Sony Vaio F vs Sony Vaio FW

Which do you think is better and why?

 

I liked the FW a lot but decided to wait until they announced the new model (if any) during CES, before flipping the switch.

My primary gripe about the FW-series was the RAM. It came with ancient DDR2-800 RAM, when the whole world had moved to DDR3. When it came to the F-series, not only did they move to DDR3, but also skipped the intermediate DDR3-1066 and leap-frogged onto FAST DDR3-1333.

One side effect from the DDR3-1333 (or maybe the primary reason for choosing DDR3-1333) was the fact that the new quad-core 8-threaded i7 processors are specifically optimized for DDR3-1333 and thus can fully leverage its speed.

In my opinion, the F-series is a HUGE step-up from the FW-series and is a worthy upgrade. However, if you already have an FW that was purchased relatively recently, I might wait for at least a year before upgrading.

 

I bought the FW in December during Sonystyle's christmas sale. It was unfortunate that they were fresh out of blu ray drives and that bugged me.
Other than that the FW is still a fantastic machine.!! it is capable of taking on the architectural and 3d work I throw at it when i'm not on a desktop at the office. (and I need it to perform reasonably fast)

I decided to order the F and return the FW590 primarily because it came with a number pad and it's performance increase with the new i7 hardware and faster ram. Blu ray option as well.

While the FW's look is more unique, it will have to take a step back in performance. Besides I have a new aluminum macbook at home that I use more like a netbook. It's the only computer I let visitors use. I treat that just as part of the home decor.

 

I'll be honest, if I had the money, I'd buy another FW and keep it packed until my current one dies and then start using the second one. I don't like the F at all, I could care less about the specs since the Dual Core is perfect for my needs and the FW is such a nicely-designed laptop. I take really good care of my stuff so I never had problems with falling barrels or scratches. I'm just hoping the successor to the F series will be better.

If not, I can always switch to the Z, I quite like the new design, especially in silver/white.

 

Best what?

Specwise the F is better than the FW.

 

Until there is an i5 version of the F, I can't see why you'd want a yet-another-massive-heat-generating-laptop. Too bad there wasn't a 16" Z model. That would be perfect.

FW for now.

 

Well you can configure one with an i5 processor and a 330M graphics card and high end display in the EU.
https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/F-Series-16-4/

This should really be an option in North America.

 

@Wolf04

What about the F do you not like?

I'm considering a Dell 16XPS (it supposedly will get BluRay again at the end of feburary ), but I did play with the F in a BestBuy near me.

My impressions were that it was like any other Sony laptop. Fairly well built, sleek, fairly high-end components (though its screen was surprisingly washed out, maybe cause of calibration?)...

The keyboard was nice. The only significant item I couldn't test was its weight, as they had it locked down and without a battery.. So, that's stupid,but.

Can you elaborate? I'm curious

F

 

The screen was most likely not calibrated. I picked this up last night from BB and the screen is amazing.

 

Sony Vaio F

 

The looks, the design, the number pad, the fact that it has an Nvidia video card are all part of the reason (mainly the design though).

The number pad adds unnecessary clutter to the keyboard area (the FW keyboard is perfect and minimalist, not crowded by the number pad).

Design is more important to me than specs. I could care less if it has 8 GB of high-speed RAM or the newest CPU. I actually wanted a laptop with a faster video card but ultimately, the design of the FW won me over (only the Apple Macbook Pro is nicer in terms of design but I could never justify the double price and I want to use Windows, not OSX).

The fact of the matter is that 90% of the laptops on the market are fine for most people in terms of processing power so regardless of what my marketing prof says that form follows function, for me... form will always come first.

 

Actually, the light sensor on the laptop in the Best Buy store was likely dimming the screen because of the strong ambient light ;-).

 

I think the FW is a better choice right now if you want it for work and not for the latest specs.

Why?

I like to buy laptops and smartphones as I buy a car - I get the last revision of a model. Like for example, Audi's A6 from 2004 is the last model from the C5 line, with all the problems fixed, so if you buy one you'll have less things breaking than in a newer 2006 model.

The same with laptops - the FW has gone through a lot of revisions, and the PCB is most likely perfected with all the little (and big) problems and defects gone. Which means it will be very stable, not overheat and most probably will never break.

The F offers the highest performance, but most people won't take full advantage of it, not in the next 3-4 years at least. Current problems include overheating, fan noise, display problems and a few bugs yet to be discovered.

Personally, I don't like the numpad on the F and the nVidia videocard (I've had 2 GF9600 overheating like a frying pan, then burning out ).

So, if you want a laptop for work, get the FW. If you want to run the latest games (although the 4650 can run most current games well), do heavy video editing or just have the best specs, take a risk (which is actually not that high) with the F.

P.S. I'd recommend getting a 1600x900 screen if possible. 1920x1080 is too damn small for a 16.4'' display.

Good luck!