Posted by
stephen, 12:30, 27th May 2003:
Cal has authorised my turning this site into an ebay for cheapskates, so here we go.
Anyone interesting in a VAIO laptop? Specs are...
PII 400MHz
128Mb RAM
6Gb HDD
10.2" screen
Considerably less than an inch thick.
Two batteries providing ~30 mins each (getting on a bit)
External USB floppy and PCMCIA CD-ROM
This is one sexy laptop, very very portable.
Model is PCG-N505SN.
Comes with Windows 98SE, also runs Linux and Win2k quite happily (presumably XP too).
And it could be yours for just £250.
But wait, there's more...
For an extra £50 you can also get a Netgear ME102 802.11b access point and MA401 802.11b PCMCIA card.
Any takers?
Posted by
stephen, 12:31, 27th May 2003:
Sorry, didn't have time to make lots of brightly coloured flashy things to complete the ebay feel.
Posted by
jlittle, 12:31, 27th May 2003:
how about for 50 i get the Netgear ME102 802.11b access point and MA401 802.11b PCMCIA card
Posted by
chandler, 12:38, 27th May 2003:
i am quite tempted stephen
hmmmm
Posted by
stephen, 13:51, 27th May 2003:
Jittle, I'll get back to you once the laptop's sold if I don't sell it with the 802.11b stuff. Trying to use it to make the laptop more tempting :-)
Chandler, let me know if you want anymore info. Can probably grab some pics if you like.
Posted by
chandler, 13:59, 27th May 2003:
yeah sure
can you email me some stuff
vaio@chaymation.co.uk
cheers
Posted by
chandler, 13:59, 27th May 2003:
a specs page would be good, i couldnt find one online
Posted by
stephen, 14:11, 27th May 2003:
To make it more use on the road...
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem...
Pics at:
images.google.com/images?q=PCG-N505&hl=e...
Can't find exact specs, but if you look here:
nbinside.com/sony/pcg-n505.htm
The only difference is the SN has full PII Mobile 400Mhz.
I've upgraded the RAM from 64Mb to 128Mb.
Oh, and no modem, does have IR though.
Let me know if you want more info.
Posted by
cal, 14:20, 27th May 2003:
i can vouch that this is one cool little laptop. i'd buy it myself if i wasn't so poor
Posted by
chandler, 14:22, 27th May 2003:
poor! yeah right
is it good for the money though cal?
Posted by
chandler, 14:22, 27th May 2003:
is it like a lil laptop then cos its hard to tell from pics
Posted by
stephen, 14:34, 27th May 2003:
There's not a lot of bezel on the screen, and it's 10.2" across. It's about two thirds of an inch thick. I've got a 12" Powerbook now, and the VAIO seems tiny compared to it.
Posted by
cal, 15:13, 27th May 2003:
yeah - good for the money. small, light, fast, powerful and for a pc, very good looking
Posted by
chandler, 15:15, 27th May 2003:
ok next question, probably for cal
could i get something like a cardy thingy so that i could wirelessly connect to the pc in the house and thus get online from the comfort of my garden?
or would this cost loads and be rubbish?
Posted by
chandler, 15:15, 27th May 2003:
by cardy thing i dont mean a cardigan i mean a PCMCICACIETHINGYCMSMCI card thingy
Posted by
beargod, 15:17, 27th May 2003:
those screens are tough to see outside, especially when it is sunny
Posted by
cal, 15:18, 27th May 2003:
as he posted above, for £50 more he'll throw in the card for the laptop and the reciever for your dekstop pc
Posted by
chandler, 15:19, 27th May 2003:
ooooh i seeee
i didnt know what a Netgear ME102 802.11b access point and MA401 802.11b PCMCIA card. was
okipokies
hmmm, sounds funky
Posted by
chandler, 15:36, 27th May 2003:
one more question. could i get an external DVD-ROM drive for it. and would it be good enough to run DVD films?
Posted by
cal, 15:40, 27th May 2003:
a question for ste i think...
Posted by
stephen, 15:42, 27th May 2003:
You could indeed get an external DVD-ROM drive, not sure how much it'd be. However, I doubt that the PCMCIA bus would be able to put through the information fast enough while leaving the CPU with enough power to actually decode it. So the answer is probably no, you wouldn't be able to watch movies on it.
Posted by
chandler, 15:46, 27th May 2003:
right
to be honest i cant really justify getting a laptop when i blatantly dont need one and all my 3D software wouldnt run on it anyway!
but ive always wanted one :D
ah well
i shall probably not be purchasing it from you then.
Posted by
beargod, 15:50, 27th May 2003:
would it not be best to get a usb dvdrom and not a pcmcia one?
Posted by
stephen, 15:51, 27th May 2003:
Even slower.
Posted by
cal, 15:56, 27th May 2003:
firewire?
Posted by
stephen, 16:03, 27th May 2003:
Yeah, that'd probably do it. It has an iLink port (which is just firewire without the power).
Posted by
beargod, 16:09, 27th May 2003:
is usb slower then pcmcia? damn I never really thought about that
Posted by
stephen, 16:46, 27th May 2003:
Yeah, USB is 12Mb in theory, generally lower in practice. PCMCIA is actually not much different from the PCI bus IIRC, but generates a fair number of interrupts in my experience.
So, no other takers for this beautiful example of Japanese engineering? It's even made in Japan, not in some Chinese sweatshop! :-)
Posted by
chandler, 16:50, 27th May 2003:
i'll have it for £100 :D but i dont think i can justify getting it at all!
Posted by
beargod, 16:51, 27th May 2003:
I already have a thinkpad , so i cant really get it
Posted by
plindoe, 16:56, 27th May 2003:
no offence, but i got a p3 1ghz, 256, 40gb, firewire/wireless lan, all singing, all dancing vaio for £450
cost me 250 for an external DVD/cd burner!
Posted by
chandler, 16:59, 27th May 2003:
where did you get your all singing all dancing vaio for £450 plindoe?
Posted by
stephen, 18:03, 27th May 2003:
Which model was it? This thing would have been around £1700 new because it's so tiny.
Posted by
plindoe, 18:22, 27th May 2003:
pcg-r600hfp
30gb harddrive sorry
my g/f works for (hock tooey) pc world business, and it was in a staff auction, where rep errors come back coz customers didnt want it and it had gone beyond pc's warrenty with their suppliers, kinda misleading, but seeing as i got it for that price, i dont ever want to spend over the odds again, so i just wait for the auctions to pop up and get some cheap shit