Review of Sony VAIO VPC-F133FX/B 16.4-Inch Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

I bought this computer about 6 weeks ago and was pleased with it and the specs impressed my geek son so I thought I made a good choice. A few weeks later I was using the computer while it was charging. I went to unplug the cord so I could move to another location and a little piece of plastic came out with the cord connector. After that the cord felt very loose in the jack opening which is located on one end of the display hinge and the power button is on the other end glowing in various colors to reflect the state of the computer. At first I thought this was a cool design but the placement and the cheap plastic fitting now mean that my laptop might become unchargable and useless after a few weeks of use. My daughter came home for Christmas and showed me her new laptop--the same model as mine which she bought based on my initial impression. I cautioned her about my problem and when I examined her computer I saw cracks in the plastic around the charging connection and two days later she was in tears because her $1400 purchase was falling apart after three weeks of use. Little pieces of black plastic were coming out each time she unplugged the charger and now hers is worse than mine because the cord does not make contact and falls right out so she cannot charge it at all. I have found other users online who claim Sony will not replace this part (which clearly is poorly designed and cheaply made as my sample of two indicates) because Sony claims the damage is caused by the user. Neither of us dropped or abused these brand new expensive laptops, I can assure you. This is my third Vaio and I have never had to return or repair one before so I will see how Sony treats a loyal customer. The connection in question was metal on the earlier versions. Hopefully I will be able to report a positive and happy ending.

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This Sony Vaio is truly a great P.C. It runs cool with well designed fan ports, it falls in the high end of laptops and offers a great value for the price and features. Here's a list of pros and cons:

PROS:

Attractive, intelligent design

Comfortable, well designed backlit keyboard

Bright, clear monitor (@720p)

Integrated Blu-Ray player

High-end Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GPU

Quick; excellent for gaming

3 USB ports, two of which are USB 3.0

Conveniently placed power chord insert and power button

Solid computer and sturdy monitor

Good speakers for a laptop

Webcam has decent image

CONS:

The USB 3.0 ports are on the front right and can get in the way if you use a laptop pad with integrated mousepad (not a problem for most users)

The third USB port is combined with the eSATA port, so you lose out on a USB if you use eSATA

No "always on" feature for backlighting the keyboard

Comes with Windows 7 Home Premium. Windows 7 Ultimate should be standard at this price point.

I had trouble finding cons with this laptop. If you're looking for a quality gaming or entertainment PC, look no further.

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I liked this computer very much during the two months it worked powerful, gorgeous display, stripped operating system, great set of inputs and outputs. (I also liked the last Vaio I had. It failed after about 3 years of use, and I decided not to repair it, but had no problems until then). With the VPCF1390X I received in January 2011 (see specs below) I had a power supply failure after two months. I paid for an extra Sony AC adapter and battery when I ordered it, and the symptom was that the battery wouldn't charge with any combination of adapters or batteries. The battery icon shows empty and no AC power, although the cord is plugged in and computer is obviously getting power. It runs with AC power only, and it shuts down or crashes periodically and won't run some programs due to 'low battery'.

A major failure after two months is pretty bad but not the end of the world. However, my first experience with Sony warranty support has convinced me never to buy another laptop from Sony, and to take whatever legal action I can to return the computer so I don't have to go through this in the future. I won't go into detail because I've already wasted too many hours on the process, but fifteen days after reporting the problem I still have no idea when or how it will be fixed. I've dealt with four different groups, including Nexicore, a hopelessly incompetent subcontractor, technical support, customer relations and Sony manufacturing. They are rude, difficult to get hold of, ill-informed and unresponsive. I have never received a follow-up call by anyone to resolve the issue despite reporting it to all of these groups. The burden of making sure something gets done is entirely on the customer, despite the fact that Sony sold me an effectively useless product. Maybe sometime within the next month or two the problem will be fixed, but I'm done with Sony computers.

In addition to Sony I've owned laptops from Apple (2), IBM/Lenovo (2), Dell and Toshiba. From here on I'll buy from one of the latter companies as they will send a box to return the defective computer and (I don't remember if this was with upgraded warranty service) send a replacement immediately. I may still buy Sony products, but never something where (a) any chance of it breaking and (b) I can't afford to be without it for any length of time.

Product: US-VPCF1390X-LBOM

Component: LED Backlit Keyboard

Component: Fresh Start

Component: Adobe Bundle (Free $448 value)

Component: Blu-ray Disc(tm) Read Only Drive

Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Home & Student

Component: Standard capacity battery

Component: No additional AntiVirus Software

Component: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M GPU (1GB VRAM)

Component: No Engraving

Component: Intel® Core(tm) Quad i7-740QM processor (1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz

Component: 16.4" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)

Component: 500GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm)

Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit

Component: 6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333

Quantity: 1

Description: VPCF1390X Configure-to-Order

Date shipped: 01/03/2011

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO VPC-F133FX/B 16.4-Inch Laptop (Black)

This is the 4th Sony Vaio I've had. I loved my VGN-FZ4000 (which I had in blue) until it crashed, I mean literally crashed on the floor, which damaged my motherboard. So last week I had to get a replacement. I was sorely tempted by the Sony Vaio EB series, which comes in a variety of colors, but function won out over form and I couldn't be happier.

Despite the lack of color, I couldn't be happier. It's fast. It's beautiful. The display is stunning. The keyboard feels great. I run a marketing consulting company, so I frequently have Photoshop, Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Google Chrome, and Tweetdeck all open at once. These heavy duty applications used to slow down my processor and put my fan into high gear. This computer seems to just take it all in stride.

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I have had this just over 30 days & the LCD screen has 2 lines 1 vertical & 1 horizontal. Sony responded fairly quickly and is sending an independent service rep to my home to replace the LCD screen, so I'm told. This is a secondary computer & I have not used it much as of yet, so I am surprised there are issues so early on.

That said, my overall opinion of the computer is as follows:

1) Screen Resolution somewhat disappointing very bright & not always easy to see, even in a windowless environment. I have used both the Sony and Nvidia screen controls but find that my 8 year old Fijitsu screen is much better. Hopefully all of this will be resolved with the tech visit.

2) Mouse pad I read several reviews re this it is ultra sensitive, I wish there was a button on top to turn it off rather than going to the control panel. I often use a wireless mouse, but when I want to do something quickly, I have to go back in to make the mouse pad operative. Literally it is hard to type an email! Just having my hand go over the mouse pad is a bit of a nightmare.

3) Speed very disappointing. I decided on the Sony because of the backlit key board & figured I would spend the extra money to get a good machine that I won't need to replace for a few years.

All in all, I am conflicted about this purchase. I wish I had the ability to test other products this is not as portable as I would have liked as it is a bit heavy and bulky not so easy to have on your lap if your are multi-tasking & watching TV etc.

I purchased this through Amazon but it was shipped by J&R in NY: They have been excellent to deal with. At first the product seemed slow to ship, so I called & for an extra $20.00 I received it next day from NY to LA. If I wanted to return the product within 30 days because of defect, they told me there would be no charge. If I just didn't like it then it would have been subject to a 20% restocking fee.

For future reference, maybe it is worth the extra money to buy at a local retailer, as long as the computer can be returned in a short period of time w/o return fees. If that was the case, I probably would have purchased a less expensive computer since this one has not been that impressive thus far. Hope this helps anyone w/your future purchases.