Sony VGN217M - some review, some questions...

Hi,

I've recently bought the Sony Vaio217M and I am very happy with it, on the whole - in particular the dislplay is fantastic - very bright and rich contrasts! The reflextion of the X-Black lcd don't bother me, but it was noticable to me, that the lighting of the screen is not even. It is clearly brighter to the right side - I assume it is too bright on the right, cause black seems to be "real black" rather to the left.

I love the design and built quality of the unit, the somewhat metalic feeling of the housing. A rather bad surprise for me was the fact that the fan never stops working, even not with 600 mHz in idle-mode. On the bottom of the unit is an extra air-exhaust and when its covered (notebook on bed...) the device will get a lot quiter than sitting on a desk. I'am wondering if it is harmfull to cover the exhaust over a longer time, actually the unit should shut down if its getting to hot - or? Ok - despite everything it is my oppinion, that a centrino in this price range should not turn the fan on, when it is in 600mHz-mode - even when it is stressed. Besides , the fan speed increases on every little opportunity, when dynamic energy-sheme is activ - perhaps I'm just not used to it. I've had a Yakumo 8080 before wich was noisy when stressed with 1500mhz, but absolutely still in 600mhz-mode - always! In particular i wonder, why the air blown out of the housing is absolutely cool in 600mhz mode...

The keyboard of the 217 feels great, great, great! It is a very good keyboard in my oppinion - I wish there were a numeric pad, too - room enough is obviously there.

The touchpad is not as precisely as the ones I've used before. There is some kind of texture on the surface, wich feels nice, but could be responsible for this lack of precision.

One other point: I can't understand is the placement of the harddisk. It resied deep in the nootebook and there is no official way to replace it. Someone has published a step by step instruction (with pictures) how you to change the hd by your self but it is a hard and risky route, only my impression.

Oh yes - thank you sony - for the memory-card reader - and thank you that I can only put in memory sticks - they are so great. Why should I use a cheap SD card with 10 times of the memory of a stick when I can spend more for less?

By the way - the tone quality of the speaker is relatively good, I think, but It could be a bit louder for my taste.

Performance is for my requirements more then OK. I've had before a Yakumo 8080 (1,5ghz centrino) with shared graphics now the 1,6ghz dothan with an ati mobility 7600 is a great step forward for me. Sadly there are only 64mb on the ATI - it should be more.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with my A217M, except the uneven lighting and the fan, wich never stops. Built quality is outstanding, look and feel are great. I will be never again have to use a desktop computer for special cases, cause this thing has it all!

My question: Is ist normal for this notebook, that the fan never turns of - is there a workaround?
Is the uneven lighting a general problem with bigger displays or should I turn it back?

Thanks and nice regards:

snoopomatic