PCG-VX
Overview
The Sony VAIO PCG-VX Series is a range of mid to high-end laptops released by Sony in 2002. It's one of the evolutions of the PCG-XR, released the previous year.
While the XR was offered in many different variants, one of the weak points of the VX was that it wasn't offered with different setups, and the optionals were just limited to the RAM, dual battery, and software.
Very acclaimed for its modern and thin design, its specs were considered the weak point of this series.
In fact, while the competitors (e.g. IBM and Compaq) offered in their laptops one of the best GPUs in the market, the ATI Mobility Radeon Series, the VX had as only available GPU the Intel 815EM IGP, low-end for 2002, making it "lose" the competition between the high-end laptops in the graphics segment.
Analogously, this series was offered just with one CPU, the Intel Pentium, not powerful but very well developed in terms of energy management, making the VX Series one of the best in terms of battery life.
On the other hand, it was very appreciated that it was equipped with many ports (for example: FireWire, USB, Memory Stick) and an external CD/DVD drive was included in the price. It supported Wi-Fi but didn't have Bluetooth, not even as an optional. It was already equipped with productivity software (Microsoft Office) and also for video, photo, and audio editing (e.g. Photoshop, SonicStage).
For all those reasons, it can be considered a well-made but mid to high-end laptop.
Detailed Specs
Processor: Mobile Intel Pentium III Processor 850MHz-M
Graphics: Intel 815EM
Display: 14.1-inch, XGA (1024×768) TFT color LCD
Memory: SDRAM micro-DIMM (PC100)
Storage: Ultra ATA/100
Weight: 2 kg
Original OS: Windows XP Professional (models with "P" suffix), Windows XP Home Edition
Daily Usage Today
The PCG-VX Series cannot handle modern programs, especially resource-intensive ones. However, because they were equipped with Windows XP, some basic web browsing may still be feasible thanks to some modern browsers still supporting XP.
Also, thanks to the big community related to Windows XP, many modern programs still have a "light" version supporting XP.
Preinstalled programs can still be used today for text writing and basic photo, video, or audio editing.
Resources
Sony JP VAIO PCG-VX Series Presentation Page
Sony JP VAIO PCG-VX Series Presentation PDF
Sony VAIO PCG-VX Series User's Guide
Sony VAIO PCG-VX Series User's Guide (Alt)
Sony VAIO PCG-VX Series Warranty Information
Sony VAIO PCG-VX71P Specifications Sheet
Disassembly Guide
Sony VAIO PCG-VX Disassembly Guide - (alternative guide)
If a link is broken, please input the URL in the Wayback Machine.
Downloads
Follow our guides to download and install drivers.
Recovery discs are not available for this series. We are currently trying our best to find them. If you have some recovery discs available, please archive them and send them to us!