Travel Technology - HELP! Sony VAIO or Toshiba

I had a hard time choosing the laptop I own now and unfortunately have to go through what I went through before again. I'm not sure if I should get a Sony VAIO or Toshiba. I want a good computer, but I really don't need it for a lot of high tech stuff. I almost coughed up $1,800 at Circuit City over the weekend, but I decided not to.

Any suggestions? :confused: :confused: :confused:

Get a ThinkPad.

Know what specs you need then get the one that looks coolest.

I had a hard time choosing the laptop I own now and unfortunately have to go through what I went through before again. I'm not sure if I should get a Sony VAIO or Toshiba. I want a good computer, but I really don't need it for a lot of high tech stuff. I almost coughed up $1,800 at Circuit City over the weekend, but I decided not to.

Any suggestions? :confused: :confused: :confused:

One of the big considerations is size. How small or large do you want it to be?

We need to know a bit more about what you want to do before anyone can make any truly valid recommendations. ALL notebook makers have suitable offerings at certain price points, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Without knowing what you intend to use the thing for it's impossible to make a recommendation.

That said, to answer your question as stated : Between the two I'd go Sony. Recent Toshibas I've seen have been very disappointing in their build quality. Sony puts an emphasis on form over function but the laptops still work well. If you plan to do anything hard-driVe intensive (video editing, large file manipulation, big databases, etc) I wouldn't recommend Sony at all. Most of their notebooks use physically smaller 1.8" drives that have slower rotational speeds and slower data transfer rates. In day to day use you won't notice this but as you up the ante on your tasks you'll feel the pinch.

If you're looking for a desktop replacement, I'd go to Dell and get one of the Inspiron XPS series machines. The performance is second to none. I've been using one for about 8 months as my primary machine at home. It's big, but blazing fast and for the performance is very small. It also lasts 2 hours on a battery charge which, for a machine that fast, is amazing.

No matter what you buy, plan on stuffing it to the gills with memory. Notebook hard drives are slower than their desktop equivalents and the biggest performance drain comes from virtual memory paging to the hard drive. Minimizing that will not only make the computer much faster but will also extend battery life significantly.

Get a ThinkPad.

I second that....

do a search in this board for Toshiba

and then a search for Vaio

You will see....

I love my Sony Vaio!
I used to have a Toshiba and just wasn't satisfied with the reliability, form factor, etc.

I love my Sony Vaio!
I used to have a Toshiba and just wasn't satisfied with the reliability, form factor, etc.

Me too! I've been a Vaio fan for years. They are fantastic!

I am a new Vaio owner (~2 months) and love it. I have the VGN-TX-670, a VERY lightweight yet powerful machine. It has integrated Cingular WWAN, which has been a HUGH plus for me.

I added an extended battery and I get 7 hours of use out of it before needed to charge it.

Absolutely, positively no complaints!!!! ^ (Now I hope thaT I didnt jinx myself! :rolleyes: )

I have a bottom of the line Toshiba L15 something-or-other I got over X-mas for under 500 bucks. I also have a three year old Toshiba higer priced model.

Toshibas are great for what you pay. BUT...they come stripped. The new one has NO parallel port, NO mic, NO ps-2 (mouse/kbd) port, and a very weak battery. I ordered a larger capacity battey and it's been back-ordered for 7 weeks, with no delivery date in sight.

The older one is a Centrino, but came with NO wireless driver! It also has an SD-card port, with NO driver!

Having said all this, though, both just seem to feel right, and when finally loaded up, perform just fine.

Seriously consider an extended warranty also. Otherwise, think of this as a two year throw-away.

I've had a VAIO for a while, and really can't complain about it -- glad that I went with it. I'm on my 3rd ThinkPad for work - the new one I like, and while my last one seemed to be begging me to toss it out the 29th floor window in our offices, the one prior to that I didn't have any problems with.

I'm using a Sony VAIO (S-series) now, my third Sony. It's been great. Looks nice too.

I did what kanebear suggested above about memory and upgraded right away to a full 1GB (max for this machine). About a month after I got this machine, I replaced the 4200 rpm hard drive with a 7200 rpm one and found that this helped too.

FewMiles..

I'm using a Sony VAIO (S-series) now, my third Sony. It's been great. Looks nice too.

I did what kanebear suggested above about memory and upgraded right away to a full 1GB (max for this machine). About a month after I got this machine, I replaced the 4200 rpm hard drive with a 7200 rpm one and found that this helped too.

FewMiles..

:mad: I HATE HATE HATE the fact that they use the smaller formfactor HDDs in their T and TX subnotebooks. I want one of those sooo badly but the performance hit is too much to take.

What's the procedure for getting the S series apart? Last time I tried dissecting a Sony I ended up needing a new case. Where's the drive? I'll do that this weekend to my S380.

I'm in the same boat...looking to replace an old Toshiba Satellite 2800, that was buggy from the get-go, but I've a number of frequent-traveller colleagues that swear by the IBM/Lenovo X41. At under 3 lbs, and with the low voltage chipset, some have claimed to get over 8 hours! Downside is very expensive versus competitors, and no onboard CD/DVD. But if I'm looking at schlepping some metal across 5 time zones, and I only have carry-on, 3 lbs starts sounding pretty good!
I'm a little wary of Sony, and tend to favour IBM hardware. Anyone out there with IBM/Lenovo stories?
Cheers

I'm in the same boat...looking to replace an old Toshiba Satellite 2800, that was buggy from the get-go, but I've a number of frequent-traveller colleagues that swear by the IBM/Lenovo X41. At under 3 lbs, and with the low voltage chipset, some have claimed to get over 8 hours! Downside is very expensive versus competitors, and no onboard CD/DVD. But if I'm looking at schlepping some metal across 5 time zones, and I only have carry-on, 3 lbs starts sounding pretty good!
I'm a little wary of Sony, and tend to favour IBM hardware. Anyone out there with IBM/Lenovo stories?
Cheers

I have just acquired an X41 for the light weight and bought an external DVD R/W (Sony DVR 810UL) which I won't lug -- I didn't acquire a docking station. I like the IBM products. Currently also have an R51 which I lug around but it is 2 lbs more than the X41.

I now own 2 of the newer Toshiba Satellites. They have been absolutely great to work with. I haven't found them buggy or unreliable and for the price, I was able to easily get 25% more (processor, memory, HD, etc.) than with a Vaio.

I'm in the same boat...looking to replace an old Toshiba Satellite 2800, that was buggy from the get-go, but I've a number of frequent-traveller colleagues that swear by the IBM/Lenovo X41. At under 3 lbs, and with the low voltage chipset, some have claimed to get over 8 hours! Downside is very expensive versus competitors, and no onboard CD/DVD. But if I'm looking at schlepping some metal across 5 time zones, and I only have carry-on, 3 lbs starts sounding pretty good!
I'm a little wary of Sony, and tend to favour IBM hardware. Anyone out there with IBM/Lenovo stories?
Cheers

Look at the Fujitsu P7120 (http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2695). It's not a direct competitor to the X41 but is a superb choice. I've now had 6 Fujitsu subnotebooks over the course of the past 4-5 years dating back to the P2000. Not one has broken on me. I currently have a P7010. The P5020 I had before that was my longest used machine before I handed it down. EVERY ONE of them is still going strong. They're extremely well built and very durable. I highly recommend them if you're looking for a solid machine without the glitz.

I have a Toshiba and don't really like it, go for the Vaio. Also I have learned when it comes to laptops smaller/more portable/lighter is better then more performance in most cases.

I have a Toshiba and don't really like it, go for the Vaio. Also I have learned when it comes to laptops smaller/more portable/lighter is better then more performance in most cases.
I've owned four Vaio 505s over the past several years (the lightweight 12.1" screen models). My first one was early in the Vaio lifecycle and Sony service was great. But I have had maintenance problems with all of them and the service has gotten progressively worse. I won't buy another Vaio.

I'm now looking for a tablet computer and am almost certainly going to buy a Toshiba Portege (same screen size as Vaio 505) in preference to the Thinkpad . . . mostly because I've talked to someone who's been using one for a year and has loved it and because you get more for less.

Forgot to mention that Fujitsu DOES make an itty-bitty tablet that works very well. It's the P1510 (http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P15D). No internal optical drive though, or I'd have one.

I was stuck with the Toshiba vs. VAIO decision a year back--went with Toshiba, but boy was I wrong.

Apparently my model has one of those design issues where the computer will overheat and shut off. It's caused an entire reboot of the hard drive twice, the first being only a few days after the warranty expired.

I had (and still do) a Sony VAIO prior to my Toshiba experience. It's still running (back from 1998, I think) and has never crashed. I wish I had a new VAIO. :(

I second the fujitsu P7010D recommendation.

:mad: I HATE HATE HATE the fact that they use the smaller formfactor HDDs in their T and TX subnotebooks. I want one of those sooo badly but the performance hit is too much to take.

What's the procedure for getting the S series apart? Last time I tried dissecting a Sony I ended up needing a new case. Where's the drive? I'll do that this weekend to my S380.

Sorry, didn't come back to this thread until just today. Here ya go, kanebear: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=32699 A good step-by-step guide. The hard drive is in the front right part of the case.

FewMiles..

Sorry, didn't come back to this thread until just today. Here ya go, kanebear: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=32699 A good step-by-step guide. The hard drive is in the front right part of the case.

FewMiles..

THAT rocks, thank you! What sucks is, I know that site but hadn't ever looked at the Sony forums. :duh:

I've had Toshibas in the last few years and now have a Vaio (VGN-T250. So small, I love it). I supplied my family with Toshibas, but am now shifting over to the Vaios b/c I like them so much. It really all depends on what you need, and what you think looks best. Some of the few things I've noticed that differs amongst laptops (versus other things) is screen brightness, resolution, sound quality, wireless ease of use, and battery life. Other than that, most processers/internal components are very similar and are probably not things most people will notice differences about.

Good luck with your decision!

Forgot to mention that Fujitsu DOES make an itty-bitty tablet that works very well. It's the P1510 (http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P15D). No internal optical drive though, or I'd have one.

I was wondering if anyone had one of these and their thoughts. Im very happy with the functionality of my Powerbooks, but 4.4 pounds is just too heavy. It looks like the P1510 is about 2.2 pound and has a keyboard and tablet PC function. Most of what I would use it for is while travelling out of town where I need to respond to emails with attachments, look at office documents such as word and excel and do some work through some web interfaces (ie a journal I am an editor for has a web interface for me to send things out for review, etc.). I have tried this on an Axim X50v but it is just too small of a screen. The 12 inch Powerbook is more than adequate. Is the P1510 a lighter, yet capable solution? The handwriting for notes is pretty appealing too, especially if I could send the notes to assistant for typing. Any experience with these or alternates (In Motion for instance). Thanks.

For features vs value vs upgradeability, I have been very very happy with the Toshiba Satellite series. Older Toshiba's did have problems but the satellite series has been wonderful and reliable.

I recently had to admit it was time to replace my R505 (Vaio) and bought a new Vaio SZ -- no complaints and hoping that I'm going to love it as much as my R505 (off to a good start!)

I recently had to admit it was time to replace my R505 (Vaio) and bought a new Vaio SZ

I have a Sony VGNSZ160PC on order and can't wait to get it!

I am currently using a VGN-S360 and have had other Vaio's before this one. Sony is the choice for me for reliability and features.

I gave Toshiba a chance about 2 years ago and bought 6 to travel with for training. What a mistake. I had countless problems with overheating, locking up and extremely slow boot times. I switched to Dell for my training laptops and find them to be much better machines than Toshiba in the same price range.

My local organization (350 people) uses Sony VAIO and/or Mac (G5, Powerbook) exclusively--this is in direct contrast to the rest of the company (80k+) where mighty Dell is king! We do use Dell servers though.

I've never had a problem with my Z1 but alas it only has a 14.1" screen. My docking station does at least have a 19" Viewsonic LCD monitor :D It would be nice to have more than the two USB ports, yeah, I could use a hub but I don't like having to have more accessories than necessary. One nice thing is the bluetooth which works great with with my Microsoft Streets & Trips mapping software (saves the $10/day for navigation in the rental car).