Sony VAIO

[nordia5]

Hi. I am in the market to buy a new computer. I've had only HP's ever since I got a laptop and they just keep messing up on me. So tonight I went to Best Buy and saw the Sony VAIO and the features are pretty good. Does anyone have an experiences at all with this brand of computer?
TIA

[missjenny2679]

Yeah...I do!!! A BAD one! Two years ago DH and I waited in line from 7pm-6am for the day after Thanksgiving sale at Best Buy to get new laptops. I got the Vaio, and a little over a year later I was on TPF (go figure) and it just shut down! It has been dead ever since...never came back to life! I now have a net book because it was cheaper...LOVE it though!!! When I was buying my netbook I passed a girl going into Best Buy with her mom, and she had a Vaio. I had to stop her and ask if hers was broken, and she had the same problem I did! There were Vaio netbooks and DH would not let me even look at them! Imo I will never buy a Vaio again!

[siworae]

I have a Sony Vaio FW series notebook and so far, I love it... I've had it for 8 months and have never had any issues. It has a blu-ray read/write drive and I watch movies and tv shows on it all the time. I got a really good deal on it... paid less than $900 with a promo code at the time. Otherwise, I was also considering a Dell laptop.

My friend also has a Sony Vaio laptop, and it's about 2 years old... never had any issues with there either.

Maybe I've had a lot of luck on my side... but I've never had a computer totally crash and burn on me. I had a Dell inspiron notebook before I purchased my Vaio (it's 5 years old and still running quite smoothly), and before that, I had a PC that my brother built for me (it lasted 4 years of college before I gave it back to him).

If there is a specific model that you are interested in, just search for reviews on google... there are other forums and websites that are much more informative.

[ayla]

^ We might have the exact same FW, I just got one recently. It has been running fine, but I wish they were faster with the Win7 upgrade discs !

If you want stability specifically, I'd go for a Thinkpad (I think they are only branded as Lenovo now). They just can't be beat.

HP is pretty hit and miss, like you mentioned. I replaced my HP with this Vaio.. but the HP put in 5 years of service so it was not bad at all !

I'd stay away from Toshiba (keeps overheating.. my roommate's, my dad's, my coworker's.. this is not just a random incident!) at all costs !

[nordia5]

I have tried to look for reviews, but the one I think I may buy is the CW series and it just came out like the end of October, so there aren't really any user reviews yet.

[calzz]

I spent 2,500 on a Sony Vaio in 2005...I've recently bought a MacBook Pro to replace it because there were wayy to many virus issues. It's a good computer for the first couple of years, but later it just started to crash- a lot. Mostly, I won't repurchase because I don't have much confidence in Windows anymore.

[ILuvShopping]

I think i still have a refurbished VAIO notebook that i purchased back in 2001 hidden away in a closet somewhere lol I really did love that thing for what it was. used and abused it for a good 3.5 - 4 years.

[nordia5]

So is it a Sony problem you're referring to, or just a windows problem? Because I feel like even if it starts to mess up like my HP..at least I tried anther brand. Idk if I should go with that or just another HP. I looked at Macs but I just can't spend 1200 on it right now. And I don't really like how macs are wayyyy different than pc's. They are beautiful computers though. I feel like any pc can crash, but this is a new model that just came out so maybe it's better? Helpp!

[calzz]

I don't think that sony is necessarily better than HP or Dell -some of the cheaper brands. I think that they're more stylish and have the Sony name- therefore have a heftier price tag. I'm not a computer expert though by any means, I just don't think they're really a bargain if you're trying to save on costs.

[nordia5]

So it's basically between a white vaio or a white hp. But I've already had a couple hps ad they've all messed up on me, so I just wanted to try a new brand. The one I want is only 200 more than I spent on my hp and like 400 less than a mac. So I think the price is good for what it can do. I just wanted to know you're experiences with this brand of computer, because I've already experienced hps for myself

[Vinyl]

When I buy a Sony VAIO, I buy it for it the looks... because that's the only area where it really outshines other brands. The specs aren't going to blow other brands away or anything like that. The hefty price tag comes mostly because of the looks -- so I agree with calzz.

I've owned a VAIO notebook & currently own a VAIO desktop. Both outrageously overpriced (but beautiful-looking systems), tons of BSOD problems despite having XP on the notebook (back in 2004 - 2005) & still having them on my desktop which runs Vista (and was only purchased in 2007).

But I'm no computer expert either & I can understand where you're coming from if you've only had issues with HP & want to try a different brand. I did that with Sony... I ended up trying Toshiba (which I regret).

[alliemia]

i've had two viaos over the last few years, and they perform well. the reason i had to get a second one, was i dropped the first one and something internal cracked. it was more money to fix than just get a new one, so on sale got a new vaio for $700 i believe. no problems other than a few keys stick.

[ILuvShopping]

OP - out of curiosity, what has messed up on your HP's?

i sometimes dont' understand why some people have so many problems with their computers. i've own multiple pc's over the years, each of which that have lasted 5+ years and none of them have ever had any viruses or crashed on me - i've never had to have them fixed for anything. and i don't have a virus scanner installed. The only laptop i've owned has been the Vaio but the other PC's have been HP's. and i'm a graphic designer so I'm always downloading stuff and using adobe programs among other things. do some people just have bad luck?

[nordia5]

So are there any other brands that any of you suggest?

[nordia5]

Above ^
my dad builds computers and he thinks there's a hardware issue. It'll freeze, go to a ble screen, have problems restarting. I don't think it's a virus because I restored it, but I'm in college and can't afford it to break down for good before I get a new one.