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There have been numerous occasions where I turn the laptop on, and the touch-pad works in reverse or doesn't work at all.3. Since I've owned it for several months now, I felt compelled to write this review to share my experiences:1. The battery life is poor. The screen is bright, and it's lightweight and comfortable.
The Vaio comes preloaded with alot of software trial-offers that makes the computer very slow. However, the plastic frame feels somewhat flimsy, especially on the sides; enough so to make me handle it rather carefully.2. The computer is EXTREMELY buggy. I purchased this laptop in June 08 from a Best Buy; I paid $1599. To Sony's credit, some of these problems may be due to the Vista OS; Vista is known to be a buggy power-hog with software compatibility issues, and I've yet to try the XP downgrade disk. The only way to start it is then to plug in the power adapter and go through safe mode.4.
In the 'optimized' mode, where I turn the screen brightness down by an additional 40%, I still get about 2.5 hrs.5. I recieve various error messages at shutdown regarding runtime errors.6.
But despite this, Sony has done an extremely poor job of packaging a would-be good laptop with a host of incompatible, bug-ridden software and hardware drivers. As far as aesthetics go, it is a great looking laptop.
One must be careful when uninstalling programs and configuring start-up options, as some of these programs contain drivers that are necessary for the Vaio to function properly.I've spent countless hours attempting to solve these issues on my own and through Sony's support. There have been several instances where I'm operating the computer on battery and it doesn't boot.
It powers on and makes it to the Windows startup screen and stalls. I've had to reinstall the system to its original manufacturer's state on at least a dozen occasions.
I do not recommend this laptop to anyone.
I am essentially stuck with a $2000 computer that is completely dysfunctional and no one at Sony is the least bit troubled by this.I originally bought this laptop based largely on Sony's good reputation. The second time was 3 days before I left on my research trip, which left me no alternative but to buy a different computer to take with me.
Two months after I brought it home, it started deleting files off of my USB memory stick. I bought my laptop about a year and a half ago to take on a research trip.
erase) the hard drive twice in three weeks. Sony agreed that this was not acceptable and exchanged the faulty computer for a new one.
However, 7 months after receiving the new computer, it too suffered from faults that required that I restore (i.e. In the months that followed, the service that I received from Sony was appalling.
My advice to anyone thinking of buying a Sony computer: don't be fooled; once they have your money you're on your own.
Great Laptop except touchpad reverses evry now and then ie left becomes right / up becomes down Google this issue for more info. I find closing the lid and re-opening usually fixes it. Annoying fault spoils a great machine
Besides you don't need to wait there watching your computer uninstalling. Even if you are running many programs together including matlab, mathematica, photoshop, office programs etc. I have used different versions, 160, 330 and 650 last. It is still fully functional however a better material should be used.Some people say it doesn't come with a restore cd, well it has a very nice restore program, you can just say go and it restores the computer to after factory state, and if you like you can burn your own DVD's too.
As regards to performance, it is fast indeed. I have been a vaio sz user for more than three years (~3.5), have bought a 750 for my wife and 650 for my brother as well. It might be handy to have some these software too if you don't have your office or adobe cds ready, you can use the trial versions in the meantime for a while.The overall design is really sleek, and keyboard really feels soft and nice, your fingers are sliding on the keys. The next day I called sony service, a prepaid overnight ups box arrived to send the computer to them and the computer came back within a week with the fans cleaned up and problems fixed.As to compare between different models although initial models had some problems, it is improving in time, going quieter and faster.The only problem I have is that I have to pay attention extra care to protect the lcd as the casing is pretty thin and doesn't feel strong enough. high speed mode can handle them pretty easily.
The downside is after a year of frequent use there is a slight wear that you can guess from the outer look which keys are used most frequently (may be this is a problem in all computers out there). I wish they made it a little more sturdy.In the overall it is definitely a fast, sleek and very portable computer. It is surprising to see so many negative feedbacks as I did not experience anything that bad past three years with so many different computers.I mainly use the computer for research and simulations. It would good to have an xp downgrade cd though for those who want to use xp.As it comes to the service I don't have experience with other brands to make a comparison however I can comment on my personal experience. I don't see the reason why people are getting troubles with speed.Yes it is coming with lots of software junk however I don't understand what those people uninstalling for three days.
If you are a little patient you can get rid of them in an hour after you first turn on the computer. In the past I have sent my previous computer for the fan had started making too much noise. I would definitely recommend this computer if you want a portable one yet you do not want to sacrifice performance.
Imagine my surprise when the amount of battery charge reported was 88% (the computer was off - not on standby). Sony needs to improve the battery to make the product usable. After charging the battery overnight and leaving the computer alone for 9 hours I started the computer. Imagine my further surprise when after 15 minutes of use the computer stated that the charge was 62%. Avoid.
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