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Harry Needs Help Buying a New Computer

Dent said:
Wow this is interesting, I'll have to take a look, I've wanted a Vaio for a long time. Do you have a link?
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Sony Vaio NW Series: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...0151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644647989

There are several versions with varying features. Lower numbers have fewer features and higher numbers have more features (e.g., VGN-NW125J doesn't have the Blu-Ray drive; VGN-NW150J has the Blu-Ray drive but not a separate graphics card; VGN-NW180J has Blu-Ray drive, graphics card, and a bigger hard drive.)

The /T, /W, /S is the color (e.g., VGN-NW150J/S). T=Walnut Brown, W=Birch White, S=Granite Silver.

They are a little more expensive on the Sony website, but should be hitting stores soon.

Here are a couple from Best Buy so you can look at the specs:

VGN-NW150J

VGN-NW125J

Not sure why they are priced the same when the 125 doesn't have the Blu-Ray drive. Maybe they messed up the pricing.
 
BTW: So far I love the "chiclet" keyboard. I had never used one before and I was a little worried about that.

EDIT: Oh, and one odd feature it has is "Splashtop" "instant-on" web access. You can access the web without booting up the OS.
 
So far so good with the new laptop. It was painful to buy (I always get annoyed when I have to replace something that was previously working fine for me, even if that something isn't the greatest anymore - like a clunky computer, or an older car, or a cell phone . GG, you're with me on this, right?) But I must say that the wider screen is better because, for about the past 4 years, most websites have been going to wider formats because most laptops were going to widescreen.

The "chiclet" keyboard is also very comforting for some reason. I'm not sure if it's because of the chiclet keys, or because of the wider keyboard that comes with a 15" widescreen. Oddly though, my grammar seems to have gotten worse. Maybe I'm focused too much on the new key positions and my brain is ignoring things like push cart vs pull cart? Not sure.

It's also much quieter than my old laptop, which was, of course, part of the problem. That thing sounded like it could die at any moment. But anyway, it's a little alarming that I didn't notice just how noisy it really was. Not "The Who" noisy, but enough to disrupt the peace. I guess I just acclimated to the whirring and grinding.

It also "hibernates" well. Close the lib and it goes into hibernation. Open it an hit the power button, and it comes back almost immediately. My old computer didn't "do" hibernation. Oh, you could try . . . but it refused.

Haven't had a chance to test out the Blu-Ray yet. Maybe I'll rejoin NetFlix and get another HDMI cable and see if it's that much better than DVD.

No problems with Vista. Lots of initial "you need to download this update" but I think I through that now. Also had to figure out how to get rid of the bloatware. Luckily though, it looks like Sony listened to consumers and got rid of most of that stuff.

Can you tell I'm rambling because I can't sleep and that I'm hoping I will bore myself into slumber? It's not working.

Does anyone else think that Claire and Diane might actually be the same person? Just sayin'. . .
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Does anyone else think that Claire and Diane might actually be the same person? Just sayin'. . .
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Your fingers talking on their own again Harry? Please don't tell me it's your brain at work. :disapointed:
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Does anyone else think that Claire and Diane might actually be the same person? Just sayin'. . .
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Of course not--it takes two to make a conspiracy. :female-fighter:
 
Harry Longshanks said:
No problems with Vista. Lots of initial "you need to download this update" but I think I through that now. Also had to figure out how to get rid of the bloatware. Luckily though, it looks like Sony listened to consumers and got rid of most of that stuff.
Click to expand...

Did you turn off the unneeded startup processes through the control panel, administrative tools, system configuration, startup tab? The UAC (user access control)?

If you're using it for media, check out XBMC. XBMC will also play Blu-Ray mkv files too. It's a great piece of free software.

Did you add any more protection? :D I use some free software that works pretty well. Spybot Search and Destory to prevent spyware and malware, and Avast Anti-virus. Avast is free to home users, you just have to register though.

Avast
Spybot

If you surf questionable websites (we know you do, hehe :D), Spybot should help a lot. After you install it, get the updates, then immunize, and run the scan.
 
Rancho_Golfer said:
Did you turn off the unneeded startup processes through the control panel, administrative tools, system configuration, startup tab? The UAC (user access control)?

If you're using it for media, check out XBMC. XBMC will also play Blu-Ray mkv files too. It's a great piece of free software.

Did you add any more protection? :D I use some free software that works pretty well. Spybot Search and Destory to prevent spyware and malware, and Avast Anti-virus. Avast is free to home users, you just have to register though.

Avast
Spybot

If you surf questionable websites (we know you do, hehe :D), Spybot should help a lot. After you install it, get the updates, then immunize, and run the scan.
Click to expand...

The startup panel was one of the first things I hit. Surprisingly, there was very little there outside of the necessary Windows functions, and the only thing I had to turn off was the Norton's free trial.

I installed AVG, which I prefer to Avast and it came with Windows Defender, but I will probably install Spybot S&D.

As for my surfing habits, they are much more uninteresting than you might expect based on my conduct here. :D
 
Rancho-

Is there a cheap way to stream video (HD and other) to my TV wirelessly?

My laptop has an HDMI output and I may just buy a long cable, but it would be nice if I could stream it. What I would like to be able to do is use the TV as a 2nd monitor so I can watch web content on it while still using the laptop. (For example, during the college baseball season, my team's games are often broadcast on the internet.) Same with Blu-Ray movies.

My DirecTV HD DVR is connected to a wireless router and DirecTV has a beta of a "media player" but it only seems to work for mpegs stored locally, and not streaming media.

The laptop came with Blu-Ray player software. Is there something unique about XBMC?
 
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