FW590 Up on sonystyle

The updated FW590's are now up on sonystyle. I don't see anything new besides Win 7 and some different colors. There is a new "nebula" design with a graphic on the back, but that doesn't really appeal to me.

The whole site is changed, but I didn't look at any of the other laptops. The FW is the one I have been considering.

 

Extremely dissapointing update. They were already giving away free versions of Windows 7 with the 490. None of the components have changed.

Meanwhile, Dell Studio XPS has gone i7. They have the best screen in the industry (RGBLED), superior graphics card, backlit keyboard, superior processors, superior ram.

Why Sony, why? I really wanted to get a Vaio...but Sony let me down.

 

If you care so much about minimal performance upgrades that hardly affect day-to-day use, go ahead and buy an inferior product that has poor heat management and will likely die in a year or two.

 

There is also a 500GB 7200 rpm drive, 256Gb solid state drive, blue ray players is now $70 and the overall price has dropped. There may be some other things i missed.

 

true say, they really are just minimal upgrades.
so DELL SXPS 16: tiny bump in specs, but you have to put up with extreme heat, the too-hot-to touch type where the touchpad feels like its heating up
orrrr
SONY:maybe a small step back, but beautiful heating systems keeps systems as they should be, cool or just warm, never dell-blazing-hot type
jjust my 2 cents
but yes pretty disappointed in the refresh.

 

Isn't it a bit pretentious to make such assumptions? I was torn between an FW490 and the recent Studio XPS 1645; I wound up going with the Dell, despite my preference for Sony as a company and my concerns about heat, simply because the screen is significantly better (in my opinion, having viewed a FW and 1640 side-by-side) and the faster processor and memory should serve me well with how I plan to use the machine at work. Different strokes for different folks and all that jazz. Both setups have their pluses and minuses, but a reply like the one you wrote above comes off sounding like sour grapes.

 

These don't really count has upgrades. They dropped the price a little. Ok, fine. They have some more options for larger hard drives, big deal. Anyone can upgrade the hard drive themselves. If I stuck with my FW490 in the summer, there's nothing new being offered that I couldn't upgrade myself. No i7 & associated faster RAM, no new LED screen, no updated graphics card (not that I expected one), no RAID / dual hard drive option, no backlit keyboard.

Oh, I forgot. they added two new paint colors. :

My biggest complaint is with the screen. At one time, VAIOs were known for having the best consumer laptop screens. Now, it's like they don't even care anymore. Apple, Dell, even Sager all have gorgeous LED screens for a while now and Sony is dragging their feet.

Beleive me, I'm not happy to buy a Dell, but in my opinion they are offering the superior product overall, even if it isn't perfect.

 

So did you compare a FW Full HD (1920x1080) against a RGBLED 1640? I can't find a RGBLED 1640 on display anywhere. All the ones I see at Best Buy or whereever are either the lower resolution or are 1920x1080 but white LED instead of RBG. I bought a FW490 in the summer but returned it because of the anti-reflective coating made the "FullHD" screen not that great.

 

Those who are relying on the past FW 1600x900 screens in retail to determine that Sony displays are inferior to those of Dell need to realize that the FullHD is the one to be used in such comparisons because it alone has the dual-lamp feature (and possibly HiColor-like technology). I never met a Dell laptop display that didn't have a bluish-tinge on its whites -- but I have not seen its most recent RGBLEDs.

The jury is out on whether the FW5's lower resolution screen is an LED or not. The UK site says that it is while other European Sony sites say nothing one way or the other (cf. postings on multiple NBR FW forums concerning FW screens). We may have to wait to see the EPEAT ratings of specific models to know for sure ( www.epeat.net). If Sony has multiple factory sites for its models and some have shifted to LED and others have not, then that would explain the silence on many of the other Sony markets' sites.

Also, the displays on the FW5 series are being described as newly-developed on many countries' Sony sites (again, cf. other NBR FW screen threads for links). So, it's a good idea to actually see one of the current models before going for a Dell.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Derrida. I am going to drop by the SonyStyle store to check out a 1920x1080 on one of the new FW500 series, but to be honest with you, I expect it to be exactly the same as the FW490 I had. They way they advertise it, it looks like they still have that anti-reflective coating applied which ruins it, IMHO.

I'm pretty sure I'll end up buying the Dell by the end of the week. It breaks my heart to walk away from the FW.

 

Well, if Dell is true to form, you will receive a unit with some sort of problem or other (fan, disk drive, whatever) and you will likely discover that the screen is darker than you want, too.

So, just remember to mention the other defects when you decide to return it, because otherwise Dell makes you responsible for a restocking fee, I believe, in addition to paying the return shipping.

I have gone through more defective Dells than I can count -- but what really drove me nuts was the bluish tint to whites. People commented on it even at the Dell sites; photography professionals tried to calibrate the screen with standard programs, etc. -- all to no avail. Yup, even on the white LED screens.

I have not seen the RGB LED screen but notice that Sony abandoned using RGB LED on the AW series. RGB LEDs are "high maintenance" screens, so to speak, not simply an easy "out of the box" experience. And RGB LED is not the industry-leading standard in color displays, either. (I posted links to explanations of the different color systems on one of the FW490 screen threads.)

In any case, do describe your experience in detail on the forums. It would be wonderful if the SonyStyle store had an FW4 around that you could put side by side with it. Best Buy is selling both series concurrently, but with only two preconfig models of the FW5.

Good luck!

 

This is pretty subjective...I must say.

 

Uh.... What else is a forum for, but the sharing of our subjective experiences of objects?

Have you moseyed around some Dell forums, lately? Or even read reviews at official Dell sites? You have to get past the first few comments at dell.com -- which have sometimes been out of order chronologically to ensure that positive ones are viewed. Or checked the luminosity of screens, and other performance characteristics measured at those German sites I cite all the time in my postings?

I've owned products from both manufacturers -- actually, more Dell computers have been in my hands than Sony computers. I went through 18 units to get 2 functioning units from Dell (involving three different model types, the last of which I finally abandoned for a Sony FW) -- but only 2 units to get 1 functioning unit from Sony. We won't even "go there" on what it was like trying to negotiate a return or get further information from Dell.

Once you've had a Sony you never want to go back to that much of a hassle with Dell. In my opinion, of course....

Good luck!

 

I tried to configure the new FW590 and it doesn't seem to take the Student Discount...

 

Student discounts can be ordered by phone to Sony Style once you've registered with the Education Store online.

I suspect the Website is malfunctioning but it could be that they won't apply the discount until later, say, pre-Christmas, as a new sale feature.

Good luck!

 

"We won't even "go there" on what it was like trying to negotiate a return or get further information from Dell.

Three weeks ago my son spills water on his 2 year old Dell laptop. I call at 4:00 pm - next morning I have a return shipping box from Dell at my door. One week later my son's laptop is back fully repaired. For every bad story there are some good one's.

I have seen the Dell RGB LED screen and yes it is gorgeous. However the Sony Xbrite Full HD screen is also very high end. I'll be stopping at Sony Style in the next week to see if they "enhanced" this feature in the FW590 series. Hope one is out for display.

Yes I agree the Dell's run hot - especially where you rest your palm. The Sony is very cool to the touch. Subjectively I will agree from what I have observed and read that the Dell quality has dropped in the past couple of years. Both my laptops are Dell's which are three and two years old respectively. The three year old one has died so to speak - which is ok since I replace my machines evry three years anyway. The two year old model still runs like a champ with great build quality - which from every model I have looked at recently does not seem to be replicated. Sad. I have also noticed that the amazing bargins I have had on my past Dell's do not seem to still be there having configured several different models on their site.

Sadly no machine is perfect - The Sony video card is good - I want the option (which is non existent) to upgrade to higher end gpu.

Buying a machine is a balancing act - do your homework -and go with what you feel most comfortable with and suits your needs the best.

 

I wonder if the 590 will have VT enabled since Win 7's XP mode needs it?

 

lol. I told you guys countless times that Sony isn't going i7 for a good, long time. Spring at best. Summer most likely.

If you guys wanted bleeding edge power, you wouldn't have bought a Sony in the first place...as there were plenty of computers you could have got with more power for the money. Sony will add i7 and serious GPUs when they're cool enough (operating temperature) to fit inside a chassis the size of what they already have without adding thickness.

count on it.

 

I love how everyone gets worked up about no big Sony Z updates. What technology would you put in it? The i7 that uses more power and creates more heat? Slightly newer nvidia graphics card or ATI? What I want to see is the next gen, and that is next year. I want the Z to become better, not just slightly faster.

I want the upcoming small sized i7 processors with next gen low power graphics (think ION 2 or 5 series ATI). I want to see even better cooling and better screen (OLED is a bit far fetched but a good LED is reasonable).

Just a few things that can't currently be done effectively.

 

So, has anyone went to Best Buy to see of the screens on the FW590s are brighter and better than the Eco screens of the FW490s?

 

The FW490 offered a choice of two different screens -the ECO and the Xbrite Full HD.

I was at Sony Style today and other than windows 7 - and a reduced price - there was no difference (same Xbrite Full HD -not LED per the sales people). Oh yeah -maybe some different color offerings. Basically no refresh at all.

Having said that the FW490 is a damn nice machine for the money so the same can be said for the 590.

 

My guess is YES since the latest BIOS for the 490 enables VT.

 

I went to the Sony store today and saw the FW590 with the FullHD 1920x1080 screen. Exact same as the FW490, which was a dissapointment. Anti-glare, matte finish. Very dissapointing for what is being marketed as a "HD powerhouse" entertainment machine.

 

I keep trying to "process" the use of the word "matte" with these screens. A matte screen has no slickness to it at all, no shine to it when it's off or on. It's a dull, cloudy-lookiing screen.

That is not what I have seen on a 190 HiColor, 390 FullHD, or 4xx Eco (at Best Buy, I forget the number). They were less shiny, less glare-producing than the Dells or HPs I've seen, but decidedly NOT matte. So I don't know what could be going on with the 490 and 590 Full HD screens.

As for LED, if it shows up per the UK site, it would NOT be on the FullHD but on the lower resolution screen, the 1600x900.