FW series is better than SR series?

Hi. I have decided to buy VGN-FW140E/H. Is SR series better than FW series? I have no idea since I am pretty new to laptops...
Is my choice good one?
Thanks.

 

Um...they're pretty different laptops, the SR is a 13.3" screen and the FW is 16.4" just for starters.

What are you getting the laptop for? Fill out the questionnaire for more help, otherwise it's all guesswork.

 

The FW has much more movie friendly viewing..the screen is higher resolution and larger, plus its 16:9(movie aspect ratio). It also includes an HDMI port, and larger speakers. So if your looking for a more movie friendly laptop, the FW is it.

The new FW2xx series has a more powerful video card as well.

The SR is more for mobile computing, so if your on the move more often, but like to game once in a while... it's for you.

So the FW is more powerful, includes bluray, and more multimedia stuff, but is larger and heavier. The SR is lighter, and more travel friendly... both are reasonably powerful. The FW140 and SR190 are similiar in terms of power, so the big difference is choice of bluray and screen size. The LED screen on the SR is very nice, but the HD screen on the FW is probably better for movies.

 

if you plan to haul it around everywhere you go, the sr would be a better choice...

but you should fill out the questionnaire like dagatech said... here, i'll make it easy for you:
General Questions

1) What is your budget?

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or less
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Screen Specifics
Note - When this FAQ was started many years ago, the split between standard screen notebooks and widescreen notebooks was about 50-50. In the meantime, widescreen notebooks have become the new standard. If you're looking for a standard screen notebook, some people are, you may wish to mention it. There are a few standard screens still being sold, but they're going the way of the Dodo bird.
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.


12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 500GB?

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?

 

Where can i see specs and price for new FW2xx series? And is it released in the market?

Well my budget is around $1000.. Anything in the range 900-1200 is fine. Mainly running Oracle or BI tools and also I use it for playing AI games(Chess engines) and sometimes video games too but only once in a while. Other main purposes are browsing, watching movies and running some applications too.

 

the new 2xx series is now available for CTO on the sonystyle webpage...

 

Ok. And is it better to normally buy a standard default pre-built one or customized one? Like shall I customize VGN-FW290 model by adding a dedicated graphics card? Or shall I go with pre-built VGN-FW140E/H ? Are people buying this model more nowadays? That's what my fear is.... whether I am buying outdated model? Please suggest.
And as I said, my main purpose is application development/programming, movies, browsing etc.. Occasional games maybe.. And I still can play some games in this without a dedicated Graphics card right? Thanks.

 

the 2xx series is the current one, i suggest going with it, as second revisions have more kinks typically worked out of them. In terms of pre-configured vs. CTO, there has been some debate about it, but most of the "claims" of CTO being worse built than pre-config are completley unsubstantiated and i cant find a single thread/forum with actual evidence suggesting a difference in quality. The CTO's are built in the USA and the pre-config are built in china/japan for the US market.

My SR is CTO and it has no workmanship defects. Besides, it's a sony, not a dell, defects in the building process are not a concern...

 

But is it possible to get 2xx series for less than $1300 ? If it is really better technology than FW140E/H than I can go for it for $1300 or less.. And what do you mean by "second revisions have more kinks typically worked out of them" ?

 

yeah... considering the CTO FW2xx series starts out at like 899. for 1300 you can get quite a notebook...

Here's a FW290 CTO i configured to give you an idea of what you can get for 1300...

$1299.99

Estimated Ship Date 10/02/2008

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz)
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
Titanium Gray
3 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GB+1GB)
160 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3650 with 512MB vRAM
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™
No Fresh Start™
Video Standard
QuickBooks Simple Start
Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial

 

1) And does this CTO FW2xx series you configured above has wireless card, HDMI port and bluray stuff's ?
2) DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive -- means there is no DVD writer?

 

2) that's a dual layer dvd writer

 

Bluray is called BD-ROM, a DVD BURNER is called DVD-RW. A blu-ray burner is called BD-R or BD-RW.

DVD-R DL means Double Layer(hold more memory), DVD-RW means DVD read/write, and DVD-RAM is another format of burnable DVD. This is a dvd-writer or burner.

So yes, the FW has a burner...standard. All laptops have wireless cards(the new vaios all have A/B/G/Draft-N wireless cards). Bluray is optional on the FW's, and they do have HDMI ports.

Please check the sony webpage for this info... www.sonystyle.com

You can choose laptops and see their specifications on there.