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GREAT LAPTOP (LCD IS ONE OF THE BEST EVER)
By: _mark
August 3, 2009 @ 8:32 AM
The parts used in this laptop are amazing. The case design is something that needs improvement, big time. All in all it is a major win because of the CRISP AND SUPER BRIGHT LCD!
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
The VPR Matrix 200A5
By: Bader
June 25, 2005 @ 3:48 PM
Daer Mr
I have a VPR Matrix 200A5
the DVD/CDRW drive is defect
please can some one yell me where can I bay a DVD/CDRW please
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Bestbuy sucks
By: RJ
January 13, 2005 @ 2:06 PM
Total lack of respect for customers. You want a real laugh, try to get the part numbers for any replacement part. They won’t cause they are greedy suckbags. All if not most other companies will gladly give you the part numbers. They know if they did give you part numbers or had some sort of parts list, then we would deal with ebay or any other company. $192 for a battery. SUCK MY A$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anybody know parts list, please help
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Not to bad at all
By: Brian
October 23, 2004 @ 11:12 AM
I’ve had mine for almost 2 years. It hasnt had any major problems. I’ve never had to take it in for service and I use it every day. The only thing that broke was the A/C adapter but easily replaced it. Sorry to all the suckers that got the craptops. Mine is great! ha ha
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Mission accomplished
By: T. Butler
September 7, 2004 @ 3:51 PM
Best Buy replaced my VPR 200A5 after a fourth claim, and I was pleasantly surprised how accommadating they were in letting me pick a replacement out. I settled on an HP zv5240 which I like. It took about a week and a half of phone calls to their 1-888 number, but once the store got the ok it went well. To sum up my 200A5 experience, I liked the machines performance but it had way too many problems and was unreliable. And what is up with that heat? Here’s hoping HP makes a good product.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great laptop- really nice
By: littleman0
September 6, 2004 @ 7:05 AM
I got mine acouple months ago for $854 on ebay. I havent had a problem with it. Runs great. I use linux takin some time get the widescreen configured but it would be teh same for all widescreen laptops with linux
took a point of cuz of the heating issue. Bought a Taurgus(i think) heatpad which plugs into the usb and it sits under the laptop. Had it on about a week now and it not really even hot , the taugus was 30 bucks at Bestuy
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Horrible dependability
By: T. Butler
August 29, 2004 @ 1:20 PM
This is an update from a previous posting. I returned my lappie after it broke for the fourth time, invoking the lemon clause of my extended warranty. So now I’m waiting for the ’service’ center to validate the claim, wasting yet another week or two in order to get another, hopefully better machine. In the year and a half I’ve owned this crap, I’ve lost nearly 3 months time having it serviced. What a mistake this was.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Problems Problems Problems
By: Rams 8
April 29, 2004 @ 6:05 PM
Please do not buy the 200a5, nor any other VPR product. These computers are now reknown for there problems, stores everywhere cant get rid of these trash systems. Its always one thing or another, people who think these things are great, are in the dark. Buy one, I guarentee you have a heating problem within the first month. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PURCHASE ANYTHING BEFORE GETTING ONE OF THESES.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Lack of technical support
By: Broken
March 25, 2004 @ 5:54 AM
I have 200A5 laptop, it’s been couple time I sent the laptop back to Bestbuy for fix (replace keyboard and motherboard..ect, you’are all right the keyboard is suck, keys are malfunction causing weird characters. I try to use an external keyboard via USB port, but it doesn’t work. Technical support said, ‘because of touchpad conflicts with the external keyboard”. They don’t know how to handle this problem. I only give 1 point credit to this laptop because the LCD is very bright and impressive. NO POINT FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT, LACK OF CUSTOMER SUPPORT ON TECHNICAL ISSUE.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
A Heartbreaker
By: T. Butler
March 5, 2004 @ 4:04 PM
In the one year that I have owned this machine, it’s been in for repair twice. It’s not even used everyday. The first time for screen problems, a broken key, and slotdrive malfunctions. The latest repair is because it refused to turn on, no power at all. All of my school and work material imprisoned and Best Buy could care less.
I love the machine, when I have it. It’s too bad Best buy treats $2000 investments like boom boxes.
Next time I’ll go with HP or something, and not from Best Buy.
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
ALRIGHT SYSTEM
By: CajunWarrior
October 27, 2003 @ 4:25 AM
just a lil note on the tech support….i have the VPR 200A5 and i accidentally broke the usb ports from plugging in my external harddrive so much….well after awhile of suffering from not being able to use them i threw my laptop against the wall several times….and it was still working….and then it bounced off the top bunk bed and hit the floor and killed the harddrive and cracked the case right by the monitor hinge….so i opened it up know i was voiding my warranty because all the screws had fell out anyway…i just had 4 screw holding it together….so i went to best buy and they sent it off and i got it 2 weeks later….which i wasn’t expecting to get it 4-6 weeks…they fixed everything except the case which they glued or something…but knowing what i know now…ill go with the dell
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
not sure yet
By: TMA
September 26, 2003 @ 6:05 PM
Just received the notebook (about 2hours), and the CD drive is damaged (doesn’t read the CD and the machine churns the CD with a grinding noise). Bestbuy says I can purchase a new machine; however, they have no policy to replace it ASAP. So, for now, deciding whether to deal with this machine at all. I thought the overall specs for the price was good. However, maybe going to a name brand is the best path afterall. First experience is not very favorable.
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great until you have to repair it
By: Dchen
September 24, 2003 @ 5:29 PM
My VPR monitor was broken. Bestbuy said that manufacture would repair it. The manufacture said that we are bestbuy and a bestbuy store will exchange a new one for you. After a month, nobody did anything for my monitor. It remains broken, maybe forever.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Awesome!
By: j20j01d
July 30, 2003 @ 8:11 AM
As stated, the sound and wireless connection leave a little to be desired, but beyond that it is an awesome piece of equipment. I am proud to own one.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Now that ive used it for a while
By: ColinHsien
July 22, 2003 @ 5:47 PM
Well….mine fell apart, the screen came off, the keys poped out, the over heating issue….well….lets just say that aluminum only takes so much heat before it distorts (as in you could eat cereal in the hole it made) and yeah, it was a great machine, the lcd is inrivaled, this coudl have been the best notebook out there if some quality control was there to help. I took mine back to best buy and I traded it in for a vaio z1, now im happy :)
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
From a guy who's sold them
By: Jason Rakosik
May 4, 2003 @ 8:59 AM
The 200a5 is an excellent model, but it’s no longer “new” by any means, we’ve had a few problems with them:
1. Plugging in a usb device while having ethernet connected causes weird problems.
2. Heat is a major problem with this unit, as thin as it is, the actual cooling system is pretty bleak, while we haven’t had any fail due to heat, we have concerns over the heat that this pumps out.
3. The screen has been known to come loose quickly as well as keys popping off after a normal amount of use (not abuse).
Keep in mind, this model is very old by sales standards, we haven’t gotten any new ones in yet, but I’m sure the next one will be an excellent model.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Hot deal, hot laptop
By: Colin Hsien
May 1, 2003 @ 11:00 AM
This is definatly a great laptop, I have the one with the 1.8 ghz p4m, but it is still an awsome performer. Although I do have my gripes. The wireless networking is weak, yes, sitting next to a hub (about 1-2 feet from it) gave me very little signal at all.
This laptop also get really really really hot on the left side, kinda bad if you are gona wana travel with it on your lap because it can get unconfortable.
Service for this laptop is also subpar. I made the mistake of going into bestbuy with my problems and when I walked out, the floor manager for the computer section was fired (we had some heated words). Their call in tech suport is also pretty bad, I spent 2 hours on the phone with them, most of it on hold befor they told me that I had no problems.
On a good note, vpr has a great policy on dead pixels, .01%, unheard of by most laptop makers. The screen is very clear looking but does seem to have a slightly odd veiwing angle and its use of light yellow is closer to white.
I use my machine for school work and for home entertainment, it holds up well, the graphics card is good enough to play most games on the road but sufferes from high quality graphics (im spoiled by my 9700 pro).
Also another thing is the keyboard, it is very stirdy and has awsome responce to touch compared to other keyboards. No mushyness to it and the keys are very sturdy with a double locking system (which also makes it a pain in the ass to put them on if they come off).
My laptop came in so so, there where 4 points on the screen where the bezel was loose, and the screen still haves a lot of give when you close it whichin turn makes to the top of the bezel scrape on the laptop case (there is noticeable wear on mine after a month). The screen on mine has 2 dead pixels, but I dont really mind them since they are outa the way.
All in all a good buy at 1500 dollars, I spent months looking around with this package and was happy to see that is would be resonably priced.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great, unless you need better wireless
By: solgae1784
April 29, 2003 @ 5:49 PM
All I can say is, this notebook kicks ass. I owned this for about 4 months and it really does the job. Remember that VPR came out about 5 months earlier than the Dell 600m, and since VPR sported the first widescreen on the PC’s, Wouldn’t it be obvious that those pesky Dell guys would release something that would perform better than the VPR? Before Dell 600m came out, I must say this would have been the bomb. Yeah, the wireless performance is poor (one reason to took off a point on my score), but VPR scooped up a replacement wireless card for me, so no problems with that. (Yes, NEVER deal with Bestbuy) No wonder why this notebook has been sold out in many places! (VERY limited Availiability caused me to took off another point as well) It’s a shame this fantastic notebook has to be gone in shadows becauase of its availiability and the new Centrino (Pentium M) processor that is a LOT faster than the Pentium 4-M (Although this notebook is plenty faster than most competitors)
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
far less bang for buck than dell
By: striderfive
April 29, 2003 @ 4:03 PM
case in point: the new Dell 600m is far smaller, far lighter (under 5 pounds), far more powerful, and far cheaper than both the VPR and the ever exalted PowerBook…
to back this up, the following dell system costs $1328:
-pentium M 1.4 GHz (faster than pentium 4-m 2 GHz)
-14.1 inch screen
-1400×1050 native resolution (compared to their 1280×854)
-5400 rpm 40GB (compared to their slow 4200 rpm)
-DVD/CDRW 24×10x24 (VPR using nice old 8x)
-32MB radeon 9000 (comparable to geforce 4 420)
-10/100/1000 ethernet (no Gbit on VPR)
-built-in 802.11 wireless
-USB 2.0 (2)
-S-video
to top all this off, the Dell 600m has a 4+ hour battery life.
All I have to say is, at least the VPR comes close. A similarly configured powerbook comes out to $2378! a full $1000+ more. it also only sports a low-resolution panel at 1280×854
yeah, Apple is cool. I vote Dell.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great system
By: nedlyj
April 28, 2003 @ 9:06 PM
So far I have loved the VPR 200A5 and agree that it is a quality machine, but that there are several issues that will need to be addressed in future models. But all in all it is a top performer with an absolutely gorgeous screen.
But the review seems a bit late. The 200A5s have been unavailable “new” from Best Buy for quite some time, and the price was reduced to $1499 (and below) over a month ago on the open-box units that remained at physical Best Buy stores. You just can’t find them anywhere but eBay anymore.
And the review states that the digital audio output is simply too expensive using the $250 cable, when in fact the output and cable have been proven to not work – and the cable has been pulled off the market.
I guess since this review is coming at the end of the product life cycle I would have expected these currently known issues to have been pointed out.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No