Sony Vaio VGN-CS24GH/Q Review

Yesterday I bought Sony VAIO CS24 series laptop. Bought it through a Sony employee and got 20% discount. The laptop is priced Indian Rupees 49,990. After discount, I got it for Rs. 39,992.




I was thinking of buying Dell Studio 15 or Dell Studio XPS 13. I read somewhere that Dell Studio 15 doesn't have Power/HDD/Capslock status indicators. Also it doesn't have media keys. Dell Studio XPS 13 was a perfect machine for gaming and entertainment but it's over-priced. It also has over-heating problems. You'll need some extra cooling mechanism while using it. I wanted a stylish machine with good configuration for casual gaming and entertainment. Sony VAIO CS24 meets my needs with Core2 Duo 2GHz processor, 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Intel GM45 Express, Windows Vista Basic. If you have an extra Rs. 12000 ($200), you can go for vaio CS27, which comes with Geforce 9300 and Vista premium.



The package contained the laptop, power cord, instruction manual, and warranty card. That's it. Sony doesn't ship any CDs (OS Recovery, motherboard drivers, etc). You need to create a recovery disc yourself and download the drivers from Sony's website. The laptop is preloaded with everything but in case of system failure at any time, you shouldn't be in trouble.



As there was no CDs or DVDs, all the softwares were already installed. McAfee Total Protection 90 days trial, MS Office 2007 60 days trial, and many other Sony VAIO applications - Media player, Video editor, DVD burner, etc etc and even MS SQL Server 2005!

The body is glossy so it's vurnerable to fingerprints. Keypad is great but would have been better with backlight. The touchpad seems to be made of some hard metal but it's very sensitive and works great. Media and volume keys are also very sensitive. Just drag your finger from - to + to increase the speaker volume. The audio quality is also excellent. It supports HD audio. I haven't got to use it in a proper way so I'm not sure of the battery backup but should be providing at least 2 hours on a normal usage.

Well, this is all I have right now. I'll update once I start using my vaio. :)

UPDATE: I feel that it's better to go for a Sony Vaio with Windows Vista Home Premium or higher. You'll get a free upgrade to Windows 7. Details here: http://club.vaio.sony.eu/clubvaio/gb/en/windows7/order.htm
But, I'm not disappointed. I managed to get it upgraded, don't ask me how. ;)

Reinstalling Microsoft Office Document Imaging Printer

Whenever I have to print a webpage (e-tickets, transaction details, etc.), I use Microsoft Document Imaging printer that comes with Microsoft Office. It’s a virtual printer that saves the page in .mdi format on the computer so that it can be printed later. This virtual printer will also be helpful f you want to know how the documents will actually appear in the paper. Recently, I had installed updates to Microsoft Office but later found that the printer is missing from Printers and Faxes.

Did a lot of Googling and at last I found the trick!

1. Go to Control panel – Printers and faxes

2. Add Printer – select local printer attached then manual.

3. In the port option select Document image printer writer port

4. Install a generic text only printer.

5. Right-click on the generic text/only printer driver and select properties.

6. Click on ports and select "Microsoft office document imaging driver port"

7. Click on the advanced tab and change the driver to Microsoft office document image writer

8. Click on apply and OK

After the printer is created, do the following:

1. Go to Control panel – Printers and faxes. Right click on the newly created printer, select Properties.

2. Select Advanced tab.

3. Select Print Processor.

4. Choose Modiprint.

Done!

Note: Some websites asked me to reinstall MS Office, but I didn’t have Microsoft Office setup.

Hello World!

Hello Reader,

Just created a space on the Internet to post stuffs/ideas that worked for me. :)

Thanks,
Deepak Varier