Sony pcg-grt360ZG

Hi all, I just bought a Sony pcg-grt360ZG, think I got a good deal on it, $1650 shipped, is that pretty good? also can someone tell me the pros and cons of this particular unit, thanks in advance![ ]

 

Hi...I bought one just 2 months ago. Great computer with lots of pros. Fast, great screen. big hard drive, Giga pocket, DVD writer and more. Not many cons but here they are. No S video out jack, USB ports are all located on the bacl of the unit. I have to close the screen to reach them. Mine also had a bad pixel which I was stuck with. Mine is my only computer. I do not have a desktop. Enjoy it!!!

 

One other thing you may find a problem is Battery Life. I recently got shot of my GRT290ZP as the battery life was abysmal, I was getting 55 minutes on a charge with the screen set to its lowest brightness. Apart form that, The GRT was a fantastic model. The Sony Xbrite screen is the best I have seen and personally the feaatures of the GRT were great for my use. (I recently upgraded to an A190 with 17 WXGA Xbrite)

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

 

Peanutt..Can I ask why you upgraded? Thanks

 

Mainly for three reasons.

1) As above, the Battery life did not suit me at work, when I'm on the floor, I need a couple of hours of working time and I need the CD so an extra battery was not an option.

2) As I do a lot of Spreadsheet work, the Hi-Res 17" Wide screen appealed to me.

3) I bought the GRT 290ZP which does not come with the Giga pocket and TV extras, I knew it was a mistake so naturally the A/V dock on the A190 was very appealing.

The thing that finally tipped the scales was that I got offered a good price for my GRT by a coworker so the cost of upgrading was minimal.

Hope this answers your question. Cheers.

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

 

Thanks. Yes it does answer my questions. Getting rid of your current computer is always the hold up on all these upgrade ideas. Good luck with your new 190.

 

What do I need the S video out for? there is an s video in, I could use the (S Video in) for my video camera for example...

 

I think 1650$ shipped is a good deal on it. jh79, where did you bought the pcg-grt360ZG?

 

Ubid.com

there are also lot's of them on Ebay, just make sure you get one from someone with lots of good feedback, mine works great

 

Peanutt:
Since you've had your Wide Sony for a while now... was it a good choice? I'm contemplating biting the bullet and doing same but concerned about weight, battery and most of all how usable outside?

Thank for any comments you care to share.

Heinz

 

Heinz,

I'm generally over very happy with it.

It is a heavy beast and I don't lug it around so much, but I do take it to work every day. It is not something I would want slung over my shoulder for a couple of hours a day though.

It gets a couple of hours use on the battery when at work. The most battery use I have had is 2 hours and 56 minutes with the brightness turned right down.

I find the screen is FANTASTIC both indoors and outside, of course when on the battery I turn the brightness right down and it is still easily readable in bright sunlight. The gloss screen does pick up reflections but I always just adjust the screen position to get rid of it.

I have found the Pentium M to be a lot slower than I expected, even when on mains power. The P4 gave me much better performance when editing video. I have found that ending unnecessary processes does improve it's performance quite a bit, especially when gaming. Sony Vaio Media, Norton IS & Giga Pocket take up a lot of background resources. (On a clean install, there was 48 processes running in the background even with no open programs, by getting rid of the Sony Preinstalled software you should get this below 30)

Hope this helps, believe me, take a look at Best Buy or Circuit City, If you like the screen, go for it. You won't regret it especially if the TV and AV dock features are what you want it for.

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

 

Peanut...I am considering moving from my GTR360ZG to an A190. Can you tell me how the two screens compare? How about the spped of the processors.?? Thanks

 

Teerexx,

The screen is the same only bigger.... I mean the Xbrite screen has not been changed although the A190 has an Auto Brightness control which can be used to automatically adjust depending on the ambient light, quite good but a gimmick.

The processor you may find a lot slower. I was running a P4 3.06 on my GRT and have switched to the Pentium M running at 1.7 and although you won't see a lot difference in games you will see some differences if you do any processor intensive tasks like converting video or music formats etc.

I must admit, I am glad I made the switch because the widescreen helps me immensley when I am working on spreadsheets.

On an unrelated note, I have just installed the Omega ATI Drivers and have seen a massive improvement in gaming performance. I bought Doom 3 last week and could only run it comfortably in 800x600 mode with a lot of detail turned off. Since the install of these drivers I am running it in 1280x1024 with high detail settings... It runs perfectly.... This driver works with most Radeon chipsets, even the mobility ones so if you have a Radeon chip in your notebook and like your games get this driver... Make sure you read the install notes and don't mess with settings unless you know what u r doing as you can overclock the chipset and cause damage.

www.omegadrivers.net

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