If I could ask a favor....

Hey folks, I have a kinda quick question. I've been in the market for a new laptop because this one is starting to have issues charging and its not the battery/ charger on top of it just being old. When it comes to computers I'm normally pretty good about knowing how to used them, but when it comes to specs I have no clue as to whats good for what I'll be using it for (school, and editing software sony vegas/ photoshop). after looking around I've seen that the sony vaio is a popular choice for the everyday type of grind but would it be good for what i'll be needing it to do?

any thoughts are appreciated

 

Sony Vaio hardware is good while it works, but is a PITA to fix when it doesn't if there's any issues with the motherboard or connected hardware. If you're using Sony Vegas Pro 12 or 13, you'll want at least 6GB of DDR3 ram or more if you're using a 5400rpm magnetic drive.

If you're using a system with 4GB of ram instead, you'll be able to bridge the gap more easily with an SSD (recommended would be something like a Samsung EVO 840 or 850 in the capacity of 120GB to 240GB or greater, or a PNY or Sandisk if you can get a better price on it).

Your read and write speeds may be slightly faster even on the SSD drives, but you wont notice that very often unless you're doing extreme gaming.

Even with high end video editing, the read/write differences on the SSDs are not going to be noticed like even the most subtle differences between a 5400rpm or 7200rpm magnetic drive.

If you can get a laptop with an SSD in it already or upgrade to one inexpensively, then that will help your performance a lot, as will the extra ram.

Removing the bloatware you don't want or need from a stock system if store-bought wil help you to eliminate some unwanted resource waste if you're using Windows.

USB 2.0 ports are good enough for most things, but if you can get support or all the ports being USB 3.0 (or 3.0 compatible to where you can switch and select it with the BIOS), you may want to do that if you have the option on models to select how many ports and what kind are available.

Most of the older ones have a VGA out port still, and some newer ones do too, but it seems the industry wants to go toward giving people HDMI out instead now, since most of the newer TV screens and monitors have HDMI compatibility, composite RGB, and other ways for you to connect to them. If you plan to do video DJ or any type of multimedia display work through the laptop for presentations and such, then you'll want to have one with both VGA and HDMI out, but if you only see yourself being in places where TV sets and monitors will be no older than 2010 or 2011, then you'd be ok with HDMI out only. (Even if not, you can always get a usb to vga converter to make a second display adapter and an extended desktop or multiplexer if you needed to, so there is still that)

This other thing I'm about to mention is a major irritation to me because I use and do audio recording at times and don't like having to use a usb port to switch to an external audio card...but if you can, please try to find a unit or model that doesn't have one of those combo-jack mic/headphone ports. I've had only trouble with those ever since they started to release them, and on 3 out of 5 models I've had with those on a laptop, only one of those features worked at a time. Granted, for people who use the built-in mic from their laptop near the top of the screen by their webcam for Skype or video conferencing, that is porobably fine. But if you need to do audio out through a mixer or audio input and record without switching cables or having to use usb audio cards because the drivers that are supposed to work with combojack hardware just don't...then definitely try to get a model with separate mic and headphone jacks on it.

As for CPU and bus speed, you're usually in pretty good shape with that now. On average, the least you'll find out there now are dual core CPUs, and different levels of quad core (4 core), 6 core, or even 8 core CPUs between the Intel i3/5/7 releases and AMD CPUs with their rival to them. The more CPU cache and beter performance per core you can get for a CPU, the better your editing and other programs will work for you when it comes time to do more number crunching and instructions quickly than buffering and shuttling user data back and forth quickly.

The video cards are pretty impressive now, too. You're looking at at least 1,024MB (1GB) to 2,048MB (2GB) of dedicated video ram on most newer laptops, and sometimes more than that. The AMD Raedon and Intel integrated graphics have come a long way even in the past 3 or 4 years to where they can really kick into high gear nicely and more smoothly than before. So unless you try to take the resolution up beyond 1280 upwards of 2048x1024 or 3072x1152, you're not going to have to worry too much about the video for what you want to do with it, even with Vegas.

If you use bluetooth, most models have that now, and the other things people may want selectively, like dvd/burner or BDrom (blu-ray reader for movies and large data discs), touch-screen if you really like or need to use one, and hit or miss biometric features if wanting to use a fingerprint as a password, etc.

If you use the webcam a lot, there are some HP models and other vendors that include really nice HD cams which are MUCH faster and smoother than standard built-in webcams are. The diference between 15fps and 30fps or more on a webcam can make all the diference for you if you're using the laptop to do videos for a blog, youtube, or online use.

Although trivial to some, if you type a lot or spend a lot of time at the keyboard, you'll want to get a keyboard that is pleasant to type on. It's amazing how much this differs even between models from the same vendor let alone different brands. If you can find the laptops with metal or aluminum casing and metal keys, they tend to be nicer to type on and more durable of a frame to resist against normal wear and tear. You sometimes have to compromise a little on the touchpad, though. If the touchpad sucks or gets in your way, but another model has plastic keys but a really nice and non-intrusive touchpad, you might want to make the choice for the latter for a more balanced, and all-around better user experience with it.

There's some other features too, but for the most part these are some of the most important and you can be at peace knowing that just about any laptop being sold right now that is a real laptop and isn't a chrombook or cloud-designed device is more than you'd need for school work, college work, office work, or most video and audio editing.

Most of them will meet the majority of medium to higher gaming demands. For the highest gaming and intense work, you'd want something like an ROG system...but if you're going to get a laptop pushing 16 to 32GB of ram, you might want to get a desktop anyway. Easier to upgrade and power performance vs price is always cheaper. For most laptops, you're ok...but be forewarned that in addition to the above, you'll find that some models try to bury the battery or hard drive into the case, solder ram onto the board, and other tricks to cut costs and make them more "disposable" when they shouldn't be.

The other stuff scan be discovered as you go. If I type any more here, I'm almost assuredly going to hit the dreaded 10,000 charater limit for a post or have to start dividing my posts into chapters lol

I hope this helps you to find and make the best choices for your new laptop purchase when you're ready.

 

0.0 I Really appreciate the info thank you!! If I stumble upon any questions along the way I'll be sure to swing back and ask.