Sony Reliability(SR vs. Lenovo)

Hey everyone, i'm looking to buy a new computer and upgrading from a 1.86 pentium M with 1 gig of ram(Thinkpad R52). I'm used to super durable(and heavy) reliable machines, i've been a loyal IBM fan for years, but now i'm looking for something with a little more substance to it(style, gaming cpu, portability, etc.) Will the vaio SR fulfill that niche? How reliable is sony in general, how good is their tech support?

One concern is, thinkpads are the only computers in my experience to never just DIE, like apples, dells, toshiba,s etc. (i've worked in IT for some summer internships) Has anyone ever had a vaio just keel over and stop working?

I've been wanting to buy a vaio forever, but have always run back to thinkpads for fear of issues(that other notebooks are plagued with: loud, noisy, unreliable, screen problems, hdd problems, etc.)

 

I've been really impressed with my wife's VAIO. She's had it for a couple years now and we've never had a problem with it. I on the other hand had an HP and it recently died on me, which means i get to buy a new computer but also means that I've been spending a lot of time with her VAIO. I've been really impressed with her it, it's an FS640 (VGN-FS640/W). The sturdiness is great, I like the touchpad more than my old roommates macbook, the fan never runs, and the computer doesn't get hot. These are all qualities that I'm looking for in my next laptop, which will now probably be a Sony. One thing this computer has that some of the other Sony's don't is a "normal" keyboard, and not that chiclet one that Sony and Mac have. I guess that's a personal preference thing. So to answer your question, I've never used a Lenovo and I've heard great things; but I have used a Sony and I'm really impressed.

 

The SR wouldn't be the most durable computer in their new lineup (although early reports seem to say it is very well built)--check out the new BZ laptop if you REALLY need something that's spillproof/rollcaged like Lenovos. My SR from Newegg is scheduled to arrive today, and to be honest, I'm not worried about the durability at all, except for the super-thin LCD.

That said, I've never had a Lenovo (just going on their reviews), but my household still has a VAIO that's probably six years old now, and it still runs fine, especially with a fresh Windows install. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either brand.

Oh and as far as tech support, I've never used it, but LaptopMag gave both companies very good ratings for those departments. However, warranty support/repairs are a whole different ballgame--neither is as reliable or hassle free as, say, Apple, and you can easily find horror stories on the net.

 

Actually the SR carbon case is outrageously durable. and magnasium casing is pretty good.

BZ is very good business laptop. ON the downside it doesnt have the battery life of the SR and isn't customizable.

I would take the SR over the lenovo.

 

I have definatley done research and heard many a horror stories about every brand, except naturally...apple. Although the only reason for that is because Apple users tend to be super fanboys who act like their repair horrors are not the equipments fault("how could my APPLE break? ZOMG! To the Genius Bar, batman!")

Anyway, a relative of mine just had a SR Macbook Pro break down and I called their(according to laptop mag) glorious tech support, there was a 30 minute wait...and i was hung up on at minute 27. In addition, i recently used sony's livechat to test out the tech support and to find out what options i have in the event that a problem occured...and the live chat person was prompt and generally accurate, so so far...i've been impressed with sony and disappointed with apple(although the turn around time for the macbook pro repair was outstanding...2 days!).

I've never had to send in a thinkpad...so i don't know how lenovo's tech support is(but that's the idea...).

 

What the hell is an SR Macbook Pro?

 

SR Macbook Pro = Santa Rosa Macbook Pro...

The ones that came out summer of 2007, the current Macbook Pro's are Santa Rosa Refesh(which came out in Winter 08)

These notebooks...along with the new macbooks pros have the Geforce 8600 which is affected by thermal problems(as stated by Nvidia). As a result, many SR macbook pros have been having thermal issues(look on mac threads), there are many people who after(aprox 11 months) have had their GPU die and had their "logic board" replaced. If you look up logic board on the internet, it's apple's trendy way of saying motherboard(as of recent), back in the day(when computers had analog boards, the logic board was apples second motherboard portion that held the cpu, ram, etc.)

But, when you tell someone their logic board is being replaced, it sounds much less horific than their motherboard being replaced. Because if thousands of mac drones knew that their computer were recieving an entire internal swap, they would be jaded like one too many PC users

 

I know it's the Sony forum, but I'd also check out the Fujitsu S Series. Their laptops are awesome, and tech support is a DREAM.

It's based in Canada, so you actually can understand them. I had a small problem with my laptop and called back twice in a week's time and I got the same guy and he remembered me. Highly recommended.

 

I have a Vaio FS under rough use and low maintenance for close to 4 years now. As the only computer I have, it has been dropped from my lap couple times, water spill on keyboard, lots of power interruption (i.e. pull power plug w/o laptop battery attached)...etc. And its still running fine, the screen is still beautiful (as compare with my friends 1 yr old HP). If thinkpad has better screens, i would like to give it a try sometime.

 

Thinkpad screens...as of the R4x and R52 the screens are not very good. They are excellent in regards to they are not glossy and very good for the eyes to type in office light. But, over three years my LCD has become SIGNIFICANTLY faded as compared to when purchased, and outdoors or if the sun is shining into the screen from a window...it becomes useless...you can't see a damn thing

 

SR does not have carbon case.. its mg alloy casing or did I miss something ??

only the Z's, i.e. SZ (not all), Z's and TZ's have carbon casing to my knowledge

 

Nope, the Z is Carbon Fiber, the SR is Mag. Alloy housing+top lid, i dont know what the BZ is.

Anyone seen a BZ...it looks big and heavy....well nicer than a dell or ibm...but big and heavy...

 

BZ is 5.8lb. Check it out:

http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcategory/notebooks/performance/bz-series