Sony VAIO Pro SVP13215PXB 13.3-Inch Discounts

DC Phil "~ DC Phil" (Washington, DC) :

I returned this laptop to the Sony store (even after receiving a second/replacement for the first). The major issue remains the wifi connectivity -- despite an 18 July "update" from Sony, there is STILL a problem with the wifi. I have an above average knowledge of computers and I walked through all the basic and advanced troubleshooting steps (and, yes, my router/network works fine, I have other computers connected via 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, g and n; and, yes, I tried multiple wireless networks around my neighborhood). The problem is, simply, the wifi hardware or firmware in this computer. There are other problems (extremely loud fan, troublesome trackpad) but those can be solved via software/firmware updates (although Sony makes this painful - try clicking your country preference for EACH (of many) updates over a 2 hour period, meaning you can't walk away from the computer as it updates itself -- seriously, Sony, too hard to grab the country preference ONCE from the user?). Bottom line: this computer was released to the consumer before it was ready, and users are paying the price (in wasted time and energy). Sony, like HP, has been added to my "Don't Buy" list for the foreseeable future.

Norman Kummerlen (Gainesville, TX) :

I have had this top end laptop for almost 4 weeks. i have been on the phone with Sony tech support for almost 10 hours. The first day the laptop required over 50 updates and crashed. Sony had to take over the computer and down load each up date individually almost 2 hours. The bluetoom mouse and touch pad keep freezing up from day one. The touch pad loses the pointer. Sony tech support has tried lots of stuff, but nothing helps. They seam to blindly go through a list of fixes and don't do any real problem solving. Sony tech support has only made the laptop worse.

This may be a Windows 8 issue, but Microsoft won't help because the laptop came with windows 8 loaded on it and Microsoft says it is Sony's problem.

good luck if you buy this ultrabook. I will update later

Wayne Ogburn (Sunset Beach, NC United States) :

I now have my third solid state hard drive replacement and a new motherboard..in the previous model.

Dealing with Sony just to get the unit repaired is a pain. This last time, they put the wrong drive in (smaller) and it crashed after the third boot. I am a Techie from the '80s and I am pretty hard on computers, but my Mac's never performed this badly.

Mac's cost a bit more but they are reliable. The Sony Vaio's are suppose to be the Mac's of the PC world but they don't measure up.