Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGC-JS450F/S 20.1-Inch Silver All-in-One Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We just bought this computer at a Sony Lifestyle store in the Burlington, MA mall and we are very happy with it.

First, I did not experience any excessive fan noise mentioned from the other reviewer. It is so quiet, we have to strain to hear it. My guess is that he has a defective computer.

The other reviewer also said the mouse was small and cheap. Yes its on the smaller side, but while thats perfect for my 4 and 11 yr old, its not so small that it bothers my wife or I. And what he interpreted as 'cheap' feels great to us as it's light and easy to move around.

Other things we love
- The monitor is as bright and sharp as my 18 month old 19" Mac Desktop, which to me is quit an achievement. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous.

- With Windows 7, 500gig hard drive and 4 megs of ram, this computer is lightening fast.

- Blue ray player is a nice touch

- Windows 7 gives me great control over my kids usage which my wife and I love. There is a learning curve from XP but the experience has been enjoyable and positive so far.

- Its sleek design was a great replacement for our 5 yr old desktop running XP. Takes up very little space

We love it and would buy it again in a flash.
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Jan 1 update

1) Regarding another reviewer's complaint that it doesnt come with a Windows 7 disc to use in case of virus problems, etc, when I called the Sony store I bought this computer from, they were very helpful and explained that if you click on the "VAIO Care" icon on your task bar, among other useful options you will see a choice for "creating backup disc". It will burn the entire Windows 7 Operating system as well as all the programs the computer originally came with onto DVD. This is the disk you use if you ever need to reinstall Windows or any of the programs the computer came with.

2) This computer came with a 64 bit version of Windows 7 which while faster than a 32 bit operating system, does not work with many of my older programs that worked well on XP (which is 32 bit). Also does not work with my $600 Canon laser printer forcing me to go buy a new printer. Many software and hardware manufacturers have not yet, and may never, create drivers or updates to accomodate this new 64 bit operating system. You may want to make sure that your critical software and peripherals will work with this new version of Windows.

3) Another reviewer complained that he cant get high def graphics. He must not have his monitor set to the highest resolution as mine is set to 1680 x 1050 which exceeds 1080 high def resolution. Also, judging small monitors by TV standards is irrelevant because you dont need 1080 to get a high def picture on a monitor this small. 1080 is only needed for high def on screens 32" and larger

I have had a VAiO before, but it was not an All-in-One. I needed...no make that I wanted...to get rid of the clutter that happens with computers. You know the kind: a tangled mess of wires that go to all sorts of the various kinds of things that you have that are a part of the computer. And I wanted the reliability of the SONY. If Sony had one in the size of this computer I would also have gotten rid of the wired keyboard and mouse! (But, I have to admit, I even like the kool design of those.) Amazon is my provider of choice because Amazon always gets my order out immediately...and most of their providers that are rated highly do the same. I received this computer waaaay before I even expected it! All I had to do was open the box, plug it in to the wall, plug in the keyboard and mouse and turn it on. I was in business and NO tangle of wires and messy look! Windows 7 is a joy to use and the system is not all clogged up with two handfuls of various games and "trial versions" of assorted stuff. It does have the ones you will probably want. The screen is bright and not overly affected by glare, the picture and sound are incredible and the system is totally silent...no fan noise. I have not yet set up the camera and microphone.

If you want a decent size,ease of setting up, no tangled mess of wires and don't need a touchscreen, try this computer! You'll LOVE it!

It's a great looking machine and the sleek keyboard is very attractive with a nicely designed cpu/monitor. But, the fan noise is unreal. I don't think we'll return it, but the fan noise is so distracting I would not recommend it to a friend.

Also, the included mouse is really tinny and cheap.

I had a big problem setting up this PC. I had to restore it to the fabric's set twice, because the programs installed were interfering with the Windows update. So, the last time, I let the system get updated and then started to install other programs (Microsoft Office, Skype, Windows Live, etc). The fan is very noisy, but I haven't had any major problems. Overall, it has a good performance and I love the color, the size, the weight, and how clear and bright the image is.

Let me tell you what happened. I bought this computer two months ago and it is now nothing more than an 1,100 dollar paperweight, until Friday when I will receive the recovery disks sent from Sony. I got a virus on my machine (which is not Sony's fault) that slowed everything way down, so I tried to do a system recovery like I had done several times before with my old HP laptop on Vista. To make a long story short, the disks that I had made myself didn't work and when I called Sony they told me that there's a hidden partition that you access by pressing F10 after startup that can do the same thing... this didn't work also. They told me that the only option left was to send me factory recovery disks which would take 3 to 4 business days to arrive. The problem with this is that I am a student and I have loads of homework to do. Dell, HP, Gateway, and probably every other computer manufacturer provide you with factory recovery disks (which only seems fair to me when you spend over a thousand dollars). Had I bought any one of these computers I would have been up and running in a couple of hours, but because I bought a Sony I got royally screwed. I demanded a refund from everybody that I could get on the phone with but to no avail. Apparently this corporate giant, and fortune 500 company doesn't have the integrity to accept responsibility for its mistakes and compensate me for their failure. I have always been a big fan of Sony's and have bought many of their products from TV's to cameras and I always felt good about spending a little more becase I thought they were a higher quality product. I no longer feel that way, and I will never buy another Sony product again.