I really rate them highly, but my experience is with one from one I bought in 2000, so not a recent model.
My Sony Viao laptop lasted just over 6 years before it finally died, and that was with pretty rough handling (slipped off the arm of the sofa more than once and also had a can of beer spilt over the keyboard!!)
You're certainly right that Sony are generally more expensive for the same spec than most other brands, but I would definitely have bought one when I got a new laptop recently *if* I could have afforded it.
Unfortunately I couldn't, so instead I went for a Dell, which is OK, but I much preferred my Vaio.
Even though they also offer full size keyboards on their range, I would advise you to steer clear of Dell (well, their Vostro and Inspiron laptops) if your interest is in music as I had a lot of issues with the sound on mine. While researching the problem I found the Dell forums full of people with exactly the same problem, and no solution offered.
Obviously lots of people will not see the same sound problems, but it does appear to be a weakness.
Hope this helps?