Sony - VAIO Laptop / Intel® Core™ i3 Processor / 15.5" Display / 4GB Memory / 320GB Hard Drive - Gunmetal Black

This is one of the best laptops I've ever owned, and I've owned quite a few. I've owned/used about 12 laptops over the last 9 years - Dell, Toshiba, HP, Gateway, Compaq, and another Sony. Ironically, the one Sony I had was a unit my brother dug out of the IT trash bin (about 3 years - and it was built in 2001 - retired in 2009) and it lasted me longer than any other laptop I've ever owned - it would still be going if the charger plug didn't wear out which is why I bought this unit. I'm a software engineer so I need a machine that's fast, has decent memory size/speed and can handle computationally intensive applications - this Sony does it all. The screen is excellent and if you can deal with lower brightness, battery life can get well over 4 hours. I really like the keyboard and the numeric pad is a nice bonus - I had some reservations at first since it's still ~15 in standard and I have larger hands but Sony did a really nice job on the key layout and spacing. The tactile features of the keyboard are better than the original Sony VAIO I had from 2001 (which was my all-time favorite laptop keyboard). The sleep feature rocks too - this is the first laptop which truly sleeps and will go to deep sleep mode and pop right up without any problems. I have no reservations closing the lid without a full power down knowing all my apps will reload correctly. The WiMax would be nice if I actually had Sprint service so I can't comment on how much that drains the battery. The regular wireless seems to have minimal effect on battery longevity (maybe another 30 min if you disable the wireless). The camera works nicely - videos with the built in Sony capture is sweet and Skype works well. I've been able to install VMWare player with multiple Linux distro's going on top of Windows without a hitch. OpenOffice, Visual Studio/Eclipse run without any problems. Cross dev on Linux to Windows is really nice on this machine because the VM is so fast. I'm also into 3D graphics so using Blender works excellent too - rendering is pretty quick considering the shared memory for graphics. Only bummer is the BIOS is seriously limited, you can't up the shared memory region (or at least I haven't been able to figure it out). I prefer the professional versions of Windows but so far, 7 home premium has yet to give me that "run one app at a time or else" feeling. The hard drive access time is fantastic and it handles all of my applications with ease. If you're a heavy gamer, obviously don't expect the desktop game performance but overall general computing/development, it's awesome. I waited for a couple months before I wrote the review just to make sure I didn't have a new product high which, in all honesty I may still have just a little :). In any event, you can't go wrong with this laptop.

To be perfectly honest, I was hesitant to purchase this Sony Vaio. Initially, I read the reviews and almost everyone complained about the wireless card being faulty, poor battery life, etc. After owning this computer for a shade under 3 mo. now, I must say that this computer has never let me down. I have had a few issues with the wireless card but after downloading one of numerous VAIO updates including a driver for the wireless card, I have had ZERO problems. I am a full-time college student and I'm constantly on the move w/ my Sony. It doesn't look or feel too rugged but it is holding up great so far (I lug it around in my backpack). Although I do love this machine, there are a few complaints. The touch pad mouse is terrible, the speakers suck, and collects dust and scratches very easily (even though I have dropped it twice). For every problem there is a remedy. A USB mouse elimiates the need to use the touchpad and I have a Logitech speaker system at home that ROCKS. Headphones also sound great through this computer. All in all, great machine. A little pricey but if you like the look and feel as I did, take a chance on this computer. It should meet all your needs.

This is my third laptop and I am quite happy with it. It is easy to set up and the instruction manuals are clear. On the first charge I got 3 hours and 15 minutes before it went dark. On the second charge I got just under 3 hours. This was using the "balanced" power plan and doing mostly web surfing. I played a few videos on the second charge so maybe that caused the decrease in battery reserve. I really like having the dedicated number pad on the right hand side. As others have mentioned the mouse click is a bit loud but that doesn't bother me. Also others mentioned the speaker quality. The speakers sound quite horrible. The sound is just fine with headphones. This is why I knocked it down on convenience.

I am a technologically inclined and savvy person, therefore when I shop for electronics, laptops, and any other gadgets, I will have done my homework and research for the particular product. So, my 4 years old HP laptop has already served me well. Even though there was nothing wrong with my HP laptop, for today's technological standard, it's already outdated too much, so I decided to upgrade. I have always been an admirer of Sony's product to its reliability and quality, so I looked for Vaio on bestbuy, and came to find this Vaio laptop. A great spec like what I wanted and it fit my budget very well. I decided to bought it right away and used it for several days before actually reviewing it. after several days, I can say that this was an amazing laptop. Amazing performance and speed. Great display to view your HD video and you can also plug in the HDMI cable to your HDTV. You can multitask with ease, running several programs at the same time without slowing down the performance and clogging the memory of the laptop. I might later buy a SD card for the readyboost to pump up the speed of the laptop, but as for now it's been doing very great. There is problem with the cooling system, even without the centrifugal laptop van. But I am prolonging the life of the laptop anyway by using the fan anyway. I also love the carbon material for the keyboard (one of the things I really love about Vaio). It's a nice feeling typing in this keyboard. Some reviewers complained about the connection and internet problem with this laptop. I dare to say otherwise because I can compare it to my HP. No problem with wireless, instead the wireless seems to be stronger and faster. Using the same downloading program on my old HP and this Vaio, this Vaio reigns supreme. It feels like the internet is not slowing down at all while viewing videos and browsing when downloading at full throtle speed. On my old HP I would have to pause the video to buffer or stop or slow down the downloading program. With Vaio, I don't need to do this. My only concern about this laptop is the sensitivity of the touchpad. It's too sensitive for its own good. So before I am used to typing with this laptop, I am always interrupted by the problem of overly sensitive touchpad. Most of the time when suddenly you type on a certain paragraph, then suddenly you jump to other location and you have to put the cursor back to where you are left out. Sometimes it would delete one particular sentence and stuff. This laptop doesn't have the physical button to disable the touchpad at ease when I am using my logitech mouse. If there were physical button, it would make it easier to disable it when using a mouse, then when on the go, I can enable it back. But now I am used typing with this laptop, so the problem doesn't persist. It's still there, but I know the way to make me type without actually encountering the problem. One of other issues is the speaker. Compared to my old HP laptop that I had, which used Altec Lansing speaker, this speaker is really out of the league. I really wonder why Sony decided to install a really cheap speaker for this kind of great laptop. If you want a sound quality of this laptop, then additional speaker is needed. So overall, a great amazing laptop, the only issues are the touchpad and the speaker.

Had this computer a week now, and i will have to say that I'm quite impressed. They keyboard is great. I really have no use for the keypad, but other reviewers have liked it. Picture is great. HDMI output is a nice feature for hooking up to TV. Very fast in loading programs, and i can surf the net with BLAZING speed. At first i was really disappointed with the speaker performance. I finally went into the VAIO Media Gallery and stumbled upon some audio settings and set the equalizer to "live". The speaker quality really seems improved. Seems maybe Sony wants to "encourage" use of the Media Gallery as audio is now quite a bit better for music, videos, etc. With speaker issue much better, i absolutely LOVE this computer!!!

I bought this Vaio to replace a 2 year old HP that crapped out way too soon. I first purchased the Toshiba Satellite L655...but had problems from the start with two of them (I posted a review of the issues under it). So far, it's only been a week...but I'm very impressed with the Vaio. Lightening fast, great display (big and crisp), priced very well, and feels solid. The only negative, and it's a small one...is that the sound from the speakers is on the low side. But I just plug in head phones if I really need to listen to music...otherwise it's fine for surfing the web and watching/listening to video/audio. Another plus is the numeric keypad...it might not be for everyone, but it fits my needs perfectly when adding up timecards, entries for quickbooks, etc. So far I'm impressed with my first Vaio and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable everyday laptop.

This laptop is the best I have ever owned. It features an i3-370m processor, hdmi, led screen, and intel wirless display for a great price. Most other retailers have this laptop over $700. The vaio has good sound compaired to my last Asus and did not have any junk that needed to be delete out of the box. At its price chosing this vaio was a no brainer. I am very satisfied with my purchase despite having to return the first one immediatley due to a dead pixel. Cant really hold sony accountable things happen. I also chose the warranity plan just in case. Still came out about the same price as the other retailers without coverage.

I just purchased this laptop and I am astounded at the quality that the on sale price has produced. First I read the reviews and can't get over the idea that people will complain about anything, " the position of the on off button will cause on off errors because the user hit it!" or the keys are so close to the edge it will cause errors as unwanted windows pop up. I can say I donor have this problem at all. The picture is fantastic! The sound is fine for a laptop, this is a great product and would recomend it to anyone, the speed is really fast and it holds up to the demanding games I play.. Great buy!