Sony Vaio VPC-F215FX/BI user reviews

Pros Keyboard comfort, back-lit keyboard, i7, 6GB ram, 1080p screen, quality, trackpad texture and size, sound quality

Cons size and weight although manageable and expected.

Summary I went through three high-end Toshiba Satellites with 540m graphics and the Harmon speakers to end up with them all defective. Two had bad screens with dead pixels throughout and the other had a bad battery that would not hold a charge. I ended up getting a full refund without having to pay any restocking fees from that horrible experience. I have to say that going along with the Sony brand (or Apple) in itself is a relief worth paying a little extra towards quality products that aren't dead on arrival or have defects with them. There are always exceptions of course, but Sony is usually pretty good about quality control.

Performance: Overall the system performs pretty well once you get a program up and running. The i7 processing power is more than enough for any media trans-coding you might throw at it. Graphics processing is nothing spectacular for gaming (Star Craft II), but performs modestly. The battery life is pretty good for this size system. I can get about three to four in a half hours working on docs and browsing the web. If that's not enough, Sony offers an extended cell battery. 8GB of ram keeps me running plenty of programs at one time without hick-up. I would have preferred a 7200RPM hard-drive over the standard 5400RPM that comes with it. It will not really matter after I upgrade it to a solid state drive or Seagate's hybrid HHD/SSD though. The processor or graphics chip rarely gets hot and the system runs cool.

Screen
The screen is amazing. The screen is: high-contrast, anti-reflective matte finish and bright; at least 300-400nits. I have never seen this good of a screen on any system, not even my wife's 2011 13" Macbook Air or past Macbook Pros.Aesthetics
I read from some reviews how ugly they think the system is. I beg to differ; especially compared to other systems in the same category. This design is original and fashionable. The system has a wedge shape to it with many angles. The power button is offset to the side of the system complementing it well. I also like how it has two separate and sturdy hinges for the screen. You can't even see the hinge on the system once the screen is open because it drops down because of the hinge design (this is hard to explain, you must see for yourself). There's little to no flex with the lid when its shut. There is also no flex or distortion on the screen when pressing it from the back. This is a nice and sturdy full-sized system. It is not slim by any means, but it is a solid build and looks good.

Ergonomics:
The back-lit keyboard is nice for night-time entertainment on the device when you set it to time out. The keyboard is comfortable for my preference. The keys do not feel springy/mushy and have nice feedback. The media sensor keys are nice at the top to use with movies or itunes. I use them to track forward or pause my music while I'm working on papers. You can use them during movies to track forward. The track-pad is textured. It has just the right amount of sensitivity and response when trying to scroll through pages or interface with the system. The system runs quietly, comfortably and cool. The only time the fan has spun up to an audible range is when gaming or trans-coding audio files. Even watching netflix it runs pretty quietly. My wife's MBA will spin up like crazy and get extremely hot when watching netflix; no doubt because of its compact frame. Sound quality is not bad, but could be a tad better compared to the Toshiba's Karmon speakers and Macbook Air. The speakers are loud and crisp, but don't offer much bass. One advantage with sound from over the Mac and Toshiba is the Direction of sound is good though when watching films (more surround sound like). Also, to get descent sound quality, you must enable the Dolby audio in the system tray which also doubles your volume decibels; make sure you check this if you are looking at the floor model at Best Buy to get the full experience of this system if you are considering purchasing it.