Vaio FW first impressions incl. pics and benchmarks

[CeeNote]

VAIO FW First Impressions

I decided to write an actual review but because I don't have much time right I'm just going to share some pro's and con's about my pre-build Vaio VGN-FW140D with the following specs:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400
3GB PC2-6400
250GB 5400rpm
DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/RAM
16.4" 1600 x 900
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470 256MB dedicated
Atheros 802.11b/g/n Wireless
Integrated Stereo A2DP Bluetooth® Technology
Standard Capacity Lithium-ion Battery
Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium with SP1

$999 CDN after $100 CDN coupon (from sonystyle.ca); final price including tax and such was $1,055 CDN.


First of all, here are some pics of this laptop, enjoy!














Some benchmark tests (I will run some 3dmark tests later today):
all benchmarks were run @ stock settings with stock drivers

PCMark 05



PCMark Vantage



[COLOR="DarkGreen"WPrime + SuperPi[/COLOR]



Windows Experience Index



HDTune Read



3DMark 06



World in Conflict in-game benchmark run @ 1600x900 res and lowest settings



Company of Heroes in-game benchmark run @ 1600x900 res and low settings



PRO's

-awesome value
-good build quality (sturdy body, very little flex)
-beautiful design, thin and sleek
-the XBrite ECO screen is awesome (it's sufficiently bright and very evenly lit, can't ask for anything more)
-the keyboard feels really comfortable once you get used to the spacing in between the keys.
-includes useful video editing software
-no glossy finish (except for the screen) so it doesn't attract any fingerprints
-fans are quiet and still provide adequate cooling, only the palm wrests get somewhat warm

CON's

-made entirely of plastic (strong plastic nevertheless)
-oddly-placed usb ports (get in the way of the optical drive)
-TONS of bloatware
-no Vista OEM disc, not even a recovery disc or a driver disc is included (you can burn the recovery discs yourself though, it takes about 30min)
-speakers are clear but too quiet

Overall my impression is very positive. Before I got to this laptop I bought and returned 2 others, both of which were much more expensive but this lappy is simply great. I highly recommend the Vaio FW for anyone who's looking for a lower-priced, well performing and well build laptop that's also got the looks.

[Phil]

Nice pics CeeNote, I really like the white.

[CeeNote]

Thanks PhilFlow, yes the white does look really nice on this laptop and it's actually much thinner and lighter than I'd expect from a laptop with this screen size.

[kthxbye]

Nice review, thanks!

Question: could you define "speaker too quiet"? How is watching a movie on them? Is it enough? How is listening to music?
And, burning the recovery discs: do you have to use CD-R's or DVD-R's??

[dave159]

CeeNote- how is typing with the keyboard? do you need to reach to get to any keys (enter or shift (left)?
i'm crossing my fingers that my CTO FW comes with a standard keyboard as appose to the bilingual one.
but judging by your photos there doesn't seem to be much compromise.
And, i noticed you have the core duo sticker, does that mean you have a Atheros wireless card instead of the intel?

[CeeNote]

Nice review, thanks!

Question: could you define "speaker too quiet"? How is watching a movie on them? Is it enough? How is listening to music?
And, burning the recovery discs: do you have to use CD-R's or DVD-R's??

Listening to music is fine but even relatively minor distractions can make it hard to hear some of the more quiet parts of a movie even at max volume. The laptop is very quiet though so the speakers should still suffice in most circumstances.

You have to use 2 DVD-R's for the recovery discs, CD-R's won't work.

CeeNote- how is typing with the keyboard? do you need to reach to get to any keys (enter or shift (left)?
i'm crossing my fingers that my CTO FW comes with a standard keyboard as appose to the bilingual one.
but judging by your photos there doesn't seem to be much compromise.
And, i noticed you have the core duo sticker, does that mean you have a Atheros wireless card instead of the intel?

The keyboard is very comfortable and you don't have to reach to get to any keys. It took me a couple hours to get used to it but I really like it now. It feels a bit "softer" than most keyboards. Yeah I got the bilingual keyboard which is kinda weird having some keys labeled in both English and French but it's not that bad imo.

Yes I also got the Atheros wireless card which works really well actually.

[dave159]

Right on! that was my main concern
thanks for clearing things up, thanks for the pics
cant wait to get mine

[hendra]

You have to use 2 DVD-R's for the recovery discs, CD-R's won't work.

Can you use DVD-R DL?

[CeeNote]

Right on! that was my main concern
thanks for clearing things up, thanks for the pics
cant wait to get mine

No problem! Yeah the waiting is the hardest part lol!

Can you use DVD-R DL?

I think you can but I'm not sure.

[ShinyFalcon]

Yes when you burn your recovery disk you can choose to use 1 DL disk or 2 regular DVDs. It takes a while, took me about an hour for some reason.