Advice Please on Sony Vaio VGN-FZ4000 CTO

I am interested on Sony Vaio VGN-FZ4000 CTO. I am considering this or a Macbook Pro. But, price is now becoming a factor...and feature for feature...minus the GPU...the Sony Vaio coming out in Feb is looking even more attractive as the day passes...and cheaper.

But is cheaper better? How good are the quality of the Vaios? I am very wary of Windoze laptops...and the quality build on them. I hear that they are made of cheap plastic parts...

How is Sonys warranty? Do they ship Vista with the laptops? Because I heard Sonys come loaded with tons of unwanted material...I wanted to reformat the HD if I was to purchase it.

How well will it run Photoshop and Illustrator as I do alot of graphic designing...

Alot of GREAT advice and feedback would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

If you have been a past Mac user and like what they have to offer, I think I would advise against a Vista based Sony machine. They are high quality and quite high powered, but do include a lot of junk and when it comes down to it, they require a pretty high level of Windows/PC expertise to enjoy fully. At least that's my opinion. Also, regular warranty is 1 year and you have to pay for additional warranty options.

 

My question wasn't operating based. My question was Vaio quality (keyboard, longevity of laptop general life, and etc). If this Vaio would be more than adequate to take on the tasks I require (Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator) and if the Sony customer service was good with the Vaios and if the Extended warranties are any good.

 

VAIO is the way to go. Better built and faster than the pseudo-PC macbooks.

 

What are the longevity of the products like? Keyboard? Ability to run Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator together at the same time without a hitch. Warranty? Nobody is exactly answering the questions in detail...

I was hoping for some helpful responses...in my purchasing decision vs a Macbook Pro.

 

I can't really comment on the keyboard as I don't have the FZ series. (Have SZ)

But as for the ability to run Photoshop and Illustrator at the same time, thats more based on the combination in regards to CPU, Ram and hard drive. I can run both fine at the same time on my SZ, specs listed in my sig. However I do have to point out that I am using Win XP, not Vista. So keep that in mind.

Oh and FYI, I am contemplating getting Macbook Pro too. I still like the SZ but I've been wanting to get a new laptop for a few months now. Was originally thinking either Sony FZ series or Macbook Pro but now leaning more towards the Macbook Pro 15", just waiting to see if they refresh the series.

 

I see you are looking for sepcifics... I have both a vaio and a mac book pro... I hope my experience helps you:
I have been a vaio user for 12 years. i love them and i hate them, i love them for all the reasons people have expressed here: plus, they are wonderful, powerful machines; the high-performance ones WILL run illustrator and photoshop at the same time without a notciable decrease in performance - i have never had any trouble with thoses apps; and the interface is really nice (big screen, ergonomic keyboards, etc).
I hate the vaio because 1) they often crash, 2) they never last more than 2 years (for me) - in the past 10 years i have purchased 6, (specifically, the keyboard broke on two, the one i am currently about to replace PCG-GRT260G) has mutiple problems: one by one all the drives have failed, starting with the memory stick and more recently the dvd drive, it's noisy and overheats, and the battery last a full 8 minutes. And 3) the Sony repair service is the worst i have EVER experienced - they wipe hard drives without permission, they are slow, they are not wonderful when you call to report service issues. (oh and here's a scary story: once I sent in my vaio to Sony for repair. After a few weeks had passed, i called sony to chase it, and they said it had been FedExed back to me weeks before. It was never delivered - turns out the fedex guys stole it - but sony said it was MY fault because i failed to alert them within 30 days to the fact that i never received it. nice, huh? They never replaced it for me.)
Why do i keep buying the vaio, you ask? Because i love them when they're new! Now this story will really make you smile: ten days ago purchased the new 17" mac book pro thinking that i would finally get free of the repair-nightmare vaios and opt for the super swanky now-i've-really-joined-the-cool-gang Mac. Yep, i bought the 17inch fully loaded; spent $3500. And yesterday, i deceided to sell it to my brother-in-law and buy the new vaio VGN-FZ4000. The mac machine was slick and gorgeous and sexy and appealing, the screen (glossy hi-res) is amazing, i had a lot of fun loading in music and photos. But....I can't bear the mac OS. i am a hard-core pc lover. i am (by now) so versatile in the windows environment that anything else pales in comparison. the mac environment is not easier - it's just that they've made certain function "simplistic," but if you are at all savvy in the world or computing, the mac environment is just not all that compelling. My friend came over to set up the new Mac and delighted in showing me that when setting up a new email account you don;t have to enter the SMTP and POP3 codes. (Big deal!) and my friend was so proud of the fact that Mac doesn't require you to hit an "OK" button in open dialog boxes. [head shaking] in all, I spent a total of four long days trying to see where the mac could "take me" and finally i just closed the lid and dialed the sony store.

 

Why do you continue to purchase the Vaios is confusing to me based on what your experience was. If they don't last more than 2 years? Why continue to buy? If the service from them is poor and dissatisfying then why continue to bother?

 

Hello?