Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought this laptop a couple days ago and was very thrilled after weeks of research between other comparable laptops in the same field (Samsung RF711-S02 and ASUS N73SV-A3 to name the main contenders).
The laptop looked great right out of the box. Sony did a swell job designing this laptop. The keyboard is to die for with its chiclet buttons and good use of backlighting. Sound is good for the most part, but can't say I care for it much since I mainly use headphones with my computers. The screen and all of its 1080p 16.4" glory is amazing to look at. The VAIO comes with some bloatware consisting of a Norton trial, many Sony VAIO apps, and a MS office trial. Typical bloatware that one should expect. Battery life was around 2-3 hours. Really depends on what you're doing (My times consist of some web surfing and video files). Expect much lower times with gaming and other intensive apps. If you wish to take advantage of the true aspect ratio of the screen I would suggest putting the magnification percentage to 100%. The VAIO came preset at 125% which gives you less screen real estate. The VAIO is powerful with the equipped engine under the hood. The i7 2.00Gz and NVIDIA 540M are a force to be reckoned with. The VAIO does only come with 4GB of DDR3 ram though,something I planned to upgrade to 8GB, but be warned that the VAIO comes with 2x2GB sticks. Also the 640GB is spacious, but slow with its speed clocking in at 5400RPM.
So I would easily give this laptop a 5 out of 5, but it had one major flaw I could not over look. After all driver updates and MS updates the laptop exhibited a tendency to randomly lag on video and sound. No matter what output I used (HDMI, Built-in speakers and headphone jack). Sound would distort while listening to pandora. Video and sound would distort at random intervals while using Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, Windows media player and media player classic. I searched online and it seemed that I was alone on this so I ordered a replacement from Amazon and surely enough Amazon came through with overnight shipping on a new one that same day (I have 30 days to return my other one with collateral on my MasterCard.)
So I receive my replacement laptop and hope for the best. I open it up and the first thing I do is play some videos VIA Windows Media Player. Not even a minute in and the video once again lags and the sound distorts. I nodded my head in shame. Just to be sure I updated everything and tried again to no avail. I tried Pandora and Netflix with no luck either. I even went as far as to partition the drive and install a fresh Windows 7 64bit on the new partition hoping to maybe isolate a possible software issue. Same problem arose. I'm a big fan of Sony and their products, but this turned me off from any future laptops from them. Amazon's end was superb in terms of support, but the end product falls on Sony's lap. Perhaps I just happened to have gotten 2 faulty machines back to back by pure luck, but the odds of that happening are very rare for a laptop in the $1000+ range.
I looked around forums a couple days later and found that some people experience a problem with random lag in games while others have no problems at all. The people with no problems seemed to have bought theirs from places other then Amazon and Newegg (They carry the same models). Other retail outlets carry the same laptop, but the model numbers differ. So I assume that perhaps Sony is shipping some faulty laptops to certain outlets. I will end up returning my replacement for a full refund and maybe wait for the problem to get fixed. If not I will end up going with the Samsung RF711-S03 when it is released.Edit:
About 2 days into my replacement it has stopped exhibiting the previously mentioned flaw. I've decided to use the VAIO as my main PC for a week and put it under some heavy use to see if it acts up. If not I will end up keeping it and buying a 3-year Square-trade warranty to be safe. After using the VAIO for a couple days, without the hic-ups it had before, I can safely say it is amazing. Runs like a champ with no problems thus far. I will write back in a couple days to address the final state of which it's at and determine if I'll revise my rating.
Edit 2:
After having it for a week and a half I can safely say that the laptop has stopped with the hiccups. Very strange to be honest, but now that the laptop is back to normal I can safely say that it is a beast of a laptop. Revising my rating to 4 of 5 stars. Would be a 5, but due to the difficulties it displayed at first it lost a star. I will be buying the square-trade 3 year warranty just in case though.
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Sony VAIO VPC-F223FX/B Laptop (Black)Built with the multimedia enthusiast in mind, the Sony VAIO F22 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop provides optimal performance and a full high-definition display for movies and games. The laptop's Intel Core i7 processor offers eight-way multitasking for the most demanding applications, while a 16.4-inch full HD widescreen display delivers rich color and contrast from almost any angle. Other features include a Blu-ray Disc player and Dolby Home Theater v3 surround sound. A backlit keyboard makes it easy to play and work with the lights turned down.
Intel Core i7 Processor for Smart PerformanceThe Sony VAIO F22 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop features a 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processor that offers superior performance for the most demanding applications. This quad-core processor features eight-way multitasking capability and additional L3 cache for improved computer performance, along with adaptive performance and visual capabilities.
Built-in Intel Turbo Boost Technology automatically speeds up your processor when you need extra performance, while Intel Hyper-Threading Technology allows each core to work on two tasks simultaneously, letting you move between applications quickly and smoothly.
The laptop comes equipped with a standard lithium-ion battery that offers up to five hours of battery life.
Rich Color and Contrast from Any AngleMeasuring 16.4 inches, with a cinema-style aspect ratio of 16:9, this laptop's 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution, full high-definition widescreen display allows you to view video games and movies in sharp detail, with rich color and contrast, from virtually any angle. Thanks to an anti-glare coating, distracting reflections are minimized.
Blu-ray Disc Movies and Games in High DefinitionThe F22 Series laptop contains a Blu-ray Disc player that enables you to enjoy movies and video games in full, 1080p high definition. In addition, the player offers the convenience of full read/write capabilities for DVDs and CDs.
The laptop also combines Dolby Home Theater v3 with S-Force Front Surround 3D technology for cinema-style surround sound that's true to the original source--ideal for listening to music, watching movies, or playing games. NVIDIA GeForce graphics with 1 GB of dedicated RAM delivers optimal graphics performance and responsive game play.
Robust Wireless ConnectivityThe Sony VAIO comes equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, so you can connect easily to your wireless Internet network. It also contains Bluetooth technology for cordless connections to your smartphone and other compatible mobile devices.
In addition, this laptop features Remote Keyboard, which is pre-installed software that lets you wirelessly play online games, surf the web, or enter text on your PlayStation 3 video game console from the laptop.
Windows 7 and Office Starter 2010The F22 Series laptop comes pre-installed with Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium as well as Microsoft Office Starter 2010, which includes limited versions of Word and Excel.
Product and Warranty InformationThe laptop measures 1.7 by 15.69 by 10.69 inches (H x W x D) and weighs 6.85 pounds including the battery. It has a 640 GB SATA hard drive.
The Sony VAIO F22 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop is backed by a one-year limited warranty.
What's in the BoxLaptop, standard lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and power cord.
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