My wife just started her own business and as such we needed to replace her "old" Dell Latitude laptop. We both have been using Dell until now and the spotty track record in reliability made us look somewhere else. To be honest, my better half isn't too gentle with her computer and the Dell simply was no match for her. Then again, I practically babied my Inspiron and it broke even sooner (twice). But enough of the Dell rampage and let's focus on the Vaio.
IN A NUTSHELL
We have the FS640W for about 6 months now and good build quality and the excellent screen are the two outstanding factors that make us not regret this purchase. Lackluster performance for 3D applications and hard drive intensive programs is a turn-off for gamers and CAD applications.
The FS640W is a great Office companion with good battery life and relatively low weight considering the 15.4" screen. Buy it for looks and sturdy housing as well as a vibrant (wide) screen, but don't expect desktop performance.
DETAILS
A laptop is such a complex design, that I am going to spare you a repetition of each feature and what it means. Hence I will focus on the things that matter to the typical user who doesn't care if the memory is DDR or DDR2 ...
Design: It's a Sony. Design is a major selling point and the Vaio line knows that very well. Good looks come from a stylish (Silverish) Grey and Black housing with nice details like the embossed VAIO logo. The FS640W slims down significantly due to the partially Grey and Black design that creates the illusion of a slimmer device, though in the front it's rather real. Overall, the FS640W looks good on your desk or your lap with an elegant beauty that doesn't fade too quickly.
Rating: *****
Ergonomics: The full size keyboard meets standards and feels slightly above average for a laptop in regard to tactile feedback and visibility (under normal light). The fly in the ointment is self-induced by the look-alike slim design which gets thicker in the back. The transition would be fine, if there wasn't a step half-way and create an annoying pivot point. The screen weight lets the FS640W rest on the back step and using the keyboard will try to push it to rest on the front edge (tilt). This can be really annoying if you don't bias the weight by resting your palms securely on the Vaio. Something that's not easily done. The keyboard is not lighted and of limited use under low light conditions, but not as much as Black counterparts since the bright key do a reasonable job in recycling available light.
Rating: ***--
Durability: So this would be the main point for choosing this computer. The build quality shows no weakness even after 6 months. (A time frame that typically separates the good from the bad when frequently used.) Despite the plastic housing, the scratches are minimal and the Dell typical flimsiness of the case is nowhere to be found in the Vaio. (IBM's amazing z60T, however, easily tops that too.)
Rating: *****
Performance: Average. The 1.6 GHz processor isn't exactly a hallmark in performance these days, though the 533MHz FSB stands out from the 400 MHz crowd. The included 512MB memory is reasonable for simple applications, but the 4500 rpm hard drive slows the computer significantly down when paging files. Medium and large sized application will swap a lot with only 0.5 GB of RAM, and feel sloooooow on the FS640W.
Rating: ***--
Sound: The integrated speakers are nothing to brag about, but they do a good job considering their size and natural disadvantage in the lower frequencies. It works fine for normal usage, but music lover will sooner or later need headphones.
Rating: ***--
Battery: With 19 Volts, the FS battery is different enough to require its own power supply, but in return shows good stamina from a rather small package. With power management set to laptop, we get about 3 - 3.5 hours from the standard battery, but typically that doesn't involve much hard drive activity and the screen is set to half the brightness. (Typically recommended for laptops on the go anyway.) The small battery translates into relatively low weight. For longer trips it can be replaced with an optional higher capacity battery ($330).
Rating: *****
Screen: The wide-screen format is becoming more popular and laptops like the Vaio apparently made it a new substandard. Resolution is fairly high with and color rendition is beautiful. The latter also comes from the smooth screen front, which helps boast detail but also works against you when using it under normal office conditions. The highly reflective surface works very well as a mirror and makes the content hard to see when you have to stare at yourself. This trend is common these days to boost vibrant colors in HD tvs from Samsung and Sony, but at reduced usability under normal light conditions due to excessive glare. The underlying Intel graphics chip is no match for ATI or nVIDIA and most modern 3D games won't even run on it. However, that insignificant for most office applications and low power graphics help to preserve precious battery power.
Rating: ***--
Connectivity: Most useful of the provided ports may be the three USB2.0 ports and the integrated Memory Stick reader. The latter is only of interest for users of Sony devices (cameras, handhelds etc.) that use the proprietary Memory Stick, but convenient should you fall into that category. Unfortunately, Sony still doesn't have the foresight to expand that support to the widely used SD memory or even CF cards. Further, we ran into the problem that medical devices (as needed for my wife's business) often require serial ports (RS232) which the FS640W does not provide. We got a USB-to-Serial adapter which works fine (but also costs another $40). The integrated WiFi can be easily turned on and off via switch and is G-Standard capable (up to 54 Mbps). In our case it connects reliably to the Linksys Wireless Gateway.
The optional
port replicator VGP-PRFS1 helps to make the frequent transition between home and work more enjoyable. The added cost, however, is significant and will reach into your pocket for an additional $300. (Replicator = $200, Power supply = $99) However, it also improves the tilting issue, but doesn't completely fix it either.
Rating: ****-
Support: It's a Sony. If you're familiar with the brand, you may have encountered the "do not bother us" attitude the websupport tries hard to convey without actually saying it. The website is an ever changing mess, with below-standard programming, considering it's a computer manufacturer. Being big and bulky sure doesn't seem to help Sony to score many points here. Driver updates are rarely posted (or published in general) and help is often reduced to "Ask Microsoft" or whoever -- but not Sony. Fortunately we didn't need any technical support with the FS640W, but until recently the described behavior was all too common for my Clie NX60. Sony also gives absolutely no grace on the rebates and should you send it in only one day "too late", it will take that opportunity to keep your money. (Happened to me with this purchase.)
Rating: **---
Vista Proof? Due to the lackluster 3D performance and slow hard drive as well as mediocre CPU, the FS640W is not a likely candidate to upgrade to the new Windows when it becomes available end of 2006. However, since there are still plenty users of Windows98 this may not be such a big problem, and you would be good until sometime in 2007 or even 2008 to stick with WindowsXP.
Rating: **---
© 2006, Thomas Theuerkorn
in Computer Hardware, Electronics, Software
|
Gumtree.com
