Sony Vaio Resurrection: Saving this Insane Tech From 2008 (and why that soon won't be possible)

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Sony used to make some crazy expensive and underpowered laptops called the Vaio. There were different models of this brand, and this might be the most impressive model they ever made (if you ignore the MSRP). Launched in 2008, this VGN-Z series laptop is an ultraportable beast with a Nvidia GPU, a socketed Intel Core 2 Duo, optional high resolution LED display, optional Blu-Ray Drive, and a ton of ports. And though it was built using questionable design decisions that make it an absolute pain in the butt to repair and upgrade, the key thing is it was still possible, and IT STILL WORKS. I don't have faith in any modern laptop to last 16 years like this one has. From the quality of the plastic to the modularity of nearly every component, this laptop was a perfect example of what happens when there's competition and risk taking in the tech industry.
This came in my shop with...
Intel Core 2 Duo P9500
3GB RAM
320GB HDD
Windows 10 32bit
Boot-up time of 19 seconds
Average Temperature of 420c

[@SalemTechsperts]

Go to PIAVPN.com/Salem to get 83% off Private Internet Access with 4 months free! (This is the VPN I've used for over a decade)

[@univera1111]

Does this Sony support 64bit os. My application needs 64bit. Pls check

[@alexpascal5403]

@@univera1111 why mister? cuz my liddel systr !? she’s is a professonal NUT TWISTER 🌰

[@kaiog1570]

@@univera1111 at 11:22 he says this is a 64 bit cpu so yeah it can

[@Potato_Fresh]

I too had a sony vaio E series I5 1st gen. Ungraded it to 8gb ddr3 and ssd. It's now working fine with fans louder than a V10 Audi

[@NightworksYT]

Anything from pine 64 will last forever because being open source and consumer custom manufacturing exists

[@stevens1041]

I had one of these!! First laptop I ever owned, in 2009. It cost a lot of money but it was a bulletproof machine, kept working and working for over ten years. Still works, but I just don't use it much anymore. Sony got influenced by a bunch of accountants and they sold off Vaio, then stopped making a lot of electronics that they used to make. Too bad.

[@SalemTechsperts]

The accountants believed Sony's exceptional build quality had no place in modern business. They did the same with Toshiba. Enshitification

[@qualitydirtmoving]

​@@SalemTechspertsoh yeah I remember Toshiba

[@3dcomrade]

Im currently on an accounting degree. The drop or keep(a division)mentality is based on whether the result of the decision will result in a minus or plus in money, without considering the impact on market share(most of the time9. This mentality has been instilled since the 2nd semester Ironically, the key to counteract this is the concept of "economic" accouting, inserting oppurtunity cost and future analysis into the equation. Homever, this is only said briefly at microeconomics from the 1st semester English is not my first language, im sorry if this is not comprehensible

[@CJonestheSteam72]

When are you sending it in for an upgrade?😂

[@rudymeow]

Holyship I think I still have one of these, also one of the "last" Sony Z series ultrabook that come with a GPU docking.

[@egwagjsd]

My local area has "repair cafe days" where volunteers from the community will repair devices for free for anyone who brings one in, it's all done on dedicated days and generally services older people with good but old hardware. Highly recommend anyone skilled sees if this is available in their area and volunteers (and if it isn't, maybe get a program like this started)

[@SalemTechsperts]

I would love to dedicate a day to one of these repair cafe's. We have a few in Boston

[@1986arseny]

Mercedes won, and a new, epic long format video? This is the greatest Sunday that ever lived.

[@andress.h3024]

Finally Max Verstappen win't

[@SalemTechsperts]

Max doing Max things to anyone who gets close to him

[@CodyThetincan]

I Like his long Form vids

[@SuikaIbuki]

@@SalemTechsperts if he wouldn't had been such a spoiled sport he couldve finished 2nd and get a good points haul but no xD and Lando lost some respect for him

[@shrishpotdar343]

​@@andress.h3024 he's probably lost 3 times already if I'm not wrong?

[@lbsiuk]

Hey there, another computer technician here. Had similar problems being unable to find Sony's drivers for their godforsaken laptops, such as my old Vaio S from 2005, another weird 13" dockable NVIDIA ultrabook with a DVD drive from before ultrabooks existed. Finding a GeForce Go 7200 driver that works with the damn thing took hours, but I'm pretty sure that I found it through using a now-dead link and putting that into the Internet Archive. This may work for you, see if it does. It's appalling what Sony's done for supporting their old machines, given that Toshiba/DynaBook still carries drivers for machines from literally 30 years ago. Genuinely, Windows 98 drivers for the Toshiba 105CS. Still up on their site.

[@youself20]

as an enthusiast, the Internet Archive is a godsend sometimes when putting now dead links into it

[@toufusoup]

4:30 *THE MOST WHOLESOME TECHNICIAN THAT’S EVER LIVED*

[@Randomrecipe34]

the most technician technician that ever lived

[@Der_Ginja_Panda]

Truly! Glad our boy can prioritize his happiness.

[@rationalcommentor]

WE NEED A WIDE VERSION OF IT LIKE WIDUS

[@tatoruso]

Immediately followed by "I need to save energy for tonight´s date with your mom" 💀

[@fkhraldeen7543]

15:09 if we couldn't learn it from ❤❤the greatest technician that's ever lived❤❤ who else are we going to be able to learn from

[@Lvaldie]

I really hope framework succeeds in what they’re doing with environmentally friendly materials and repairability and upgradeability in mind

[@SalemTechsperts]

Same, we're all fucked if they fail

[@JordanKeller]

I highly recommend the 16!

[@3DKreateFPV]

Me too, mines been awesome​@@JordanKeller

[@simonupton-millard]

Same here it's why I own one

[@Lvaldie]

@@simonupton-millard I wish they were a little bit cheaper but I understand that they are a small company and the prices are needed for them.

[@alekk3687]

Hey man, I know this video is a few weeks old now but just wanna say love your work. I don’t have a lot to give, but I definitely hope to be able to donate again in the future. We need more technicians like you, and you’re so right about being able to repair devices. If I ever need an upgrade or fix, I’ll gladly pay shipping costs to send my PC your way. Truly the Greatest Technician that ever Lived :)

[@SalemTechsperts]

Dude you don't have to donate a dime to me, just you watching my content is enough! I appreciate you so much, seriously, thank you!

[@Mellowbaton]

There used to be a Sony store near me growing up, I would always stare at the old vaio laptops, thinking they were macbooks lmao

[@SalemTechsperts]

They were priced like MacBook's

[@0w3nn]

Vaios are so pretty and awesome especially in 2010

[@awesomeferret]

They were priced way higher than MacBooks, assuming you were buying a reasonably specced MacBook and not maxing it out. You could get a good MacBook config for well under 2 grand.

[@NinjaWarotMCph]

on your rant about the missing software needed for the gpu's true power, and as a computer science student, i remembered something very important: *internet archival is literally our key to survive in the future.* if you still got drivers or driver installers for old stuff, *you make sure to swear by your blood and soul you keep that safe and if possible, upload it somewhere that others can download too.* it mightn't mean anything to you, but such an act can literally be *_the_* grim reaper of someone else's old stuff - it may turn what once was usable or even capable hardware into future poison, or give it new life and even potentially propel that person's life back up that they can sustain themselves. as for myself as a comsci student, perhaps in addition to being an offensive security specialist i should also learn how to reverse engineer drivers for peoples' sake in addition to my dream of making games. much love, salem. i am with you on this eternal war for right to repair of technology. i wasn't alive during the time of the sony vaio, but i was when things were still built to last and had replacable batteries. may god bring upon his wrath on me if i fuck up my acer nitro v15-51.

[@jimbob1862]

This is actually why I try and make a point as a game dev to keep versions of my projects always available somewhere as well as having my own local copies, it's not the same obviously but software wise games are so infamous for shitty long term support/archival that it feels like I've had to train myself to specifically keep them considering how many industry professionals/companies have essentially no source code for many projects. Hopefully I can start braving repairing my own tech soon enough because having things like my PC die with no idea on how to fix it and no recourse with tech professionals getting priced and iced out is just really sad to see.

[@LittleWiccan]

How do we upload old drivers to the internet? I've still got a couple of disc installers but I wouldn't know How to make that available to someone else (other than physically lending it to them, which I'm not going to do; I'll install it For them, but I'm not about to risk losing it either)

[@jenthodemonie]

@@LittleWiccan You can make them into iso disc images, I recommend cd burner xp. Then upload the iso to the internet archive.

[@toastedphantom3007]

@@jimbob1862 Square Enix had to rebuild Kingdom Hearts 2 entirely from scratch for its remaster because they lost the source code. So yeah, it even happens to the big boys.

[@jimbob1862]

@@toastedphantom3007 Same with the original Silent Hill games yeah, it's why the HD Collection for them was so bad since the team had to basically reverse engineer actual PS2 discs alongside a half done dev build

[@DavidPetronix_QTN]

18:25 The greatest "reincarnated and turned into a bottle" that's ever lived.

[@SalemTechsperts]

I am now filled with Tequila

[@DavidPetronix_QTN]

@@SalemTechsperts Gooch Edition or just boring plain tequila?

[@SalemTechsperts]

I breathe Gooch, not drink it 😮‍💨

[@Mr_Sting]

@@SalemTechsperts The Greatest Gooch That ever Breathed

[@alphaneumerics]

​@@SalemTechspertsI mean, you are what you drink.

[@hassanbeydoun2460]

What he said around the end there is very deep. Especially coming from this man, who literally has a business REPAIRING computers and he's telling US to learn something on our own as much as we can about repair because HIS shop (computer repair in general) will be a thing of the past. One would argue he isn't supposed to tell us this as he is a business owner and has bills to pay, he should keep us hooked in. Respect man, we appreciate you!🙌🏻 You call yourself the "greatest technician that ever lived", normally people don't support self-titles like that but in this case you made the title hold respect in it✊🏻

[@govid1952]

Sony Viaos were such innovative laptops.

[@GSBarlev]

They were gorgeous, expensive and impossible to repair. They were Apple's wet dream.

[@govid1952]

Yeah, they weren't good laptops but they were pretty and had innovative features.

[@SalemTechsperts]

They definitely pushed the limits, but so did their price!

[@Rajesh1622]

Everything before 2010 was innovative

[@tobs2470]

16:19 The driver is avaliable on the Internet Archive! It's the place to go for oldschool drivers and roaming through dead websites. The capture from 2014-06-21 works. Keep us posted!

[@GSBarlev]

4:41 That battery popping out makes me cry too. It was *so easy* back then. Some even let you hot-swap while connected to wall power if you carried around spares. Not even Framework is doing external batteries anymore, and while I'm sure there are very good engineering reasons for it, I still pine for the olden days.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Lenovo took it up a notch and gave you 2 batteries, 1 removeable and 1 internal. Smart move

[@snapdragons7392]

​@@SalemTechsperts old stuff Lenovo thinkpad X240, X250 and X260 also T series variant. this laptop is perfect balance of quality, performance and aesthetic. the laptop is pretty slim, it fast, doesn't love to overheat, pretty tough, have 2 damn battery. one of them is easily replaceable. i think that is one of the best laptop ever produced. i do have T440 back then. and i could confirm. that laptop is lit. one if the best ever produced.

[@sihamhamda47]

Imagine an old style swappable battery combined with latest ultra efficient processors of today. I could buy like 10 spare batteries and I could spend a full month on summer vacation without worrying of having to find a power plug

[@xmlthegreat]

​@@SalemTechsperts😭 I miss Powerbridge, that shit was insane

[@tobiasthegentleman9131]

@@SalemTechsperts whilst an internal and external battery is cool and handy sometimes, it sucks when the internal battery dies, because now the laptop has to be disassembled to replace it Oh well, at least the external one would've kept it going longer

[@ReeBoot-h2e]

bruh the link at 0:17 is real ☠️☠️☠️

[@SpaceVultureV]

Bro why'd you try it 💀

[@Hey_Itz_Sid]

Lmao

[@AChristianWeeb]

Your humor is what makes me anticipate your videos so much! Keep it up bro!

[@SalemTechsperts]

Thank you for watching!

[@lolprodx]

7:36 11 swearing of 💩

[@mrchirp]

So happy for Lupe making it to the next level and being reborn as “The Greatest Lover your wife has ever had”

[@dietzness]

You are so on point with the 'green' businesses. I'm an industrial designer with a love for tech and this is indeed one of the gripes I have with the industry, where the consumer comes last. Or at least their wallets come before their needs or wishes.

[@phatpower]

As a computer signal technician I have stopped repairing pcs do to this reason it's hard to find parts, people want cheap rates or free, they don't care that it took 20 years to learn the craft to repair your computer, but so now I just build new desktops gaming pcs and I now have less stress and I make more money, so I do understand what your talking about. Your videos make me laugh In a good way lol. Keep up the great work and the videos cheers from Canada 🎉

[@SalemTechsperts]

I'm glad you found a way to still be able to follow your passion and make a living. Consumers are being pushed to the edge and so are we.

[@mrSj-gp3qy]

Brother if you're only in my country i would like you to repair my stupidly slow 5 yrs old laptop

[@redpheonix1000]

I have a cheaper Vaio from 2012 that had some major issues throughout it's life. The battery died from one day to the next, the keyboard had stuck keys, and the backlight is partially broken. As such, it's not very useful for day-to-day use anymore. But the motherboard? It just refuses to die! For the last 2 years, I've had it working as a server, turned on 24/7, and the thing has been just absolutely rock solid! It currently has over 250 days of uptime with no sign of stopping soon.

[@rockraphlegal]

The thermal paste on that CPU has heard no bell.

[@redpheonix1000]

@@rockraphlegal It reaches 70° under full load, under which it very rarely is, so it's not that bad all things considered. I do need to change it one of these days, but that would mean ruining it's current 290 day uptime

[@rockraphlegal]

@@redpheonix1000 Bet that *_THE GREATEST TECHNICIAN THATS EVER LIVED_* could change that with the laptop running

[@michaelfedoryk1196]

Spot on with the "green" thing. Couldn't agree more.

[@bamsbeyrek9728]

I have a VPC-F12Z1E from 2010, it has i7 740QM processor(1.73 to 2.93 MHz(TB), 8 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Ram, NVidia GT330 dedicated graphics And it has a MFing Blu-Ray RW drive. I'm still amazed that it's alive and kicking. For office programs, netflix, IPTV and browsing, my dad is still using the hell out of it. And as a loyal Salem audience, I'm keeping its insides gooch-free.

[@Shikadi01]

I still use my old VAIO VPC. Replaced the original i3-370m with an i7-620m (no dedicated video card, so need the iGPU), 3 more Gb of RAM (6gb total), new wifi/bluetooth card and a proper SSD. Works like a charm even with is original battery but you can see the age there. Not giving up on it and hope it never dies.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Upgrading a socketed CPU on a laptop is a feeling that few young people will ever know. It was like turning your Toyota Corolla into a Toyota Supra. Interesting how these older batteries seemed to last forever vs the bloated nightmares we get after 3 years now

[@RomaYT999]

​@SalemTechsperts The battery on my vpc actually died within a year.

[@MarcABrown-tt1fp]

Still have a mint functional HP Dv7 4285dx with i5 460M and believe it or not, a discrete ATI 6370M. Those laptops used to choke themselves to death... xD Edit* I disassembled it and it was painful to do so without breaking anything. Good thing it runs 64 degrees cool now and I can upgrade the CPU. good stuff.👍

[@Shyammont]

please keep doing these, we all enjoy this more than forcing repairs and content you don't feel like doing!

[@SalemTechsperts]

Thank you! I wish the algorithm felt the same way

[@vjekobasic7059]

As someone who has never even owned a laptop, I really like your content and the fact you're pushing that boulder uphill by still doing actual repairs on stuff... keep up the good work and greetings from Croatia!

[@SalemTechsperts]

Thank you so much. Much love to Croatia, the home of Croteam and Serious Sam!

[@DangerDuck83]

0:50 The swiftiest technician that's ever lived 😂

[@lunaticinsanee]

😂

[@MrAmin7000]

Was searching for that comment. It's great to find another swifteyyyyy

[@DangerDuck83]

@@MrAmin7000 🤜🤛

[@nenume00]

on the other side, i have a 2008 sony vaio VGN-C1Z with a removable HDD (just loosen 2 screws and pull), expansion port , all types of connectors and it could even dock. due to almost no tracks on the web, it took me 30mins to realize i had to pull out the keyboard from the front. a challenging frustrating puzzle especially when there is no such thing as a service manual/dissasembly procedure/maintenance guide

[@SalemTechsperts]

I remember that model, it also stumped me back in the day

[@teutonicknightmare]

As a self-styled PC builder (lol) who only buys upgrades rather than pre-built, it’s awesome to see your views on repairing computers rather than having silicon time bombs that only last 5 years if you’re lucky. As the owner of an Acer Nitro 5, I live each day in fear of my 6 cats and 2 large dogs turning my gaming laptop into a KZbin Short

[@RenatoG1848]

Please never stop making videos or speaking truth

[@thedreadengine]

6:40 The greatest technician that’s ever respawned

[@RedCaithron7192]

7:16 excessive swearing

[@harmless-kun]

9:49 Oooooohhhh... spicy~ hahaha

[@raviolican9627]

Honestly watch the greatest technician that ever lived has kinda given me the confidence to not only try building a pc for gaming and 3d modeling but also wanting to learn more pc one reason Im currently taking a pc class at my college

[@SalemTechsperts]

Follow your passion!

[@andyruse4670]

8:05 😂🤣😂🤣 Props to you for not just chucking it at that point.

[@LindseyLouWho]

I worked in computer repair when I was in college (computer network engineering - and hell no, as of 2024 I do not work in IT. Never again.). I was there in 2004-2008, fixing those Vaios. And when I say, "fixing," I mean, handing them back to the customer, laughing, and telling them to contact Sony. We used what Vaios we couldn't get rid of to keep warm in the winter. Those little shits produced a LOT of heat.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Hah. People seem to forget just how spicy those older laptops got. 2008-2012 was prime time when it came to heating your office with your laptop

[@coopertoy]

I have a Dell Rugged 5430, almost fully upgradable. Fast as hell, 11th gen i7. Built like a damn brick. But then again it’s a pro grade rugged workstation.

[@SalemTechsperts]

These are the best to buy used. You get so much for so cheap

[@coopertoy]

@@SalemTechsperts the one I bought was certified refurbished with 3 yr dell warranty. $1600 for the machine, and i bought 64gb DDR4 & a 2TB ssd. This thing is a f'ing beast. I work doing fire/ems so this thing does everything from gaming to using in the field for patient reports. I also have a WWAN modem in it, and pay $40 a month for unlimited data. It is the best computer I have ever owned, hands down.

[@cnfsdsoul]

I'll say I personally just love the aestethic of Rugged Laptops like Dell's Rugged Latitudes. Is it a lot heavier? Yes. But carrying around a beastly device like that, always felt like a much bigger flex to me than fancy LEDs or an extremely slim design.

[@coopertoy]

@@cnfsdsoul I agree 100%… it turns heads like no other, and looks beautiful. I’m not a big fan of the toughbook design, but these Latitudes are gorgeous. I call it my BBC - Big Black Computer. But onboard TB4, USB 3.0, SD & SIM, HDMI full size, 3.5mm, & RS232 Serial port comes in super super clutch

[@devil5051000]

3:04 Boner-Bone

[@segaboy7]

My wife still has a VAIO from the same time period. We've kept it running for years with a SSD and some upgraded ram. Her's luckily was way easy to upgrade and change thermal paste

[@xenotiic8356]

5:20 AI generated image :(

[@Rainiermix]

18:18 THE "SPINE" STICKING OUT (this is killing me rn)

[@SalemTechsperts]

I workout, what can I say?

[@suntzu1409]

"sorry, wrong spine"

[@harryroesser2763]

8:09 I can never get over this damn part it's so funny 🤣

[@chadholmes7051]

Ouch to the Boeing reference man that’s a crazy situation right there weird when staff that speak out seem to start dying. Also love the long form not too long or short just right 👍

[@tobiasthegentleman9131]

Wait... @ 9:39, shouldn't it be.. The Greatest Technician That's ever died ???

[@DrathVader]

Seeing Vaio logo gives me shivers to this day. Though it is ironic how even though they meticulously crafted to be as dreadful to work on as humanly possible, they're still easier to upgrade than 99% of modern laptops.

[@hennermais]

I still have a Acer gaming laptop from 2011 or something with a first gen core i5. Still works fine. Battery is nearly dead (about 20mins with a full charge) but I don't really need that. Built a gaming pc in 2022 and recently bought a new laptop for travelling/university. I was thinking about framework 14 but bought a hp elitebook (i7 7840U, 16GB DDR5, 1TB Samsung NVMe) which was available for 950€ with university discount. At least HP offers good documentation, five years guaranteed replacement parts and ram and ssd are replaceable. The offerings get really scarce if you select non-soldered ram.

[@CrimsonHiroX07]

I do remember when Sony made laptops. I still own one that's been sitting in a drawer for the last 10 years.

[@SalemTechsperts]

fix it! Or mail it to me so I can steal it and make a video on it

[@Azeal]

Really hyped to see you making longform stuff, you've got the on-camera skills for it. Congrats on the sponsor too! ^^

[@hydroponicgard]

I wanna thank you for teaching people to repair their own machines. I've had a sony VAIO from 2006. YEs, 2006, 32 bit laptop, that I still use to this day. Rarely, but it's not dead. And it can play youtube/music. Tho it runs linux, hence I am able... To do anything really. b4 you ask: Xubuntu 18.06 LTS. I'll swap it to Adelie soon.

[@philm94]

Not to sound like one of THOSE guys but my 2010 Vaio is still completely supported hardware wise on linux. Depending on the distro getting the nVidia drivers working might be a hassle, but for any use other than gaming the opensource driver branch works A-OK. I have a modern desktop but this has been my only laptop since 2010 and still more than does everything I need.

[@IYI1299]

Greetings from Germany 😊 Keep up the good work, the greatest technician that ever lived

[@SalemTechsperts]

I drive a Mercedes so we're basically brothers

[@IYI1299]

I drive a Mercedes too, but an old 2001 Model C180 Coupe. I'm a turk and i live in Germany. Love your videos 😊

[@Willsquid]

I love it when he said "its racconing time" and then racooned all over the place

[@GuyL]

G’day, from Australia mate, your videos always give me the boost I need. You sir are a legend. Thank you

[@alexpascal5403]

my tongue work is legendary, kennith. would you like a strobe?

[@corbul1077]

I'm actually watching this on a 2009 iMac(also core2duo) that I bought from a junksale for 40$, upgraded ram to 8gb and applied new thermal paste and did a clean. And I'm telling you the sound and image quality shits on my 2019 4k Samsung TV , unbelievable... :D

[@GlitchedVision]

wow... this video is so relatable... watching this process and your frustrated mumbling and grumbling reminds me of both myself and my mom who both do the same thing when working on tech lol

[@SalemTechsperts]

I wasn't even going to include the audio until I was scrubbing the clip and heard my rant. I do it so much I didn't even realize I recorded it.

[@SoranPryde]

I worked in a Sony Style store from 2007 to 2009 on the weekend in college to get some extra pocket money It was a tech geek's dream come true. I had the PS3 to play with, along with the PSP. The TVs playing Blu-Ray blew your mind But the VAIO laptops, those were the creme de la creme. You were not selling based on the CPU and RAM and whatnot, you were selling a lifestyle and a dream with these laptops that looked so futuristic and out of this world.

[@gatomatias1]

Agree, I still use an HP G42 from 2010. Upgraded SSD and topped the ram to 8GB. Still going strong. BTW, it is running Windows 11.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Wow, I'm surprised the left trackpad button hasn't collapsed on itself and the hinge hasn't broken off. Oh and the overheating lol

[@gatomatias1]

@@SalemTechsperts taking good care of it and doing the proper maintenance. 🤙🏼

[@user-lh3uz1cp7y]

Look out, microsoft is probably force uploading your files to their servers if you run windows 11 unless you hacked it to not require a microsoft account by forcing one drive backup on without your conset by slipping a roofie in your drink then asking if you would like to turn on one drive backup and shaking your head yes while you're asleep.

[@gatomatias1]

@@user-lh3uz1cp7y they won't give me the TBs I need

[@ivanabrenica]

I have a VAIO UX series (the first sliding UMPC by VAIO). And boy, those DVD drivers they gave you is not a joke. Because as same as you, Sony discontinued the support 10 years ago. It took me a fortune hunting a working Japanese model with the DVD recovery discs and a pristine cradle dock. It took me 4 times buying a machine with the stock installation that has the drivers I needed. It cost me a new machine in total to find a working Japanese model with stock Windows XP. Some sellers don't know what the heck they were selling and can't be bothered with my nerd speak.

[@Tumanbay-the-First]

I totally agree with everything you said about computers and their large user base. I currently have two laptops, and one of them is a 14-year-old Sony Vaio VPCF 13S0E. All drivers are fully functional, and all features are active. The best thing is that the motherboard is not double-layered like the version you repaired. Therefore, you just need to remove the bottom plastic plate for upgrade or maintenance. By the way, I installed an external Nvidia Quadro graphics card with the Express Card, and I can use the external GPU.

[@SalemTechsperts]

That is so insanely cool, thanks for sharing that!

[@mumpy1520]

13:09 frameworks laptop is the only one i can think edit: shit i listened to the next 3 seconds lol

[@Benchatooo]

Honnestly really sad to see how the laptop industry has evolved, my laptop is an old 2009 Aspire 7736z, it died a few years back but with a bit of internet searching I found the IC causing it to not get power, changed it my self and I have to say even if it only has cores and 4Gb of ram this thing rocks for simple tasks and even some heavier ones just as well as laptops from 2014. I had to do it my self like all of the other more complex repairs because I don't have the greatest technician that ever lived in my area

[@orfeas92]

I can say that not every Vaio is like this. I still daily use a Vaio F series from 2010 (1st gen i7 etc). Servicing is a piece of cake. Every 2 years i clean it and replace the thermal paste. The machine is still strong with 8gb ram and of course an SSD.

[@jasamkrava]

13:04 Does thinkpad t480 count? I believe its 5 years old now. Only weird issue it had was thunderbolt chip overriding itself, but that was fixed.

[@Chicagobasterd]

So far I have an Inspiron manufactured in 06, upgraded that thing with more ram, a new battery and thermal paste cleaned it out and its runs great with an SSD, I wish I had the funds to upgrade the CPU, and runs windows 10, did the same with an old acer from 09 as well that I've upgraded as far as it will go. No way in hell can I do that in a few years with my gaming laptop

[@BensoftMedia]

“The heatsink was attached on both sides” The greatest technician that’s ever lived said calmly.

[@bjarnezimmer4921]

8:16 Bro didnt even care about censoring his words anymore at that point

[@plainrock124teacher5]

I have a 2008 13inch MacBook and I have 8gb ram and 1tb hardrive with the Intel core 2 duo with open core sonoma and it works great

[@jaycemathis1164]

Not gonna lie, 19 seconds to boot was impressive AF for this machine. Also, I absolutely lost with the dc connector 😭

[@MoikeIsJesus420]

It really is sad how non upgradeable tech is today. Concidering I can upgrade the cpu and ram on my dell e1505 to the point where windows 10 will still run flawlessly.

[@x8laye4r]

Fuck. I wanted to say Framework. Our Acer Laptop is 16 years old and it is working with a few plastic cracks.

[@marioneutel4360]

Did the graphics card worked? If not, wouldn't a Linux distro solve the problem?

[@Epicmadnesslol]

Got a Vaio with an i3 & 330M. Plays 1080p movies on my OLED TV just fine, lol.

[@Trainbuff26]

I would have been tempted to put Windows 11 on that laptop. You can use a program called Rufus USB to create the Windows 11 installation media for a USB Drive, and not only will it give you the option to bring back the "I don't have Internet" button, allowing you to make a Local Account, you can also tell it to ignore the TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements, in addition to being able to install it on systems with only a BIOS and not a UEFI. I've done this on several older systems that can accept an SSD and at least 8GB of RAM, and honestly, Windows 11 has run fine on them. I recently did this on an HP Compaq Elite 8000 that had a Core2Duo, and the only thing I had to do to Windows was turn off all the animations and transparency, as the older graphics chipset didn't like that, but otherwise, that computer was still perfectly usable.

[@dankvader420]

I remember reading about this notebook when it first came out…it was one of the first (if not the first) notebook that had switchable graphics (that was before Nvidia Optimus was a thing), and in such a small form factor, it was a great deal at the time. The battery also lasted about 6 hours with the Intel GPU, something only netbooks could pull off. Great piece of tech.

[@Gunz3200]

Phone Repair Guru got me into repairing phones and you got me into tinkering with computers. Thanks racoon boy

[@ThisGuyDrives]

My mom is still using the Sony Vaio I bought in about 2012. It was around 1k. All I’ve ever had to do was give it a new HDD. Works great for Facebook, email and KZbin.

[@ToniaGlitched]

it's weird how people believe so hard that old tech is completely obsolete that some people have a hard time believing when I say I can edit videos on my i3 4005U with no dedicated GPU (and of which had 4GB of RAM when I most used it for that, now having 8GB since the 4GB stick BURNT)

[@Rowlet13]

14:24 I agree because even though i have a gaming laptop (acer predator helios 18) I don't really care how many frames i get as long as its at least 60fps and runs smoothly. And it would be nice to not have soldered cpu's and gpu's and ram (note my ram isn't soldered to my laptop but i have heard that some laptops have the ram soldered to the motherboard) because it would be nice if you wanted to upgrade it or something happens to them that renders them useless you would have the ability to replace them

[@rubiispare]

8:49 the issue isnt bad solder its to do with bad underfill, bump material and thermal expansion all combined to give you a sad gpu experience. its very interesting once you look into it also that one has a revised gpu (anything > G98-631 is revised and doesn't have the issue (another way to tell is that the underfill around the die is clear as opposed to black / dark brown)

[@rubiispare]

addition: 11:22 - the customer wouldn't have done this, Sony did. As you said near the start he updated to 7, then to 10. Back in the late 2000's companies like dell, acer, sony, hp, you name it mostly installed x86 copies of windows as opposed to x64 ones. I can't tell you *why* they did this but what i can tell you is that they did. Annoyingly there isn't a clean way I know of to upgrade an x86 to x64 install

[@KellersTechCorner]

10:53 dude i had to figure that one out took me 3 days to finally recovery the clone, rebuilding the mbr with bootrec in cmd

[@Jestify_GAMING-y1o]

Hey Salem techsperts….what is better to do. But prebuilt/ new or used, or make your own

[@camiloleal6446]

In my time as a technician have 4+ opportunities to upgrade laptops with socketed CPU, I enjoy it, really, the engineering behind this laptops are amazing, now we have laptops with ALL soldered to the motherboards, ready to damage it with the minimal error, and ready to dispose directly to the trash, because the repairing could be more expensive than buy a new laptop, and those make me think that the brands are a liars when speaks of “ecologically responsible” 😢

[@klibaxiorskii364]

i have a lenovo ideapad y580 that will be 11 years old soon and its still gaming in mid graphics at full hd.

[@Spades-r9o]

I actually have a Lenovo Legion that’s been driving me crazy with boot issues . Could you link the software you used to fix the boot files on this device @ 11:10 ?

[@obey090]

after 12 years and a ram upgrade my thinkpad x230 still works perfectly fine

[@Coachishappy]

why windows 10? windows vista feels more nostalgic and 7 8 and 10 was not existed in 2008

[@getl0st]

There's no shortage of 16 Year old Corporate HP Notebooks which still work and are shitload easier to fix than this Sony Monstrosity...

[@Lampe2020]

7:13 Wow! Even though you're rarely serious in your videos the real frustration was still very obvious in that tirade of "f*brrbphrg*"s.

[@therealplatinumminer385]

when he asked what modern laptop will last 14 years I literally said framework out loud.

[@DrShempTV]

ah, sony vaio, every spider-man's favorite laptop brand to do a Bing search on

[@Alexifeu]

xDD ur jokes are top notch love it. But seeing all this apple trash made me sad.

[@samuelllakaj5439]

I agree on the sheisters about "going green". Up until recently I had a ~2007 Dell XPS M1530 and it ran all my general tasks on W10. Not even the highest speck option. Screen was good, performance was manageable, I even played Crysis on it. Swapped HDD for an SSD, could've swapped RAM, even the DVD port for another HDD. Wanna upgrade screen, CPU, wifi card, add SIM tray, whatever else? Sure man, you could do it yourself even. My new laptop doesn't even have a disc drive so all my music CDs just sit there. Now I'm hearing you can't even change SSDs on the new Apple laptops, so once it's cooked it's gone for good. Maybe you could send it to Apple repair but why when they charge so much for no good reason? On the other hand, companies will naturally want to produce thinner, lighter yet faster laptops, and this is a very good way of doing it. Would people buy laptops like these VAIOs nowadays when they can get a MacAir?

[@crestofhonor2349]

You haven't been able to replace MacBook SSDs since maybe 2016. Apple hates repair and makes you overspend on repairs because they won't ship you individual parts and makes you replace the entire case or something with some repairs. It's not only incredibly wasteful but it also is needlessly expensive on the user who only wants to repair something small. Not to mention the fact that they pair certain things to the laptop so the user can't replace it themselves without contacting Apple. Apple is literally the worst when it comes to user repair no matter how much they say they've improved their "repair" services

[@thebastionsportGV]

I had a Vaio as my school computer and it was great, I used it for 12 years until i got an XPS and said goodbye to the Vaio until i powered on recently and it still works and everything is working. My mom said that "A Vaio is a laptop you can trust on". So i power on my laptop every 5 days a week so i make sure it works.

[@LabCat]

I have a Latitude 5400 I dug out of one of our equipment closets. It was built in 2009. I want to put a Core 2 Quad, 8 GB of RAM and a decent battery in it and see what it can do. We've nicknamed it "the Brick". Updates to follow.

[@SalemTechsperts]

I'm invested

[@soup_fetcher_boi]

Hey Andy, I'd just like to know how long it usually takes for shipping instructions to be sent after mail in purchase? I've waited about 4 days now. I'm fine with being patient but I'd just like to know how long is too long.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Sorry for the delay, looks like you didn't put in your email during the order, so the auto-reply was never sent. And since I was away for the 4th of July, I had no way of texting! No worries though, I replied earlier today and I'm crediting this $2 back to you!

[@Lollllllz]

They even crammed an expresscard slot and removable modules for the wifi/56k/3G modems with a platform that requires atleast three chips to have an igpu only system. Lenovo can't be bothered to put more than one sodimm slot in a 15 inch laptop

[@SalemTechsperts]

"ThErE'S nO sPaCe"

[@triforcefx]

I died at the Cortana bit. Truly Satan herself! I mostly only hear the Windows 11 and MacOS screen reader messages these days… they can be annoying for sure, but Cortana was in a whole different league of awful!

[@SalemTechsperts]

I remember having a whole room full of them, it was a chorus of evil

[@ottolehikoinen6193]

Ah, Sony Vaio the miracle bromputer that only needs four hands to properly dress, or undress. Sorry for the guy who had to go through 250 used dvd players to find out if anything fits (oh that's me.)

[@SalemTechsperts]

I cry for you