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SONY PCG-V505DX | |
Speed(Mhz):
1400 MHZ
Memory:
512
Hard Disk Space:
60 GB
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| Product Reviews from Amazon.com (Rating System 1 to 5) |
| Review | Rating | Last Updated | The Worst Notebook I've Owned
It may be too late to help anyone looking to buy a Sony notebook computer, but still I feel I should leave for posterity my experiences with the Sony PCG-V505DX.
I bought it in Nov. 2003. I work as a translator, and was looking for a solid, easy-to-carry laptop with long battery life that I could take with me and work with anywhere. This computer certainly met the criteria in every way, so I was very pleased at first.
However, within two weeks of purchase, I had a premonition of what was to come when the key cap for the slash/question mark key fell off and could not be put back on. I called Sony about this, and their only solution was for me to send it in for warranty service (which would take two weeks minimum) and get it replaced. They couldn't just send me a new key cap.
Sending it was not an option for me because I needed the computer for my daily work, and I was afraid the bumps and vibrations of shipping it would likely cause worse problems than a missing key cap. So I carefully pried off the cap for the menu key (which I never use) and replaced the missing one with it. (Later I had the same experience with the Insert key, but I just left it off, since I never touch type that key. When I want to switch from insert to overwrite, I just press the plastic button that sits under the keycap.)
The computer worked okay for a while. Then about a year after I bought it, the CD/DVD drive started having problems. It would read DVDs but not most CDs. This is really a pain when installing software. This problem just seems to get worse and worse, and I think soon it will not read DVDs either.
In Jan. 2005, when I was traveling, I tried to use a wireless connnection service in Korea. Somehow my entire wireless capability got wiped out. Now I cannot connect to wireless by any means, including the onboard wireless or through cards in the PCMCIA slot on the side. Since wireless was one of the major needs I had when I bought it, this is really a problem.
But that's not all. Shortly after the problem with the wireless, the door came off from the PCMCIA slot, which also no longer works. Also the USB port on the left side doesn't work, although the one on the right does.
Right now, I can't afford to buy another computer. So I'm stuck using this one. It still performs basic computing functions, and is still lightweight and has a reasonably long battery life, but it has been a terrible disappointment to me.
I have had similar experiences with other Sony products I have bought recently, including a Clie TJ35 handheld device which failed two weeks after I bought it, only to replaced by another that did exactly the same thing, caused by what turned out to be a known problem with the display. That device had to be sent back four times during its one year warranty period, before finally dying out completely just about a month after the warranty was up. I figure I only got about 8 months of use out of it. A previous Clie I had also died almost exacty the day the warranty ran out.
Sony's customer support is legendary in its lack of helpfulness. Usually you get connected to someone in India whose only response is to order a kit to send the compter back for service, which can easily take a month. The forth time my handheld came back from service, they didn't even secure it in the box. They just threw it in there with a handful of foam peanuts, and it was rattling loose the whole way.
The service center is in San Diego, and I live in San Diego, but they wouldn't let me bring the computer there. I had to send it by FedEx.
I've owned seven noteboks so far. This Sony is by far the worst I've had. The three Toshibas, the two Tandys, and the Gateway all worked perfectly far beyond their expected life, even with rough service. The Sony is just a shell of what I paid for. It's so sad what poor engineering, non-existant quality control, and useless customer support have done to the once proud Sony name. I will never buy another product from them again. I am totally fed up. | 1 | Today | Love it ... when it works.
I've had the sony PCG-V505DX for more than 2 years and overall, I've been satisfied with it. What I like the most are the keyboard, the sleek feel of the computer, and its weight. It's a pleasure typing on it. The design is great and it's light enough to carry around.
My only negative experience, unfortunately, was a near-catastrophic one. After about 8 months, it stopped working. It wouldn't even boot up. I called Sony's tech support and they were no help. In fact, their suggestion that I ship it in and they would reformat everything was less than helpful since saving my data was of utmost importance. Fortunately, I took it to a local shop and the guy fixed it in a day without any loss of data. Also, the warranty covered the repairs. However, the experience left me with little confidence in Sony's quality control and no confidence in their tech support.
All in all, the computer is a pleasure to use. However, the fact that the computer wouldn't even start up after just 8 months has convinced me that my next purchase will be of a company with a better reputation for reliability.
| 3 | Today | Mine broke after 18 months
The laptop is sleek, sexy, and is ergonomic enough, but apparently, there is a reliability issue. Mine stopped booting up after 18 months of normal use. I don't leave it running hot, I use that Targus cooling pad with a USB-powered fan.
It was definitely not an LCD issue. The repair technician recommended that I replace the motherboard and/or CPU, but was unable to fix it otherwise.
I found this 66-page thread too late... but it's enough to keep me away from purchasing another Vaio to replace this broken one:
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/5449/?o=0 | 2 | Today | I love this laptop
Wow. I'm also surprised at all the negative reviews. Maybe I just got lucky, but this laptop has done everything I expected it to. Keep in mind that I've had it since March of this year... so that's a good 9 months of use. It's perfect for my school assignments. It runs things I need like MS Visual Studio just fine. And I can bring it to school without the power cord, knowing that I will have enough power to last me several hours.
I even played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and City of Heroes on it over the summer break. For CoH, I had to kind of tweak the video card a bit... but that appears to be a known issue with customized laptop video cards (Mobility Radeons, to be precise).
Overall... I love this laptop. | 5 | Today | Sony consistently creates great technology for work and play
I have been a long time fan of Sony technology, and in my lifetime have purchased 5 Sony PC's (two desktops, three laptops in total). I also own a Sony flat screen TV, Sony DVD player, Sony Playstation 2, Sony stereo system, Sony digital camera, and I have owned three different Sony CLIE's (PDA). I have consistenty found Sony products to be of high quality and highly reliable. I agree that Sony tends to be on the pricier end, but I personally am willing to pay the extra bucks for a package which combines style, performance and innovation. But I digress...so, THIS laptop is perfect for somebody like me...I'm a woman with small hands and the need for a lightweight laptop that can also perform. (Granted, if you are a bigger person with large hands, this probably isn't the laptop for you, but then again, you'd have problems adjusting to the keyboard of just about any ultra-portable, I think.) I have a fast-paced job which requires a lot of word processing, spreadsheet production, desktop publishing, and e-mail, and I use this laptop at home many an evening and when I am travling to keep up with my workload. In addition, I am an avid PC gamer, and this machine has done quite well with just about every game I've played on it thus far -- including Doom 3, which just came out (granted, you don't get the top-notch, bells-and-whistles experience given the specs, but it's entertaining enough!). It's also one of the few ultra-portables that actually has the optical drive (DVD/CD-RW) drive integrated, which makes it really quick to pack up and go. My system has never crashed, my screen has consistently delivered a lovely picture, and this thing just keeps on going and going and going. I've had it for about a year, and the only reason I might sell it is to upgrade to the latest V505 model. I've had this baby for just under a year and I LOVE it!! | 5 | Today | Did I just get lucky?
I'm amazed to see all of the negative reviews of this laptop. I purchased mine in January 2004 (though not from Amazon) and took it to France three days later to study abroad. It was, by far, the smallest and lightest laptop of any of the students in my program.
I use it for word processing, wireless internet, web design, music and digital photography (storing and editing in Photoshop) and it hasn't failed me yet. The keyboard did take a little getting used to - especially the small shift key on the right side, but I didn't buy the computer for the shift key. I use it every day, sometimes for hours at a time, and absolutely wouldn't trade it for anything. My only wish is that the drive partitioning had been set up differently. My C drive keeps filling up and there's tons of space on the D drive, but I'm sure it won't be hard to fix once I get around to it.
I wouldn't discount this laptop entirely if the specs fill your needs - I've had a great experience with it. | 5 | Today | Overpriced Garbage
Sony specializes in making the cheapest possible products, giving them a snazzy exterior and then overcharging by an outrageous margin. Part of this strategy of ripping off a gullible public is to spend almost no money on support. For example, the SCREEN is not covered under the warrany. That is a full 50% or more of the value of the computer. This flimsy product with a poorly designed, akward keyboard, showed a crack in the screen within a few months of very light use (I am a Mac user mostly). This was without travel or injury of any kind. Guess what, warrantly doesnt cover this, because it couldnt be defective, cause its a Sony! I have had Sony camcorders, TVs, you name it. EVERY ONE WAS FLIMSY AND DEFECTIVE. That is the sony way. Support America. Dont buy Sony! Support honesty, dont buy Sony! | 1 | Today | fine for me but...
After months of looking for a laptop, i finally chose this one. The size won me over and so far its performance has been wonderful. The keyboard is a little small but it gets a little taking used to, as does the extremely small shift key. My main problem with the computer is that the casing got scratched up about 3 days after i got it and i just put it into a regular bag. I'm so dissapointed because one of its strongest appeals was its look. | 4 | Today | Notebook died twice in 4 months
I bought this notebook in December 2003 because I was attracted by its sleek and shiny design, and thought I could trust a Sony product. Looks are certainly deceiving. Two months later, I left the notebook idle for 5 minutes while I attended to something else, and when I returned and touched the touchpad to activate it, the whole thing shut down and wouldn't start up again. Sony Support told me to take out the battery, hold down the power button, etc., but nothing worked so it was sent in for repair and I received it 4 working days later. A month and a half later, in mid-March, I touched the touchpad to move the mouse and the notebook died again!! It was completely unresponsive to any attempts to revive it. I am incredulous at the quality of this product. Sony should really get its act together. If there's one thing I have learned from using this product, it is to constantly backup my files. When the notebook was working, it worked beautifully, but it's intolerable to have to send it in for repair every couple of weeks. I would strongly urge prospective buyers to consider other laptops, e.g. the IBM X40. | 1 | Today | Good enough
I wanted a laptop that is portable and have good graphic card. So I don't regret that I purchased this laptop because it is very light and performs great on 3D games. 3DMark score was 768 which is about the same as Desktop intel 2.4GHz with Geforce 4 Ti 4600 can perform. I could play Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo (yes, demo just came out!!) w/o lag @ high resolution. Only reason I gave 4 stars is that its hard drive is noisy. It has noise that new hard drive shouldn't make. gir gir gir gir.. U know.. I wonder if my laptop is defective or all v505dx hard drive is noisy but it is real problem in the quiet library. | 4 | Today |
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