This is a super slim PCG-z505sl, running Windows ME. Sad sucker won't boot anymore, bad bad Vaio!!!

This is a quirky notebook, one that I love to hate and hate to love. There's nothing on the PC - no floppy, no CD-Rom, nothing. Just the Sony iLink port, USB, and that's it.

So when Windows ME on it gave up the ghost, I couldn't exactly do a system restore with the CD-Rom that I don't have.

So first of all I pull out the USB floppy drive, and boot the thing into DOS. Do a scandisk on C: - no go, stops at 21% of directory structure.

So I try SCANREG /FIX, no go.

At this point I'm thinking "SPINRITE". However, the sucker costs $95 , won't work on NTFS, nor on drives larger than 40 GB. I'm not gonna waste $95 on a drive that needs to be replaced anyway.

Anyway, moral of the story, another SONY Vaio has given up the ghost. I'll NEVER advise anyone to ever buy a SONY VAIO notebook, laptop, PC, or anything SONY every again.

PS - my fix for this nasty bug? literally disassemble the VAIO, take out the dying hard drive, and slave it to my desktop to download the data. BAD BAD VAIO!!

I agree, Sony Sucks too often. I switched to IBM and am a happy clam so far. If it is just the HDD, I would replace it for about $100 and go with Win XP for another $150 and start saving for a IBM or Dell.

MisterNice

I have had a Viao 505 for years. No problems. I wasnt aware that there were a lot of problems with them. Cant say enough good about IBM though. All computers can have problems, Dells are great but something very weird went south on the Optiplex on my desktop. Had to reformat it. Ack

Another opposing viewpoint. I've been using VAIO Picturebooks for over 4 years now. No problems. I'm about to buy the newest little Vaio, the TR2.

I'm glad your VAIO worked out well. This VAIO has been having problems for quite some time now. The hardware just is not durable.

A buddy of mine got a VAIO from Fry's, and the laptop kept giving him fits of problems. He switched to another brand and has not had a single problem.

My father-in-law has a VAIO PC - a desktop. I've had to restore the PC twice since he bought it 2 months ago. The ****ed thing is cluttered up with all the crapyware that Sony installs on it, and won't work with certain types of off the shelf software.

Very frustrating!!!

You can go to the control panel and Remove Software feature to take off all the Sony media stuff. Or you can reformat the hard drive and load anything you want on. A friend runs NetBSD Unix on his. When I get my new TR2, I'm going to wipe the hard drive on my Picturebook and load Windows Server 3000 and use it as a server.

As for durability, I've logged about a million miles with my current Vaio. It's rock solid. But I've heard complaints from others so I'm sure they aren't all perfect.

Sony notebooks have fared well in some customer surveys I have seen. I should add I dumped a lot of their software as well.

We had 40 Sony Z505's issued around our company. 20 were dead within a year. I'm one of the few people who still has a working unit (upgraded to WinXP BEFORE Sony removed those drivers from their website).

My biggest gripe with Sony is that they had NO intention of supporting a new OS on a STILL useable notebook. Their replacement and warranty support is the pits, hence why our IT folks scavange them for spares and don't send them in for service.

I believe my prior comments have been rendered statistically nugatory

That must be a VERY early Beta

Hey, NickP.

I just acquired myself a Z505SX, and loaded WinXP on it. I'm looking for the 1394 (FireWire) drivers for it, and I was wondering if you still had a copy sitting around. Sony is about as useless as it gets in help, and i'm having a heck of a time finding the driver. Thanks,
-Jason

Also, in response to everyone's comments:

Working in computers has tought me that any model can be great or be horrible, depending, quite often, solely on the user of the computer. Sony's bundled software might be great, it might be horrible, but 9 times out of 10 the person using the computer can hose it up pretty bad without the proper education. Bundleware aside (I got no restore discs with this laptop, so I have no idea about the software it came with other than what I can get off Sony's website), this seems to be a very durable laptop. I'm sure if i hucked it into a bag and slammed it on counters and into corners carrying it, it'd be dead real quick, but with some care I'm hoping that It will be a nice durable unit.

I've had two of the early Z505s (PII/366 and PIII/450) and they were fine. Now own an HP zd7000 (P4/3.4).

I have a PCG TR1AP. It was the worst mistake I have ever made. I would not recommend a Sony to anyone. It looks cools and is very compact and has a nice screen. The support is terrible. The machine is very fragile. Both the tech support and phone support suck. My machine is screwed now, and I have given up on it. I will stick with IBM.

Also if you go to CNET you will see that they are ranked lowest in tech and IT support. There warranty is completely bogus.

An assessment of my Vaio F-series concluded it will make a fine 8 lb. stationery iPod capable of playing a minimal number of tunes while displaying a few family and travel photos. The display, sound card, AC adaptor and keyboard work. That's it, folks.

Sounds dumb, but not as dumb as the 6-8 desktops we have around here that do absolutely nothing useful.

This is it:

http://members.driverguide.com/drive...riverid=124538

It should work with any OHCI compatible Firewire driver, but knowing Sony...

The chipset is the Sony CXD3222 OHCI i.LINK(IEEE 1394).