So I hate PCs. But I need one. And I need a mac. The one thing that I dislike about my g3 powerbook is the fact that it weighs a thousand pounds and it's four inches thick. Well, something like that at least. So I looked for the exact opposite when buying a new computer. I wanted something tiny, something so small that if I wasnt looking close enough it might just disappear. I didnt find that. But the Vaio is close!

I love my Mac. If you don't have a mac, buy a mac instead. You will be a better person and the world a better place.

That being said, if you really really want a PC this is probably a good one. If you take windows off of it.

I'm still waiting for my appointed BSD Friends to put a real OS on this thing. Or perhaps BE, the os for the next millenium, if that's a title you like.

Anyway, back to the computer itself. It's great. A 400mhz pII, 128mb RAM, 8.1gb HD, bright screen, everything needed in a compact yet powerful machine. The way the battery latches in kind of bothers me, at times it can feel a bit lose, as if it might just rattle its way right apart, but it usually isnt all that bad. The tiny shift key on the right side, a modification made to fit a relatively fullsized keyboard into the space of this relatively small computer, can get annoying at times. i've started to skip the shift key all together, sometimes. That's the number one gripe.

#2 gripe: on the back side of the screen there's a huge "VAIO" silk-screened onto the otherwise cute magnesium case. Who was the idiot that let that happen? Apple marked the back side their machine with a giant logo but at least it's cute. The vaio wordmark is just obnoxious.

#3 gripe: Sony customer service sucks. They're only open limited hours and even when they're open it takes forever to get through to them on hold. The hold music is really bad too, but you probably dont care about that.

#4 gripe: The sony vaiodirect website really sucks. A couple months ago I vowed never to buy anything from an ecommerce site which I thought was done poorly. A sort of one man's darwinist quest to improve ecommerce. Well, I gave in, and I am now regretting it. I ordered an extended battery that was going to be my savior. It was going to save me from the pathetic 1.5hr battery life but alas, due to a completely confusing and hard to navigate site I was tricked into ordering a battery that extends the life of some other sony laptop that I dont own.

It's a good machine, but keep those gripes in mind. Feel free to re-arrange their order though, I won't mind.

Buy one, it'll make you sexy. Or maybe not.



Recommended: Yes