Re: VAIO

[p <pplaw@pcisys.net>]

On Wed, May 09, 2001 at 04:34:41PM -0500, J.R. Blain wrote:
> We are looking at purchasing a few laptops for the office, and are
> considering Sony VAIO's.  Does anyone have any experience with them
> running debian?  Potential problems?  Suggestions on models/addons?
> 
> Thanks.
> J.R. Blain
> 
//

i use my "picturebook" as my main ax.  it loves potato
and kernel 2.4.4.  (my non-sony boxes will not even try
to handle a stock kernel.  sony must be doing the
hardware thing right!)  btw, it's the pcg-c1xs.

anyway,  the screen is beautiful; although, i can't
scroll to bottom of some poorly designed webpages. it
took some getting used to for working with such a small
screen. 

i don't use the internal modem.  for networking, i interface 
via pcmcia cards--modem/ethernet.

usb works fine.  i just have the mouse plugged in, for
now.  

it's incredibly portable, especially since the floppy
drive is external (via usb) and the cdrom is not
included with the unit; it's pricey and sold
separately.  i had to leave a partition for win98 to do
a harddrive install.  i couldn't figure out any other
way... oh, well...  

i haven't played with the i-link ("firewire"). 
i don't have any hardware on the "other side" that
utilizes the i-link.

sound is still tricky for me.  it's fighting (and
losing) with the usb controller for irq 9.  i know that
someone will post a solution on the list someday.
(maybe it'll be i.)

i hope your sony experience is pleasurable.

thx.

bentley taylor.

//