Need help for configuration of VAIO FW

Hi everyone,

I really need your help on this one. I ordered the CTO Vaio FW last saturday and there was an error with my order, so I need to do it again.

Now, I don't know if I should order CTO again or go with a preconfigured model. Here's my options :


VGNFW160 for a price of 1299$ (in store only)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 Speed: 2.26GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-Eco™)
Wireless LAN: Atheros 802.11b/g/n Wireless
Capacity: 250GB Speed: 5400rpm
Blu-ray drive
Standard Battery
Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
4GB PC2-6400 (2GBx2)


VGNFW190CTO for a price of 1433$

Intel® Core 2™ Duo Processor P8600 (2.4GHz)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-HiColor™)
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology (Intel WIFI)
320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
Standard Battery
Windows Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
Video Plus
Powder White
Microsoft® Works
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
3 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GB+1GB)


With the CTO, I get a better screen and a better processor, but I lose the blu-ray (that I don't really need right now) and I get 3GB of memory instead of

4GB (I do know that vista 32 is not gonna use more than 3GB).
I rather have the better screen than the blu-ray player, but I don't know if I get enough stuff for the money paid (1433$)
I will use the computer mainly to do photoshop, internet browsing, school work and I watch online and downloaded stuff.
Any opinions ?

Thanks a lot !!

 

the better screen and CPU will come in handy for photoshop. Screen will also come in handy for the movie watching.

 

I agree.

Note to anyone posting: the OP is a she.

 

haha im not as slow as your soundsgood. lol. ;P


i noticed mademoiselle before the a. i'm just that weird.

 

I originally thought it was a guy named amade moiselle!

 

lol. thats a cool name actually.

 

Configure it with the cheapest hard drive and memory you could find. Replace them with 320GB 7200RPM and 2x2GB RAM (Dual Channel). Sell the original one at eBay. In the end, you may spend less and get faster hard drive and faster RAM.

 

What he said.

 

Swapping hard drives will probably void your warranty....unless you keep the original and put it back before you request service.

 

lol technically speaking opening it up would probably void your warranty for whatever reason. Swapping ram and harddrive isn't supposed to be hard, but you can always have P1 or some shop like that upgrade the ram and harddrive for you if your not sure. Does that keep the warranty?

If you are really serious about keeping your warranty and would like to take no chances, then buy it from sony.

 

Thanks a lot for the advices,

I'll go with the CTO. I just hope to get the most of my money !
Now I'll just have to wait til the end of august. Shipping is supposed to be on august 19. It'll be a long wait.

 

Then why order at Sony if other suppliers can deliver quicker and cheaper?

Newegg has them in stock for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117792

 

Where/when did you hear this ship date? Has there been a new delay? My order shows a ship date in 2 days (July 30)....however, I placed order on July 19.

 

The currently shipping models from retailers are not Centrino 2 models...they have Atheros wireless cards and are a stopgap configuration until Intel can get Centrino 2 delivered. In 2 weeks, these "prototype" FWs will be oddballs never to be made again and may present support issues with drivers, etc. I would do a CTO which specify Centrino 2.

 

The chipset is Centrino 2.

I would not care if I get an Intel card or Atheros as long as it works and supports wireless N, Vista and XP then it's good enough.

Driver issues? I don't believe that at all.

 

I live in Canada, so the only place I think a can order a CTO is sonystyle.ca

When you're done customizing the computer, there's an estimate shipping date. When I place my first order saturday, the shipping date was august 12 and now its august 19

 

Aha, you ordered from from Sonystyle.ca. That would explain the discrepancy. Thanks. And congrats on the order. Enjoy.

 

I don't know Phil. Wireless N is an evolving "standard" right now and if one ever wants to use N, I would feel much more comfortable with Intel. Also, Centrino 2/Montevina is a low power 45nm process as will be the new Intel card. Can we say the same of the Atheros?

As far as driver issues, can we expect Windows 7 Atheros drivers from Sony in 2009 for these few thousand initial FWs? You're more confident than me.

 

Yes I am. If support would really be as bad as you expect, which I highly doubt, you can always replace it. A wireless card is a $40 part. I would not make it so important.

Sonystyle is expensive, they make customers wait long and they have bad ratings. I would not order at Sonystyle.

 

where else would one order a custom made FW in canada from? best buy only has only config models from sony, and ordering one in from another country would be a lot more expensive since one might be buying in euros vs dollars and of course apart from shippping there are duty fees and any other feese the damn government makes up.

amademoiselle, go ahead and order of sonystyle, the site says shipping in august anyways for the CTO FW. I myself am waiting for it to be actually released and not pre-order still for some models. Of course then there also might be some deals offered from sony later on to get compete against the new macbooks.

 

I agree. They have one of the worst online retail presences in the industry. I once ordered a Bravia XBR4 flat panel from them for an exorbitant amount of money. I called back just 30 minutes later to cancel and it was TOO LATE!! They hadn't even cleared my order yet but it was still too late. I had to spend $90 to freight it back to them...and their shipper was so careless that one of the stryrofoam corners holding the TV was broken, obviously from mishandling. And there were no shock sensors anywhere on the box. This was how they handled a sale for their flagship TV? Insane. I'm hoping my FW experience is an improvement.

 

I 'd buy it at a cheaper place with good service and customize it myself.

I'm not familiar with Canada so don't know where.

 

there are no other stores in canada that carry cto sony products as far as i know. Perhaps she could import from a US dealer and customize it that way but again duties and taxes would bring up the price.

Canada unlike europe and the US has limited number of stores that sell sony products and only sonystyle does CTO in canada.

I believe I saw the FW in a london drugs ad but it was the 160 model I believe and not with hi color screen. best buy and future shop will carry it but not the CTO and probably not the highest model (at least not initially). There is also NCIX.com but no CTO I believe, only the same models from the sonystyle website at the same prices.

 

I meant ordering a default configuration at any retailer (not CTO) and then customizing it myself.

 

hi color screen is only available on the cto and not lower end models. one could order the 1099 model then add their own hdd and ram, not sure if the cpu can be swaped, since notebook cpus are soldered to the motherboard. so there is so much one can customize on it, unlike a PC.

 

>>>>Swapping ram and harddrive isn't supposed to be hard, but you can always have P1 or some shop like that upgrade the ram and harddrive for you if your not sure. Does that keep the warranty?

I'm fairly certain it does not. I ordered my Fujitsu CTO from P1 and it certainly did not void my warranty. I think they have some sort of special authorization.

 

yea they are an authorized work shop for sony products. However i get the feeling if you do it yourself, good bye warranty.

 

That's the way it used to be. I think most notebooks CPU now use socket in which the CPU can be easily removed. But there is still a problem with opening the casing and gain access to the CPU. Some notebooks, like SZ or Z, has easy access panel to the CPU. You don't need to open the whole case just to replace the CPU. Other notebooks may need to undergo major surgery before you can replace the CPU.