Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony VAIO PCG-V505EXP Laptop (1.50 GHz Pentium M (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive)

This is a great small notebook. I did the research for 3 month & this is the best one I could found. The different between V505EX And V505EXP is Wireless G and OS is Window XP Pro (The spec on Amazon.com is Wrong ,V505EXP is not Window XP home). So u dont have to upgrade any more, and the price is only $100 different.I think is better to pick up V505EXP than V505EX.
This notebook has everything u need. The style is Cool, the Weight is light & Speed is fast(especilly for Gameing....Cuz it has ATI 92oo Graphic Card 32Mb build in,not randeon 16mb). If u have Wiless G router, u can have up to 54mb transfer rate. I used to have Sony TR3A, that is a very nice notebook,too. but the problem is TR3a is too slow , And the Graphic card dont support DirectX 9. a lot game cant play.SO i move to V505EXP. I dont know why the other reviewer (the one review V505EX) has wireless problem. But My V505EXP dont have that problem at all.
When I try to buy the notebook I dont really care about price. However , this one is not expensive( compare to Z Series & TR series) and u will get more than those model. (Ps. Dont buy Z series cus the graphic card only has 16 mb...super slow. and the notebook's body is vry easy to get duty) The only thing I dont really like is this notebook is not silver color( I love Silver ) other wirse, this notebook is prefect for me

We purchased 3 of these computers refurbished directly from Sony. Each one was defective, and we had to send it back. Each one had problems with our Linksys wireless notebook adaptor card. The computers were slow as well.

Finally, after returning all 3 V505 computers, we went out and bought a new VGN-S150. We have had no problems with this new computer. We were told by the guy at Circuit City that the V505s were known to have problems in different areas. Our wireless connection with this new computer is great. This shows that the V505s were just not good in this respect. You get what you pay for.

This is a nice package with wireless and nice compact design and long battery life. The memory and disk are very good, and the processor quite OK for most purposes. The keyboard is a little cramped, and the speakers give sound no better than a mobile phone, which is puzzling for a Sony device.

I am happy with my choice EXCEPT that the keyboard induces random jumps and characters and unfortunately I have to spend about 30% of my typing time correcting the errors and adjusting the cursor.

I searched on the web and found, sadly, that this is a problem experienced by many people with this Sony keyboard. And it appears that trying to get the problem solved is even more frustrating than the problem. So if you need series keying than this machine is quite useless.

The V505 is highly portable, and pretty powerful. However, don't believe the specs until you open the box. It does NOT come with Works or Norton! It comes with trial versions of both, and then you'll pay through the nose for the software. Better to load 2002-2004 software if you have it on another computer. Perfectly legit if you're the licensed user.

Then, expect problems with Norton. I like Norton Anti-Virus the best of all such software, but their firewall and security system in the pre-loaded software ties up the computer with warnings, notes, hints, and more warnings.

If you pay no attention to anything else I say, pay attention to this: DO NOT LOAD PRE-2002 SOFTWARE on any system with XP or XP Home. I loaded a Win98 WordPerfect Suite on this; it "crashed" and had to restore the entire system. The same thing happens with Word or Works, but then I still run some pre-SE software. Three days of work down the drain.

My V505EX came with no CD and no books, just a Quick Start booklet. If you've never worked with XP before, get a copy of The Complete Reference (Osborne Books) or the Dummies book along with the computer.

Last, and maybe most important if you're considering any Vaio, Sony's warranty is one year parts, labor, and even software advice. And their service has been great! Better than Dell in Dell's better days (i.e., 1984-2002). I'm so impressed that I think I might replace my desktop with a Sony PC, and that after 8 Dells, and one HP.

I love this petite computer. It is soo cute and so portable.