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SONY VAIO SA Series VPCSA3AFX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6630M

SONY VAIO SA Series VPCSA3AFX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6630M
alaScore 74

14 reviews

Apr, 2024

alaTest has collected and analyzed 14 reviews of SONY VAIO SA Series VPCSA3AFX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6630M. The average rating for this product is 3.4/5, compared to an average rating of 4.0/5 for other products in the same category for all reviews. People really like the image quality and design. The durability and portability are also appreciated. There are some less positive reviews about the sound and screen, while there are mixed opinions on the price and battery.

performance, portability, durability, design, image quality

screen, sound

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other products in the same category the SONY VAIO SA Series VPCSA3AFX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6630M is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 74/100 = Good quality.

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Review analysis

(Based on 14 reviews)

User Reviews  

Showing 14 review(s)

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Showing 1 - 10 of 14 Show Reviews: in English

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Great so far

 

The bloatware is pretty good, ive dealt with some HP machines and boy are they bad... if you compare this to a new hp machine you can really tell the difference in bloatware. Some reviews have complained about the fan noise. It does get alittle noisy...

Very light for what its packing. Backlit keyboard is a fantastic feature. Faster than what i thought it would be considering it has a 5400 rpm hard drive

While the keyboard is backlit, it is kind of hard to get used to.. the keys are barely raised from the main frame of the laptop. this can be very aggravating if you are used to the standard pc keyboard. The mouse buttons on the touch pad are quite...

May, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

The closest I've found to a perfect laptop...

 

Build quality is good overall, but on my unit (black), the paint on the left and right edges of the palmrest has flaked off in a few tiny areas after only a day or two of use. This is hardly noticeable (probably even less so on the silver unit), but it...

Fast. CPU breezes through basically anything I throw at it. Switchable graphics means I can play all my games with decent settings and at native resolution ; Portable. Very slim and light, even with the sheet battery (included in the version I got). I...

The touchpad. It's an ALPS model, and while it's not terrible, it's not great, either. Coming from a laptop with a Synaptics pad, both the drivers and the digitzer are inferior (think stair-stepping). The stock drivers lack any kind of two-finger...

Feb, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

So loud!

 

As a computer it's fantastic, functions great. I got $300 off when I got it so I'm happy, but if I were spending the full price I'd probably find something a little more eye-catching. Great computer though.

Great performance for what it is, lightweight, thin profile. Great looking screen, love the backlit keys

Cooling fan is ridiculously loud, I joke that we're getting ready for takeoff whenever it comes on. Not really anything more than a mild nuisance, but still, the loudest I've ever heard. Only reason I took away a star. Also some other small things,...

Feb, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Saony VAIO SA

 

Excellent example of Sony equipment. Very satisfied, on demand performance that you can switch on and off depending on your current need and remaining battery charge is a very handy feature. Aluminum body, very sturdy yet light. I use it on the road...

Quality materials, high performance, very nice screen, cool keypad with backlight. Everything and more than you would expect from Sony VAIO

Just one minor observation, the USB ports are so closely located that when I use a 3G flash modem it doesn't fit if all three USB ports are occupied

Feb, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Excellent Machine

 

Don't believe all the one stars reviews. The fan noise is fine when doing normal tasks. Put it in silent mode in the Vaio Control Center and update the bios. My SA is nearly silent when web browsing.

Good deal at $749 ; Fast ; Lightweight and solid build

Slightly subpar viewing angles ; Noise UNDER LOAD

Jan, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Love It!

 

Highly highly recommend installing a 2nd stick of RAM the moment you buy this. I bought this + a 4GB of RAM (G.SKILL) and had both delievered to the hotel where I am staying at. Used it with just the stock 4GB of RAM the first night and installed the...

On average I travel about 20,000 miles or so per year for business and usually carry two laptops with me; my personal one and my business laptop. My laptop bag usually weighs a good 30lbs easy because of this. Also my old Toshiba was starting to die on...

1) Speakers are very poor quality in my opinion ; 2) Screen does bleed some-what ; 3) Has some bloatware (like all companies provide) ; 4) Smudge/finger print magnet ; The cons are not enough for me to reduce the overall rating. The only time I am not...

Jan, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Worst ever laptop

 

Don't buy if really need good performance or less noisy laptop

Lightweight

Battery life is very bad ; After using for 30 minutes it became very hot and also fan is too noisy ; Performance is extremely poor

Jan, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Fantastic little guy!

 

I purchased this laptop, after MUCH deliberation, over the 15" macbook pro for doing software development. Honestly, it was a great decision. This is 13", but the screen resolution is much better than most 13" laptops. The laptop is lighter (again, not...

Extremely lightweight ; Very very fast, even with stock 4GB of RAM ; With the Radeon graphics enabled, I can run 3D software such as Unity with no problem ; With the onboard graphics enabled, the laptop has a huge battery life ; The keyboard is...

Screen color representations are so/so (is this really a Sony display?) ; There are only a couple USB ports, and they are on one side of the system ; Not much else ; Lots of bloatware, but that's a quick format and re-install fix away

Jan, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Kind of disappointing

 

I had my doubts about Sony from before, but this made me decide to not buy from them again.

Fast laptop ; Switchable between high/low performance graphics ; Integrated decent graphics card ; Back lit keyboard ; Removable DVD writer

Screen quality is disappointingly low. Not only the image is washed out, but the viewing angles are bad. Compared to a Dell Vostro 5 years old (!) it is so much worse. It also has the worst blacks I've ever seen, making it the worst LCD screen I've...

Jan, 2012

Consumer review (newegg.com)

Frustrating

 

Sony did a great job packing high performance into a low-cost, feature-rich, and good looking laptop here. Of course, I didn't expect a premium LCD or a 10-hour battery at this price point. But a decent touchpad? Well, after taking it for granted for...

Great specs for such a small form factor and low price ; Backlit keyboard ; VGA port - these are getting harder to find in ultraportables ; Dedicated graphics ; Optical drive ; Reasonable resolution (1600x900) and good brightness for reading in...

Trackpad - it's an Alps (not a Synaptics) so there's no two-finger scrolling. The few "multi-touch" gestures it purportedly supports are useless. Edge scrolling is finicky/laggy at best. The "spiral scroll" seemed promising, but it rarely engages, and...

Jan, 2012
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Price comparison for SONY VAIO SA Series VPCSA3AFX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 13.3" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6630M

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