VPCEB1JFX/B
4.7
5
3
3
This is my first sony computer but im not new to sony electronics. Ive had everything from car stereos, tvs, dvd players, ps2 and 3, home theater systems and i love them all. This is an all around good laptop. It has good memory and plenty of harddrive space for almost anything you need it for. screen is a nice size and clear, great for watching movies on or playing games on when im not at home. only real dislike i have for this computer is the 2.5-3 hour battery life, if sony could come out with a new battery for it or some way to extend the battery life this computer would be one of the best laptops ive ever had or used.
July 3, 2010
Pretty good computer
I'm sorry this isn't easier to read. Like many web forms, Sony's ignores paragraph spacing. That's a shame.
I actually bought a customized version of this laptop which differs slightly from the model being reviewed. There's no webcam, but I got Windows Professional 7 (64 bit) and that automatically added a BluRay-ROM/DVD burner. This was my first experience using Windows 7, so along with the likes and dislikes below for the laptop, I've also mentioned some things I like and dislike about Windows 7.
Likes
1. I used the transfer feature to move my entire music library and numerous other files from my old laptop over a wireless connection. This is a handy feature, but it took a long time..about 13 hours to transfer 75 GB. It didn?t move the Firefox browser itself, but once I downloaded and installed Firefox, all my settings and Bookmarks were intact. That makes it familiar immediately.
2. Sony?s ?Fresh Start? option is nice. If you select ?Fresh Start? when ordering a customized Sony, they will ?remove? ?all? the third party trial software and Sony add-on stuff that typically clutters up a new computer. They did leave one icon on the desktop that was a link to buy stuff from the Sony website, but that was it. It?s mildly annoying they didn?t entirely do what they said they would do, but overall, it?s very nice not to have to clean the computer.
3. The computer looks fantastic. The case has a combination matte and shiny black finish (which will show fingerprints, but it wipes clean easily). If you hold it just right, there are blue/green speckles that catch the light.
4. Once I ran ?msconfig? and turned off a number of unnecessary programs that were running at startup, this laptop launches pretty fast. By the way, the programs I prevented from launching at startup aren?t extraneous applications that should have been removed with Fresh Start. It?s just stuff that doesn?t really need to be running all the time?a utility to monitor whether a Bluetooth device is connected to the computer would be one example.
5. This Sony has a bright and rich looking screen. The only one I?ve seen that looks better is a recent model HP.
6. Speaking of the bright screen, this laptop has a HDMI output and a Blu-Ray DVD drive, which means (in theory) that I can play a Blu-Ray dish on the laptop and watch it on a big screen HD TV (if only I had one).
Dislikes
1. Windows Live Mail replaces Vista?s Windows Mail, which replaced Outlook Express. The program itself is fine, but Windows Live Mail will not import messages that were exported from Microsoft Outlook 2000. I thought I?d just install Outlook 2000 on Windows 7, so I did, but when I try to use the Import function, it won?t go through with it, because it can?t find the Windows Address Book. So it?s useless. The only solution appears to be to import my messages from Outlook into Windows Mail on a Vista machine. At that point, I should be able to export them again, and then pull them into Windows Live Mail.
2. Windows XP Mode DOESN?T come included with Windows 7 Professional. In fact, if you type ?XP Mode? in Windows 7 help, it isn?t even referenced. What you have to do is download it from Microsoft, and in typical Microsoft fashion, this download process turns out to be a major pain. The file is 479 megabytes in size, but first, you have to jump through some hoops to make sure your copy of Windows 7 is ?genuine.?
3. The keyboard is awkward. This is partly because I just need to get used to the layout, but also because the keys are flat rather than contoured to fit the finger. My left hand is constantly typing one key to the right, but that?s because this laptop has a full number keypad on the right. On my old laptop, there was no number pad and the alpha keyboard was positioned more in the center. The throw is a little short for my taste. The keys move about two millimeters vertically, or possibly a little less. The touchpad is also off-center (centered under the spacebar rather than centered on the whole case). This seems to be a trend these days among most laptop makers. I don't care for it, but that's just my personal preference.
4. The built-in speakers on this laptop are UTTER JUNK. I don?t expect laptop speakers to sound fantastic or anything, but they should not distort. I really expected better from a company rooted in audio hardware like Sony.
5. Like Vista, Windows 7 blocks you from accessing some very basic folders on your own computer. If these were system files, I would understand, but it?s pretty dumb of Microsoft to tell me I have no rights to look inside the ?Documents and Settings? and other folders. I had thought they might take this annoyance away in Windows 7, but they didn?t. Fortunately, it only takes a few steps to fix, but even that process is about four times as complicated as it ought to be.
June 7, 2010
Sony Vaio's the best!
This is my first Sony Vaio laptop and I'm extremely impressed! I went from a Compaq Presario to an Acer netbook and now to the Vaio. The Vaio takes the cake. This is a high performance laptop. I don't think I'll be switching to any other kind of laptop again. The Vaio has not only shown awesome features and performance, but it also lives up to Sonys great reputation in electronics. The mouse pad feature is really cool, the touch scroll is awesome and very helpful instead of clicking & clicking & clicking. The designs is sleek, slim and cool! I wish the battery life would last longer than 2.5-3 hours. Coming from a high performance laptop, you would think it would run for at least a good 4 hours on battery. Maybe in the near future Sony will come out with the same model, that will run on battery for longer than 3 hours. Oh.... DVD play is awesome! I specifically bought this to play DVDs while we travel on planes and in the car. Thats why I'm a little disapointed by the battery life. Overall, the picture and sound quality is great!. I highly recommend this laptop. Its a great buy for your money.
I REALLY liked the fact that I could transfer all of my files and programs from my old netbook on to the Vaio wirelessly! It was awesome. It saved me a huge hassle of trying to tranfer everything with a flash drive. Windows 7 is great also. I like the typing feature to find what you need.
GET IT, you'll love it!
March 17, 2010
