The previous generation: the Sony Vaio PCG-SRX41P utra-portable I bought three years ago.

When portability was all, and performance was not required, this was ideal - at least, in all respects but reliability (more on that shortly).

But now that my needs have changed, this mostly serves as a camera backpack machine, for on-site proofing.

At the time I bought it, my mission was simple: find the smallest, lightest laptop with a proper trackpad (I detest those stupid nipple things). The catchily-named PCG-SRX41P was the winner.

Even at the time, a clock-speed of 800Mhz on mains with a default 500Mhz on batteries wasn't setting the world alight, but it was a special mobile computing chip that delivered better performance than the raw numbers suggested, and my needs really weren't that demanding.

The portability really is stunning. It weighs nothing, can be comfortably carried around in your hand almost as a slightly over-sized Pocket PC, and slips into any bag.

However - and this is a VERY big 'however' - reliability proved extremely poor and after-sales service nothing less than appalling.

The screen cracked not once but twice, each time in exactly the same place, as a result of the too-flimsy plastic housing flexing. Despite this clearly being a design fault, Sony refused to honour either the original or the company's own extended warranty. The cost of the repairs (thankfully met by the all-risks element of my household contents policy with the excellent Liverpool & Victoria Insurance) totalled £800.

Getting the repairs done was a major undertaking, as Sony has no Vaio service centre in the UK. You deal with an Irish call centre to track the progress of a repair in France. The telephone helpline just leaves you on hold for hours, and the esupport system goes unread for a week or more at a time. Nobody knows anything, and the promised call-backs simply don't happen. I was without the machine for a total of over seven weeks, and trying to chase progress was a deeply frustrating experience. It is not one I would ever wish to repeat.

Much as I love the machine, I would never again buy a Vaio.

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