UPDATE (06/07/2013): Just to clarify, my comments regarding Windows 8 still stand: in fact, many of the issues I found troubling appear will be corrected in some form or fashion with the upcoming release of Windows 8.1. But what I should have added was that Windows 8 really needs a touchscreen to be be used optimally. At a minimum, one should have a mouse as I found the touchpad awkward to use. Bringing a mouse along makes a laptop less portable and that's a problem. In support of Windows 8, I sold this laptop to a friend. He is pretty much starting from scratch and seems to be adjusting to the Win8 interface fairly easily. So perhaps my issues with 8 are more a matter of breaking habits and changing paradigms rather than any real flaws. But my initial comments still stand: Win8 w/o a touchscreen is one tough UI to get friendly with.ORIGINAL REVIEW: I like the form factor, but my oh my, does this feel cheap. Very un-Sony. Flimsy plastic and a fingerprint magnet. On the plus side, the display is pretty nice, it has a reasonable number of ports, and it is very light for a 17-inch laptop (thus, perhaps, accounting for the flimsy, plastic feel of the unit).
I bought it for the road (needing something light, relatively inexpensive, large screen real estate, and capable from a hardware perspective) and it has fit the bill. It has a DVD drive and a BD (Bluray) drive is not offered (as best as I can tell) as an option. Not sure if that would be a problem with anyone. But a Sony laptop with a full HD screen and no BD drive seems strange (given that Sony is the proponent of the BD format). Full specs can be found here: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/specs/SVE1712BCXB_mksp.pdf
But we must also talk about Windows 8. Wow (I don't know yet if that's a good wow). I have been using Windows since Windows 1.0 and I have never been so confused as with Windows 8. Microsoft would have been well-advised to include a tutorial that runs with each boot up (maybe there is one, but I can't find it). At first blush, the user interface (UI) is absolutely user unfriendly and I find myself defaulting to the desktop just to accomplish the most simple of tasks. And even when I do that there's no START button so I have to use round-about methods to get where I want to go. I'm sure the UI makes sense, but after a few boot-ups I just haven't figured it out. I hope I can as it seems promising and I really want Microsoft to deliver on the promise.
In summary, for $700 this machine is definitely worth it. For more than $900, not so much. If you can get this machine at a good price point, you won't be disappointed. But I can also say that at almost any price you also won't be wowed.
3 stars for the machine; upgraded to 4 stars because I did get it at a very good price point. Hope you can do the same.
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