I'm about to buy a lmusic laptop (pc) thinking of a sony vaio with the following spec :-
Model Name

SONY VAIO FR395EP

Microprocessor
Intel® Celeron® 2.60 Ghz Processor

Motherboard chipset
ATI RS200M+

Standard Memory
256 MB (upgradeable to 1024 MB)

Cache Memory
128 KB (on die)

Hard Disk Drive
40GB

Optical Drive
CDRW/DVD Drive

Floppy Drive
1.44 MB Floppy Disc Drive

Display
15" XGA TFT colour display Max Resolution 1024 × 768

Graphics
ATI Radeon IGP 345M Video Memory Up to 128 MB

Multimedia
Analog Devices AD1981B • 16-bit CD-quality stereo sound • AC 97 2.3

Interfaces
2 PC Card Slot(s) • 4 pins i.Link port • MemoryStick slot • 3 USB port(s) • Audio/Video out • Headphones out • Microphone in • Ethernet port • Parallel port • VGA monitor out

PC card Slots
2 PCMCIA type I, 2 PCMCIA type II or 1 PCMCIA type III Cards and Cardbus support

Modem
Built-in modem V.90, K56 flex, Fax / Modem

NetWork
10Base-T/100Base-TX

Lithium-Ion Battery
PCGA-BP2NX up to 2 hours

Dimensions(WxHxD)
329 x (42-57.4) x 274.5 mm (with 15-inch panel)

Weight
3Kg+

Software
Windows XP PRO

Warranty
1 year (extendable to 3 years with VAIO plus warranty pack)

has anyone come across any scare stories about the sonys in terms of audio production or do you recommend a different maunfaucturer?

advice would be welcome (also there is a special offer on with this one where you get a free 2mega pixel camera ;) )