What happened to Sony styling?

Years ago Sony graced the world with the most beautiful laptops by far in terms of styling. Now granted style is always subjective, but I recently had everything set to purchase a AR series laptop. Checked the specs on the website, had everything I needed, and decided to hit the stores first before purchasing on their website.
Wow, that is about the plainest ,ugliest thing to grace the showroom IMO. It reminded me of a5 series BMW with all of this black plastic all over serving no function. Very stark. The LCD panel was also boring and plain.
Plus the touchpad buttons on the edge and not flush with the touchpad where it is very inconvenient to naturally press. Then I noticed that the latch for the top comes up from the base instead of the screen as in all other laptops. Guess what, of the 5 on display , 4 were broken off. I was trying to figure out how the top latched to the bottom-now I know why 4 of them were broken off.
I left very disappointed in Sony. Why they could not make a FZ in 17" in beyond me . I like the style of the Dell M1530 but will never again purchase another Dell product due to poor overseas support and reliability issues. I'm on a XPS right now and that AR is even wider and deeper than this brick.
Just figured I would share, I am sure some actually like the style of the AR series. Back to the hunt for a nice laptop.

 

What is your price range? And what exactly are you looking for in a computer? Looks may be subjective but really, how much do those looks matter if the laptop can't perform? Also what kind of look do you like exactly? Super thin and shiny? High tech and futuristic? Do you like plain black or color?

 

what were you smoking? show me a more stylish laptop than a sony especially SZ/TZ/TXN/S/AR?

 

Same here I went to the Sony Style store about 60 miles from me to look at the AR. Sure glad I did as I think that I will stick with the FZ290. Notebook looks a couple of years out of data. I like the features but way to wide for me.

 

Well I am looking for a 17" widescreen with something similar to the Xbrite 1920. At least a 8600GT video card, around the size of my current XPS is fine though I prefer something more in line with the MBP. Quality feel is of utmost importance with good keyboard feel which the AR does have going for it. HP does not have a decent video card, Dell (see above), Fujitsu (video card issue again), Lenova (looks 10 years old). I was hoping for a good looking design in the Sony AR. Wow. Cheap LCD back, plastic galore and overly wide for no reason.

It looks even worse in person.

 

It seems as though a lot of other companies are beginning to close the gap on the styling advantages that Sony has.

 

Why don't you get a MBP then? You can always install Windows on it.

 

I think the Cr, Tz, and Sz are all pretty stylish

 

Check out the Asus W2W and Sager NP5791 or NP5792 (rebranded Clevo M570RU).

 

I'd say go look for an asus but they have few 17" notebooks outside of the G-series with any (gaming) power. But I will say a lot of good things about the sager NP5792 all day and all night and it looks sharp to boot. Unless you find orange to be a bad accent color.

 

dells are ugly, thinkpads had bad screens and asus feels cheap.

 

you feel cheap! Asus has a very high quality feel in my opinion but their styling outside of the VX and maybe the U notebooks is either polarizing like the G-series or plain and understated like my C90s. Besides, I'll be willing to bet your opinions change when it comes to real world tests of durability - My friend dropped his inspiron 1505 and cracked the plastic on the hinge. I dropped my C90 and, don't ask me how, I somehow gained battery life. No clue, but I got an additional 15 minutes or so out of the battery after it took a fall.

 

How else to fit a 17" screen? And I like the looks of Dells. I do not think they are ugly (at least the M1530, 1525, and M1330).

 

I think my CR is beautiful, one of the main reasons I got it over a M1530 (although starting to regret cos of intergrated grfx in the CR )

 

get a mbp then.

 

themanwithsauce,

I know I am cheap. That's why I buy the best because I cannot afford to mess around with cheap crap like ASUS/DELLs.

Your comments are totally out of line. They come from someone who prefer this type of piece of crap.



or this



versus



or



You my friend, need glasses...

 

I for one don't agree with this post AT all. It all comes down to a matter of taste really. Out of all the 17" laptops I've seen, and owned quite a couple myself too, the AR laptop is by faaaar the most beautiful one around imho. Lovely black, great screen, nice shiny lid, etc. etc. and nearly all the features you could possibly ask for on a laptop these days.

As for the FZ though I think that is a very plain and ugly laptop, specially the ones with the keyboards differing in color from the rest of the laptop.

I fully agree with |SONY| on this one, the following series SZ/TZ/TXN/S/AR, are the most stylish laptops in their segment (13.3", 11" and 17"). For me I don't think Sony has a true "Sony style" beautifully designed 15" laptop yet.

 

right on and you are right, for the cost of a base FZ one could go with a fully loaded E1505 like I did. An ugly piece of crap but it is 15" and a good loaner.

 

It is definitely a matter of opinion. I don't like any of their notebooks, but I think Dell can design just as well as Sony.

 

I agree that Dell's really improving on their design. I'm actually starting to like how that DELL logo looks, with the enclosed circle. I'll probably never buy a DELL for aesthetics though, partly because I can't get the Steven Dell dude out of my head whenever I think of them. (Sorry, they aired those commercials all the friggin' time back in the day.)

The main problem I have with Dell is they generally don't have uniform color across the notebook. The lid can be one color, such as "Tuxedo Black" (catchy name, but it's just black) and the inside (chassis and keyboard) can be a boring old silver. I mean, it's sort of like how ugly those Champagne Gold TZs are if you ask me. I like how the Dells looks when the lid is closed but when you open the sucker up it looks so ugly, clunky, and the style is way outdated.