Perfect Vaio

I'm getting ready to head off to college and am ordering a Viao FZ next week and have been experimenting with different setups on sonys website but have not decided on a certain one. This computer will be only used for general use and no gaming. So what upgrades do you recommend and what setup do you think is the best all around machine? Also does anyone have pictures of what the different types of keyboards look like, the black, mosaic, or white?

Thanks

 

I'm a university student, too. I think the Sony Vaio TZ is the best model for me, because it is so light and portable. As a student, I am constantly traveling from class to class, and I need a small laptop that I can take along with me. Also, since I am rarely at home (I live in a dorm on my university campus), the Sony Vaio TZ's long battery life is exactly what I need.

EDIT: Oops, I see that you edited your original post and put in "FZ". I thought you were asking for a suggestion on Vaio models.

 

Thsi is an unbelievable laptop. I have basic wiht older t7300 processor, 160 gb hd, no blu-ray.

Make sure you get processor around t9300 series-best deal for all processors. 2gb ram without a doubt, and hard drive up to you for speed/storage.

This is an UNBELIEVABLE notebook i travel with constantly. It has endured many scratches and near drops but still works perfectly; the best notebook and most stylish ever. Highly recommeneded.

I dont have any pics, but the black keyboard is nice. It is similar to mackbook style keyboard. Do some searching, i am s ure there are reviews with pics on the web. Enjoy if you purchase.

 

If you need to save some money, I would suggest the T8300 and buy the accidential coverage since you are porting this thing everywhere. If you are not gaming, the T9300 might be overkill, IMHO.

 

I believe i may be able to help you with the keyboard, this site helped me decide what keyboard i was gonna get, and i chose white.
http://www.akihabaranews.com/news-14080-X.html
good luck with your decision. Took me a while, asking for other people's opinions and stuff.
-Garmin

 

The FZ's keyboard is in no way like the Mac's. It's the same keyboard as the SZ series. The TZ series on the other hand has a 'mac' style keyboard.

 

The keyboard is nothing like and MBP or macbook. My wife loves mac's and has 3 of them, I have FZ470, much bigger keys, much flatter keys, no tiny arrows and 'f' keys, BUT the MBP has backlit keys which are NICE!

Other options: defintely get the HiColor or 'double lamp' screen there is no comparison, it's awhat makes this notebook stand out...after that it's a question of what you think you'll need.

 

yuup what everyones said about the FZ.

I started uni last year, and its been a great laptop, for work and play

definitely got to go for the FZ...

dual lamp screen makes it great for HD content, great addition of the blu-ray drive. + HDMI out.

nice strong processor, in my fz21s t7500 2.2ghz which is speedy enough
8600MGS good enough to run games, iv played bioshock, COD4 and now gears of war.

driver support is great, as long as make backup disks, clean install was a breeze.

Vista works great.

eeerm, yeh go with it, it turned out to be a great investment and will last me a couple of years.

 

8600gs? which country are you in?

 

Yeah, unfortunately, the FZ in North America has only a 8400gs option.

I know that Europe has an option for the 8600gs at least.

Not even the Japanese have this option where this laptop comes from and so baffles me.

 

uk- england

 

The North American models all come with 8400GT if I'm correct (NOT the 8400GS). Anyway, I was wondering, is the 8600GS really better than the 8400GT? I heard that the 8600GS gets really hot, is that correct?

 

It gets LOUD when playing a game....the fan goes NUTS when its trying to cool it down.

But its not an issue

 

What size hard drive do you recommend and also how big of a memory do i need?

 

depends on how much u need and how much u wanna spend

i was happy with the standard 200gb HDD 2gb RAM, on the FZ21S

so the newer FZ models probably come with much better parts as standard

 

I carried the TZ for a few days, then switched to the SZ670 and like it. Keyboard made the difference, and the additional weight is unimportant. I was unable to adapt to the tiny keys on the TZ, and must type a lot on the laptop despite a full bluetooth office.

 

The TZ keyboard is not small, maybe your fingers are just too big?