|
Sony VAIO FW11E 16.4-inch Laptop, Intel Core2 Duo P8400 (2.26Hz), 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD | 
 enlarge
| Brand: Sony
Category: CE
This item is no longer available
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 30966
Platform: Windows Vista Home Premium
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.8
Dimensions (in): 17.6 x 12.8 x 5.3
MPN: VGNFW11E.CEK
Model: VGNFW11E.CEK
EAN: 4905524508857
ASIN: B001CSO5XC
Release Date: July 16, 2008
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Not Great For Gaming January 6, 2009
I don't play much - I've used this laptop for 2 games.
1) The Settlers, Rise of an Empire. Worked well. No complaints.
2) Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare. Worked very slowly. It kind of works, but everything is jerky. I tried to lower the graphic specs to the minimum, but still there wasn't much improvement. So, it put me off playing this game.
Solid performer December 22, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was always wary of Sony as they seemed to charge a premium for their name on a laptop but the features of this laptop caught my eye. After coming away and looking around on the net convinced I would find the same spec in a different brand of laptop for less cash I was surprised when I couldn't.
The real clincher for me was the screen - at 16.4 inch and 1600 x 900 resolution it's really very, very nice. Since this laptop will be getting hammered by Photoshop the screen was very important to me. For the price I paid (<600) I didn't see another machine with a screen like this. Sure, some had 1gb more main ram but this has 3gb and that's pretty good. The dual core Centrino is rated at 2.26ghz too which is good for this price range.
Where it also scores is with its 256mb dedicated video ram. There is some kind of hybrid memory management going on with the graphics card as it also shares main system ram. I'm ok with this as since the graphics card does have its own dedicated memory and there is 3gb of main memory anyway the performance is still good. It's not a gaming laptop by any stretch and you'll need to reduce graphical details in games to keep the frame rate up. I reckon the latest games will have it on its knees even on low detail.
I was surprised to find Photoshop elements 6 on there - a nice bonus to say the least. I had the wireless internet working within seconds of turning the machine on and otherwise have had no problems whatsoever.
Vista takes a bit of getting used to and one thing that does concern me is that on opening the task manager there is something like 89 apps running in the background. That's frankly ridiculous - it's a laptop not a NASA workstation. The CPU monitor always seems to be showing around 10-15% activity too. I'm not sure if this is Vista or programs loaded on by Sony but I will be trying to reduce this for sure.
Performance wise though I am happy overall. It's a definite step up from my older machine. and it handles Photoshop well. The 250gb hard drive is a reasonable size too.
The machine is quiet too and fairly cool - lap use is ok and it won't cook your bits too much. Battery life is over 2 hours in 'normal' mode. There is a performance mode and an economy mode which reduces and expands the battery life respectively.
The styling is also good - it's not quite as sexy as a mac but it's getting there. It's thin and light for its size with separate controls for the audio/media options. The keyboard is nice too; it's different to most laptop keyboards which are fairly cramped.
Connection wise there is an HDMI output which is odd as the machine does not have a bluray drive (boo, but for the price you can't really grumble). I guess it's for outputting downloaded HD content or simply hooking it up to a HD TV which I have not tried. I'm guessing the maximum resolution will still be 1600x900 even on a full HD TV. There are 3 usb slots and an SD + Memory stick slot. No CF slot built in so if you're a canon photographer as I am you will need a card reader for your CF cards. The optical drive is pretty standard 24x write on CD's, 8 X on DVD's - still, pretty decent. There is blutooth built in and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the top screen edge.
There are undoubtedly more powerful laptops out there with bigger and faster everything but not at this price. If like me you need a genuine upgrade but don't need the absolute fastest thing going this laptop should easily satisfy your needs.
4.5 stars
***********************************
Update: I recently noticed my hard drive space dissapearing - from 189GB to 156GB in about 10 days - about 5GB in one evening one time and I hadn't even installed anything for days!!! I had a look around on the web and it appeared to be the system restore fucntion. I turned it off and the space reappeared. Just keep an eye on that! Maybe better to do a manual restore every once in a while to save disk space.
***********************************
 wow... December 14, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have to say I was expecting a quality product when I ordered this laptop, and that is exactly what I got. Sony have outdone themselves with this product, the large screen is great especially since I spend alot of time watching anime and the sound quality is also very good. The only thing I can think of that could ruin this product is the fact that it comes with Vista... However I guess that it isnt Sonys fault that Vista is rubbish so I gave it 5 stars cause the product itself is awesome.
Enjoy!
A decent pocket battleship let down by poor design. November 30, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I purchased this Sony VGN-FW11E as an upgrade for my Toshiba M70 Equium laptop. I was looking for a branded Dual Core processor laptop; a lightweight build and great battery life were not important deciding factors in any purchase, as I do not intend to travel with the product. Generally, the Sony fulfils these criteria well.
At the time of writing, it is still reasonably difficult to find a branded laptop with a decent amount of hard drive space, a good spec Core 2 Duo processor (2.26 GHz), 3GB of RAM (expandable to 4) and Vista Premium for less than 800 (although with the Credit Crunch really biting into retailers' profits, this will certainly change sooner rather than l6ater). I was attracted to this specific model because it offers no-frills wireless-n enabled internet performance, and a good widescreen-enabled resolution of 1600x900. The pricier models in the FW range may include an extra gig of RAM, Dual Lamp screen brightness technology and Blu-ray a reader-writer, but this entry-level model is fine for watching films on the anti-reflective display and for various networking duties.
Now the negative points. For a Sony product, the build quality is not the greatest. The computer looks plasticky right out the box, and relatively minor quibbles like the imperfect fit of the keyboard tray into the computer chassis are indicative of cost-cutting measures.
However, by far the most wooden-headed decision, as stated in previous reviews, is the placement of inputs. The key problem is that the flip-lid covers the back of the computer, i.e., where most other computers have their ports. The upshot of this is that ports have to go elsewhere. Three USBs ports placed side by side, so that bigger plugs block the other ports? Not good. Ethernet ports on the side, meaning that the generally thick CAT cables risk dragging the computer to the side. Headphones and microphone jacks are to one side at the front, getting in the way of cables trailing from USBs. An l-shaped power jack placed inconveniently on the lid hinge and a power button on the opposite hinge mean that these will get knocked easily. These are lazy design decisions that are again indicative of cost-cutting in the design process. As I use the FW11 as a stationary unit this is not a big deal, but for anyone on the move this marks the model down significantly.
The FW11E is a handy pocket battleship of a computer, offering branded reliability, the Vista platform and Core 2 Duo. Don't let the slightly cheap and dunderheaded design spoil your enjoyment if you are going for a compact home computer. However, for those wanting to travel with a laptop (which is after all what laptops are designed for) the size, weight and ungainly port configuration may necessitate a perusal of other and perhaps costlier choices.
Great laptop, some silly flaws (as mentioned in other reviews) October 25, 2008
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
This laptop was an upgrade from my dell inspiron 6400, and my first experience with Vista (something I was unwilling to try for a long time).
The FW11E is an impressive notebook to look at, very sleek design. I do like the latch-less design, and the power button on the hinge. However, as one of the previous reviewers mentioned, I don't really understand how Sony made the mistake of placing all 3 USB ports in the same area, which also turns out to be one of the worst areas to place a USB port in the first place! Its perfectly fine if you don't use a mouse, but the USB plugs do get in the way if you do what a lot of people decide to do when using the laptop at home, which is plug in a mouse, and several other USB peripherals. This is what lost the FW11E one star.
Personally, I dont mind the placement of the audio and mic jacks, I like them better off to the right hand side than slap bang in the middle like you see on some other laptops. They don't get in the way of my hands because I place my right hand slightly more to the centre when typing, and when I'm not typing, my hand is on the mouse, so that's not an issue for me.
Bloatware. Lots of it. Not nice. Give us a clean install, Sony, I'm not interested in silly flash games on my laptop, and if I was, I would just go play them online.
Now some good points: great price for the specs. Centrino 2 2.26 ghz, ati 3470 mobility graphics card, 3gb DDR2 800mhz (as opposed to 667mhz, not much difference, but its still nice that they didn't skimp on that), will play any game out there albeit not on the highest settings.
It's quiet. The fan doesn't sound like a hairdryer like on some other laptops. The built-in webcam seems decent, definitely on par with some of the logitech ones.
I havn't had the chance to test the battery life yet, but a bit of googling indicates around 2.5 hours, which for a 2.26ghz dual core with a dedicated graphics card and a 16.4" screen at 1600x900 resolution seems pretty decent!
I like the feel of the keyboard, although the key seem to be a bit squeaky. Not sure if this will resolve itself with some breaking-in, but I really hope so...
I much preferred the port placement on my inspiron, and I liked the feel of the keyboard better, but in every other category, the Sony comes out on top. And it cost me less than my inspiron did when I bought it too :P
|
|
|
This site is in no way associated with Sony, the Sony Corporation or any subsidiaries of Sony. | |
