Sony Reliability

Hi, I have something to discuss here.

First, I want to know some brand reliability, or perhaps even better model reliabilities for Sony, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Apple. I have read somewhere that the business laptops have one of the lowest failure rates in the laptop industry and that the macbook air has one of the highest failure rates in the laptop industry. Is this true? Can someone please reply with some credible source and some good ol' facts about Sony and its competitors (esp. apple)?

Thanks, happy holidays.

 

According to a UK Which report Sony and Toshiba rated the highest when it came to reliability. Apple rated highest when it came to customer service.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/28/which_laptop_survey/

 

Anyone know how it is in the US? You hear alot about the battery problems sony has, which is why i ask.

 

Here's some statistics.

 

Man, good info.but...models betwin 2003 and 2007. thats like ages ago

 

Cool, are there any more facts to base this upon? I am having a debate with my friend about Sony vs Apple. It would be interesting to see some more facts. I also think it is a good way to educate people on this forum .

 

i think theregister got it wrong..
prob 84% of acer went for repair before

just thinking of my former acer laptop (travelmate - biz model) gave me the goosebump

true to it's name, i really did travel alot (to it's repair centre). an average of about once every 2 mths (it broke down 8x within 1 year). deemed unable to be repaired, and they replaced it with the newer gemstone model

-----------

regarding the sony battery, i guess no matter what brand you get, you are most likely to get the same issue, since most of the batt are either sanyo or sony made

 

What isn't counted is actual use of the machines. I bet that a typical Lenovo machines sees much heavier use than a Vaio, and thus the failure rate should be expected to be higher too.
I would also guess that HP and Acer would likely see a higher failure rate because they are more often bought as first computers, due to high availability and low price. And first time users are undoubtedly going to report more problems, simply because they cause a lot of them.

 

Why would lenovo be used more?

 

They tend to be owned and used by businesses and corporations.

 

And vaio Z, TT, TZ, SZ serie? By usual users?

 

You better hope that your Sony vaio is reliable since their customer services is horrible. Three times already when I called customer support, they promised to call back but never did. It's always me who have to recall them. Also, their tech support isn't helpful at all. Worst of all, my recent reworked on the TZ came back missing the rubber feet. It wasn't a big deal so I didn't make a big deal out of it. However, when you consider their customer service, just beware.
I think that Sony is among companies that have the worst customer service I have experienced. The TZ was my first Sony and believe me, it will be my last.

Oh, and back to your original question, do you think that a laptop is reliable if it has to be recalled a year later due to a possible short circuit, especially if the laptop is $2000+ at release? (I'm talking about the TZ) There are also cases of the laptop practically melted for some people on here. Look it up.

 

Yes, according to recent studies, Sony have a very poor after sale support, but luckuly..users dont need to too ofter - not like apple

 

Ah but remember that you don't know whether you'll get a lemon or not. No matter how good the build quality is, there's still a chance that something will fail. As a matter of fact, you can read the thread on here about defective Nvidia graphic card in last-generation Vaio, and how Sony has done nothing to fix the problem.

 

Hm... I have to agree with the customer support. However, I also had other brand names like Apple (ipod), I called them to replace battery and it gave me a headache. We must consider some psychological terms when dealing with these perceived "customer service", because I do support your claim that Sony support isn't good, but neither are any other companies. However, we focus on one attribute and ignore all other facts. To be honeset, I am enjoying my VAIO SR very much, and unfortunately you are not with your TZ. However, that is only one model and you should not focus on that exclusively. The Apple Macbook Air has one of the highest failing rates in the laptop industry but nobody complains about crappy Macs because they are under groupthink and hide their REAL opinions uncounsiously. Look at it objectively, what company can give you 100% perfect, non-defective product?

There is realibility and there is customer satisfaction. Realibility is quantified, meaning they can be easily measure and interpreted by failure rates, etc. While customer satisfaction is PURELY psychological and relevant to the perception of an individual.

 

Yes, there will be reliable laptops from Sony and satisfied customers from Sony. However, I speak as my own experience only. Be aware that it may be you on the receiving end of bad customer services/reliability. As long as you are aware of that risk, and still want to buy a Sony laptop, that's fine.
I don't want to single out Sony, because this can happen to any brand. However, all three of my Lenovo laptops are going strong, while the first Sony I've ever owned caused so much trouble, and I simply base my argument on my anecdote.
Also, consider the case of defective Nvidia graphic card. Dell is offering an additional year of warranty, while Sony isn't doing anything at all. Who do you think is better? (again, this is not reliability issue, so take it as a grain of salt)

 

You need to leave Nvidia issues out of this, its a complete different issue.

We are talking here about general sony vaio built quality which is in most cases right at the top of laptops.

 

But you need to consider that a laptop is made of components from different companies. Yes, the laptop is made to be durable and reliable, but the company that puts the brand on the laptop has to be also responsible and responsive to problems from components from other companies that are used in the laptop as well.
Take from it what you will...
And yes, I do agree that Sony laptops are among the best in terms of bulid quality. If only their customer service can match that, then they have me as a customer for life.
Unfortunately they don't, so I have to look around

 

WOW THANKS! I KNEW IT! APPLE IS NOT AS RELIABLE AS THE FANBOYS CLAIMED IT TO BE!

APPLE IS NOT AS RELIABLE AS MARKETING CLAIMS! SONY > APPLE

LoL, Wow this made my day.

Jokes aside, from a user perspective Sony definately has good laptops. However, perhaps the battery issue is one of which that needs to be addressed. Specifically on the Vaio SR, I do not know if it occurs in any other laptops or it is a software or hardware problem.

And to Zephir; I do know where your coming from and I hope your next purchase will be a positive one. Happy holidays everyone, get ready for 2009 and also 2012(doom's day).

 

Trust me, once I hear that Sony customer service improves, and their laptops are free of recalls, I'm jumping back
I love Sony laptops and their screens as much as the next guy

 

So you are saying you rather buy a less reliable machine, but with better support, than a reliable machine with bad support?

Interested way of thinking

 

Support is really only important if you have a major problem. If you spilled something on your laptop or dropped it. The problem with laptops is that you will move it around. The support/repair stats for desktops aren't nearly as important. Unless you're constantly upgrading hardware or installing several aftermarket parts, you don't have to worry about this issue (as much). I guess you could always drop your desktop tower if you were moving it around?

However, with notebooks, even if it's a desktop replacement, you are probably moving it around somewhat. Accidents are more likely to happen if it's portable. Warranty is important then. But, most of all, it depends on how much care you put in to the handling of it. If it's a machine you bought and saved up for, you might be super careful. You probably won't ever need the support or warranty. But, if you carry drinks around it all the time or it's often all over the place (and rarely in one spot), there's more of a chance of damage. It all depends.

What I think is really important is the concept or suggestion people are making of a Dell, for e.g., being easier to repair than the Sony. That MEANS something. Unless you plan on selling it later on, there's always going to be a chance you want to upgrade or need to repair it after you've owned it for some time. Whether you ship it out or do it yourself, the difficulty level in repair will involve money or time or both. That has to account for something?

There are occasions when you receive faulty or defective hardware but I am guessing for most manufacturers, they are at a minimum as any serious cases would be a major issue (see Nvidia mobile GPU chips controversy?).