Stay away from Sony cameras!

Author's Rating:

Pros: No pros - bad products, lousy customer service and lack of communication.

Cons: UnreliableInsufficient Customer ServiceLow QualityQuirky IssuesFrustrating Dealing with Company

The Bottom Line: 
Avoid Cyber-shot and Sony camera products.  Too frustrating for words.

Author's Review
I am so disappointed in Sony!  I thought they were a high quality company with high quality products, however my experience with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230 digital camera has been nothing but frustrating.  I purchased the camera in October of 2009 at a Best Buy store based on positive reviews.  It performed well for about 5 months at which time it started to do strange things.  The viewfinder wouldn't be visible when the camera was turned for a vertical shot (but only sometimes).  It would turn itself on and off at weird times - with the lens going in and out.  It was a little like it was possessed!  But I persevered and continued to use the camera for trips, hikes, ski adventures and the like, and looked at the website for some hints on why it would do these things - no help there.About 3 months ago the camera inexplicably erased ALL the pictures off my memory chip - including an award worthy close up shot of a mountain goat that I had to hike and climb to get.  SO DISAPPOINTING!!  Shortly after that it stopped working altogether, just wouldn't turn on or off regardless of the battery status. 
Therein began the REAL frustration - dealing with Sony's version of "customer service".  Wow what a corporate cluster that is.  Long story short, I entered all the appropriate information on their repair website (the camera was well within it's warranty period), located the original receipt (no small task) and shipped it well wrapped and documented to the repair center in Laredo, Texas. 
For weeks I checked their website and it continued to say that my camera had not been received.  Later I phoned customer service (where you stay on hold for 30 minutes usually), and was ultimately told they were "upgrading their systems" and the website was not accurate BUT they would complete with the update the following week.  They told me that their repairs were weeks behind because of the "upgrade".  I asked WHY the website stated they hadn't received the unit rather than the truth that the website was under conversion and was unable to provide updated information.  Of course he didn't know.The horror show continued with experiences like 8 phone calls, 6 emails and asking for a supervisor only to be told that "there is no one in charge here, my boss is on a business trip to Austin, Texas."  Well no wonder!  They shipped the camera back to the wrong address, promised to update the address with Federal Express but never did (I finally had to track it down with Federal Express myself). 
At LONG LAST, after 2 months of pain and agony, I receive my trusty little repaired camera back all blister packed and ready to go.  So I think.  I put my memory chip back in the camera (still hoping against hope that my mountain goat picture is somehow still there - it wasn't) - take ONE PHOTO AND IT STOPS WORKING JUST THE SAME AS BEFORE!!!  To add insult to injury, I have to pull out the battery and memory chip around a gold sticker that says "QA PASSED".  Really?  REALLY?  Clearly not - they didn't even check it apparently or would have known it wasn't working.  They claim they replaced the lens and main board.  Then it occurs to them to have me send the battery charger to see if the battery is a problem.  They actually want me to send the camera BACK to them AGAIN to go through another round of testing or whatever they do - I asked them to just provide a new camera but they say they have to go through their "process flow".  The phone reps (customer service repair center and product specialists) have such thick accents you can barely make out what they are saying.  They stick to their script and are far from dealing with a human.  Their supervisors have no direct phone numbers available, no one seems to be in charge, no one cares and the response to lengthy emails and letters are brief canned responses.  
Horribly unsatisfying, disappointing and frustrating - that's my experience with the Sony Cyber-shot.  I would steer clear and avoid them at all costs.