Sony Vaio Vgn-fz-190

VGN-FZ190 CTO
VGN-FZ190 CTO
Customization Details

* 802.11a\b\g\n with BT
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
* 15.4" WXGA (EEBR) W/CMR
* Combo (CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive)
* 120 GB Hard Disk Drive (Price reflects discount of $20.00)
* 2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667MHz, 1 GBx2)
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 / 2.2 GHz
* Keyboard Black
* Norton Internet Security 2007 (Trial)
* QB Basic
* Video Standard
* Photo Standard
* Music Plus
* Microsoft Works
* No Engraving
* Standard Capacity Lithium-ion Battery (BPS8)




Alright, who has one with close to these specs? Was going to upgrade to 4gb, but I won't until the machines can even read it and apply it.

2gb is fantastic anyway.

How about this video card? Any good? I'm sure most will ask for what and what I intend playing.

I think the most advanced I'm thinking is world of warcraft or warcraft 3 - that's about it.

the rest is all isometric 2d games that will be owned by this system. does it run vista pretty well?

any information and input on this system would be great. thanks!

edit: i saw the review sticky - i just saw a couple users with close to this exact set up. so i was hoping to get some feedback from those users

 

My specs are similar to those. I hear that the machine can only read about 3-3.5 gb of ram. I was thinking of buying 4 gb of ram (not from sony) as the prices are pretty cheap these days. The 8400M GT is good for playing those games as well as some newer ones. It has no problems running vista at all.

Just make sure to update the video drivers when you get your system. Also, you will need to spend some time to uninstall some of the crapware that comes preinstalled.

 

Once you uninstall bloatware, you should be fine. I can play Age of Empires III on Med and some High with the stock drivers...and I've heard that you'll get much better performance with updated ones.

 

Oh definitely.. you should try updating your stock drivers. The synthetic benchmarks doubled once I updated the drivers. I'm sure you'll be able to bump those settings up.

I am playing CC3 with high settings with the update gpu drivers. It's a fun game I must say....come on starcraft 2...

 

Thanks guys, all of that is great news. I heard about the bloatware unfortunately.

Also, why is it it can only read 3gb? Later on will this machine be able to read 4gb?

 

From what I understand, using 32bit vista, you can only use 3-3.5gb because the limitations in the 32bit coding. You can use all 4gb if you want to use 64bit vista, but make sure you find all the drivers and that your software runs in that environment. For now, i'll just use 32bit vista so the 3-3.5gb will do...

 

Oooh, I see. Well, I think 2gb is enough for now. Maybe next summer I'll worry about sticking another 2gb in it.

 

Just ordered, now I wait.

So excited. :>

 

Sorry if I keep bumping this, I have one more question.

with the graphics card in that fz190 - it says it's a nvidia 8400m gt, what is the amount of memory for this graphics card anddddddd is it dedicated? sony really doesnt provide much information on it on their website.

or atleast, not that i can find.

 

128mb,not too much as for gaming card.

 

Sonys don:t come with recovery Discs, meaning you have to make ones if you need. However, without DVD burner, you will need awful lots of CD-Rs....

 

I found specs on it a tad bit, it says 512 mb maximum.

i'm assuming that's overclocking?

 

Not sure why I'd need recovery discs - I'm not putting anything on this laptop really.

I'm using word processing for school at times, and I'll have one game on it that I currently play.

I'm the type of person who puts all his music on an external hard drive due to FLAC files.

 

Congrats toneka, I orderd my FZ on Thursday and it was shipped the next day! So your wait won't be too long.

 

Whaat? That's great news - The estimated shipping was august 8th or something crazy.

Hopefully it won't take long to process my order, i also opted for 1day air shipping.

so hopefully by monday or tuesday :]

What did you get for specs?

 

No one else has this cute system?
;P

 

The FZ190 has a DVD burner. You really DO want to create a set of recovery disks. It would allow you to restore the machine back to it's original state at some point in the future if you ever had to replace the hard drive. Well worth the 2 blank DVD's it will cost you.

Gary

 

Sorry about the delay in response toneka, I went to work.

My Specs:

802.11a\b\g\n with BT
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR
SuperMulti (DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive (Price reflects discount of $50.00)
1 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667MHz, 1 GBx1)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 / 2.0 GHz
Keyboard Black
Norton Internet Security 2007 (Trial)
QB Basic
Video Standard
Photo Standard
Music Plus
Microsoft Works
No Engraving
Standard Capacity Lithium-ion Battery (BPS8)

I also ordered a 2GB stick of RAM from a third party.

 

What do you use it for?

Any gaming? or strictly business?

 

Bump please ;P

 

When I get mine I will be using it for school, mild gaming, and multimedia. (Video Editing, etc.)

 

mild gaming such as what? ;D

 

Also, I've been reading so much about this "Santa Rosa" technology. Does the sony vaio fz190 CTO offer that?

I'm a tad confused on how you can tell - the specs on sony's website aren't very detailed at all.

 

Yes, all FZ series have santa rosa.

 

Really???? Wow that was fast. Was it a CTO? I ordered mine on Thursday also and it still says scheduled for production.

 

I just ordered today, hopefully my shipping is as fast as yours.

My Specs:
802.11a\b\g\n with BT
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR
SuperMulti (DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive)
100 GB Hard Disk Drive
2 GB ram
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 / 2.0 GHz
Keyboard Black
Norton Internet Security 2007 (Trial)
QB Basic
Video Standard
Photo Standard
Music Plus
Microsoft Works
Engraving
Large Capacity Lithium-ion Battery

Mouse (backordered)
Neoprene case
3 year warranty + accidental

$1861 after tax/shipping/student discount

 

8400mGT is 256MB not 128MB

 

yeah, it's 256mb.

most people seem to say it's a decent card for gaming.

not as intense as the 8600m gt - but close to 8600 gs.

either way, i dont plan on playing new games.
not interested~

 

How's the build quality of the laptop?

I'm seriously considering buying it.

 

I wish I knew, I haven't received mine yet :/

 

i ordered mine yesturday! im excited to recieve it

Sony Vaio FZ-190
802.11a\b\g\n with BT
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR
SuperMulti (DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive)
200 GB Hard Disk Drive
2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667MHz, 1 GBx2)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 / 2.0 GHz
Keyboard White