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I'm planning to refresh my laptop. I've been using a thinkpad T42 for a long time and run Ubuntu on it. I'm planning to move to using a desktop for all my heavy work and getting a very light netbook style machine for mobile use. I need a decent keyboard, good battery life and a display that's bright and responsive. I'm evaluating a couple of laptops including a mac but have never come across information about a Sony Vaio.

Do any of the people have experience with the laptop? What are your opinions? Does it work fine with Linux? Is it tinkerable (a big problem with the macbooks). How's the build quality, how's the service?

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3 Answers

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It differs a lot for each Linux distribution, but Ubuntu should result in having a fully functioning laptop after install without any hassle.

The more exotic the distro the more problems you can expect.

Usual laptop/netbook laptop problems:

  • problems with backlight brightness
  • turning on/off backlight
  • Wifi might be troublesome
  • webcams can be tricky
  • key combinations like FN combo's might give trouble / not work at all

I won't go into the reliability/quality of vaio's as i never owned one myself

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Thanks for your comments. I've installed Ubuntu on a lenovo ideapad and it worked flawlessly out of the box. I expect pretty much the same on a Vaio. I'm more concerned on the quality of the hardware vis-a-vis Macs and Thinkpads. – Noufal Ibrahim Mar 11 '10 at 5:03
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Ubuntu will work perfectly on laptops of any serious vendors. You should concentrate your attention on other factors. VAIO at all I think overpriced...

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Is it just overpriced (ie. milking the brand) or is it really worth the premium? I don't mind paying high for a laptop with a good build quality. – Noufal Ibrahim Mar 12 '10 at 10:12
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They are using top-level components and materials but overall device quality still not premium. You will feel that you bought a premium device every day but probability of technical service will be little bit higher or same in compare with mainstream vendors. – Timur Sadykov Mar 12 '10 at 13:56
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Ubuntu 10.04 works just fine in a dual-boot on my Sony VAIO FS690.

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