Hey people, I am very interested in buying a TR. However, there is so much competition out there that I just don’t know if the TR is worth it versus other sub-notebooks.
Here are the other notebooks I was considering (some must be ordered from Japan). Convince me why I should buy a TR over these:
Sony Vaio X505
Panasonic Y2, W2, or R2
Fujitsu T70G/H
Fujitsu 5020D
Wow, we get a lot of questions like this here…and they drive me crazy! :? It’s just not that simple…
First of all, I’ll point you to the following thread that discusses the TR and the P5020D. I say “and” as opposed to “versus” because although they’re similar notebooks they have different features.
The models you have mentioned aren’t all necessarily the same in my mind. Each model you’ve listed excels in some area that the others don’t. For instance, I don’t even consider the X505 to be in the same class as the rest of the notebooks as it doesn’t even have an optical drive.
Asking for a blanket statement on which is better is basically impossible unless we know what kind of user you are, your previous notebook experiences, and what kind of applications you need to use.
I always tell people to make an exact list of things they need to and then match it up to a matrix of the different notebooks they’re considering. If your needs are general enough so that several notebooks qualify then you can narrow it down to other factors such as build, style, extras, etc. If possible, it helps to see as many of these models in person as you can. For a lot of people, actually getting some hands one experience usually seals the deal.
Obviously, almost everyone here is going to tell you that it was worth it. So, I think you need to be more specific and people here will be able to give you better more useful opinions. For instance, if you say that you want to be able to use a certain application (i.e. video conferencing) then we can give you examples of how we use the TR to do that function. Then you’ll have a better sense of how capable the TR is.
Convince us. What do you want to do with your notebook? The TR and the X505 are both great machines, but are meant for radically different uses. What’s yours?
Thanks groovy, I’m a student who travels alot so weight and size is a huge issue. I played around with a TR3 at CompUsa and the size is perfect. I was, however, worried if the small screen size would hurt my eyes after a while. I hate the “bigger” resolution button on the size of the screen because it looses clarity when the resolution changes to the bigger one.
Anyhow, I’m not exactly a power user, 40gigs of drive space is fine with me. I plan on getting the gig of memory. However, the (relatively) slow processor speed worried me a a bit because you never know when you want to game during class
This notebook will prob. be my desktop as well (once hooked up with a bigger monitor and keyboard, etc.) and may even play the role as a server (http, FTP, SSH, etc.)
It’s just that I frequent dynamism.com, kemplar.com, and icube quite a bit and I see these sub-notebooks that seem to be “better” than the TR, for similar prices.
You know what I mean:
Sony Vaio X505 - much lighter and thinner
Panasonic Y2, W2, - bigger screens and drive space
Fujitsu T70H - known as the “Sony Killer” - 80 gigs!
Fujitsu 5020D - almost identical but less $$
I have a Sony Z1 as well as a TR3. I thought I would use both about the same amount of time. I have been using my TR3 almost exclusively BECAUSE of the screen. The clarity is fantastic and I have had no trouble with the smaller screen. The functionality and flexibility of the TR is hard to match. I am considering losing my Z1 in favor of my TR. Just another opinion.
And I took someones advice from here and increased the DPI setting - that made the font MUCH easier to read without having to do the hardware switch - so great resolution AND larger font. Nice!
[quote author=“SonyMeansCool”]Sony Vaio X505 - much lighter and thinner
Panasonic Y2, W2, - bigger screens and drive space
Fujitsu T70H - known as the “Sony Killer” - 80 gigs!
Fujitsu 5020D - almost identical but less $$
Sounds about right, how about:
X505: Miniscule HD, no onboard optical drive, dongles out the wazoo
Y2: Much bigger screen, but a *very* impressive machine. The TR will feel more portable even if it’s about the same weight.
W2: Slightly bigger, only 1024x768 w a bigger screen, TR has a better screen.
T70H: This would seriously make me re-evaluate my TR purchase. I guess it depends on what the name “Sony” is worth to you.
Sounds about right, how about:
X505: Miniscule HD, no onboard optical drive, dongles out the wazoo
Y2: Much bigger screen, but a *very* impressive machine. The TR will feel more portable even if it’s about the same weight.
W2: Slightly bigger, only 1024x768 w a bigger screen, TR has a better screen.
T70H: This would seriously make me re-evaluate my TR purchase. I guess it depends on what the name “Sony” is worth to you.
Sounds about right, how about:
X505: Miniscule HD, no onboard optical drive, dongles out the wazoo
Y2: Much bigger screen, but a *very* impressive machine. The TR will feel more portable even if it’s about the same weight.
W2: Slightly bigger, only 1024x768 w a bigger screen, TR has a better screen.
T70H: This would seriously make me re-evaluate my TR purchase. I guess it depends on what the name “Sony” is worth to you.
Hey, gr00ve, I think we need a completely separate category called:
“Thinking of buying a TR?” or “Why buy a TR?”
Inside this category should be reviews, comparisons to Sony’s competition to the TR, etc. Then you won’t have to repeat yourself a thousand times and keep pointing people to the same threads over and over again. Just a thought.
Well, being that I need the system for carrying it around at school, traveling, and being my one and only system while possibly serving (http, FTP, SSH, etc.) What do you guys think? Is the TR right for me?
Ok, I’m not sure if you’re the original poster but you never answered my questions. You need to ask your questions and ask them specifically.
See, it’s such a hard thing to say. I have recommended some of my friends to get Sony TRs but only because it met their specific needs. For my other friends or clients I have recommended other notebooks because they were a better fit and because I knew exactly what kind of work they needed to do and what kind of functionality they required.
I only know that you’re going to be using it for school and would like to carry something light around. I can only assume you’ll be using programs like Word, Excel, e-mail, etc. And that’s my problem…and the problem of many others out there. We’re being forced to assume exactly what your needs are. You mention gaming…but exactly what games? Solitaire? Yeah, that runs great! Unreal Tournament 2004? Uh, no. You mention you’ll need to run the notebook possibly as a server with HTTP, FTP, SSH services. Yes, it can run that stuff fine…heck, any computer/notebook on the market today can run those without any problems.
There’s lots of posts and discussions here that go into some of these details. You simply have search for them.
I think you can get a sense of how solid a purchase the TR is simply by this forum. Most people join forums to complain about their product. You see little of that here. Most people are pretty happy with their purchase.
There’s also lots of other factors you need to consider especially if you go with imports. There’s issues of OS support, warranty, different keyboards, etc.
Thanks for the response gr00vy. I see your point. Well, these are the applications I expect to be using on the system:
-All Microsoft Office applications
-Some graphics editing (I run a small web design firm) so Photoshop
-Some 3d graphics creation like Xara3d, maybe a little bryce/3dStudioMax - not much
-As far as gaming, I don’t plan on doing to much and I understand that the TR has its limitations, but possibly be able to play CounterStrike (at a low FPS)
-Some simple server aps such as lightweight windows based applications (XiWin32 - http server, etc.)
What do you think gr00vy? I really want a TR, but can it handle my apps?
