is this machine any good

[totalSLIgamer26]

My brother is thinking of getting a sony vaio but i said those arent very good for gaming do you agree or disagree. here are the specs 512 MB, Intel pentium 4 prcessor 3.00 GHz (2 Cpu's), Nvidia G force 6600 256 MB, 180 GB, 350 Watts Ps

 

[archie4oz]

I wouldn't... VAIOs are OK for MCE purposes, or if you want a cosmetically flashy laptop. I wouldn't bother getting one for gaming though...

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

vaios are usually waaay overpriced in my opinion. Get something custom built to fit your needs or just pay special attention to the graphics card included in your pre built system.

 

[totalSLIgamer26]

desktop

The Sony Vaio is a desktop

 

[Blazkowicz]

I hope it's cheap ( $400?), and PCI express rather than old discounted model with AGP. (to upgrade the card later)

if he gets it, tell him to buy a second 512MB stick at the same time.
geforce 6600 is quite decent, not bad to play doom3 or far cry and infinitely better than the X300SE or 6200TC you usually see on these branded PCs.
For latest, stupidly power hungry games such as oblivion, graw, fear it's gonna be a bit limited/painful (but should run)

pentium 4 3.0ghz is decent (and runs hot) but every other CPU is better for gaming now.
so, if it's cheap, silent, nice looking and he can change the graphics card later, why not.
a custom built PC would be better.

 

[totalSLIgamer26]

its more like $850 and it comes with the gforce 6600 already in it. so he wont have to upgrade it for awhile i think.

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

you forget. dx10 vista and a host of way more powerful hardware (next gen all around?) is on the not too distant horizon. not sure how much game demands will jump, or how far back into the past they will reach, but i'd guess $850 for a laptop that may not be running new games well, if at all, in a year is a steep price?