# 'Old' Apple 1 GHZ PB G4 17 inch BLASTS Sony's Vaio 1,7 GHZ 17 inch AWAY !



## cigar (Sep 16, 2004)

I posted this personal review of mine already in dutch and a certain  sneaky thief of legal software who does it under the name of "i am a tester", called it a fake review despite that he didn't have any proof otherwise and therefore makes his accusation as flame-bs.

Anyhow a friend of mine invited me a while ago at his office and asked me to bring along my  old Alu.17 inch PB (aka  Bismarck for me)to be compared against his new bought Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 wich looks almost like Apple's previous powerbook the  Titanium powerbook.
Said and done i took my  old PB 17 inch from behind the class vitrine and took it to his office where i put it on the table next to the latest notebook of Sony.

First of all: 
Sony is known to make the most beautiful designs of the PC world.Stylish, crisp clear screens etc are it's main features from the outside. That said the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 looks from a distant beautiful and gives you even if you look inside the matching folder that "lust" factor.Looking closer in real-life like i did on the table that disappears and you begin to see the cheap carbon cover on the notebook the kindda of cover wich has that *tick*tick* sound if you knock and touch it.Compare that to the smooth Titanium of better Aluminium cover when you touch the Apple powerbook and you feel the difference in hardware already as a whole.
But enough of that: Let's see how this Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 behaves compares to the  old Alu.PB 17 inch.
1st  
The specifications of the  Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 are  here to be seen, and the technical specifications of the  Alu.battle-ship are likewise  here.

2nd: The first thing i did was checking the time on reboot.Both were on a wireless company-network and were clocked after they were locked down and rebooted by pressing the "on" buttons on both.
Remarkable! The  old Alu.17 inch PB showed it's desktop after * 27 seconds!* while the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 was still strubbling and trying to show it's desktop.

3rd: was a simple browser-test.
I typed in the website of CNN and behold,the  old Alu.17 inch PB showed the website after * 6 seconds* while the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 was trying to load the page and showed it after * +/- 45 seconds*!
Maybe it was the website itself and the traffic of that moment.So i typed in another website,that of the dutch TV broadcasting NOS.Again the   old Alu.17 inch PB  safari-browser showed the website after* 5 seconds*.The explorer of the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175  showed the NOS website after!* 55 seconds*!
As i said before; this was a simple browser-test of 2 website's and thusfar the latest Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 lagged big-time behind the  old Alu.17 inch PB.Needless to say that i didn't take the time to have a test with Photoshop or encoding some video-files cause why should i when with simple-tests the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 loses big time to the  old Alu.17 inch PB?
4th:
Let's see how the lid of both notebooks behaves when closing it.TheSony Vaio VGN-A1175 has a plastic-stickin'out-black button wich one has to press very hard with your thumb while holding the screen with your other hand when you push it up cause if not, the notebook as a whole will move from it's place ot even fall.That harsh is it. The   old Alu.17 inch PB on the other hand has a smooth way of opening. Just presh the small metalic button and it flips open automatically and one can easily push with the other hand the lid further open.No sliding of the notebook here as with the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175.
When one opens the lid of the notebook the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 is  not wakening up and has to be rebooted to show the last action it made before it was closed down.The   old Alu.17 inch PB  on the other hand shows when the whole lid is reopend it's final action therefore awakening from it's "sleeping' position.
Ok...does the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 at least has something to bragg about on a hardware level? Yes... it screen with the_ automatic luminance sensor en x-black LCD_ is in my view more crisper then the Apple's 17 inch.Also the screen is _1920x1200_ and it has a DVD RW +!

 To conclude it all:

Despite the Sony Vaio VGN-A1175 is the best Sony has to offer on the notebook-front, it seems it still lacks waaaaay behind Apple's innovative and slick powerbooks.


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## fryke (Sep 16, 2004)

Erhm... And you're sure that this Sony's web settings were not set to first look for some autoconfiguring proxy server, which would explain the delay before showing anything? Your 'review' is quite clearly off the mark. This must have been one _badly_ configured Sony notebook... I'm glad this is in the opinions forum, for it certainly isn't a _review_...


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## Viro (Sep 16, 2004)

Agreed. Something must be wrong for the Sony vaio to take that long to load a website. It must be searching for the DNS or something like that. I know that was a problem when I had a windows laptop.


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## Zammy-Sam (Sep 16, 2004)

God, the 17'' alubook simply looks perfect. Does anyone care for anything else?


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## cigar (Sep 16, 2004)

> *" fryke " wrote:*_
> Erhm... And you're sure that this Sony's web settings were not set to first look for some autoconfiguring proxy server, which would explain the delay before showing anything? Your 'review' is quite clearly off the mark. This must have been one _badly_ configured Sony notebook... I'm glad this is in the opinions forum, for it certainly isn't a _review_..._



I dunno about the delay in the showing of the Sony website cause i'm not the one who put those websites up in the air.But it is kindda disturbing.Regarding beeing clear of the mark.Let me put things clearly: Those 'amateur' reviews i read online of various socalled 'professional' reviewers of mostly FANSITES! are as 'professional' as mine.Meaning they are not more worthy as a review then my personal opinion as i wrote above.
Besides that: Most professional reviews from websites like Cnet or Apple itself are as biased as the persons who write about it cause...it is their PAID job! therefore givin'it a biased label in my view.
Suggesting that the Sony notebook was bad configured is off the mark cause it suggests that something was done to make it look bad.Unless you have a proove of that, your remark is uncalled for. This review/opinion/ was a simple handsdown test to see by doing a limited handling on how it behaves compared to an Apple notebook.Nothing more nothing less.
I've heard before that one can only call( or name) such a review legit or whatever if one does certain tests like the professional websites do (those technical spec's Cnet or PC World etc do)BS to the fullest like that is the standard. Anyone who isn't reviewing as part of his job doesn't have to follow those socalled 'industry standards'like fansites like to bragg about.
So to conclude it all:

A review is also partly an personal opinion/experience of something and therefore legit.


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## Satcomer (Sep 16, 2004)

That is a good "opinion_"_ cigar_ . _


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## fryke (Sep 17, 2004)

cigar: Get a grip. You're posting your 'review' as a new thread and already defend your opinion before anyone here attacked it. Doesn't _that_ show you that something's wrong? The Sony taking 40 seconds or more to load a website that another computer takes 5 seconds for shows me (and I've supported many Macs and PCs in the past and present) that the PC is looking for a proxy server. Just believe me: In 90% of the cases where IE on a PC takes a long while before showing a page (or part of it), the browser is looking for automatic proxy settings, which is the default setting, but many ISPs just don't provide such an automatic proxy server setting. That's not opinion, that's experience talking.

I'm sure you _liked_ seeing your PowerBook win, and I'm happy you're happy with Apple. But your review is, to use your own language, BS.

And while we're at 'your language': Watch it, please. We have very strict rules regarding the use of profanity in posts...


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## Lycander (Sep 17, 2004)

My 2 cents:

People here who know me, know that I was getting a bad wrap for just coming in here and bashing Macs, defending Wintel. For the record I love/hate both equally and I just try to find answers and point things out. With that said...

- Windows Networking Wizard is garbage. Not only did it not fix my networking issue, it screwed things up even more. Whether or not people believe me, I do believe I have the credentials to be troubleshooting computers. And in my utmost unbiased and professional opinion, Windows' auto network configuration is a bad thing that should not be trusted. Should have just done it myself.

- MacOSX: DHCP, nuff said. I get an IP address, netmask, and DNS, that's all I need and all I want. I do not need other weird network settings.

The basis of my conclusions is on "out-of-the-box" configurations, and "wizards" that the average user will be exposed to. More savvy users tend to avoid wizards and default settings, manually making those settings themselves.


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## hulkaros (Sep 18, 2004)

Well, I bet that I can make that Wintel fly too! Especially, with a Linux in and Windows out 

Still, this "opinion" should not be judged... It is an opinion and not a "review"! And as we all know(?) opinion are like bottoms: Everyone has one!


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## Viro (Sep 18, 2004)

hulkaros said:
			
		

> Well, I bet that I can make that Wintel fly too!



Yeah, especially out the window


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## cigar (Sep 18, 2004)

> * "fryke" wrote:*_
> cigar: Get a grip. You're posting your 'review' as a new thread and already defend your opinion before anyone here attacked it. Doesn't _that_ show you that something's wrong? The Sony taking 40 seconds or more to load a website that another computer takes 5 seconds for shows me (and I've supported many Macs and PCs in the past and present) that the PC is looking for a proxy server. Just believe me: In 90% of the cases where IE on a PC takes a long while before showing a page (or part of it), the browser is looking for automatic proxy settings, which is the default setting, but many ISPs just don't provide such an automatic proxy server setting. That's not opinion, that's experience talking._



Did i mention that that matter.Did i mention because of that the Sony already had a disadvantage as you would call it ( for looking for a proxy server blabla- like i didn't know that -) and therefore makes my 'review'/opinion les valid? No.So what's the point.That is again trying to add your average "industry standards"fansites- review rules on the way i see a opinion/review.
Do i need to strip down the PC first cause of some "socalled fansites industry standard rules before i do a test against a Mac? Hellooo....Like you have to have a degree in cooking to give your review/opinion on how a dish tastes because some think one should take "this" or "that" into consideration because of.....whatever.That is simply  not the point.
What matters was that in this  simple test i did, i experienced these slow matters on the Sony notebook wich says more then enough.



> _
> I'm sure you _liked_ seeing your PowerBook win, and I'm happy you're happy with Apple. But your review is, to use your own language, BS._


Good... that's your opinion.nevertheless it doesn't makes it less valid.



> _
> And while we're at 'your language': Watch it, please. We have very strict rules regarding the use of profanity in posts..._



Strict rules shouldn't be there to have people temper their way of expression.I am direct and straightforward. Bullshit is  NOT a 'wrong word or even harsh like "moron/asshole/idiot". Or am i now landed on laura ashley forum with christian sunday prayers saying members where one has to say only sweet and politicial correct words to stay a member?
Please let me know cause this is a the www.


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## Viro (Sep 18, 2004)

cigar said:
			
		

> Did i mention that that matter.Did i mention because of that the Sony already had a disadvantage as you would call it ( for looking for a proxy server blabla- like i didn't know that -) and therefore makes my 'review'/opinion les valid? No.So what's the point.That is again trying to add your average "industry standards"fansites- review rules on the way i see a opinion/review.
> Do i need to strip down the PC first cause of some "socalled fansites industry standard rules before i do a test against a Mac? Hellooo....Like you have to have a degree in cooking to give your review/opinion on how a dish tastes because some think one should take "this" or "that" into consideration because of.....whatever.That is simply  not the point.
> What matters was that in this  simple test i did, i experienced these slow matters on the Sony notebook wich says more then enough.



Cooking is a subjective thing. Performance is not. While there are metrics for measuring performance, there aren't any for measuring taste. Most reviewers have to strive for objectivity and any reviewer knows that when faced with such results that are phenomenally good, normally something is wrong. Steps are then taken to analyse the results to determine why this is the case.

Mac users already have a bad name due to the fanaticism of some. Such a 'review' doesn't help any. Based on your opinion piece, the Vaio would have a performance that is 10x poorer than the Powerbook. The performance of the Vaio is no where near that bad in _real life_. No, browsing the web on a poorly configured browser is not real life. Even if it was, it isn't representative of performance in other applications.

This isn't a jab at you since you probably don't do reviews for a living, or work in a scientific area. But please take the criticism of your 'benchmark' in a constructive way. But the "socalled fansites industry standard rules" you are so critical off aren't rules per se, rather commonly accepted methods for benchmarking and are there because people know what they're benchmarking.


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## cigar (Sep 18, 2004)

Viro thanks for your reply and i do understand what you are saying but i hope you understood that i see no valid reason to use those "common rules' set by certain folks who feel the need to use that on every personal review of certain experiences set by anyone therefore calling every personal review invalid or whatever just because it is not done the way the pro's do.
Let's put it plainly: If i wanna buy a new computer i read reviews as a simple opinion of a person.I never take it as the truth or something wich should influence directly my personal opinion.I read and keep it as the little voice in the back of my head when i 'm going for the sale.
It is almost saying to someone whois having a complaint:
_ " because your complain doesn't add up to certain rules we set for that, it is not a complaint "_
Unjustified and demonising the other's complaint


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