VPCEB4AFX/BJ
3.6
5
5
5
Overpriced Laptop
Like one of the previous reviewers, I have bones with this laptop's annoying habit of resizing displays while in a browser (Chrome, Firefox, or IE). This may have something to do with Windows 7 and the delayed reaction to the touchpad (multipoint touchpad?), but Sony should disable this really unwanted capability. It changed the size of text about 6 times while I'm writing this review, and I didn't do a thing.
Although EB's design is kind of sleek, it doesn't set itself apart like the FW series did from 2 years ago. For the money, you can get others that are more powerful and just as good looking. It's pretty fast, but doesn't make up for other shortcomings.
Now, the battery. I ordered an extra capacity type, and I customized my display brightness to be only 3 bars, still I could only muster about 3 hours tops on regular internet browsing (no constant streaming). Can't imagine how a regular (which is marketed as high) capacity battery would perform.
Lastly, the really really bad flaw that would make me wanting to return the laptop (at least I will never again buy a Sony laptop), the speakers. Are you kidding me? Sony is known for making high quality audio/video products, but the speakers on this EB is beyond lousy. The volume is really low, I played with so many settings (gotta use equalizer) and finally was able to boost up a little the almost too faint sound level that the laptop was producing by default. But, even at the highest level, the sound is still too weak. Not only that, it crackles, cuts off the high, gives complete distortion of musical notes, even far from the highest output level. You can almost feel it vibrates. So it's completely unusable to listen to music w/o headphones. My 7 yr old Dell Inspiron has much better sound, as does my 4 year old Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad. In fact, I had not come across a laptop in the last 5 years among the brands HP, Dell, Lenovo, Gateway, Acer, and Toshiba that has sound as nearly horrible as Sony. And it's not an isolated design problem. I bought another EA as well, same problem. So I'd say shame on Sony, for skimming on something as basic as speakers.
If you want to enjoy music (say from Youtube) without putting on a pair headset/phone, stay away from this laptop (both EA and EB).
April 26, 2011
Glorious Laptop
A great, great laptop, great value for money even for $649 although got it from sale for $599, its fast, its stylish and it does all the work you would expect from you desktop, so basically its a desktop replacement. Although not very portable like vaio-s but still you can take it along, isnt very bulky like 17 inchers. They keyboard is great. THe most nice thing about it is that it doesnot get very hot, just slightly warm. The cooling fan is on the left side unlike conventional fans which are below the laptop, so you can put it in your lap for longer hours. The speaksrs are very slow, so better be ready for external speakers or headphones, the quality of charger is very poor something you wont expect from sony, more of recycled material. About the trackpad complaints, it aint bad, it just aint that precise. Overalll a great laptop for that much money and it looks great too =]
April 23, 2011
Waste of money.
I've owned this laptop for about 6 months now. When it arrived, it was making a high-pitched noise. I contacted customer support and 6 weeks later they sent the wrong part. A week after that, they replaced the fan and it didn't help. Now my only option is sending it to Sony for 3 weeks for them to repair. As a student, there is no way I can go 1/4 the semester without my laptop.
Wireless card is bad at best. Even in hotspots I barely get reception when all other computers around me have no trouble.
Upgraded graphics card was a waste of money. I bought the mid-range card hoping to play some games. Instead, my screen gets glitchy all the time and I can't run anything but simple games. I get chunks of the screen that go black constantly.
Wristpad scratches and looks dirty constantly. The glossy black has to be one of the dumbest design decisions ever since it shows every fingerprint and scratches with ease.
Battery life sucks. Even when I try to take extreme care to prolong my battery life, I usually only get 2 hours out of a fully charged battery. This probably also ties in to the bad wireless card.
Speakers unbearable. Probably the worst speakers I've ever seen in a laptop. At a level high enough to head, the entire audio is distorted.
Mouse pad aweful. As the writer above commented, the touch pad constantly zooms in and out of pages and is unbelievably annoying.
All-in-all, Sony is going to have to start putting gold in the products for me to start considering them again. This isn't the first sony product I've had issues with. I have anxiously been waiting to get rid of this laptop since the day I got it. What a waste of money!
March 3, 2011
Those were the best days of my life! :)
This is an amazing machine, the way it feels and operates, the colour options, the applications, the.....it....and then we......*sighs* it's awesome, if ever you find yourself in need of a laptop, look not past a VAIO, for you need go no further! :)
March 1, 2011
