# Opinions on what's better, Sony or Compaq



## Kara (Jan 30, 2003)

Getting a new computer to replace my Compaq 4000 series (333 I think)

While I like the Compaq and customer service has been tremendous, not to happy HP owns it now.

What I am looking at is a Sony RX850 and a Compaq 6470.
Both Pentium 4, 512 Ram. Differences are... 
Compaq 2.5, Sony 2.4
Compaq has 120GB, Sony 80
Compaq RW 48X12X42, Sony 42x12x40
Compaq 2 or 3 expansion slots, Sony 6, and a Memory Stick port.
Compaq 64 MB Gaphics Memory, Sony 32.
I will be mostly using this for, business, accounting, songs, etc. Not much at all in the gaming field.
Could only find a link for the Sony
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/3533054#detailed

Anyone either have one of these or any opinions on either would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Kara


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

The Sony will be fine unless you have a HUGE music collection, as in 20 gigs+.

The general opinion is to avoid Compaq (all though i have one myself).


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## Davey7549 (Feb 28, 2001)

Kara
I agree with Brendan about Compaq. They have been trying to improve their Rep and customer service however the proprietory nature of the unit makes it difficult to do anything with it in upgrades or repairs except through their authorized service centers or using their parts.

Sony makes a very nice unit but has developed a Customer No service policy and their Website is horrible to use for any support and\or updates.

Personally if I were to purchase a unit instead of building one it would be a Dell as primary choice and Gateway as Secondary.
Some may frown on the Gateway choice but I have seen little in the way of problems from people that own them. This of course does not include self inflicted injuries such as Viruses, Trojans, Spyware or Scumware.

Just my Two cents.

Dave


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## Kara (Jan 30, 2003)

Thanks for the replys.

I posted this in the Hardware section also and unfortunately I can only choose between the two. Though both systems seem to be proprietary it seems less of a chance going with Compaq. 

I think I'll run into the same problem with Sony that I did when I first bought HP, new company, new line of product and poor customer service.

Appreciate the input, certainly sounds from everyone the build it yourself would be the way to go if I had a choice


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## Politicaldog (Jan 28, 2003)

I really like the HP's. I now own 3. I've not had any difficulty with any of them and customer service has been excellent for me. Its funny how we all have different experiences with the same company. I have 2 relatives that have Compaq and I have did all the service and repairs for both of theirs. I was actually hoping HP would fix the Compaq's since they merged..lol

Good Luck with whatever you buy
Politicaldog


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## Kara (Jan 30, 2003)

Thanks 

Actually I'm going to get a VPRMatrix, was just about to get a Compaq when I was asked if I'd ever looked at these so wanted to check them out first.
Heard a ton of good things about them (PC Magazine also) less software (but most of the stuff they give you is junk anyway) but is supposedly way less proprietary and tons of room to upgrade.

So see how it goes (sent an e-mail to HP asking about the specifics of the computer I was looking to by. That was last week, haven't heard anything since)


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Just a quick note. It seems that VPRMatrix is wholly owned by Best Buy. This is from the lead in of a PCWorld review;


> the first system we have evaluated from Best Buy subsidiary Vpr Matrix


The review was generally good as were others I saw but I'd proceed a little caustiously in any case when a store like Best Buy owns the company. You might do a price comparison directly from Best Buy and your supplier.


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2003)

In order of LIFE-ALTERING importance  :

1. The Hyundai 17" Monitor that comes with the SONY SUCKS! Its Max Resolution is 1280x1024, I mean, come ON! And it's only got a .27 Dot Pitch. That's like average from even 2 years ago! A good monitor should have at least 2048x1280 and a .22-.24 Dot Pitch. Get a different monitor?

2. I definitely recommend building your own computer or at least picking specific parts. All the parts that I have listed here are not even NameBrand, I don't think. Like the best CD-RWs are from Plextor,
best DVD Drives are from Pioneer. That's why I don't recommend getting what SONY gives, get the parts specifically. 

3. Ok, definitely don't get a computer with such a fast processor. I'd say that a 1.5GHZ is all you'll need for a while. Get a slower processor, but spend the money that you save on things that I have recommended in my message, like a good monitor, a REAL Graphics Card, etc. The Monitor is definitely very important.

4. Thrice said -- DON'T GET A COMPAQ! I have one, and I hate it. First, it's very hard to change or add hardware to it. Every time I want to add RAM or a HD, I have to take out the Power Supply. It's very tight, I get cut. I bought a 1.1Ghz processor, tried to upgrade, didn't work. It was what Compaq told me I could use, still lying around though.

5. Compared to the Compaq, the biggest difference I'd say is that the SONY's hard drive (HD) is only 80GB, while the Compaq's is 120GB.

6. The SONY has INTEGRATED graphics, which is basically crap. It isn't a real Graphics Card, it's just soldered onto the motherboard. If you are going to play any modern video games, make sure you get a true Graphics Card, like a Geforce 3 or an ATI Radeon 8700.

7. DVD-ROM Drive: 16X max. It's the minimum anyone should have. Nothing bad about it.

8. CD-RW Drive: (32x/12x/40x) max. 32x writing is a little slow, get a 48x, they're not very expensive today. Is 12x Re-Writing good these days? Or is it possible to get faster? 

9. Yes, the 32MB of Video Memory is definitely no good. 64 MBs is definitely the minimum. But even at that, the video memory is "shared memory" (it's shared with the RAM, so it isn't REAL video memory, because it's not a REAL graphics card).

10. Oh yeah, get yourself a good sound card. The SONY doesn't mention anything about a sound card, probably has some sh*t. Get yourself at least a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 or equal.


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## Fyzbo (Feb 6, 2002)

My advice... either build your own or get the deal! If you just want to pick up a pc all set and ready to go wait for the specials and sales. It might not be the best pc for upgrades but with the money you save you can just by a new pc sooner. I own a gateway that was a gift. It was one of their specials from the website and the person who go it for me got a great deal. If it's a premade computer, don't pay regular price.


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## jdemnyan1116 (Mar 18, 2000)

have an hp system, printer and scanner also, no problems at all with the system unless I or someone else causes them. Mostly me. Got good service(although hard to understand their type of english). Brother got a compaq and not to thrilled about it. He is having somekind of problem once a week.


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## gotrootdude (Feb 19, 2003)

I really could not , in good faith, recommend either.

Both seem to have very limited expansion capabilities and I've noticed personally that niether stands up to most reviews benchmarks. 
(I wonder if Ziff-Davis is getting kickbacks from Compaq)

I'd really recommend a home built, or a prebuilt custom from 
http://www.pcinfinity.net
But don't allow them to put in one of those PC-chips motherboards, go with something nice like a A7V266 or 333 and a good video. Most new compaqs come with a Prosavage (shudder) shared memory. Buy a good Geforce 4 440SE, or a ATI 9000 or higher. Buy a Altec lansing 3pc for the speakers and get a wireless keyboard and mouse and a LCD monitor with the money you save.


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

I was re-reading a mag from a few months ago yesterday, and basically what it said was Compaq: Mediocre machines, mediocre support, Sony: Great machines, crappy support.


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