Sony VAIO TR3 Notebook PC (1.0 GHz Pentium M Centrino, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Combo)

Rating:
Summary: Not an Outstanding Product from Sony VAIO
Review: This computer by Sony VAIO is surely one of the poorly designed ones. Its small size considered to be easy to carry, and a specual webcam is included on the top of the screen. In this year, most of the computers are above 1.5 GHz Pentium M Centrino, and this computer still remains in 1.0. 40 GB of Hard Drive is counted as small nowadays, since mostly are 60 GB. The featured Sony VAIO computers include 1 Click DVD, but this one doesn't. The 1 Click DVD is very helpful during vacation, but this "voyager computer" doesn't include such software, that's very disappointing. Not a computer for recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Teriffic for Travel
Review: I have had the VAIO TR3 for over a year. It works great especially using a wireless card. The small screen is easier to view than a dull larger one. I use it exclusively for travel and it fits my needs to a T!(Pardon the pun!) I am baffled by the poor user reviews. Just to be able to slip it into your briefcase on the fly and not to carry another case is really helpful to me. I intend to buy another one -- TR5 in the immediate future. No problems at all with my TR3.

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly thrilled...
Review: Sony VAIOs came highly recommended by many of my friends; I had heard nothing but good things about their notebooks. (The desktops...not so much. But the notebooks were supposedly great.)

My TR3AP1 worked fantastically for about two weeks, until it completely stopped working -- XP Pro wouldn't start at all, System Restore wouldn't work, and I couldn't even get it back to a point where I could get any data off of it.

Turns out they sent me a unit with a bad hard drive. Instead of being apologetic, they attempted to charge me to replace it (never mind that I purchased an extended warranty and had owned the computer for less than a month!) and insisted that I give them a credit card number to 'secure the repair, in case the warranty wasn't valid.' It took 2 hours on the phone and three supervisors to get the warranty-covered repair authorized.

When it was working, the computer ran much more slowly than one would normally expect, even taking into account slower-than-average processor than is usually found in notebooks now. While the small size and sharp screen are great, I think I would have been much better off buying an Apple or a Dell, two brands I've always had great luck with.