Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGC-LV250J/B 24-Inch All-in-One Desktop PC (2.80 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Black

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I've only had this new pc for 5 days and haven't utilized many of its functions yet, but I thought I would put something out since this is a new model and there is so little user feedback out there.

I took the plunge and bought a model with no reviews because I needed a new pc and wanted to buy Sony again, due to my excellent experiences with owning Vaio desktops for the last 10 years. I was not really looking for an all-in-one, nor for a TV/PC, but I wanted to continue with Sony and wanted a bigger display.

First of all, this is a beautiful and elegently designed system, with quality construction and intelligently placed covers, connections, and outlets.

The keyboard looks similar to the Apple wireless keyboard, except that the Sony has a mouse pad on the right. It's very attractive and solid, but it's so different from the huge Micorsoft "ergonomic" model I was using that I'm having a hard time getting used to it and I'm not sure that I will stay with it. I bought the silver model and bought from JR because Amazon didn't have this item yet - the white letters on grey background are difficult to see in low light.

That said, with this keyboard (and mouse) you don't have to plug anything in, you just push the connect button on the computer then the connect button on the keyboard/mouse and you're all set. Each has an on/off switch so that you don't waste battery power when you're not working. The keyboard doesn't have the typical assignable software access keys, but it does have keys to allow you to eject a dvd, put your computer in sleep mode, change browsing print size, and adjust volume and screen brightness, and also has a little window showing battery charge, network connection, and num and caps lock status.

The mouse is also attractive, as well as comfortable and functional.

And the display, ah, the display. I knew that my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 took good pictures, but I had no idea how amazing they were until I opened one in Photoshop CS4 on this machine. Truly dazzling images.

The speakers are pretty good with movies as long as you keep the volume low, but not so good with music CDs. The more you turn up the volume, the worse they sound.

The VGC-LV250J was easy to set up and seems to have plenty of power to run multiple applications.

A couple of cautions:

The screen is very shiny. I don't see any reflections at all when using it in PC mode, but when playing a movie I can see myself in the blacks. And there is a slight color gradation from darker to lighter/top to bottom that is noticable when text is displayed - I haven't noticed this with photos or with movies.

When the display is set on maximum brightness, it puts out quite a bit of heat, but not much at the intensity I'm using now.

I went from a 19" monitor under XP to this large screen with Vista, and I've had to spend quite a bit of time adjusting fonts and resolutions in various places to get to the excellent browsing quality I have now. (Vista will fight you all the way, but it can be done).

I hope this has been somewhat informative; I'll update the review when I've used more of the features.

This is my third Sony Vaio - so I've had a very good experience with Sony. The first one I bought about seven years ago and it is still going strong, long passed on to my son. The Sony I'm replacing with this machine is also doing well - it did have a hard drive crash and I had to replace that. That one is going to a second son after a disk reformat and a little clean-up. I also have an identical Sony to the one that had the disk crash at work and the only problem with it has been the power unit went out. Both are basically about $150 replacement jobs that are easy and well worth the expense to keep the machine in service.

The new 24-inch Sony, I've had for a week, and I've been impressed so far. It was GREAT to get rid of all those wires! The only thing I don't like about the new machine is the keyboard - it's like driving a Lexus, then having a Kia instrument cluster.

Other than that - it's everything I expected. I know Sony costs a few bucks more, but well worth it and having a Sony computer to go along with Sony HD camcorder and TV - it's just great to have all these products that work so well together.

I would have liked to have waited for a price drop - but $1900 is reasonable and I'm looking about what I spent on earlier Vaio models when they w

Screen is awesome. Appearance very nice. Personal preference for all-in-ones, ...and no wires. Small keyboard w/out number pad is a minus; previous models had full keyboard with a folding cover. Bought as a refurb and has a few "hangover" issues, e.g. won't boot up with externals plugged in. Have to unplug everything and then restart. Overall fine.