Review of Sony VAIO VGN-NR160E/S 15.4-inch Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Customer Ratings:

This is an excellent computer. I never booted Windows Vista, instead, the first thing I did was throw in the Ubuntu Linux disk, so I have no idea what kind of bloatware was originally on the computer. Everything worked out of the box with Linux, except for the Fn key, which I never use. There is a fix for it that I will try out, just in case.

Yes, it is expandable to 4GB of RAM. The display is beautiful. The keyboard is very comfortable to type on. It is blazing fast. Ripping CDs takes no time whatsoever. For a laptop, the sound is very good. I get great wireless signal strength.

I was at first regretting not purchasing the wenge brown computer, but at the time the silver one with the same specs was much cheaper. For the money I saved, the color is perfect.

For the typical web surfing, light photo editing, and music listening that I do, I do not need anymore computer than this. I have no complaints.

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I bought this laptop on Black Friday at Best Buy and only paid $399...for four hundred dollars you absolutely cannot beat it. The computer is very nice to look at, the screen is beautiful, the keys are comfortable, and the sound is great. The only problem I have with the computer has nothing to do with the actual computer at all I hate Windows Vista. Since I bought the computer I have been spending all my free time trying to downgrade from Windows Vista to Windows XP with no avail. Sony won't open up this model for a downgrade until at least the first quarter of 2008 and even then you will have to pay for this to be done. Vista isn't compatible with all routers, so since my roommate already had an Airport Extreme router (and isn't open to switching to a new router), I have no internet access. If you are buying this computer make sure you check the compatibility with your router first or be prepared to buy a new one along with the computer as it is a huge hassle to try to make them compatible. This is not the fault of the computer though, just a general warning to anyone buying a new Windows operating computer (all new PCs come with Vista).

Other things:

-The computer is a little heavier than I would have liked, but that's honestly not that big of a problem (haven't weighed it but I'd say in the range of 6-8 lbs).

-It is clear that this isn't the best Vaio that money can buy. Sometimes the responses are a little slow, and when I was transfering music from my old computer to this one on CDs the CD driver was humming a little louder than I would have liked. Generally it is quite quiet though.

-It comes with a bunch of programs that I immediately removed because they aren't necessary and just take up space. (ex. Napster)

Besides Vista being a pain though, these aren't huge issues and for the price you absolutely cannot beat it. If you are looking for a computer to do general computing (AIM, Internet, listen to music, store photos, etc) then this is the computer for you. Remember though, check the compatibility with your router!

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No webcam which isn't a huge deal, the 1gb of memory can be upgraded, but what the hell is Sony think they are doing spamming Vaio users with Vista bloatware. This notebook lags so badly, and by no fault of it's own it's just all the bloatware that Sony loads on these computers to annoy and slap users who paid their hard earned money for a good notebook. To save everyone time go to yahoo or any search engine and type in "remove crap ware tool" and download it. Rather then spend hours removing all the needless nonsence that is bloatware off this notbook, this program will scan your computer and bring up an amazing list that you can select what programs you want removed, saves time, lots of time considering how much spam is on this machine.

Happy hunting!

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The biggest problem is that it comes with Vista and hundreths of preinstalled software that turn the machine slow. The Recovery CDs are not included, you got to make them from the OS. After you create then, and reinstall partioning the Hard Disk, uninstall all the preinstalled software and tune up Windows Vista for performance (i mean, no AERO Themes), the machine works great and fast (even with Vista).

I strongly recommend this machine, but only if you would do the "hard work" described.

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Glenn Skow's post is correct. This problems goes a looong way back and they haven't(refuse to) corrected it yet. This problem exist with Vaio P4 or other models of VAIO.

Yeah, it's the soldering problem with the SODIMM memory banks which gets broken w/ mobo over time. When that happens, you won't be able to use the laptop. Sony continues to ignore the problems and pass it on to your pocketbook.