I havent posted in a long time, very long time. Part of the reason is that i have been very very busy. A part of that is because of work, the other part is because i've been busy reading forums, posts and blogs about Sony Vaio, regardless of the series. I've also been busy collecting drivers and programs for Sony Vaio, to ensure all parts of a Vaio works. Plus work has been hectic, its nearing return time, hence i have a lot to prepare, and a lot to hand over to my local replacements.
Part of the preparation is getting myself my very 1st laptop, my 1st and probably my only for a long time. I've always wanted one, and was never able to, it was too expensive, the cheap ones were not capable enough, and i had more important things to take care off instead. But i finally reached into my wallet and brought out the cash, i've been waiting long enough, as i realize my dreams and goals, lets bring another one to life. Introducing, my very own, 1st, Sony Vaio VGN-CS92XS



Aint it a beauty. Might i add, this is a Japan specific model, exact model not available in other countries. Sure, the "C" series is available everywhere, but a 92XS? Haha.... Alright, alright.....
So, why this model? I've always fancied the 15.4" inch laptops. In fact, i've once argued with my friend that when i buy my laptop, it will be that size. But the "C" series is 14.1" inch, what happened? Well, when i came to Japan, i was given a company issued 15.4" inch HP laptop, which i might add have served me very well, took a lot of abuse, yet stuck with me. Its true what they say, the older you get, the wiser you get, you change. As i use it, i began to realize, that it is a big size, and it will be a little heavy, and laptops generally should not be as such, they should be small and compact. But a 13.3" inch, is too small for me, i didnt quite want that, hence Sony had me hooked with a compromise 14.1" inch.
Secondly, look at it, its gorgeous. The "C" series are the really trendy looking ones, with range of colours, compact enough and still pack a punch. Initially they had very few colours, then it grew, and they introduced the colour i picked, Noble Brown. Then i waited a while, and the series grew, to the current 92XS model. And its "Owner Made", i had this made specially for me, with my customized specs. I didnt go to wild, just maxed out the essentials, took a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo (maxed), 4 GB DDR 2 Ram (2nd best, 8GB was just too much, plus too expensive) and 256MB DDR-3 NVIDIA GeFroce 9300M GS (pre-maxed). Everything else was out of the factory specs, so its common and available on the net. But i also had the keyboard changed to English (US) keyboard, and my nick engraved into the top left hand side of the monitor. Total awesomeness.
What about the OS? Came with Window's Vista Home Basic Japanese version. Hence, my second dilemma, the OS. The laptop was supped up, but without an OS i can understand, whats the point? I took a risk, i gambled that when i get it, i can change the OS to English, reformat the whole thing and shove in a Window's XP. Hence i spent a lot of time, researching through my options, gathering information, and forming a game plan. When i got my laptop, i made a recovery DVD 1st, then had snapshots off all the drivers in Control Panel, and went to so many sites to get all the English versions of all the drivers, somewhat successfully. I also made copies of Sony's drives that were installed, just in case. Then i plunged.
As evident by my post, you can be sure that i was successful. But not after many tries and errors. Right off the bat, i was stumped when my XP Installation disc error out with a blue screen. Both my CDs. Then i realized that my new bleeding edge laptop was in a 64 bit architecture, and normal XP wont cut it. I then installed a 64 bit XP, but i was not happy with the installation, it was slow. I'm sorry, it was not slow, it was beyond slow that we need a new word to describe how slow my laptop was after the installation. I thought it needed drivers, but that did not help one bit. I was so bummed out, really sad, doubted myself for a moment.
But i didnt give up, i took the next approach, since this is bleeding edge, lets let go of the XP mentality, and move on to Vista, so i installed a English version of the original OS, Home Basic. I tell you, it was back to its native speed when i got initially, i was really happy. But my OS was not activated, even though i gave the right key from the back of my laptop. Thats Sony + Windows for ya, the activation key was actually inside the original installation, the Japanese OS. Oh boy, but thank god i made a recovery disc, i had some help from my colleagues, and got the laptop back to factory specs, extracted the key, and re-installed. During this ordeal, i found out something. The recovery disc, is also an installation disc. Guess what is installs, drivers & programs. Thats right, i could have saved a lot of time if i didnt go hunting for all those drives and Sony Vaio custom programs. But all's well end's well, i made a clean install, activated my Windows, installed my drivers, and finally got this kick ass machine working beautifully.
I was watching a show, and it was said, that if you didnt work on something with your own two hands, then it is not yours. How true that statement is, cause there is no measurement for the amount of pride, happiness & excitement i'm feeling right now. I tweaked and fixed this and made it work just how i want it to, beautifully, and i spent time and effort, and energy to perfecting it. It finally is, and according to Vista, my laptop's performance score a 4.3 out of a 5. Oh yea.....
Oh and Chun Hao, if you're reading this, i'm sorry man, i know i was thinking of between this and the Mac Pro, but i settled with this. My next laptop perhaps, i'll go with the Mac Pro, aight?
Little by little, but surely, it is all coming true. Sometimes i look back to a few years back, and think about how i was, and look at me now. How i've changed, how i've grown. Trully, god is real, and everyday i'm reminded how he works, and how he has blessed me. Amazing, I cannot say enough thanks, but i can try. Thank you.
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ArchDyeu
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