Cons: Win 2KPro prevents use of full multi-monitor use.
The Bottom Line: Excellent laptop, best I have used, if editing is your bag install XPPro or go with a comparable Toshiba or IBM. Not for power 3D gaming.
speszel's Full Review: Sony VAIO GR170K PC Notebook
This machine worked well straight out of the box. It is lightweight (6lbs), full featured, excellent graphics capability. The screen is so good I stopped using my second larger monitor. The plastic case seems sturdy enough but titanium or magnesium would more suitable for travel.
I purchased a docking station to go with the laptop, this provides more features; s-video, more USB ports, printer and serial port, and allows use of a serial mouse as the laptop has only USB port for mouse.
The docking station can easily come detached however, especially when referring to the laptop serial number located underneath. Locking needs to be improved.
You will need the serial number when you are eventually able to get through to SONY tech support if you have questions or problems. It took me 3 weeks to get through and I found the laptop newsggroups to be a better source of information and must faster. Support gives this unit a black mark and for that reason alone we would think very hard before buying another SONY.
CDR/DVD is a dual unit accessed from the left hand side. DVD capabilties of this unit are awesome and the built-in software is quite good. There is NO floppy drive buy a USB floppy!
SONY supplies a lot of built-in software for everything from CD burning (which is quite fast)to graphics editing software, laptop setup application, help applications etc etc. The supplied apps will suit most users needs. Power users will want to remove supplied apps and install their own.
Sony use an app called Jog Dial a small utility that I am quite ambivalent on it is a software and hardware controller that could be useful. I tend to switch it off as it pops up on the screen when you accidentally touch the dial located on the front of the unit.
Mouse is a touch pad which is positive and much better to use than the horrid nipple used on many laptops, I use a mouse for office work but the touch pad for road work.
The graphics capability is excellent, it uses ATI's Rage Mobility Radeon M graphics chip with 8 Mb DDR SDRAM according to the specs and the label OR ATI Mobility Radeon M6 according to video adaptor information inside. SONY says it is the same item just reported differently, ATI's website says otherwise. SONY could not explain. The graphics is hampered by being crippled by Win2K Pro, with which this machine comes installed, as MS does not allow the OS to handle full dual monitor capability such as wide screen or twin view or Hydravision. This makes the laptop not ideal for presentation or editing work as one cannot drag and drop from screen to screen or view one app while working with another. 3D capabilities are limited and this is not a power gamer's machine. New laptops should have the Radeon 7500 chip installed, look for that.
Apart from that major glitch and the very poor support and response I am very happy with the machine and it should serve my purposes well for some time once I upgrade to Win XP Pro. Cost was $4200 Canadian.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2999 Operating System: Windows Processor: Intel Pentium III Processor speed: over 1000 RAM: 256 Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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