Sony VAIO EL2 Series VPCEL24FX/B 15.5-Inch Laptop (Charcoal Black)

I absolutely loved my Sony Vaio when after about a year, I would be typing (like so) and look up and the cursor would have jumped back to 10-15 words prior and continue typing in a prior part of the sentence/paragraph. As I type this, it has happened twice so far. I looked it up and it seems to be an issue with Sony Vaio and other than getting a wireless mouse (and what good is that with a laptop) there is nothing that can be done. Very frustrating and dissappointing!

After just a month or so of purchasing my Vaio laptop, the mouse and keyboard stopped working. It was under warranty and a technician replaced the motherboard. I asked for a new laptop rather than have the board replaced, but SONY refused. It's less then a year later and now the laptop won't boot up and if it finally does, the screen will go black after a few minutes. We took it to be repaired again and the technician said the hardware is defective. Basically, SONY sent us a defective laptop through and through. It's out of warranty now and SONY pretty much told us they're not going to make it right for us.

In a nutshell, we paid $800 for a defective laptop that barely lasted long enough for the warranty to expire.

DO NOT BUY SONY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a 10 year old DELL that's still going strong.

Buy Sony VAIO EL2 Series VPCEL24FX/B 15.5-Inch Laptop (Charcoal Black) Now

This Sony laptop is good for the $500 range, with decent specifications that lets the user do basic computing (microsoft office, editing software), web surfing, and for media purposes (watching a movie, streaming, playing music). I'll break down this review into several parts: Hardware, keyboard, Design, touchpad, screen, and performance.

Hardware

* Some connections: 4 USB 2.0, 1 HDMI input, DVD drive, VGA port. All basic necessities.

* The AMD Dual core E 450 1.65 Ghz processor isn't bad. It doesn't have enough juice to play games, but it does give you enough power to run through programs like Microsoft Word, powerpoint, and some editing software (windows movie maker) fairly easily. Just don't expect it to be blazing fast. The processor is one of the main weakpoints of this laptop.

* 4 GB of RAM (Can upgrade to 8GB RAM) is more than enough RAM for computing tasks. Windows 7 64 Bit is the installed OS.

* The AMD Radeon 6320 Graphics card is a step up from integrated graphics. It won't run powerful games like Crysis 2 nor Bioshock, but it will smoothly run some of the less graphic-intensive games like Left 4 dead 2, counter strike, Call of duty 4, and team fortress.

Keyboard

* The keys are in an island layout and keys generally feel quiet and comfortable. I've adjusted to the island style, but I still prefer the keys to be together.

* There is no flex. The keyboard is stable.

* Keys are responsive and have good feedback. Keys "pop" back up quickly, which is a plus for fast typists.

Design

* I like the black and gray pattern that is on the front cover and palm rest. The pattern includes squares, hexagons, and parallelogram (finally, geometry comes in handy). It gives it a subtle, but bold texture to the laptop.

* The speakers are placed on the horizontal panel where the screen meets the keyboard. The power button and indicators are placed in the top right corner. The placement of the power button and speakers make good sense.

* The battery charger is thick, sturdy, and feels built to last.

Touchpad

* The touchpad is positioned a little bit off centered to the left, which is a different. Notebooks and netbooks I've tried in the past have had the touchpad centered. I like this subtle change. It also reduces the chance of the right palm accidentally grazing the touchpad while typing.

* The touchpad has a nice texture and is very responsive. The left and right clicks are rigid and isn't too loud when clicked.

Screen

* The native resolution is 1366 x 768. The screen isn't as bright as I had expected. Even at the highest brightness, it still feels a little bit dim. Still, details and picture quality is good.

Performance

* The graphics card is a huge plus and gives the laptop some juice when it comes to processing pictures, and providing a smooth experience. The dual core 1.65 ghz CPU will do fine with basic computing tasks. While it is capable of gaming and heavier programs like Photoshop, it's barely playable/usable.

* Bloatware (as expected) is installed on this laptop. There are some useful programs, but most should be uninstalled for an optimal computing experience.

Overall, programs and loading is generally instantaneous. Again, not blazing fast, but definitely good enough for schoolwork & at the workplace, some editing, and media (movies, streaming, and music). This laptop has a nice, stylish design and is a decent laptop for the $500 price range.

Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO EL2 Series VPCEL24FX/B 15.5-Inch Laptop (Charcoal Black) Here

Great laptop for the everyday user. For the price, I was surprised to get so much style and performance. Looks great, works great!

Want Sony VAIO EL2 Series VPCEL24FX/B 15.5-Inch Laptop (Charcoal Black) Discount?

AMD Athlon seems better than this processor

Very slow IE,Chrome browsing..

Long bootup time and unwanted applications on startup.

I would recommend not to buy this laptop

thanks and have a great day