The Rise and, Hopefully Not, Fail of the Vaio

Vaio. The only brand name I have been recommending for years now when someone wants to buy a laptop. Now I catch my tongue before it sprints out into the inquisitor’s ear.

Ever since purchasing my Vista loaded Vaio, I immediately became impressed day after day. Never a lag, never a freeze, never a weird noise coming from the fan. When I tell you I put my Vaio through the ringer…that’s an understatement. I’ve DJ’ed, boated, 4x4ed, and web-designed it into the ground..except the ground won’t take a mint condition machine. The thing won’t quit. To this day it has been my longest lasting PC for the stress that has been put on it. Why can’t I recommend it anymore? Simply because the name Vaio seems to have gotten too big for itself…like good ol’ Dell.

Dell is down there with my least recommended machines. Their company is too big for them to handle, and they care too little. Their machines always need fixing, and are terrible for the average PC user. Vaio is in the same danger of becoming a common name for PC’s, and that’s dangerous. Dangerous because when that happends the small details tend to matter less, and the care just isn’t there anymore. Vaio recently recalled 233,000 laptops due to overheating problems. No, not your average overheat where the computer quits on you. The kind where the casings slowly melt, and the keyboard deforms. I tried out a Vaio my friend bought recently after recommending it to them. I turn it on, it loads ok..then I try playing a video. The screen quality is forgivable, for the did buy an inexpensive one; but then my ears start yelling back at the laptop as it squeals out rubbish. When I say the most awful speakers you’ve ever heard, it may not be true because I used to dig speakers out of trash cans when I was a young child..but they were pretty darn close. Further testing lead me to believe they could be blown, which would be forgivable, except for the fact they SOLD it to her that way; and after she sent it in to get fixed once they didn’t notice the blown speakers then either.

In checking in with my other recommendees, they seem satisfied with the performance of their machines, but I cringe when researching the Vaio’s future. It could be good, seeing as though these words are coming from the tried and true laptop himself, however if there is hope it needs to show itself more factually…and no..not just showing up more in Windows TV commercials.