CNET Asia Review

A clean, sophisticated look distinguishes the Sony Vaio PCG-GRV7P series, a huge desktop-replacement notebook with a swappable, multiformat DVD-rewritable drive. The new series also includes a massive 16.1-inch display, a desktop Pentium 4 processor, and a fast, ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics chip with 64MB of memory. Unfortunately, this enormous, 3.6kg heavyweight doesn't deliver overwhelmingly good performance or great battery-test results, and it lacks integrated wireless. Graphics pros, gamers, and business users who rarely travel might like this Vaio--the DVD-RW drive makes it extremely tempting. If you don't need DVD burning, though, we suggest the similarly priced Dell Inspiron 8500. If you're willing to spend more, the Apple 17-inch PowerBook offers a larger screen, DVD burning (in fewer formats), and the wireless integration that the PCG-GRV7P lacks.

Design
The Vaio PCG-GRV7P series looks like several other big Sony notebooks, such as the Vaio PCG-FX990. Its light-purple case has an appealing look, and it stretches to 355 by 292 by 44.4 mm, enough room for a bright and crisp 16.1-inch screen with a native resolution of 1,280x1,024. But all that real estate adds up to a back-straining 3.6kg--and that doesn't include the ridiculously big AC power adapter.

On the other hand, the huge case allows room for a convenient swappable bay that supports your choice of an awesome DVD-/+RW drive, a DVD/CD-RW combo drive, or an extra battery. (With respect to the alphabet soup of DVD-RW formats, the multiformat drive can record and play back the four most popular types of DVD media: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW.) If you want a floppy, you'll have to buy an external USB drive. Unfortunately, the two USB ports on the GRV600 series are of the slower 1.1 variety.

Nor is sound a plus on the Vaio PCG-GRV7P series. A strip of speakers lines the top of the keyboard, providing sonics that are sufficiently clear but lack volume and depth. The keyboard itself is expansive, but the keys have a hollow feel, and they clatter while you type. We do, however, like the big, purplish touchpad and the two roomy mouse buttons. The pad is your only input option, however--there's no pointing stick on the Vaio PCG-GRV7P series.

Sony's selection of ports and slots falls in line with that of most desktop replacements. In addition to its swappable bay, the left edge offers Sony's signature Memory Stick slot; two Type II PC Card slots; an iLink (a.k.a. FireWire) port; and one USB 1.1 port. The back edge includes the second USB 1.1 port, as well as 56Kbps modem, Ethernet, VGA, parallel, and NTSC-out ports. Amazingly, the GRV7P series does not include built-in wireless networking, an oversight on a big desktop-replacement notebook.

Features
The GRV7P comes standard with 2.6GHz Pentium 4, 512MB of RAM, 60GB hard drive and a fast ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics chip with 64MB of memory. However, the standard configuration does not include integrated 802.11b wireless (Wi-Fi), a noticeable omission in a desktop replacement these days. You can get a additional wireless LAN card, but this setup is less convenient than integrated wireless: the card is another loose part to keep track of, and it consumes one of the two PC Card slots.

The Vaio PCG-GRV7P hardware features may be hit-or-miss, but its extensive software bundle is a joy. The GRV7P ships with either Windows XP Home or XP Pro. Plenty of apps come standard with every system, including moviemaking titles such as Adobe Premiere LE, Sony DVgate, and Sony Click To DVD; image editors, including Adobe Photoshop Elements and Sony PictureGear studio; and Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2002 software.

Performance

Mobile application performance
Although the Vaio PCG-GRV7P's processor is clocked 200MHz higher than the processors from the other systems in this small test group, the Sony came in last in mobile performance. The Vaio PCG-GRV7P houses a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor, which is a desktop chip and is not optimized for mobile performance like the 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M processors inside the other systems we tested. As such, the scores for both the Dell Inspiron 8500 and the Acer TravelMate 650 are much higher than those of the Vaio PCG-GRV7P's. Basically, the Vaio PCG-GRV7P's processor power drops more than it should when the notebook is not plugged in (that's what mobile performance refers to), although it performs just fine when tethered to an outlet.

SysMark2002 performance
The Vaio PCG-GRV7P was made for desktop performance. The 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor beat both of its comparison systems in Internet content creation and office productivity. In other words, when the Vaio PCG-GRV7P doesn't have to conserve battery power, it's quite the performer--good enough for processor-intensive tasks, games, and especially, productivity software.

3D graphics performance
The 3D performance score depends mostly on the graphics adapter in use. The Vaio PCG-GRV7P houses the ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB and therefore scored very well in our 3D performance test. In fact, the Vaio's score of 7,422 is one of the best we've seen in a notebook. Although it's far from the 9,376 score of the Dell Inspiron 8500, the Vaio PCG-GRV7P should please most gamers who are looking for a fast performer.

Battery Life
The curse of the desktop processor rears its ugly head when it comes to the Vaio PCG-GRV7P's battery life. Even with its powerful 14.8V, 6,450mAh battery, it didn't have the juice for a decent battery life. The system's 2.6GHz desktop processor just draws too much power, which hurt battery life considerably. Keep the power cord handy if you plan to use this system for any length of time.

Service And Support
Sony offers a relatively skimpy, if increasingly industry standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty with return-to-depot service and phone support during office hours. In addition to its average warranty, the company's also comes with online tech support which includes FAQs and downloads.

Rate It Now

Rating guidelines

Sony Vaio PCG-GRV7P (Pentium 4 2.6GHz, 512MB RAM)

Rate this product:
1 - Abysmal 2 - Terrible 3 - Poor 4 - Mediocre 5 - Average 6 - Good 7 - Very good 8 - Excellent 9 - Spectacular 10 - Perfect

Need help? Read our guidelines for what each number rating represents.

Submit your opinion

• Most Popular

• Upcoming

Latest Downloads

What's Hot