Product Description
Broaden your entertainment horizons with the VAIO FW notebook featuring an extra-wide 16.4-InchXBRITE-ECO LCD display. Great for watching widescreen Blu-ray Disc movies or viewing two websites side-by-side, this entertainment-rich notebook minimizes those annoying black bars you see when playing widescreen movies. Watch and record CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Disc movies and get the most out of your games with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. An HD entertainment powerhouse, the VAIO FW notebook is inspired by theater screens, born from Sony HD expertise and powered by the energy-efficient and super-powerful Centrino 2 processor technology – the latest and greatest from Intel.
Customer Reviews
Awsome!!!!
I bought this Laptop last week from Best Buy ($1,299). It had more Ram and more Memory than almost every computer I looked at. It has a 17" Monitor. It's sleek (like where the power button and a/c plug are located) and look amazing. It's 1080P and has a Blue Ray Player and Writer (25 times the space of a DVD). It has an HDMI out! I connected it to my 72" DLP yesterday and within seconds I saw my laptop image on my TV (Amazing!!). The quality of the LCD Screen is fantastic. It has a dual processor which even helped my internet speed. I am 6'5" and have large hands. The keyboard is set up perfectly for me. I would definitely recommend this computer to anyone.
- You know after you buy something you question your purchase for the next couple of days... I am totally satisfied with this computer and would make the purchase again without a second thought!
My new love
I used to own a Vaio FJ-270 and loved it except for its severe overheating problem. This one was cheaper and better--I love how computers keep getting cheaper. Despite being filled with free software (which keep in mind keeps the price of the computer down). The Spaced out keys take some getting used to but end up being really nice!
Pros:
Massive HDD (I was a bit angry when I found out it really only had 280 GB)
-Fast processor
-Beautiful HD screen!
-Elegantly designed
-quiet
-The legs on the back of unit raise it up a lot more than my previous laptop, so the fan is able to cool unit down faster and easier (the fan is also extremely quiet!)
Cons:
-HDD does Not have a full 320; it was not even 290 GB! (I know I put the hard drive on the pro also--it still is a huge amount of memory)
-Trial ware galore
-USB ports are only located on one side (this is SOO annoying!). It is also a downgrade from my old Vaio.
-Windows Vista--the biggest disappointment of all! It SUCKS!
Keep in mind this unit has a 5200 RPM HDD which wont allow you to enjoy the 4 GB of ram as well as a 7200 RPM HDD would. 5200 RPM does preserve battery life about 6-10% more.
********HELPFUL TIP*********** I purchased this thing and two days later it went down $100! I was so angry because Amazon discontinued their price guarantee. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for a reimbursement of the difference so I called. At first, India said there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING they could do. I then asked to speak to their supervisor and the woman reminded me it would do no good. After 5 minutes of my time, they gave me a "one time" adjustment. Don't fear buying from Amazon if you think it may go down because they are more than capable of reimbursing you your money!! Just keep calling back if it doesn't work the first time!
UPDATE: 3/10/09: The computer still works wonderful. The only complaint I could find is the sound of the CD ROM drive. It is loud and vibrates excessively when the disc is being read. I thought it was broken but have a friend with the same model VAIO so it is apparently normal. Other than that, I still highly recommend this laptop to anyone.
Great Computer - But...
I think everything about this computer is a five, but I am specifically reviewing it for one major flaw - don't try capturing video from your camcorder through the firewire (also known as the ilink) connection. It crashes the computer everytime. This was one of the main reasons I purchased this computer - was to capture video in order to do some editing. I have tried two different camcorders, two different firewire cables, two different programs to capture, but they all crashed. I found a forum discussing this issue and pointed this all out to Sony chat support - but they are blowing this off and don't know how to fix it. Great computer - but this flaw is a deal buster for me.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=328242