How is Toshiba notebooks compared to Sony's?

I am interested in buying a notebook very soon. This will be my first notebook. I am planning to spend up to 1700$. I have narrowed my search down to toshiba tecra a7 and sony FE. I wonder did anyone had to chance to compare the qualities of notebooks from these two manufacturers. What is your general opinion?

 

Where do you live? The Tecra in certain places (like Australia) have a X1600 GPU to go along with their notebook, as opposed to other places, such as the US, where they only offer it with the GMA 950. I'd say Sony has the overall better build quality, but Toshiba's screens are second to none IMO.

 

I'd say sony is better in build quality. Most Sony laptops that I have seen and used had above average build quality. With Toshiba, some are good some are bad, you don't really know until you get it. My friend has an M40 and and that thing squeaks like crazy and the keybaord has some nasty flex. Even my keyboard has a good amount of flex.

 

I am planning to purchase it in US. It seems that sony offers more for the same money. I noticed that tecra 7 is offered with integrated graphics card, whereas sony FE can be customized with a dedicated GPU. In addition, sony FE case is made of magnesium alloy (I wonder whether the whole case is magnesium alloy or is it just the lid). Toshiba tecra 7's casing, on the other hand, is made from durable plastic. The only strong point, over sony FE, I can see is the integrated finger print reader. Am I missing any favorable points on tecra 7 side?

 

i would go for the FE

 

Yeah - I'd say the FE is the better buy - integrated graphics suck if you're going to be doing 3D work/games.

 

Yeah, I would also go for the FE if I were you.

 

Basically, Tecra's have high build-quality, equivalent to the FE's anyway. The major selling point of the FE is that it has the dedicated GPU over the Toshiba. The Toshiba does have a better screen IMO and the fingerprint reader, so I'd say that's a better business oriented notebook.

 

Better screen? I swore basically Sony's notebooks had the best screens. The ones on the FEs at least are the brightest I have ever seen.