Sony sells off VAIO PC business

[TerraHertz]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/06/sony-sells-vaio/

I'd give up on making PCs too, if for some reason I was stuck with Microsoft Windows 8 as an OS.

[Wytnucls]

Yep. I use the SONY Z1 running windows 7 and never felt the urge to upgrade. Wasn't cheap, but has been the best laptop I've ever had. Sad day.

[nowlan]

I tend to view Vaio as expensive lifestyle computers. Reminds me of a Japanese Apple.
The parent company has been losing money, so can understand them breaking up sections.

I am surprised about the tv section being sold off however.
I own a Bravia, but i have also heard people say sony milking their brand/name instead of innovating.
Losing to the Koreans, LG & Samsung on value.

[rdl]

Sony is like the Radio Shack of Japan. Over and done with.

[linux-works]

for the last 5 years, at least, I have been boycotting anything sony.  they have turned to the dark side (even longer ago than that) and I don't want to support them if I can avoid it.

their laptops are shite and essentially unrepairable.  the 'sony quality' that used to be there 20 yrs ago now only exists at their pro level (pro audio sony is good stuff but again, I won't touch sony if I can help it).

let sony die.  for many of us techies, they already are dead to us.

[dr.diesel]

let sony die.  for many of us techies, they already are dead to us.

I worked at Sony for years, with their management practices its no wonder their products suck.  I haven't bought anything with the name for almost 10 years (neither has any of my family), and never will again.

[iampoor]

let sony die.  for many of us techies, they already are dead to us.

I worked at Sony for years, with their management practices its no wonder their products suck.  I haven't bought anything with the name for almost 10 years (neither has any of my family), and never will again.

can you elaborate? Ive always wondered why ever sony product always seems to miss something flippin obvious!!

[SeanB]

Nice products, well designed but totally unrepairable and with the cheapest parts run right at the ratings and with designed in obsolescence. As well no spares back up after end of design life and of course all those proprietary Sony connectors, memories and consumables.

I never bought them new, always ether as used or as broken for scrap. Some are repairable, but most of the time the best is to Widlarise them.

[dr.diesel]

can you elaborate? Ive always wondered why ever sony product always seems to miss something flippin obvious!!

Oh the nightmares, don't ask me to relive it!   

[iampoor]

can you elaborate? Ive always wondered why ever sony product always seems to miss something flippin obvious!!

Oh the nightmares, don't ask me to relive it!   

Fair enough. do you have atleast  funny story then? I dont want you to go through hell again, but....curiosity killed the cat... 

[Stonent]

Like I told a former coworker "Nobody pays Mac money for a PC"

[Stonent]

can you elaborate? Ive always wondered why ever sony product always seems to miss something flippin obvious!!

Oh the nightmares, don't ask me to relive it!   

Those mystery CX components.

[BravoV]

The last good thing that gave me a good impression on Sony ... Trinitron tube.

[linux-works]

Nice products, well designed but totally unrepairable and with the cheapest parts run right at the ratings and with designed in obsolescence. As well no spares back up after end of design life and of course all those proprietary Sony connectors, memories and consumables.

when I used a lot of audio DAT stuff, sony was common and popular.  I started hacking their hardware, DAT and cd players for spdif.  at least 20 yrs ago, you could order GREAT repair guides from sony and they'd be a bargain at $10.  full schematics, part numbers, board locations.  call sony, describe the part, they look it up and you can buy it with a credit card, single unit qtys.  it was great!  I wanted to know the SIRC protocol and there was a sony publication that I ordered and it was detailed and professional.  this was sony's peak.  it was a common hack to be able to add spdif-out to a lot of cd players since the boards were common in many model lines and you simply just ordered the parts that had outlines on the board but no part there

one item was funny: it was a choke of some kind and sony marked its value as "inductor, small".  not a value, but 'inductor comma small'   for some reason, that really made me laugh.  "yeah, I'll take 3 of those 10k metal film resistors at 5% and gimme a few of those inductor-comma-smalls while I'm here.  thanks."

[SeanB]

That was 20 years ago. Now a device they sold only a year ago and which was discontinued to be replaced by a new model only 9 months ago will not be repairable. A 30 year old Trinitron TV set is totally fixable until the tube dies, there are pattern parts for all that fails along with some weird and wonderful bodges to replace GCS output devices.

[Rick Law]

My frog is probably the only frog in the world with his own laptop - he uses a VAIO laptop to watch movie every night.  To be exact, I use a VAIO to show my frog a movie every night.  An old VAIO V5 (PGC series) I acquired when I used to like Sony's PC a lot.  This PC's age restricted it to limited duty.  It now serves as my frog's movie machine.

He is mostly blind now. but he still can enjoy his nature-documentary movie when he is in the mood for it.

Two of his former roommates also enjoyed the movies - one was nuts over it and would elbow himself over to the nearest spot to the screen.  The two young ones both died from the parasite that took most of this frogs' vision.  While hardly see at all, he still enjoy his movie when I happen to pick one he is in the mood for.  This old VAIO has been my frogs' only friend and entertainment.

[linux-works]

I know they used to follow a 7 year rule.  7 yrs after it was EOL for manufacturing, they'd still have parts for repair and purchase, and you didn't have to be an 'auth service ctr', you could be a regular guy calling for parts on the phone.

in the bay area, there is a sony walk-in repair center and it was convenient to just drive there, drop your stuff off and in a week or 2, they'd have it fixed.  I took many a DAT deck there and they usually did an OK job on the repairs, too.

[poorchava]

The last solid piece of equipment sony made were trinitrons... I mea parents bought one like I don't know....20yrs ago? Anyway, it still works and serves my dad well in his workshop for watching news

[TerraHertz]

I loved the Sony professional video gear, and the amazing service manuals they published. Those manuals were even better than HP and Tek service manuals. I still keep all I had, even though most of the gear is long gone. Just as examples to show people, of how manuals _ought_ to be done.

Then Sony started buying film and music libraries, and went DRM-insane. Which led to behavior like the Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal. At that point Sony was dead to me too. They sold out to the dark side, from which no company ever returns.

Well, I recently was given four nice old Sony Trinitron studio monitors. Memories of the good days past.

[digsys]

I loved the Sony professional video gear, and the amazing service manuals they published ... Memories of the good days past 

Agreed, they used to have the most incredible service manuals. I got "re-involved" with them when they released their first digital
cameras, most notably with the FDD (Then recordable CD). It was the worst junk stuff I've ever tried to repair, bloody woeful.
They seem to have screwed up nearly everything they've touched since.

[rdl]

I still use my FM/AM Walkman that I bought in 1985, but they turned EverQuest into ExpansionQuest and I have never forgiven them for that.

[Rick Law]

Years ago I used to fix computers for a living. Sony gear was generally reasonably well made and they did some very, very small devices that were way ahead of everyone else. The thing is the parts were incredibly expensive. Only Apple charges more.

A common fault was liquid spilt on the keyboard. An Acer keyboard was about £15 direct from them. A Sony keyboard was about £180 on eBay, because they didn't sell direct and you had to send the laptop to a service centre which would have been about £300.

Years ago  (PGC series and prior), in the USA, the sony service was excellent.  It was "kind of flat fee".  Most problem were repaired for $75.

Oh, well, out goes VAIO like IBM Disk Drives, HGST...  Now your choice is like cereal.  Store brand made by the same few places or name brand made by the same few places.  They all taste like (adjective deleted - you choose).

My frog is probably the only frog in the world with his own laptop - he uses a VAIO laptop to watch movie every night. 

You have a frog that watches TV ?

Even I try not to watch TV these days!    You're frog must be bored or desperate. Or maybe there's something else a foot here

Yeah, after his  first roommate died a couple of years back, he was depressed and bored pacing in the tank.  So that was when I started showing him nature documentary movies.  The VAIO was my old laptop, so that got the task.  There is a RJ45 outlet by his tank just for him and his VAIO.

We got two more tadpoles the following spring.  They turned frog but a parasite attack wiped them out and turn this one near blind.  He is still attached to nature movies.  One of other two that died was a lot more excited by movies.  He jump over everyone else and even sat on his roommates as chairs to get a good view once the movie starts.

This one actually recognizes the VAIO (the only silver color laptop) and will begin to inch over once the VAIO is on the table (where his tank is).  He ignores my black laptop (and my daughter's laptop) most of the time although he peeks every now and again when we are sitting there.

I wonder how much he sees these day.  He still come over (even without sound).  When there is an exciting scene (snake coming) he would react.  But he can't see his food right in front of him.  He hunts by touch.

[staxquad]

I lust for a full frame Sony Alpha 7.  Their camera division ain't past prime, they are industry leaders (1st full frame mirrorless)

[chickenHeadKnob]

My frog is probably the only frog in the world with his own laptop - he uses a VAIO laptop to watch movie every night. 

You have a frog that watches TV ?

Even I try not to watch TV these days!    You're frog must be bored or desperate. Or maybe there's something else a foot here

There is a whole youtube section devoted to showing animals which are enjoying technology:

 frog:  http://youtu.be/4Hm3KtBmlpY
 bearded dragon: http://youtu.be/WTpldq3myV0
 chameleon: http://youtu.be/pHLlIpyxDyU

Yes, I have no life.