Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGN-NS290J/W 15.4-Inch Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray Drive, Vista Premium) White

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

 

 

Specifications list a high-end "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3430 graphics (2040 MB total shared)". NOT. The product only has the low-end "Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family". BURNED.

Indeed, a search on Sony's website confirms this.

As such, it is certainly not powerful enough for gaming, and probably not powerful enough for the Blue-Ray player included. In any event, the advertisement is false advertisement. Buyer beware.

I ordered this laptop as a replacement/upgrade to my old one. I haven't found anything either wrong with it or not as described. I actually shortly after, bought a similar laptop (VGN-NS150J) for my mom as a present. Amazon had the best price I could find and free shipping was decently fast. No complaints. I am very satisfied with my purchase.

For the price this laptop offers, it's a pretty good deal. Be Sure that when you do get it you know what it's for.

The video card is by far the systems downfall, it's (as an early reviewer said) an intel 4 family video card so those looking to any high end or recent gaming might be looking elsewhere, a gaming laptop with this display size at this price doesn't exist. That being said, it still plays games like WoW on lower (not lowest, but lower) settings and it can be enjoyed comfortably. Any game circa 2004 will run fine, but you shouldn't be expecting much from an on-board video card (also I stress that laptop video card upgrades typically are impossible)

The Machine does have a Blu Ray drive and I'm sure Sony is more than interested in you watching their new format on it, and to be honest despite the max resolution of 1280x800 the Blu Rays really shine, they look gorgeous and clean ... the problem is there is no DVI ouput just VGA which means you will be watching them on the laptop and nothing else if you want to enjoy your Blu Ray. I have a PS3 though, for home use. Still, it's nice when you go on a trip and need to take your favorite high def movie along. Despite the weaker card the computer still makes Blu Ray look good, an earlier review speculated it wouldn't be possible but it is. It looks fine.

The design of the computer is really nice, the body of the computer is textured almost like cloth giving it a comfortable feel. I have one friend who bizarrely enough will rub my computer when he sees it I have to admit it is rather nice feeling. Sony has always had a nice design aesthetic and it shows here, with a nice looking, well laid out keyboard, and solid feeling construction. The shape and feel of the laptop really has that sleek minimalist feel that many companies today seem to be going for. Which is simply because it makes the machine look good, I dunno what else to say there.

The computer isn't without its flaws, however. For starters Sony includes an incredibly large amount of software with the computer. Some programs are useful, but largely they waste your space with some very insulting programs, like a wireless setup wizard that takes you to the default windows one, no one needs to waste space on such asinine programs. Vaio update, alternately, seems useless until you discover their drivers are edited for the laptop so you have to go through them. Another bizarre decision on Sony's part.

In conclusion if you're a person who wants a computer that isn't embarassingly ugly with a sleek classy minimalist design, and wants good performance in a mid-priced laptop, this very well could be for you. If you're looking to do heavy high-end gaming or need your first Blu Ray player there are better ways to spend your money for both of those.

Hope this helps and answers any questions anyone has.

The worst PC I have ever owned, always loved Sony electronics so this seemed perfect. Poor quality, nothing but problems, worst customer service. No HDMI out on a laptop with Blu-Ray?!?!?...WTF!

The Blu-ray drive on this laptop broke immediately after it came out of warranty. The gfx aren't very impressive but over all it was a decent laptop until the drive broke. Very disappointing.

Great Buy, Great Product, Happy Consumer. Some boot-up hang-ups, but that could be Windows Vista 64 bit.

We got this vaio some months ago and we've really liked it,
it is fast and comes well loaded.
The only possible drawback is the battery life is not that long

It is a nice laptop for its price. But there is one thing that I am unable to understand: when I bought it for myself, it was 700 dollars. And I bought it for my friend and to my surprise it was 750 dollars. Now it is even more. Its price is constantly changing and the change is for higher price.

Excelente laptop. Las características coinciden con las especificadas, excepto que no trae la tarjeta gráfica ATI sino la integrada de Intel. Por lo demás tiene una perfecta pantalla, el teclado es suave, muy facil de configurar. Las imagenes se ven ¡super! y la calidad de fotos de su webcam es aceptable. Aun no pruebo el bluray pero las pelìculas en DVD se ven impresionantes (el audio puede mejorar con unos parlantes externos). Excelente compra por el precio. Gracias Amazon!