Sony's 16.4-inch VAIO FW laptop gets previewed

Maybe it's the 16.4-inch panel, or maybe it's the built-in Blu-ray drive. Whatever it is, Sony's VAIO FW has garnered quite a bit of attention. Just a fortnight after getting (extra) official, this nimble monster made its way into the loving arms of NotebookReview, where critics couldn't resist giving us a sneak peek before penning the fleshed-out review. We'll just get it out there -- initial impressions are really positive. Fit, finish and build quality were all deemed "excellent," and the overall design was dubbed "beautiful." Performance seemed to be above par during limited testing, though the screen is apt to be one of those love it or hate it ordeals. Check out the read link if for nothing more than a couple more shots.

Update: CNET has a full review of the unit.

[naz @ Jul 28th 2008 6:29AM]

looks great but gonna be expensive as all vaio's are

[Jamma @ Jul 28th 2008 6:34AM]

I dunno about that, i got my FZ vaio with blu-ray, 2GB of RAM, 200GB HDD, Nvidia 8400M, etc, all for £699, which, being the UK, is cheap

[naz @ Jul 28th 2008 7:00AM]

You got me there Jamma that is a pretty good deal especially with the bluray and all that.

[Ellianth @ Jul 28th 2008 11:06AM]

Was it refurbished, or did you buy it off someone? Cuz either of those don't count.

[Jamma @ Jul 28th 2008 12:37PM]

@ Ellianth

Neither, it was brand new, off a proper UK retailer called CCL Computers.

The only slight negative with the deal is that the CPU is only 2.0GHz, but since it's an Core 2 Duo, it doesn't matter too much

[Steve @ Jul 28th 2008 1:01PM]

According to the cnet article, their test version was $1150 and base configurations start around $1000. Say...250-350 for BR? Even going up to $500 for BR still puts this in the palatable range, but that figure would likely turn people off to BR, so it's probably lower.

[Vidit Bhargava @ Jul 28th 2008 1:18PM]

Dan Ackerman at CNET (guy who reviewed this laptop) is fuckin stupid...he says the procesor wasnt impressive (or slower) as compared to earlier processors from intel

this guy compared the FW (with P8400 2.26GHz proc with integrated graphics card 3GB ram) with the likes of asus, hp and gateway which either had T9300 processor (which is 2.5GHz and has 6mb cache with a dedicated graphics card & 4gb/3gb ram) or had a dedicated video memory graphics card (with T8300 2.4GHz proc)...this would obviously result in the sony being slower

yes the new proc has 1066MHz of FSB but still the other configurations(800MHz) will obviously outdo it

this guy should fuckin look at the specs before comparing

[Cliff @ Jul 28th 2008 1:26PM]

Base model FW11E is £799 P8400 3gb ram 250gb hdd dvdrw
FW11L is £849 same spec but with Blu-ray combo and 2gb ram
FW11M is £949 i think (can't quite remember) adds 4gb ram
FW11S is £1199 adds 300gb and BD writer
FW11ZU is £1299 has faster P9400 proc and Radeon 3650
Fairly good value in the lower specs for Centrino 2 and Blu-ray they are also fairly slim and don't feel too heavy, the screen is awesome quality.

[Metkis @ Jul 28th 2008 2:26PM]

@Vidit:

Yeah, he isn't the smartest monkey on fire. He actually said that the EEE was a better deal than the Wind because it was just a little bit faster due to the SSD... not considering the fact that the Wind is 100 dollars CHEAPER and has more HD space, not to mention better built with a better keyboard.

My advice, steer clear of CNET for most reviews.

[nDee @ Jul 28th 2008 8:24PM]

With more ram, (3Gb is not usual on laptops)
it sure is faster.

[luzzio @ Jul 28th 2008 6:37AM]

Oh wow... that IS beautiful.

[Khris @ Jul 28th 2008 8:48AM]

If you want something the size of a Texas dinner platter on your lap. It's HUGE!

[Itchy @ Jul 28th 2008 6:41AM]

looks like a Apple MacBook Air - just bigger (and with more power)

[Kelmon @ Jul 28th 2008 6:57AM]

In what way, beyond the fact that it has a keyboard and screen? Frankly, it looks a lot like a lot of laptops, let alone the MacBook Air.

[jorvay @ Jul 28th 2008 9:40AM]

looks like a Sony Laptop - just bigger (and with more power)

Seriously dude, this is a pretty typical look for Sony. Apple didn't invent the wheel, they just overcharged for it.

[pharao111 @ Jul 28th 2008 6:42AM]

nice shape, but why do they always keep the trackpad so small...would be very nice to have a larger one.

[Geqxon @ Jul 28th 2008 9:12AM]

That's what she said!

[Jamma @ Jul 28th 2008 3:04PM]

Nooooooooooooooooooooo you don't want a large trackpad, you'd never har the end of it from the mactards!!

[KilgoreTrout @ Jul 28th 2008 6:46AM]

Beautiful on my planet is only what works beautifully.
BTW on my planet there are only laptops. Not hot chicks.

[ahdok @ Jul 28th 2008 6:46AM]

That keyboard profile looks verrry familliar to me...

[Juxtah @ Jul 28th 2008 6:48AM]

You're right, it looks exactly like the Sony X505 from over 4 years ago!

[trev @ Jul 28th 2008 7:02AM]

You mean like all the other sony laptops? Including the ones that came out before the macbook? :)

[liv @ Jul 28th 2008 7:55AM]

Your comment was similar to what Stevie Wonder says everytime he touches a piano...

[riggs @ Jul 28th 2008 8:20AM]

"i cant see!"

[Juxtah @ Jul 28th 2008 6:47AM]

The Macbook air looks like the Sony, seriously why does everyone think Apple were the first to use that keyboard style?

[Juxtah @ Jul 28th 2008 6:54AM]

I like the styling, most of Sony's new range kind of look like they took a Vaio TZ series and expanded it to fit even more stuff in to.

[rb69 @ Jul 28th 2008 1:09PM]

I have a Vaio FZ31Z - exactly similar specs (except screen of 15.4). and includes a Blue Ray RW.

I didnt like the Keyboard that much comapred to my previou still running great Vaio FS series.

Out of 4 GB (MAX RAM) you cannot use more than 3 GB in these Laptops as 1 GB is reserved for internal and thats the drawback! Vista is bit slow though it shows a fairly large performance index and Vista runs faster on my old FS 1.73 Ghz 2 GB system :-) well now I demoted both the laptops to XP.

[Corsair @ Jul 28th 2008 7:04AM]

Looks nice, but I don't like the trend with these ultra wide screens that they are introducing. Vertical space is reduced below what I consider "acceptable" and this for the shake of Film Industry!!!

Oh come on people.... let Film Industry change their aspect ratio... not PCs!

[Ian Tullie @ Jul 28th 2008 7:34AM]

I've been thinking about this - we "see" in widescreen (i.e. without moving our eye we see more side-to-side than we do top-to-bottom) so it's no coincidence that this is the way things are going - the cinema industry had just led the way on providing this immersive experience of using a good amount of our visual field.

What I think there should be agreement on, though, is the fairly narrow gap between 16:9 and 16:10 for screen sizes so that my laptop and TV have the same res. And I'd also like to see a TV manufacturers produce a 2.35:1 TV so that movies can be played full screen without the big black bars. Unfortunately, 2.35:1 would make for stupid sized laptops so it's not going to work as a universal standard.

[farfisa @ Jul 28th 2008 8:40AM]

Just think of it as a little more room at the sides. ;)

[Irfan @ Jul 28th 2008 7:21AM]

Now if they could just get a 9650M GS in that. It would make my next laptop choice easy.

[John Doe @ Jul 28th 2008 2:40PM]

you mean the faulty nvidia chips??

[Itsuru @ Jul 28th 2008 7:25AM]

Tip of the hat to Sony, strong lineup.

[Kelmon @ Jul 28th 2008 7:28AM]

Note to laptop manufacturers:

Once you finally start shipping laptops without crapware installed on them, can you go one stage further and stop slapping stickers all over the place? Contrary to what you might think, they are not the equivalent of "go faster stripes" and they ruin what your talented designers have worked for.

Thanks.

[Senor_Tom @ Jul 28th 2008 7:45AM]

I couldn't have said it better myself

[jorvay @ Jul 28th 2008 9:43AM]

my fingers always hurt after getting a new laptop from the incessant picking at the lame stickers.
Hint: once you have them off, a cleaner called Goo Gone takes the sticker glue right off (available at most hardware stores...in Canada at least).

[bolezhinkov @ Jul 28th 2008 1:03PM]

goo gone has helped me out so many times. it seems like everything I have bought with the exception of the samsung yp-p2 has had some shitty hard to remove sitcker on it that leaves that residue.

or if you go to your friends place and see their computers still have the original stickers on them like 8 months later . . . infuriating. they are all black and shitty around the edges and for some reason when I offer to take them off they'll say something like "oh I dont know" or "I dont really think about it"

fools

[silverblackvoid @ Jul 28th 2008 7:28AM]

do u realize how massive FAIL you are?

[David @ Jul 28th 2008 7:31AM]

I didn't know the 3470 could get 2600 points in 3dmark06

[David @ Jul 28th 2008 7:31AM]

or 3670?

[coolmunk @ Jul 28th 2008 7:56AM]

I just saw this laptop at BestBuy last night. It is very nice, but i still like the m1530 better.

[Eckofish @ Jul 28th 2008 7:58AM]

Title should read: "Sony Vaio gets Aired."

If I have to explain that, you're clearly not an Apple fanboy :)

[luzzio @ Jul 28th 2008 8:52AM]

wtf

[ShadowKain @ Jul 28th 2008 8:10AM]

Too bad their computers are difficult to work with, especially their drivers and support. I can vouch for this with my ongoing Help Desk job at Penn State, sure the laptop may be neat, but Im wary of one that has such poor support. And btw, I don't like Macs if you were wondering.

:)

[Za @ Jul 28th 2008 12:32PM]

esupport.sony.com - I work as a campus tech as well, and Sony's driver support is better than anyone else. Go to that website, type in the laptop model, and voila.

[riggs @ Jul 28th 2008 8:19AM]

FIRST! to downvote you.

[tyler @ Jul 28th 2008 8:45AM]

Combine one part Air, one part MacBook Pro, and one part Vaio. Blend until nice consistent mixture. Pour into 16" baking dish and heat at 1000 degrees for approximately 2-4 months. Enjoy!

[Juxtah @ Jul 28th 2008 8:55AM]

Why does everyone coming along think that his is similar to the Macbooks? Seriously have you not been watching the computer industry for more then 2 years?

[tyler @ Jul 28th 2008 9:03AM]

No man I haven't. I've only been watching the computer industry for the past 15-20 minutes.

It was a joke.

[Deluxe @ Jul 28th 2008 6:07PM]

Could have fooled me.