VAIO Laptops Unreliable...and very slow.

[Jonnycuds]

Hey guys...just wondered if any of you VAIO users out there are as unhappy with their VAIO as I am?? I have had numerous problems with my FS415B which is now just over a year old...it has also been back to Sony twice, the last time the hard drive needed to be completely replaced...resulting in loss of data. It has also been my slowest laptop to date by a mile, even though RAM has been upgraded to 1024MB. Some of my clients have had similar problems with their VAIO's...so I know this is a common concern. My experience has put me off ever buying another Sony product...

[jumpsuit]

Hi Jonnycuds and welcome to CV!

Sorry to hear you've had a bad experience.
Don't let it put you off having some fun here

[Sebby]

It sounds like you've been unlucky; at the end of the day, if a hard drive fails - or any other component for that matter - it's down to the manufacturer of that component, rather than Sony, unless, of course, it's caused by the notebook design, such as a cooling issue.

VAIOs do tend to be slow when you buy them, and that's due to the ridiculous amount of junk software that comes pre-loaded. Perform a clean install and it'll be like a different machine.

[kee-lo_]

Sorry to hear that, but I've had a very good experieence with the GRX, 4 and a half years on and it's working the way I want it to. OK, the LCD's packing up (red screen at bootup), but it warms up and the colour goes back to normal.

I know that averages at £355/year to own it but it's been worth the time, when I think about it it's only ever BSOD'ed 4 times in that time.

[budgetmil]

Hi, I agree with the other comments : you are probably unlucky. I never had a VAIO of the FS serie, but I bought for my company some Z1, GRT796, AR21S, FR295, FR395, SZ3, and they all worked fine during at least 3 years (except one FR295 on which the screen got broken by a stupid girl who sticked violently some post-its on it and one Z1 which overheated while being used in bed).

If they are slow, it is often due to the lot of small programs which are launched during startup. Try to remove as much as possible of these programs, use a program like Ccleaner to clean the registry, check your VAIO against spywares and other bad things (with Spybot for example) and then do a defrag of your disk. It should be a lot faster after that...

[storm61]

Hi Johnycuds

Sorry to hear such problems. I must admit that I have had some problems with my Sony Vaio FE31H too. As you all appreciate country of origin is very important factor for massive brands. Sony has always been associated with excellent design, high reliability and technology as a Japanese brand. However, when I bought my laptop, I was really upset to see that Made in China statement. I knew it was going to be there though. I simply believe that chinese make products are simply not reliable. This is due to many reasons that I can not fully explain here. But as I said before it would be completely different story if we were having Japanese made Sony's here.

Storm61

[Jonnycuds]

But as I said before it would be completely different story if we were having Japanese made Sony's here. 

Storm61

Hi Storm61 and everyone else that replied

I think your comment above pretty much sums things up...its a shame that nowadays we pay a premium price for a trusted Japanese brand...yet what we are actually buying is a sub-standard product manufactured in some sweatshop in China. Think I'm going to buy a Mac shortly, with the hope that it will be a more reliable machine (according to friends and clients who own them)...but no doubt it will also have the dreaded 'Made in China' sticker on the bottom...

[kee-lo_]

Macs are made in China - mine is anyway.

Nothing wrong with that, what I think is wrong is the workers getting ripped off.

[storm61]

Hi Kee-loo

But that s the point. They have been getting ripe off by the company they work for. But do you think such a person would produce something really reliable. I am sure Sony still does quality control and so on but it still would not match a Japanese made product. I hope Sony will notice the consumer's concerns and will move the production back to Japan. Well, if they still want to be the Giant brand in electronic goods of course. Otherwise I see a Sony that losing it s ground gradually.

Storm61

[Sebby]

I agree with what's been said, but Sony will always maintain their image because their laptops look good and have a good finish. So unless they're very unreliable and this becomes common knowledge (which I don't think is the case or will happen) people will keep buying them.