How is the quality of Sony notebooks?

I never thought of looking at sony vaio notebooks but really like the specs, I have heard some horror stories about how bad the hardware quality is and ****ty sony tech support. Is this still true? I like the FZ series, any issues with them? Id like to get a light laptop with a 256mb video card that looks good and performs well.

 

The FZ feels kind of flimsy, particularly the lid. But the keyboard does feel solid and this notebook is remarkably light for a 15.4. Honestly though if you want light I would move down a screen size. You should fill out the What Should I Buy? FAQ and post it in that forum to match. Doing so will help the fine members here uncover all your options based on exactly what you want and need.

 

I think the build quality of the SZ is excellent...I can't speak to the quality of the FZ. ANd I have had only great service from sony, when needed. I love my Vaio.


-Mike

 

You'll always have your bad service with a company and other times great service. I liked the specs of the AR series and have heard nothing but good things about them. I personally have never owned a Vaio but my brother has had his for a good 4 years+. It is one of the smaller series probably SZ or CR. If sony refreshed their AR series(which won't happen any time soon considering they just did), I'll probably shoot for one if it has an 8800m.

 

I've had a Vaio A series and the build quality was amazing. A friend had the FZ and I found it well made, but wasn't to the same quality. Cheaper materials or something.
My girlfriend has a Vaio CR and that is one very very nice laptop and if it wasn't for the lack of a docking station I would have one myself which brings me on to my SZ Premium, which is a stunning laptop, much more than I expected and the build quality is class.

 

Thanks for the info guys, ill seriously consider a sony now..I actually need a gaming notebook thats why the FZ looked good.

 

Having owned the Vaio S, SZ and now TZ I can truly say that VAIO's are of great build quality. The materials are not cheap looking, and even though you pay more for less features compared to Dells, HP's etc, I seriously can say they're pretty rock solid. When I've had the need to call Sony support I've never had to wait in a cue and they've always managed to solve my problem within the one call. It's a pleasure not being directed to a call center in India and having to listen to Vickrem read of is FAQ sheets when you dial a US or Canadian 1800 number. I've called at 1am in the morning and managed to get support at that time when I accidently flashed my TZ with the wrong DVD firmware and was able to get it fixed instantly.

There are alot of "horror" stories out there and there are even more about Sony products conviniently breaking 1 day over the warranty, but I personally haven't had any issues. I think Sony products are very leading edge (the vaio TZ series is a good example), are always stylish and just recently they have put themselves in the market to cater for most budgets. Previously if you wanted a Vaio you would have to have cash to burn, but now there is a Vaio for everyone.

 

agreed.

i have not actually have the opportunity to try it (duh), but i suspect it may not be able to take too much of rough handling.

but then, if you pay the price that you paid for a vaio just so to get it trashed, you need to have your head examined.

 

iv had my vaio fz32s for a week now.
Its my first laptop and its a great bit of kit.
the screen is a dual lamp hi-colour screen, sometimes too bright for my eyes.
i thought the keyboard would be wierd, with the flat keys, but i got used to them within a couple of days.
its got a 256mb nvidia 8600GS... which has performed amazingly well, running call of duty 4 and bioshock, apparently even better with some different drivers.
the lid is fine, yes it has not latch but pretty solid close.

overall this laptop is amazing for the price i got it for, £800, thats £200 off the sony centre price!!!

 

Hi there singh100,

Can you let us know the 3dMarks05 results for your vaio ? And also could you tell me where you found it at 800 pounds cuz im about to get me one as well.

Many thx in advance mate !

PS: is your model a sony vaio VGN-FZ21S ?

 

I recently brought the SZ and the build quality is amazing. The only negative that I would nit-pick about is the keyboard. There is not really much feedback on the keys. Besides that the SZ is absolutely great.

 

I can tell you one thing from experience. The sony Tech support is garbage, they don't know anything. They can only diagnose general problems at the highest Tier support which is pathetic. Their suggestion for any problem they dont know is a full format and recovery... Now as far as the product itself compared to other companies its very good; however they fill up the hdd with a lot of 3rd party Trial software and crap that will never be used. What is absurd to me is they offer Vista Business with a Trial of Office.. why even bother throw in a Trial if you ask me... None the less i must say if i had to choose between Sony or any other brand i would pick none and build a PC from scratch... sorry not a big fan of laptops just my .02

 

I have nothing to say with my sony sz it's great handy and powerful.

 

yeh i got the fz21s about a week ago.. and it got around 2700 on 3dmark06, however it apparently runs better under a clean install and with the beta drivers for the GPU..soo i should be doing that soon.. I just completed call of duty 4 ,. and boy it looks good..gonna try bioshock soon.. I got it off ebay, the seller was amazing, he has loads of laptops, and puts a 21s up every week and it gets snapped up quick.!!

 

Sony tech support isn't great but the quality of your PC depends entirely on the model. The company makes low-end and high-end laptops. The more expensive lines have always been superior in terms of materials used and design/build quality than many competitors, although sometimes more fragile. I have owned several Sony laptops and they have lasted a long time.

Currently have a TZ195 and love it. As someone said about his SZ, the build quality is awesome and what Sony has managed to pack in such a small form factor is also amazing.

 

for sony VAIO especialy SZ. It's elegance,style,power,portability and performance it's the best

 

Many thx for your fast reply mate ! I'm thinking to get me a FZ21Z. if anyone has one I'd like to know if it is overheating when playing games like Far Cry or some fly simulators..

thx in advance !

 

If anyone is having trouble deciding between a FZ and SZ maybe these photos will help:

Both machines have been excellent so far.

 

Can you post a picture of the notebooks with same image on screen at full brightness? What about viewing angles? Are they the same?

Thanks

 

Will do, but I'm not sure where I adjust the brightness?

 

I would like you to put the notebook screens at full brightness.

 

To adjust the brightness Sponsi, hold down the Fn button while pressing F5 to lower the brightness and F6 to increase it. You can see the little blue brightness icons on the F5 and F6 buttons.

 

Here is the photo you requested:

As you can see the FZ's screen is quite a bit brighter. This is very discouraging considering the SZ is suppose to be the one with the superior screen. It's possible my screen is defective. I'm having a Sony technician come out for a isolated problem, and I'm gonna also have him take a look at my screen.

As for viewing angles, they seem the same.

 

If it's one of the dual lamp (Sony calls it XBRITE-HiColor) screens, then it's not surprising that the FZ is brighter. Thanks for the pics, Sponsi.

 

Yes it is, however isn't the LED back light on the SZ suppose to make it brighter? It doesn't seem any brighter then my SZ320.

If you'd like anymore photos just let me know.

 

Well, watt for watt LEDs are brighter and they can be energy efficient. Cold cathode fluorescent lights are what is used as the backlight for most notebook LCD screens.

If you have a LED flashlight and a ceiling with fluorescent bulbs, which one will be brighter? That is an extreme example, but the analogy applies to your notebooks. The LED backlight just isn't as powerful as the dual lamp CCFL backlight. This is probably due to the fact that LED lighting is still a relatively new technology for LCD displays.

 

I can see right away that the SZ has greater depth and a richer image. Sure, the FZ has a brighter image, but it's also more washed out.

IMO, absolute brightness doesn't indicate anything but brightness. It's like judging a sport car on horsepower alone when what you want is speed, quickness and agility.

Oh, and as far as quality... I have a Sony Vaio notebook from 2001 that has been boring as heck to own. PCG something or other. No problems, no issues and it's going on 7 years. I sure can't say the same for Dell's.

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The FZ might seem washed out because it's on full brightness, but I think the contrast is still better on the FZ if you compare the detail in the tree on the left of the screen on both laptops. Almost all detail seems lost in the TZ and the screen looks bluish while the FZ looks more natural.

Anyway I just got back from BestBuy and wasn't too happy with the build quality of the SZ which I was very much interested in until today. The top half where the cam is located seemed pretty flimsy and the screen had ripples if pressed even slightly from the back. The Vaio CR sitting next to it seemed much better built and much lower in price too. Wish the CR would offer XBRITE-HI color too instead of just ECO.

 

Hmm, that's strange, you Do need to check on your sz, sponsi. From my experience, the Sz series has far better and brighter screen than the FZ series.

 

I looked at the SZ at best buy prior to buying the fz290 cto and I was not at all impressed with the SZ quality. I felt the same way about it..flimsy. I am pleased by far with what I have picked.

 

It's too bad you don't have any more TZs, Sponsi. I would love to see a shot of all three.

 

Thank you for explaining it Ken Wind.

My SZ experiences no ripples when pressed from the back. The lid is pretty thin so I guess I understand why you might think it's flimsy. However I think it's a great machine, and have had no problems with its structure.

Maybe someone else can take a photo with the same background?