How is Sony's overall quality?

I am thinking of purchasing a Sony Laptop, more specifically the new Vaio FW-290, but before I do, I would just like to ask how are their products overall in terms of quality and use. Do they have good product support and customer service as well? I'd hate to drop $1800 on a shotty piece of equipment.

 

Build quality is very good. Arguably not as bullet-proof as high end Thinkpads, but then again the Sony machines look nicer.

For customer service and product support, your mileage may vary. I haven't had to use it yet (touch wood), but reports vary wildly. For instance, the recent product recall on TZ models had some users reporting incompetent service engineers ruining their previously perfect laptops... yet others had good service, quick turnaround and a couple of freebies included in the returned parcel.
Part of the problem is that Sony has many different support centres and some of them are outsourced to other companies or use subcontractors.

Oh, and Sony doesn't offer international warranties globally. Some regions allow you to pay extra to extend your warranty to include most English-speaking places... But in the general case, if you need warranty support you'll need to return your purchase to the country you bought it from. This arguably makes cheap imports less attractive than they first appear.

Hope this helps.

 

I am the proud owner of a SR190 and the previous owner of the R52 and R41 thinkpads.

Thinkpads feel rock solid, even if they are plastic. They have the feel and lock of stability, thick solid metal hinges, ZERO flex anywhere chassis/notebooks. The trade off, especially in the older ones is thick typically poorly specced notebooks with excellent durability.

The SR is made of nice materials and feels solid enough. The SR has magensium chassis, so its relatively durable. The vaios do have some flex in the palmrests and the hinges are not made out of thick metal like on the (non SL) thinkpads.

That being said, if you compare a thinkpad to a vaio BZ(their only business specific notebook) the BZ is completley capable and AS durable as a thinkpad.

If you compare the SR to say...a thinkpad SL, the SR blows it out of the water, but the thinkpad T or X series are very very durable and the best in the industry.

Vaio quality is probably on par with Apple, beating out the likes of HP, Dell, and Toshiba among others in quality.

The warranty on a Dell or Apple will definatley be better than on a sony. If you want a stylish relatively durable notebook, you cant go wrong with sony, they were given the lowest failure rating of all the major notebook manufacturers on consumer reports!

 

I have a one and half year old vaio, haven't had a single problem with it, not even the slightest, compared to others i've had there has always been a problem during the first year, going on to other/more problems aswell.
So i'd say that it's a very good build quality!

 

Ask me January

 

So far, I'm loving the build quality of my SR. The screen is amazing, and the chassis feels very solidly built, though it has a slight flex near the palmrests. It runs amazingly cool when I'm just doing everyday tasks and it's fairly quiet, though the fan is on almost all the time. The only laptops who feel more solid and ruggedly built to me are the Thinkpads. None of the other brands I've tried out (Toshiba, Dell, HP) really compare, in my opinion, though I've not tried Dell's business line of laptops.

 

I think Z is comparable to the HP Elitebooks and Thinkpads. Not much flex aside from the LCD.

The SR? Not so much. The SR feels surprisingly plasticky, I think the palmrests are faux-aluminum plastic. Supposedly the LCD cover on the SR is magnesium, but it bends like a plastic binder (so does the Z, but the SR has a higher LCD, so it sometimes looks like it's drooping).

In terms of absolute durability I would rank: Thinkpad > Elitebook > Sony.

 

I have an AW, for approx. 4 days. Love it. Service was real fast, I ordered on a Friday night, said it would take 3-5 business days, got it Monday, not even 1 business day. Had a chat with their customer service, was very friendly. Will let you know if anything goes wrong.

 

See, I would humbly disagree slightly there.

My first laptop just shy of 4 years ago when I started college was a Sony VAIO FZ model that ran me about $1,400. I used it for about a year to year and a half and never had a single problem, once I ditched the bloatware of course. I then sold it for just under $1,000 as I felt I wouldn't need it when I built a high powered desktop for my dorm needs. I am friends with the guy I sold it to and speak with him occasionally. His wife and him have been using it ever since on a daily basis and when I ask about it, they say they have yet to have a problem, and we are talking about people who I, as a PC Technician for Staples who sees crap everyday, know are technologically illiterate.

That's right around 3 years of flawless running from a model I picked up from Best Buy originally, not bad in my opinion. Kinda makes me kick myself that I got the 3 year full accidental coverage through Best Buy for nothing, but my parents at the time were paying for it as a college expense, so not much to say there.

Here recently, as my sig shows, I have gone through 3 notebooks in less than 2 months. First was a dv5z HP consumer notebook when they were first released. Ran well for a bit, but after overheating once when it was sitting on my copy table with no ports blocked, it wouldn't boot again and so I returned it. Next, I ordered the new Lenovo IdeaPad U330 and waited a month and a half for this new notebook that had great promise. This one came out of the box with no O.S. or partitions and since Lenovo has gone the route of hard drive based service partitions, I was screwed from the get go. Most recently, I ordered and waited about 2 weeks for the new HP business Elitebook 6930p, which I still have, but it has a loud whine coming from the CPU/CPU Fan as well as the power brick that gives me headaches and is distracting in a quiet environment. Add to that an Optical drive that sounds like a trash compactor when it spindles up and that one I considered DOA as well.

Throughout these 3 notebooks, customer service, while outsourced, has been fairly reasonable to my requests for refunds. The latest purchase was through an HP retailer online, which I don't think I will ever do again. While the retailer is bending over backwards to help me get it returned and refunded, it is HP that is causing delays even when I have a valid technical service case number that states the notebook is DOA and is returnable per HP's 21 day rules. But then again, that's another story.

Bottom line, I have tried others and Sony, so far, has been the best to me. Yeah, you generally pay a bit more for a Sony notebook, but the old adage is true...you get what you pay for. That being said, once I get this HP returned, I will be getting a Sony SR CTO with what I want. I suppose another lucky thing for me is the fact that I have one of the few Sony Style stores that I can go to for problems and repairs here in Houston, TX now that they have "Backstage" in their stores.

BBGus

 

sony's are great, but the new aluminum macbooks has raised the bar

 

I'm on my third vaio. My previous two FE31h and NR21Z have been fantastic, never giving me any problems. I have just bought a vaio AW series and it is the first time I've been disappointed with Sony, as the screen is poor. The rest of the laptop feels well built though, and the design is superb as usual.

 

How is the thermal design for the new Apple? Haven't actually had the chance to play one, but I heard they are much cooler than before, which, unfortunately, really isn't saying much. How is it compared to Z, side-by-side?

 

not sure.. if it was an imporvement from last time as i never owned a mac before.. i guess it runs warmer in both OS X and Windows.. averaging 55 degrees listening to music, skype, msn, browsing in OS X and around 60 for the same things in windows

however, gaming is a totalluy different story in windows, although it takes some tim for the fan to kick in, once it does, the CPU/GPU runs really cool compared to when i used to play in the Z (playing TF2)

battery life is great for the mbp under OS X (over 4 hours) however, under vista, i get less than 2 hours, which is kind of disappointing but understandable.

both are great laptops, honestly, the Z's screen just trumps over the MBP's.. i am really gonna miss that screen, but the 9300 GS as the discrete option was really a dealbreaker for me..

 

Yeah, I hear you, I wish Sony at least put the ATI 3470 like the SR or some-sort of under-clocked 3650 in Z. Fortunately, my PC gaming need is almost non-existent now, so I can keep enjoying Z.

 

And the price.

I have been using a FW for about two full months now. Primarily it stays at home, but I did have an opportunity to take it to a conference in Chicago recently.

I have not had any bad experiences with it yet. It handled the trip well, and of course is fine at home.

Compared to previous books I (or family) have owned, it is great. Doesn't hold a candle to Dell or Toshiba, or even the Asus I was running for three years before this. I have moved most of my family over to Lenovos (both Thinkpad and consumer lines), and I would say my Vaio is just as solid as theirs.

In fact, when my wife's Lenovo needs to be retired, we are probably going to move her to an FW, as the build quality is just as good, but the screen is significantly better for the type of work she does (photography).

All in all, you can't go wrong with a Sony from my experiences. Lenovos are high in my book as well.

 

HORRIBLE... i PURCHASED A VIAO 17" LESS THAN 2 YEARS AGO... ITS DONE... DEAD. AFTER TWO YEARS. I'M TOLD SORRY OUT OF WARRANTEE AND IT WILL COST ME 1300 TO FIX. THATS SONY FOR YOU. AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE. MOST OF THE PERIFERALS ARE PROPRIETARY. SOOOOO YOU CAN'T RE-USE THE DVD DRIVE FOR EXAMPLE BECAUSE THEY PUT A PROPRIETARY CONNECTION. SO NO ADAPTER FOR IT WORKS AND SONY DOES NOT SELL THE ADAPTOR NORE MAKE ONE. SO I'M S.O.O.L. IF YOU WANT A GOOD COMPUTER STAY AWAY FROM SONY. IN FACT i'M STAYING AWAY FROM ANYTHING SONY AS IT SEEMS THAT I'VE HAD OTHER PROBLEMS WITH OTHER SONY PRODUCTS LIKE MY PS3. *********STAY AWAY*****

 

No need to shout, man. You need to turn off caps lock...

 

I have a Sony plaptop I bought off ebay about 5 years ago that has been running continuously pretty much since! Other than the backlight going out a few years ago there have been no other problems. I use an external monitor and just use it for storage and internet brwsing now.

 

im going to puchase a new FW290 here are the specs what do u think
• LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™)
• 320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]
• WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
• ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz)
• DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
• Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
• 8 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 4GBx2)

 

Looks like a good build. I personally would go for 4GB RAM though. The 4GB RAM sticks are hella expensive right now, and I can't help but think that it would be more economical to just ugprade when their prices drop. If you can afford it, I guess it's great, but I don't think the price premium on 2x4GB RAM justifies the performance improvement...

 

I totally agree with Lattice.

No need to get 8GB ram as you won't feel the difference anyways. And especially for the price, not worth it at all. Even if you can afford it, it's still not worth it. So save yourself some money instead!

Otherwise the rest looks great!

 

I just bought a Z 540 today from my local Sony Store and am very impressed.

I was in the market for an ultra portable and recently had a Lenovo X200, and returned it yesterday after using it for 4 days...it was built like a tank, but it ran surprisingly sluggish, the keyboard was overrated in my opinion, and the screen I thought was just flat out atrocious.

There is very slight "flex" on my Z below the keyboard, but only if I press very hard. Overall the laptop has a very solid feel to it. Call me crazy but I like the keyboard so far on this Z more than the ThinkPad...though Track Point is very handy with the middle "scroll" button. The keys are extremely quiet and responsive on the Z I've found.

The fan is almost always on but is by no means loud and doesn't bother me. The LCD is very thin on the Z and makes me nervous (it does bend), but pressing on the back doesn't create any "ripple" on the display on mine. There are no creaking sounds when I press on various places on the laptop and the battery feels very secure and in place. Also creating system restore CDs is pretty simple with the Sony.

Hands down the most impressive feature of the Z is the display in my opinion- it is the best I've ever seen on a laptop so far. Very bright (brightest setting hurts my eyes in an average-lit room) and very vibrant colors. My "main" system for home use is a 15" Macbook Pro with LED lighting, and the Sony is just as good if not better. Yes you are paying a premium with a Sony laptop, but the display is well worth the extra penny to me. I will never go back to Dell or Lenovo.

The Sony store near me also is rolling out the "backstage" support in December, for in-store tech support, so that could also be a big selling point for people; it was for me. My first post here, before checking out this forum I had never considered a Sony laptop. I'm glad I popped in, I had no idea what I was missing!

 

Wow, that's crazy, I believe you're maxing out on almost all the specs right? I just ordered mine yesterday and there was some discounts like on the process speed and harddrives. the only diff from yours ii have 2.4ghz, 250gig 5200 rpm, and bluray reader/burner. It came out to about 1650 before tax. how much is your total?

 

I recently purchased a SOny vaio SR 210D, and I LOVE IT! The quality is absolutely superb on this machine. However, the only thing I kinda regret is not getting a more powerful CPU-p8600, I have a T5800 ;(. But i managed to save 250 dollars because of it so i guess it's not so bad. Back on the sony vaio, yeah, I would definately recommend it-at least their business class laptops like the Z, SR, SZ, etc.

 

well, you get what you pay for.. do you think sony's aren't as 'overpriced'?

 

This piqued my interest. Can you point me to an online link on this study?