Sorry, but I respond to many forum postings and seem to work a Sony product into a lot of my responses. I'm a true fanatic. From camcorders, mics, computers, software (NLE and DVD authoring) to media, I own Sony products. But it is just a personal preference. I've always had very positive experiences with the hardware, especially in taking the bumps of frequent productions. As for the software, it all works together very well. I especially like being able to mark & label chapters for the DVD while I'm editing on my NLE. And it doesn't hurt that the interfaces share many elements.
So in my opinion, Sony is tops from field to finished product. But that is far from a universal opinion.