Sony's VAIO C Series- Owners Do you like it?

Im lookin to buy the Sony's VGNC240EB VAIO® C Series. just wanted some feed back from anyone who already owns it!. Thanks

 

Ok, in the reviews section, Abhi has a really negative review about it. It seems to be a great machine hardware wise, plus it looks great, feels solid, has a nice keyboard and is quite portable, but (and thats a really big but) he seems to have spent over 15 hours trying to get it to run either XP or Vista properly after a clean install.

I have seen other posts on the forums talking about a noise coming from the screen, but I believe that is an issue with all Core Duo laptops, so that can't be fixed.

My advice: get it, but don't try to do a clean install of Windows. (This goes for all Sony laptops...There was a thread on doing a clean Vista install on the SZ...lol) Manually delete the bloatware...Aside from that, it seems like a good computer. Check Andrew's review of the unit as well.

 

It whines and whines when you have it on full brightness. With every single one I looked at (about 3 or 4).

 

Hardware wise, it's a great machine...
If you are not too picky about having your machine behave exactly the way you want it too, in terms of the software on it, it's a great buy...

I bought it for a lady in the family, who is extremely happy with it, given the great looks, good build, 4 hr battery life (6 cell) and good performance...

Hardwarewise, I have almost zero complaints, except two things, which is that the touchpad (Alps) isn't as responsive as touchpads' from Synaptics...and the vertical viewing angles could have been better...

I found it to be a very silent machine, no whines etc....

It's a horror story though as far as support is concerned.....

To cut a long story short, If I had to pick a machine for myself, I'd pick up the XPS 1210 anyday over any small factor Sony

If I had to pick up a stylish notebook as a gift for someone, the Vaio C starts making sense again

 

I don't have any experience with the C series first hand, but from what I've read I'd agree with the above ----- I've never had any operating problems wtih Sony installed OS's, but I've also never felt the need to rip through a clean install. There was a month or so on the NBR forums where a new post would appear almost daily about someone regretting having deleted the recovery partition on their VAIO.

 

I've had mine(C140) since December and I really do like it. Much better than the DV1000t it replaced. Only 3 issues that bother me:
1. The "whine" from the interference of the processor through the speakers. It can get annoying but at the same time, you sometimes forget it's there
2. Battery life. I can get around 3 hours but to me that seems abit low(but may be perfectly adequate for others)
3. The huge power adapter! For a small laptop, they really bundle it with a large adapter that takes a bit away from the portability

 

i talked to the guys at sony about the clean install and they directed me to a sony site that seemed to have all the drivers? and the whine you talk about, i never heard it at the store :S you said it only happends when you put the screen brightness to full. Dam i dont want to spend 1950, with taxes to get a none 100% perfect computer. when im spending that much money i dont want any problems period!!! oh and if im using diffrent speakers will i still hear the wine?

 

Does the "whine" go away if you mute the speakers? How bad is the noise?
And battery life, would it only last 3 hours if I was surfing the net wirelessly and doing word processing, or would it push the 3 hour mark?

 

Hi,

Today i went to sony world and seen this laptop
VGN-C25G

http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/ss/vaio/product/vgn_c25g_b/index.html

I was very impressed with style and configuration and I am interested in buying one. I will keep this laptop for 2-3 years (till i need faster machine)

Do you know if it supports extended desktop ?. I mean display on laptop screen + 17 or 19" monitor?

Also, how is gaming performance with go 7400 card. Any experience ? I want to play doom3, half life 2 and fear on this laptop.

Considering its Windows VISTA machine will it be able to run all 3 games ?

thx.

 

I'm sorry but I can't answer your questions. Maybe someone else who has used that extended desktop feature can. Mine is the Canadian C140 so it came with an integrated graphics card so I can't vouch for the 7400.

No, it's still there even if you mute it. Only way to stop is to plug something into the headphone jack. But, it's only annoying during certain conditions, like when you think about it, or in a quiet room but, I think that most of the time, I forget about the noise. The 3 hours is a mix of surfing the net with wireless on, word processing, and listening to music(brightness at 2nd lowest setting). I think if I push it with wireless off, and just do word processing, I could probably come close to 4 hours.

Oh, one more issue is the space bar. It's unresponsive on the left side and so you have to hit it at the centre or anywhere on the right side.

 

Hmmm... the C series here in the US don't come with the GeForce 7400.

 

Ok, im planning on buying the 240, Canadian( http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...d=1003607&navigationPath=32009n100299n100325). Whats the diffrence is urs last years model or something? maybe they fixed everything ur talking about? does anyone actually own a 240 here i would LOVE to hear from YOU?! when will the NEXT C series come out, do you think it will sport a remote? Is it worth the wait, i need the laptop for school in sept. but then again i dont know if i can wait till then

 

I just got my C270CE 2 days ago..and this noise mentioned earlier, has become a huge pet peeve!

And I'm not sure if it's b/c of the applications I've installed and Vista but the screen has frozen on me 3 times in one day. Randomly. All I could do was move my cursor. So I try to open up (Ctrl + Alt Del) Task Manager, in that blue screen with the lock this computer, switch user, etc. options and click on Task Manager and then all these options disappear and I'm stuck on this blue screen. my music is playing perfectly fine so the programs are running but the display's frozen?... I had no choice to but force shut down on it. I found it really frustrating...any help here?

and the noise it makes bothers me quite a bit.. it's like this quiet high-pitch frequency/radio sound

I think this sound is coming out from the speakers? Whenever I do something like move the cursor over the different graphical buttons in the Start Menu and mouse over the Documents, Pictures, Recent Items, etc. it makes that noise

anyone else notice this?

 

wow. You just paid 1600+. RETURN IT!!! COMPLAIN!!! GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!

 

I have the VGN-C240E/B series and with Vista it runs like garbage.

I could not even sit the laptop on my lap without it burning a hole in my leg it got so hot.
The good point is I wiped it clean and installed XP and it runs a ton faster, a hell of alot cooler And the kicker is I get a better signal from my wireless network with xp than the great vista.

The keyboard is nice to use, one of the best I have seen in a while. Besides the macs. It looks cool as all heck but if I were to get a new machine. It would be a different model. I had a VGN-S260 before this one and that one was lighter and cooler. Oh well, I am done with my smack talk.

 

I have bought VGN-C25G, if you want to use windows xp ,, dont buy it, there are no drivers for it for windows xp

 

i just got my c140 for a very good deal at staples (only 1200 CAD). the only whinning noise that i hear is when i scroll through pages holding down the down button or using the touch pad this happens without being plugged into an outlet. while im typing this i noticed another sound, that pops randomly but im totally satisfied. only complaint is that the screen could be 2 or 3 bars brighter.

regarding some one who asked about hooking up to the monitor..... i tried doing it and it worked very well. as soon as i plugged it in, the second monitor immediately displayed what i had on the main screen of the laptop. by pressing fn + f7 you can select to display on both screens just one or just on the laptop. the only downside is that my 19 inch viewsonic is best when displayed at 1280 by 1024, but the laptop can only do 1280 by 800 (doesn't look good on the 19 inch) so i switch to 1024 by 768 which is a bit better.

also another user has mention that you cannot put it on your lap, yet while im typing this, it has already been on my lap for quite some time and i don't feel a thing.

whoever wants to buy this notebook, check out another good review from www.notebookcheck.com or http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VGN-C1.2445.0.html

also another user has mentioned that it is a very bad idea to reinstall the os because it messes up the drivers and such, however i posted a thread asking how to do this, and one member answered that its best to make 2 recovery disks and install from scratch, however when it asks for the second disk after the installation you cancel it, and your new os will be 90% bloatware free, except for some bloatware like napster. i haven't tried this, but i will in the near future.

 

the batery life that up to 4 hours mean using saving power mode or what??

i using the plug in yesterday and after tomorrow i found out that the batery left 91%...why? it should be 100%??

 

Regarding the spacebar problem. I had it resolved by replacing the keyboard twice. (Under warranty)

i realized that the issue was not the spacebar but the piece of plastic(bus) that takes the keyboard strokes electronically to the motherboard.

That plastic insulator film is a little raised on the outside (you can see it if you look closely under the left side of the space bar).

Temporary solution: press the spacebar fully(hard) with as many fingers as possible and keep it pressed for 10 seconds (dont push towards the breaking point). Now start typing - the space bar works fine for next 1 minute. After this that plastic piece again comes up. same problem again

Permanent solution : Take the keyboard out only if you know how to take it out. dont break anything. Fold the plastic piece along the edge of the spacebar like you would fold a piece of paper (this is to make sure that the plastic piece sticks under the keyboard and never peeks out from the edge of the spacebar. I had the sony repair guy do the same thing before he installed the keyboard a second time. It works like a charm. been a month since.

I wanted to share this in detail. I know how frustrating it can be after paying 1000 dollars.

 

It's a nice laptop. I'm a proud owner of it. The keyboard is so nice to type,and its so stable. The weight is 2.3 kg and thats quite light. And yes,you will have issues if you try to do a clean install of XP or Vista. Manually delete the bloatware. But get this,the sound isn't quality that good so you'll need a pair of external speakers. Aside from that,its a fine machine with a stylish design.