Sony Vaio VPCF226FM/B or Dell XPS 17

[rconner15]

I'm trying to decide between two labtops, a Sony Vaio or a Dell XPS 17. Both are fairly similar in terms of the hardware. I would like to use the laptop for some gaming (Call of Duty, Total War: Shogun 2). Below are the specs on each:

Dell XPS 17
-2nd generation Intel Core i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
-8GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
-Backlit Internal Keyboard - English
-17.3 in HD+ WLED TL (1600x900)
-NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M 1GB graphics with Optimus
-640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
-Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
-JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
-Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030
-92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Sony Vaio VPCF226FM/B
-Intel® Core™ i7Processor Speed2.0GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz)
-Widescreen high-definition LED-backlit (1920 x 1080)
-16.4" Display
-8GB DDR3 Ram
-750GB SATA (5400 rpm) Hard Drive
-DVD±RW/Blu-ray Disc/CD-RW Optical Drive
-NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1GB (dedicated)

Please help!

[kilgoretrout]

Go with the Dell. I have zero confidence in any Sony notebook at this point.

[rconner15]

Bad personal experience or do they just have a bad reputation?

[glc]

Agreed, plus the Dell has a stronger video chip and faster hard drive.

Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

EDIT: Sony support is lacking compared to Dell, and everything is considerably more proprietary. Dell makes it pretty easy to reload the OS, where Sony makes it quite difficult. Dell's support site has easy to find drivers for everything, and trying to find drivers for Sonys is like pulling teeth.

[Jon-Lybrook]

Just wanted to chime in here about Dell. Their tech support *used* to be the best, however the last few items I've bought from them have had quality-control problems. When I complained and asked for a replacement, they sent me a refurb with no apologies, saying the refurb was going to be better than new. That doesn't say much about how well they manufacture their new products if their tech support is recommending refurbished.

Every laptop I've purchased from Dell directly has had to be returned for one reason or another within a year over the past decade, as had some of their monitors. For this reason I'm actually feeling inclined to check out Sony (or something else), in spite of their past transgressions with proprietary parts and such. Hell, it's a laptop. I know of very few that don't have some proprietary parts.

As far as reinstalling from scratch, Dell driver availability and installations have been okay, but not flawless.

If anyone has any suggestions for a better brand of laptop than either of these vendors, I'm all ears.

Thanks!
Jon Lybrook

[glc]

If anyone has any suggestions for a better brand of laptop than either of these vendors, I'm all ears.

Asus and Lenovo.