Why are Sony laptops so costly?

Are we just paying for the sony name?

 

No, your paying for quality.

If youve ever had to take a sony laptop appart for repairs youd see why... xD

about 12 screws later and youve got the top cover off....

All the casing is usually made out of metal, high quality displays are on the units and there generally built to last.

i put sony as my second favourite brand from apple

 

not really just quality.

... mainly you are paying the premium for the "Sony" brand.

thats one of the big secrets of notebooks and big brands... niche marketing

 

Their configuration cost is insane, I have no idea why you have to add $250 to go from a p8600=> p9600 while their price difference is just 100< and I can get a $230 p9600 on ebay. Furthermore, an option like an extended battery will take $200.
Totally ridiculous!

 

Not trying for a flamebait here, but Sony support can certainly improve. I hear quite a few stories of laptop servicing refusal. One of my friends got a Vaio TZ, and with the recent recall, the warranty is extended to two years. However, after sending it in for a few problems in the year after the first year, the support people said that it is no longer in warranty. Talk about discrepancies there.

 

dell do exactly the same though

 

I think you are paying for the brand, the stylish design and the overall slimness of the Vaios compared to other brands.

 

I think it depends which models.

The higher end models are definitely high quality and well built, also lightweight - I believe the AW surprised a few people.

The consumer line - the "cheap for everyone laptops" made by Sony are to my eyes not as great in terms of value for money, with these you pay for design and the name.

 

I agree completely.

 

Maybe subsidising the cost of the PS3`s that are being sold at cost or under

 

Advertising costs,bricks and mortar costs for shops, higher staff wages due to not outsourcing as much and designers.

Then there is the parts used in the high end laptops, i.e quality of screen etc, brand name etc.

The rrp of my SZ was about £ 1,699. The actual cost of the laptop was about £750. I know this because a private dealer told me that was what they paid for it and had to sell it higher to get a profit. Well that £750 is what they bought it in bulk from a private company in the EU, who knows what they even paid for it, it was probably a little bit less.
So some of the profit goes back to Sony and the resellers.

 

I gotta agree with this.

With Sony, I feel like if you're buying their higher end stuff you're paying for total quality of materials and build. Its expensive, yes, but you're getting one of the finest manufactured products available.

On the flip side of that, the cheaper consumer level products are just a waste of money. You get jacked on every count.

If you're not willing to spend way too much to get their top level gear you might as well just not buy Sony cause you'd be wasting your money.

I can honestly say that my Z is the single best quality notebook I have come across. I truly see the Z (and TT) as the top tier of quality, with macbooks+thinkpads not far behind.

 

Quality-wise, I would say that IBM/Lenovo are much better. They're heavy, seldom sports the newest technology, and the design tends to be as exciting as a brick, but they are well-built, and will last much longer than most laptops of the same class.

Design, technology, price, usability, quality -- pick any two:

Sony: Design, technology
Lenovo: Quality, usability
Dell: Price, usability
Asus: Technology, price
Toshiba: Quality, design

(The above being purely subjective and your opinions might differ.)

 

What about the TZ?

 

I was just mentioning current models I meant no disrespect

 

Build quality and design

were it not for the LCD issue my SR has (very minor, but it still bugs me) I'd have no complaints about my Sony

I'll be a return customer when I need to upgrade

 

Nah, I think that Dell is probably the friendliest CTO-builted laptop company out there. You only have to add $50 for an extended battery and other things are cheaper too. Also, you can get a $1250 xps m1330 with 128gb ssd, 4gb of ram and a T8100 with a geforce 8400

 

Now who came up with the idea to put a T series CPU in a high end laptop?
That way they are forcing you to add the extended battery.
Also note that the T8100 only has 3MB L2 cache.

If you want cheap, you get cheap.

 

i was going to buy an extended battery today from Fry's until i found out that it costs $199

 

not to point to Dell anyway, kinda out of topic too;
i wonder is nvidia 8 series gpu now safe? i always see people buying a notebook even its equip with nvidia 8 series gpu, not to mention it still being sell by the manufacture, e.g: alienware, dell etc.

 

Ever notice that Sony Vaio notebooks sold in the States all say "assembled in the USA"? And I understand European models are assembled in Europe. Well, if you pay people a decent living wage, your product price might go up....

Ever talk to techs who actually open up MacBooks to repair them? I've been told by a local tech friend that the parts often are clearly labeled by Sony. (Don't forget that Sony invented that keyboard!)

It isn't really an accident, is it, that Steve Jobs was waving around a Vaio when he was showing off the birth of the MacBook, is it? Now, there's a pricey notebook for you....

I've been told (but haven't verified it at the CNET site), that a recent CNET survey revealed that 40% of Dells are in repair ninety days out while only 5% of Sony Vaios are....

As for Sony support, ask to be escalated to a higher level if you don't get satisfaction. Believe me, the Dell horror stories are much, much worse. I've owned both brands....

 

And another thing, how "neutral" is a site like NBR if the word "Dells" gets a link every time it appears in our comments but the word "Sony" never does?

Just what is going on there?

 

That's Dells without the quotes.

 

Oh, other things get auto links too, Amazon being an example.

Sony, I don't know why it doesn't get autolinked - may not be in the database.

I'm pretty sure my SZ was made in Japan... (not that I mind though, Japan (still) equals high quality products)

 

What? Before Centrino 2 most laptops had T series processors. They generally use the same amount of power as a P series, except when at higher loads the P series will be more efficient.

 

Safe or not safe, nVidia is not going to take them back, so Dell might as well dump them cheap. The nVidia problem is really not that widely known and widely spread (even if 100% of nVidia 8 series is defective, remember Intel GPU still has 70% market share), so it's not that hard to sell it to people who have not heard about the story. Even Sony till this day still outright denying that the 8400 they used are defective.

 

Really?

When I bought my Vaio TT here in Australia it had Made and Assembled in Japan all over it, box and documentation.

Wonder if that explains some of the build discrepancies and issues people have with different components?

 

i was referring specifically to the price gouge when you choose a beefier cpu on a cto. dell are EXACTLY the same as sony in this regard.

 

See http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html for all the parameters involved.

 

Perhaps I should have added "still". In my opinion T is only for desktop replacements, not for true mobile.