Sony Vaio PCG-K37 - Good Choice?

Hi,

I'm in the process of buying a new laptop and torn between Sony
PCG-K37 vs. HP Pavilion zv5330us.

First, I really loved the Sony - Pentium 4 processor running at 3.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 15.4" Active Matrix screen, DVD-RW drive, 80GB hard drive. However, then I noticed the HP - same speed processor supports Hyper-threading technology, 80GB of hard drive, bus and RAM run at speeds, CD-RW/DVD+RW drive, sound is digital with Harman Kardon speakers (as opposed to Sony's unidentified speakers producing not-so-good sound). However, HP offers only 512MB of pre-intalled memory. This is my major concern, since not only do I have poor experience with adding memory to a laptop, I've read it's
recommendable to purchase a laptop with as much pre-installed memory
as possible.

I love to play music on my laptop and watch movies. I need the power
to work with Illustrator CS, Photoshop CS, PageMaker, Quark,
databases, etc.

Please share anz good or bad experience about either notebooks.
Thanks so much. AJH

 

The K Series isn't a really good bang for the buck. It looks nice and has a great screen, but it's a bit heaftier than it should be and doesn't seem to pack as much performance as it should at its price tag. I would rather look at a 15" A Series instead. It has a better keyboard, better speakers, and is better fit for multimedia applications. It has a Pentium-M processor instead of a P4, but I personally find that a much better thing in the end since you get a lighter, smaller laptop.

I would highly recommend customizing the laptop and buying it direct from Sony or HP instead of in a store. I loathe buying things online, but for laptops, it's a must and will get you a computer better suited to your needs.

Hope this helps a bit.

--------------------
Compaq Presario 2800T
Pentium 4-M 1.6 GHz - 15" UXGA
512 MB RAM - 40 GB (5400 rpm)
ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 64 MB

 

Hi Eliwood,

Thanks for the tip. Could you please explain in what sense is Pentium M better than P4?

Thanks. AJH

 

P m s dathon,2 mb cache...p4 512 cache or 1 mb cache...p m uses battery more balanced than p4...and it uses 90 nano techs...p4 uses 130 nano...

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Or in plain English, here's the difference.

Pentium-M's are designed specifically for laptops while the Pentium 4's are slightly scaled down versions of the desktop one's. The clock speeds on Pentium M's seem a lot lower, but these efficient processors get more work done per cycle. There's no real exact formula, but you can roughly take the clock speed of a Pentium M and multiply it by 1.65 to get the equivalent clock speed of a P4.

The huge advantage to Pentium M's is that they generate less heat and extend battery life immensely. This also leads to smaller and thinner notebooks. Unless you are going to keep the laptop in one place most of the time, I would opt for a Pentium-M instead of a P4.

--------------------
Compaq Presario 2800T
Pentium 4-M 1.6 GHz - 15" UXGA
512 MB RAM - 40 GB (5400 rpm)
ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 64 MB