Sony Vaio Vgn-ar710e/b

[romo2owens]

Hi I am new here so I'm not sure if this is the right place but I am planning on buying this laptop mainly so my girlfriend can play the Sims 2 and because I might want to game on it on occasion. Mainly its going to be used for browsing and the Sims 2 (plus Expansion packs) because my current Toshiba Sattlite shuts off for no reason after about 20 minutes of Sims 2 play and the warranty I have is some bs "resellers" warranty and they think using a recovery disk is supposed to solve everything. My only concern is that I have read that Windows Vista has several problems when installing this game with some people such as "Insert disc" when the disc is already in. I have looked on google to see if anyone had made any posts regarding problems with this computer and the Sims and found nothing but I just wanted to post here first and ask you intelligent people if you thought that this computer should be fine running the Sims 2. Im trying to be as optimistic as possible so I tell myself that those posts I read were from last year and this computer is new so mayb they fixed the problem by now.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

because my current Toshiba Sattlite shuts off for no reason after about 20 minutes of Sims 2 play and the warranty I have is some bs "resellers" warranty and they think using a recovery disk is supposed to solve everything.

Sorry, I do not have any comments on Vista's compatibility with the Sims, however, it sounds to me that your Toshiba may be overheating. Are you given any errors or does it just randomly shut off and then start up normally again?

Try monitoring your system's temperatures and if possible, dust the inside of your laptop out with a can of compressed air.

 

[woody1191]

I've had a problem with my laptop lately restarting, as Zenosincks knows.
Anyway a techie has told me today there are three main reasons for the restarts, these are

1. Overheating having already been mentioned follow that info
2. RAM problem, reseat the RAM and run Memtest86 for about 5-7 passes after you have cleaned the laptop and the slots for the RAM card/s.
3. HDD, run a disk check and tick both boxes to scan for and try to fix any errors.
Also if you can unscrew and take the HDD out and clean the port which the HDD would slot onto with the compressed air.

Also it doesn't always detect errors on the HDD, but i ruled the Overheating and RAM problem out so was left with the one problem being the HDD.

If your still wondering about your Sims 2 compatibility thing, try going to the EA website and go to there FAQ's.

 

[romo2owens]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am well aware of why my Toshiba is restarting and its most likely due to the heatsink getting clogged with dust. Its a known issue with Toshiba Satellites especially the P105 series. The unit just shuts off as if someone pulled the power, usually while playing games such as the Sims. If I leave the computer on for a couple days it will do this also but with the Sims and some other games it only takes about an hour.I dont feel like bringing it to someone so they can charge me 200 to clean out the inside. I would rather just get a new computer anyway so that this problem doesnt become a reoccurance. I really want the Sony Vaio though and I was planning on selling this to my friend for $400. I dunno, maybe if i had a breakdown on how to open up this computer. But I'm scared because I heard you have to be extra cautious.

So no one else heard about the problems with Sims and Windows Vista? I read about them but alot of the posts are from last year or 2-3 years prior and I assumed that the issue probably would be addressed by now.

Anyone know about the computer in general though? Are the Vaio's a good choice? Is that particular model a good model? I found where I can get it for $1000 including shipping.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

I am not familiar with the quality of Viaos.

Taking a laptop apart isn't all it's cracked up to be, really. If you look around online you'll probably be able to find a manual for your exact model, if not, something similar.

On the last Satellite I disassembled (M45 series I believe), it was pretty straight forward and there was a rear cover to access the heatsink easily for cleaning. To disassemble the entire system it was as easy as removing the battery, RAM, HDD, wireless card, optical drive and heatsink from the back. Removing the keyboard, pulling the wireless card's wires through the top of the laptop, detaching the monitor and data cables from the top of the board and then unscrewing the top/bottom of the laptop case etc.