Sony VAIO FE and SZ Notebooks at CES 2006 (pics, specs)

Hey Guys

I ordered the Sony VAIO® VGN-FE590 notebook, my estimated ship date has been unknown for about the last week. I gave Sony a call today and they said that they are still waiting for a part for the notebook until they can start production, he didn't know which part. I told him an e-mail would have been nice to keep me updated on the current situation. He told me that they will receive the part on Feb 14th and then start production, which may mean that I will not receive it until around about the 20th, if I am lucky. I asked for my shipping to be upgraded, he said he would try but couldn't guarantee it. I think the way they handled this is terrible, I ordered my FE series back on Jan 20th, there was no warning on the site that there would be such a long wait, also the sales guy said it would be with me in six days, very funny!!!!!. The worst part of this is that they have taken the money for the three year on-site coverage of my bank account!!!!. There order status online is a joke, if there is any other big delays, I am going to cut my loses, get out while I can and go for my other dream laptop, the Acer Travelmate 8200. I will keep you guys posted of any other developments.

Enlighten

 

Hello,

This is my first time looking at Sony notebooks, and it seems that the people working at Sony Europe are cheeky little monkeys?

The american site, www.sonystyle.com, has the top model VGN-FE590PA:

• Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz)
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional w/ SP 2
• 120GB 5400rpm SATA
• 1GB (512MB x 2) PC2-4200 533MHz DDR2 [Expandable up to 2GB]
• NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 [256MB dynamically allocated (RAM/Video) memory]

And you can customize it on checkout to become even more powerful.

In Europe, however, this entire line is missing, and instead they call them the VAIO FE11S/M/H line, where the top model isn't customizable, and has inferior performance, what's going on here?

At shop.sonystyle-europe.com, the VGNFE11S offers:

• Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83 GHz)
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition
• 160GB 5400rpm SATA
• 1GB (512MB x 2) PC2-4200 533MHz DDR2
• NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 [128MB shared with main memory]

So what the verheat: is going on here???

Are they giving us Europeans a far worse deal? The benefits over the European top model are obvious:

• 2GB of RAM over of 1GB, for heavy applications.
• 2GHz over 1.83GHz for ~10% more performance.
• Infinitely better GeForce 7400 Graphics, having twice the memory of the European model.

So please tell me what's going on with Sony, why are they doing this, and what can be done to get around it?


Best Regards,
Christopher H.

 

Well. Yesterday I got my Vaio FE11H (I live in Austria) and the package and the sticker on the notebook say 256MB Turbochache memory. Also the HDD is listed as a 5400rpm.

Thats very confusing, because on the Austrian Sony site www.sony.at they say it just hast 128MB Turbochace memory and just a 4000rpm HDD

 

in response to enlighten's initial post:

though i haven't been waiting nearly as long as "enlighten" has, i too recently purchased a vaio fe590 (though the pa series) and have been waiting for a rather considerable period of time. i purchased the model on feb 13, two days before the release date of feb 15 and was informed by a representative that the computer would be in my hands on feb 16. i checked the order status page, as i seem to find myself doing on a bi-hourly basis now, to see that the laptop was still out of stock. i called recently to find out that the first shipment of sixty of the fe590 series will be available this wednesday, february 22. today, since the order status screen is permanantly displays "currently out of stock", i called once more to see if my laptop would, in fact, be available as i was informed. today, another customer service representative explained that as my order is number 81 in the queue line it will not be available until the next shipment, whenever that is. i expect to be waiting five more weeks at minimum. bah! having been without a laptop for the past eight months these final days of waiting, which now seem like they will never end, are utter torture.

 

so i just looked through the forum and it seems like sony told other people that the fe would be available on the 7th. the 7th? ha! this makes things even more absurd. when i first checked, i was informed that they were to be available on the 15th, and now here i sit on the 22 being told mine will be available a week from then.

 

OK... good news is that I spoke with an "insider" at Sony. The BAD news is that this person informed me that the FE590 will not be delivered until the middle of next month. Geez... I hope this isn't true and that this person just didn't know the real deal... yikes...

For what it's worth.

 

Thats gonna suck, I planned on buying/ordering a customized FE590 when I get the money to do it but having to wait even longer, ugh that just sounds like alot of fun. I'll be stuck with this one for a few months more.

 

Hi all. I need your help. I know you are all knowledgeable so may I please pick your brain. I am purchasing my first laptop. I have an HP desktop for my word processing, camera, etc. But I would like a computer that can travel with me -- a fun computer to play games on. I am a "Pogo" holic. In addition, I still have dial-up and would like a wireless laptop with suggestions of what services to consider. I'm in love with the VAIO FE series. I'm in my 60's so I really don't want to waste my money and would like something that will last. Thank you all. I appreciate all your help.

 

You should create your own thread in the What Should I Buy forum and complete the what to buy FAQ if you want a recommendation, thanks.

 

Thank you so much for your response. I will do so if you tell me how I start a new thread. I apologize for my lack of knowledge but I respect all your expertise and thought this would be an excellent forum to become more computer literate. Thank you again for your assistance.

 

Sure. First, go into the what should I buy forum. Once you go in there, you will see the "What Should I Buy FAQ" at the top - open that, follow the directions and copy the questions (you'll see).

Then go back to the what should I buy forum, and there will be a button in the top left of the forum "New Thread".

You take it from there.