I don't care for Vaios, I feel there overpriced.
They are pricey. Toshiba is the same way.
My Dell Inspiron hasn't been trouble, I've taken good care of it though. Look at those and look at these Asus laptops.
It depends on what you use it for. If it's an email checker and web browser then just buy a netbook with a light Linux distro. If you're working with graphics or multimed.ia apps then get a Macbook.