it. Was also worried with last years video card, (ATI 4570 512MB), older processor (P8800) 4GB DDR2 mem vs DDR3 that it might seem slow compared to some of the newer models but trust me, this is THE ZIPPIEST i have used YET! I recently configured a HP dm4t, with 6GB ddr3 and an i460m processor, & 1GB ATI 5670 VRAM, but i returned it. It was ugly, and the performance just so-so, and the display mediocre at best, fonts were pixelated at times, and even occasionally blurry on all HP Software fonts. Yuck! Plus, this came with "Fresh Start", so less than 27 programs installed totalling 927MB vs 6.6GB junk on HP.

Very very fast, every window and task i open: BAM! BAM! : ) And i just have to say, wasn't a trace of having a previous owner on the entire computer, from front to back, lid, ports, it is beautiful! And lots of little "doohickey buttons", not just boring FN Keys.

The ONLY thing this could perhaps have that it does not is the backlit keyboard, but for 700.00 bucks, believe me, i am NOT complaining.

Wei scores out of the box were 6.3, 6.3, 5.0, (Aero) 6.7 & 6.4. Not too shabby for last years model. The HP i just sent packing was all high 5's and overall was only 4.6 for Aero. I know some don't go by the WEI but i think it is a GREAT indicator of "untweaked internal parts".

Don't really think you can go wrong ordering a refurbished item on Sony Outlet, 30 Day Return Policy, no restocking fee, no questions asked. But you couldn't "pry this find out of my hands with a crowbar" i am IN LOVE!















V V

 

Microsoft Store Promotion is much better, IMO.

 

MS Store is good BUT they usually only have "current models" at a 25-30% discount. The Sony Outlet, on the other hand, have current models also, not as discounted but still 20% or so, but its their older (6 months to a year) old that were CTO (customized to order) and the for various reasons returned or cancelled, and i have seen some amazing configurations with 6-8GB ram, high speed processors, high res screens, Solid State Drives, Blu Ray extra batteries, etc some priced at 30-40% of retail price. On Models that cost $1,600.00 - 2,000.00 thats a significant savings for a killer machine. I was looking at all the models before i purchased this SR, and their was over 1800 models to choose from.

Just seemed worth mentioning, since the model i received was totally perfect in every way, and until receiving this laptop, i was always wary of "refurbished" but now thanks to Sony's outlet store, i don't think i'd ever buy a laptop @ retail price again : ) ....

V V

 

Good deal!

 

yeah, well, getting Z122gx with MSRP $1899 for $840 is a 60% discount so it's still a much better deal, and it's NEW to boot

 

It isn't really a matter of comparing the MS Store to the Sony Outlet Store.

It is just another avenue people can choose from when they are "shut out of the limited supply MS Store has" or if they don't want a "Microsoft Configuration, or if a Sony Product isn't being offered" Plus as mentioned, you can sometimes get GREAT deals on computers with "custom highly configured options" at a huge discount.

The selection is great, AND lets not forget, you have a 30 day return policy on all Sony refurbished, no restocking fee and no questions asked.

Again just mentioning because UNTIL i bought and received mine, i wouldn't of dreamed of buying refurbished, but i feel buying directly from Sony Outlet awards you "great savings AND peace of mind"....

Check it out sometime : )

Sony Outlet & Refurbished Products

V V

 

It isn't really a matter of comparing the MS Store to the Sony Outlet Store.

It is just another avenue people can choose from when they are "shut out of the also limited supply Sony Outlet has" or if they don't want a "Sony Refurbished, or if a Your wanted model isn't being offered" Plus as mentioned, you can sometimes get much GREATER deals on computers with non-custom but still non-returned nor-openboxed "highly configured options" at a much more huge discount.

The selection may not be great, but the deal is real. AND lets not forget, at that price, you may not need to even consider a "return". If you dont like it, sell it to someone even as "used" still makes you a hundreds.

Again just mentioning because UNTIL i bought and received mine, i wouldn't of dreamed of such a deal, but i feel buying directly from Microsoft Store awards you "great savings OR pocket of $$$"....

Check it out sometime : )

 

well.
I have ordered a refurbished vpcz119x from sony outlet

and...

fortunately, there were thick scratches on palm rest and top lid...

I guess u got really lucky for one time.

 

you mean UNfortunately, no? Did you return it?

VV

 

Before dreaming of unused discount models sold in outlets:

Best thing to really check out whether a computer was brand new and unopened or not is to read out the smart values of the hard drive.

 

is there a UK outlet store?

 

https://shop.sony.co.uk/shop/VAIO-CLEARANCE/

 

How do you read "smart values" of your drive?

 

HDTune (paid, tests speeds to), Speedfan (free, also is a temp / fan monitor)

 

when you have a Z with raided drives, use a linux livecd and smart utils (all other windows tools won't work as far as I know). you will need to boot from the live cd and run

smartctl -H /dev/sda

or sdb/c/d respectively. You will need smartmontools to be installed. the output shows your drives age in hours of use. If you just purchased a new computer, you can be quite sure that it has been used if it has more than 2 hours or so (without counting stock installation at the sony facilities of course).