HP vs Sony Vaio

[Tom81]

It seems like the hp computers offer more features that the Vaio line....easily exchangeable extra harddrives, light-scribe, better pricing.
Is there anything Vaio has over HP in terms of quality video editing?
(all specs equal of course).

[808smokey]

Unless I'm mistaken...

Vaio is more expensive when a part fails. You have to buy from them and only them.

[ozymango]

The Sony Vaios I've worked with (we've got a couple on campus here) are fine computers but I don't really trust them. Sort of a gut hunch, but here's one recent particular reason:

The DVD burner went out in one of these puppies about a month after we got it, and it was under warranty so no big deal getting a replacement pretty much instantly (and in our case they were great with their warranty service, so there's that, but we're a big campus with a boatload of computers so they may treat us differently than your average Joe). But while waiting for a replacement drive, I was bored, so I took a look at the old drive to see what the specs were.

There was a "Sony" sticker on it and some model number, but a generic black faceplate and not much else. But when I popped it into a computer to test it (the PC recognized the burner but the burner refused to recognize any discs, CD or DVD), the OS (XP) said that the drive was a Pioneer 109. Interesting. I'm not up on my OEM listing of who makes drives for whom, so this was neither here nor there, but just for the heck of it I went to Sony's site and checked what firmware was available for this drive, and lo and behold there was a firmware update for this model number.

So I downloaded it, tried flashing the drive, and I got back the message, "This firmware is not for this drive" or something like that. So I ran some tools to check the firmware, and it said it was running Pioneer firmware, like 1.06 or something, dunno the exact numbers.

So I got to Pioneer's site, for the heck of it, find the latest firmware for the 109 drive, and give it a shot -- and this time, the firmware verifies that the current version is Pioneer but also gives the message, "This firmware is not for this drive."

Now, maybe this drive was just bad out of the gate, a random instance of defectiveness, but frankly I still haven't figured out who made that darn thing. Obviously Sony did some sort of voodoo-magic to make this a Sony drive, but the support for this drive wasn't exactly helpful.

Perhaps in every other way this is a wonderful computer -- and aside from that this has been a very well behaved machine -- but there's just something about Sony's methods that ... I don't trust.

But then we've also got several HP/Compaq computers with power supplies that have gone belly-up within six weeks of purchase so there's that, too ... I guess I'm not really helping you at this point ...

Uh, any interest in building your own computer from scratch?

[ROF]

Uh, any interest in building your own computer from scratch?

That's the best way to purchase a computer. Even if you don't have the talent to build one there is probably someone you know or a friend of a friend that does this. I started regularly building and fixing computer as a hobby in the 80's and been doing it ever since. I ask two questions before I build:

1) How much do you want to spend?

2) What do you want the computer to do?

Nothing else a customer can tell me is important at that point. Questions #1 tell me what Motherboard/CPU pairing I should choose and question # 2 tells me what other parts they need. When you or someone else builds your system you can guarantee zero proprietary parts. HP and Sony both use proprietary power supplies amongst other parts as is evident by the optical drive discussion. I always recommend against buying one of these mass manufactured PCs because while they offer the same level of computing at time of purchase when it comes time to upgrade, add a part, or replace a malfunctioning part, the cost associated with a pre-built is much more significant then with a custom built. Another notable Sony Vaio trait is to physcially attach their processors to the slot/socket in order to prevent a customer from upgrading.

[edDV]

I bought an HP for a relative for Christmas, it had numerous problems but a new motherboard swap finally fixed it. Customer Service time expended on my part ~ 6 hours.

Bought a Sony VAIO Notebook plus dock. Dock was faulty, customer service was clueless and kept asking for tests. I eventually swapped it with the retailer for another. Time lost ~ 6 hours.

I build my own desktop computers and know every component. It takes more time up front but you get what you want and can service or update parts from then on.

BTW, I concluded my Vaio notebook DVD drive (only marked with SONY labels) is a Toshiba after looking at the driver.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I have had this HP Pavilion 7955 for about 5 years. No problems at all. Still works like the day I got it. A friend of mine has a Vaio and has had nothing but problems. Burner not working, over heating, so he returned it for another. Overheating stopped, burner still crap. I also, have several friends who have had Dells. They suck as well, way to many problems I had to try and fix for all my freinds Dells. I will never buy nor recommend a DELL. Plus their customer service blows. So I will only recommend the 1 Brand I have yet to have a problem with HP. On a side note, I talked 5 of my friends to go with HP after thier Dells finally just shit the bed after about 2-3 years(just after warranty, how convient?). They have not had any problems that I have had to try and fix. Then one friend stuck with "his" dell brand, and low and behold, guess who gets a call atleast once a month....Go with HP

[budz]

build your own computer!

[smearbrick1]

Unless I'm mistaken...

Vaio is more expensive when a part fails. You have to buy from them and only them.

I'm pretty sure you're mistaken. Sony uses alot of off the shelf parts for their pcs. Except for the Motherboard and PS, which I believe to be both proprietary, everything else is the same crap you find in any other pc... or lower quality. If your DVD burner blows up, out of warranty, buy another one. You don't have to send it back to Sony. I don't understand where people come up with this thing about "You have to buy from them and only them." I had a VAIO, it had problems, I fixed them with off the shelf parts. Guess what? It still worked! Same thing with HP.

This may have been a problem in the past, but I think most manufacturers are finding that it is more cost effective to use whatever everyone else is using (standard-wise). Hell, even Dell uses ATX MBs and PSs now.

[ROF]

While Dell maybe using ATX Motherboards they are still using proprietary motherboards paired with proprietary power supplies in most models. You can see this for yourself by opening a Dell and looking at the 20-24Pin Motherboard Connector. On 20 pin connector Dell removes pin 9 and swaps it to a 6 proprietary pin connector which seats next to the 20 pin Motherboard connector. On 24 pin connectors Dell moves pin 9 and 22 over to a similiar external 6 pin proprietary connection. Unfortunately, I do not know anywhere you can purchase a 24 pin Dell conversion adapter but the 20 pin Dell adapters are available at most computer shops.

[jhotmann]

I have an HP Pavilion zd8000 laptop so i can transfer it from school to home easilly, but i would never buy a desktop. I have built 2 custom rigs, both never having any hardware problems. Custom rigs are always the way to go.

[handyguy]

I have owned a lot of Vaios that have that heat cap issue. You would think Sony would do something about it, but no.....

What happens is that the computer goes black but the fan stays on & it won't respond.
There used to be a website, vaioshutdown.com about it .

I wont own another vaio just for that reason.

[forever-faith21]

Well I have the sony vaio E series laptop. My friend has the Sony Pavillion ( I don't know which one though). And I think the Sony Pavillion is better than the Vaio just a tad bit more. To me, they're both practically the same. My vaio has been with me for a long while, and it has never had any issues. For the HP, my friend has it and had it for as long as I had my vaio. It's practically both the same. Never had any issues.
I download a lot of stuff on my Vaio, it doesn't slowdown, it doesn't really react. It never heated up. And the nice thing about the Vaio is, if you're in to movies and listening to music, it's the right one for you, it has an HDMI cord, and it let's you play blu ray. And if you're a video editor, you should get the Vaio, it just fits more better on it. On the other hand; HP pavillion. If you want that one, it is a little more less than the vaio, and it's practically good if you're not going to download so many things. It's pretty fast. When you download stuff, it does take up a lot of space though.

If I knew about this before getting a Vaio, I probably would've gotten the HP

[jman98]

forever-faith21 - This thread is over 5 and half years old. NOBODY cares any more. We don't like "grave robbing" around here. That's where you dig up old threads and post to them.

[forever-faith21]

Ok, I just wanted to share my answer.

No big deal.

This is for people that can use this when they are tied between HP or a Vaio.

It's not just a discussion from 5 years ago. But OK.