"I purchased this computer almost a month ago when my $1200 Toshiba (of less than 2 years) crapped out on me and CompUSA's takeover company lost my records for the replaceable warranty that I paid nearly $600 for. All this happened during my final week of college.After 2 Toshibas, I was ready to try something else. When I saw this Vaio go on sale for $850, I knew it was a steal for the specs that it offered. Not convinced that Vista was better than XP, I took the chance anyway because of the roomy 3gigs of ram and 250gb HDD. Glad I did, because this machine runs Vista and all my regular apps really, really fast. Bootup time is less than a minute. I'm a heavy music/video user, so the external controls are a must (too bad not all Vaio's have external controls like other lower end brands). The media iPod-like "wheel" controls are solid. The speakers are a downgrade compared to my Toshiba's Harmon-Kardon speakers...the sound isn't that bad, but the volume is way too low. So I use external speakers or headphones.
The screen is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on any laptop. It truly is amazing, and there's no flex at all to it. Coming from a 14.1", the 15.4" feels a little big but the relative thinness of the case makes up for that. The keyboard is nicely spaced out, however the 'backspace' and 'enter' keys seem a tad loose. Wish it had 4 USB ports instead of 3, it would've been nice to have one located on the back. The powerjack is too close to the DVD-drive. Can't say too much about the battery life since it's been plugged in most of the time.
The only thing annoyingly wrong with this laptop, and Sony Vaios in general is the bloatware and AOL software that comes bundled in. You can't even change the default homepage on IE7 because it'll revert back to Sony-AOL's homepage when you reboot. I don't want to do a clean install so I made the permanent switch to Firefox. Overall, this is a solid machine...well built, fast, silent, and aesthetically pleasing in a minimalist way. Highly recommended!"
If you're like me, you do as much research as necessary to get the biggest bang for the buck. On initial inspection, this machine seems to deliver. I have to say I was pretty fired up about getting this machine and eager to start work working with it. But after 3 days of having the machine, I'm sending it back to Amazon. Here's the good, the bad, and the deal breaker for why I'm sending this guy back. I DO NOT recommend buying it.
Pros:
You can read all the specs about hardware and I have to say, it doesn't disappoint. It's very good for the price considering what you get. I don't know about you but the machine really does have quite a bit over overkill. How long it will take you to fill up a 250GB hard drive? My older Dell has an 80 GB drive and I still haven't filled it up after 3 years of using it. But hey, we all got different needs. I was worried about the resolution of the screen but Sony has nailed it with their LCD technology that has clearly spilled over into this machine. The display is very sharp and very clear.
The BluRay player seems to work well and again is very crisp. HDMI port was hooked up to my 720p, 37" Vizio and it didn't seem to be overly impressive. I really wanted the HDMI output on this computer but I'm not as impressed with it as I thought I would be. I couldn't get the BR to play on the flat screen (the player would lock up when I would drag the window onto the extended monitor display) but I think there was an updated driver to fix. I loaded it but haven't got to see the fix yet.
Cons:
I know this seems trivial to talk about but here it is: the power adapter plug-in is at a 90 degree bend (not a straight plug). This is fine except when turned correctly or incorrectly, the plug interferes with the DVD/BR ejection tray and prevents the tray from fully ejecting. I have to laugh because for all the hardware thinking that Sony seemed to do with the machine they botched it with the AC power plug-in because of a 90 degree bend. Funny.
The Deal Breaker:
It seemed to take forever to get all the information loaded onto this machine. And yes, Sony did put lots of trial software on but it's easily uninstalled. However, I have worked for the last 3 days trying to get all information loaded and all the bugs worked out on this little darling. But here's the kicker: this little devil WILL NOT STAY CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. It will not stay connected either by a wired or wireless connection. The ISP is confirmed to be working and I get all indications that there is a strong signal but there is some disconnect between the connected signal and Internet Employer or Firefox. These programs simply will not display information even though there is every indication that there is a connection and all hardware is working correctly. I've tried Sony tech support and other internet sources. I've tried to reconfigure the router to WPA (by the way Vista doesn't support WEP security), and I've tried connections on a non-secure network. Guess what? Nothing is dependable or stable. No amount of tweaking will correct the problem. Tech support wants me to wipe the entire system to start all over even thought all the drivers are up to speed. I'm thinking not so much. Delete all so I can just start all over to load up my information again? Great idea tech support! I'm not 100% sure but I think this a common problem with Vista (nice job MS). Big picture: It a great computer unless you need to connect to the internet. That's why it gets the shabby rating. I'm sending this guy back to Amazon and will try an Apple. I've avoided an Apple for years but I'm ready to dumb it down with the next machine and just want it to work.Good configuration and affordable price make this laptop a very nice choice! Even with 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, video card Nvidia GeForce 8400M GT dedicated graphics and widescreen movies with the 15.4-inch WXGA high-definition screen, its battery lasts almost two hours. Not to mention the beautiful silver magnesium chassis. When I bought four years ago was the best value among laptops for sale at the time but now I leave my review to let everyone know that this was a great laptop.I love everything about this laptop except for the battery longevity. It barely lasted 1.5 hours and the additional large capacity battery, which they shamelessly reminded you to buy by placing a sticker on your pristine laptop, is only 1.5 times longer (that's less than 3 hours) than the original. Could be due to Vista (which has lots of issues).I purchased this laptop because my old one (also a VIAO) had neared its demise. This laptop is fast, sleek, and hasn't disappointed me one single bit. For under $1000 this is a great buy !
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