Sony Vaio Vs. Hp

[TroutBum4wt]

Looking for opinions on these two makers. I'm looking for something dependable and reliable. I'll be using it for e-mail, web surfing and maybe some word processing. I'm not into gaming.

I'm not really concerned about the various program features and memory, but which one will stay out of the repair shop the longest. Which brand has the best overall track record? I'm new to the laptop game.

Thanks

[jdmidwest]

I like the Toshiba laptops the best, better built, run better and cooler, last longer. I have also owned several HP and Compaq products and really have not had many problems with them either. Sony Vaios are usually a little higher priced with fewer options. Dells are usually at the bottom of the scale, hard drives like to fail in them and they like to run hot.

Based on what your requirements are any should do fine. Make sure you get at least 2 gb ram, a good processor, (not celeron or duron), good size hard drive and 15" monitor and you should be good. If you find one with XP, even better.

[timsfly]

Bestbuy just told us our 1 year old sony Vaio was needing a new Motherboard $800.00

We have two HP's, I have a notebook and my wife uses a bigger laptop for school.

Both have the same memory and are just as good as the sony and they both cost

500.00 less, and I'll bet they are even cheaper now. I got mine for 899.00 at

Circutcity, and we bought my wifes' at wal-mart for $600.00

the sony was $1500.00 and never did seem to work as good as the HPs do.

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't by a dell or a sony again after using our HPs.

[flyfishmaster]

TB4W,

As part of my daily duties (when I work), I get to evaluate most of the new laptops about 4 months before they hit the market. The difference between the units I see and what you would buy is that ours are setup to meet the business world. But in the past 3 months, I have got to test the Sony, HP, Dell and Lenovo that will be hitting the market in Q1 2009. If I had to buy one of these models, it would have to be the HP. Lenovo and Dell would be a close second. The worst part about buy any home base PC is all the "crap" software they pre-load on the systems. The best thing to do once a system is purchased is to re-install the factory image, and most manaufactures will allow you to select what software to re-load. This will give you a clean system to work with. Also look at the exteneded warranties. This systems are getting built cheaper by the day and having the warranty will save your butt 2 years down the road.

That is my personal o-pin-oin.

later,

FFM

[Terry Beeson]

I'll second FFM's comments with the exception of Dell just a nose ahead of HP.

As for the crap load of junk software, I would also recommend back tracking to Windows XP or installing a Linux OS... Still don't really care for Vista myself.

[flyfishmaster]

TB4W,

As of today (and the offer end today 12/3) the best laptop deal on the web is offered by HP on their Compaq Preserio CQ50Z model. I just purchased two of these units myself today for a couple of my relatives for a total cost (including shipping and taxes) of $487.68 each.

Here is the direct website: HP Website

This unit has:

Vista Home premiun

Athlon 1.9Ghz Dual Core Processor

15.4" WXGA Widescreen

3 GB memory

160 GB Hard Drive

8x DVD+/-R/RW drive

plus the other standard hardware.

I hope this helps you out.

Later,

FFM

[strangercreek]

I work with alot of Dell stuff on a regular basis. I like their laptops. I have seen several people buy the vostros (a more inexpensive model) and they seem to be decent, and you can a 3 year warranty for a very good price.