Sony VAIO VGN-T150PL Notebook (1.1GHz Pentium M Centrino, 512MB, 40GB, DVD?RW, Windows XP, 10.6

Reviewed by: AnthonyHS

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: VAIOs have high resolution screens

Weaknesses: appalling reliability

Overall Evaluation: I bought a Sony VAIO laptop for £1,350 in 2003 having chosen the machine mainly for its large, high-resolution screen (16inch, 1600 x 1200) and in the belief that Sony laptops were some of the most reliable on the market. However, when the computer was just over 14 months old (not quite three months out of warranty), the keyboard failed completely, and I had to purchase an external USB keyboard to be able to continue using it. I wrote to Sony, arguing that such a major fault was unacceptable, and asked them to repair the product at their own expense. Their response was to offer me a derisory 10% discount on the cost of repairs. Then, about a month later, the screen flickered briefly and died completely! I was left with an expensive laptop that was effectively reduced to a desktop machine that could only be used with an external keyboard and an external monitor. So, here was a laptop that had been used carefully for about five hours a day, in a benign environment, had never suffered any kind of physical damage, and had only been taken out of the house on a handful of occasions, and yet had developed two major faults in the space of just sixteen months! Sony?s response to my complaints was simply to argue that their machines ?are some of the most reliable available on the market?. Not one, but two major faults in just over a year. Reliable? Judge for yourself. My advice: think very carefully before purchasing a Sony VAIO laptop ? unless, that is, you intend using it as a desktop machine.