Vaio FW customized series question

Hi,

This is the 1st time I'm gonna buy a laptop.

I have few questions for Vaio FW series:

1/ where to get manuals and detailed specs ?

2/ Does Sony deliver a CD with all needed drivers?

3/ Is it possible to (Norton) "ghost" the entire system partition for restoring purpose if anything goes wrong (doesn't boot) ?

4/ Is it possible to install XP ?

5/ Is there anywhere I can get information on how to safely do backup/restore/Install (essentially for cleaning from ads/spy/wares) ?

6/ Provided it has Bluetooth, is it possible to install a IR remote control for multimedia playing?

Many thanks in advance
nalooti

 

1 : Manuals comes with the Notebook. Go local Sony site to see the specs

2 : CD's not coming with your computer. You need to create recovery disks yourself using provided Sony recovery software. It's easy to create no need to worry.

3 : No need Ghost , Recovery disks can restore your computer to factory conditions.

4 : Sony officially not support XP for FW. However you can search forum for support.

5 : Google

6 : Maybe you can buy & plug USB IR receiver

 

Sony does support XP for certain models of the FW in various series. The American esupport site has the drivers on the sites for the FW190 and related series. European sites have them definitely on support sites for the FW2 series and I believe I may even have seen them for the FW3 series in some country or other (businesses, including Sony itself in San Diego, often are still running XP and the FW has been marketed to businesses as well as for home use).

You can search postings I have made on NBR and you might find more recent driver link pages I dug up several weeks ago to assist in another person's similar query. Or you can try the drivers at http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNFW190&SelectOS=7 for the FW190, for example.

Good luck!

 

Never knew they support XP. Thank for update.

 

Well, actually, Sony doesn't support XP on all models, only on some and in some countries. It's quite a maze. On the esupport sites in each country you can find out which operating systems are supported for which models. They differ by country and by model....

 

Several XP downgrade drivers on Sony's FTP site - may be of assistance to you.
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/VAIO/XPDOWNGRADE/

 

thank you all for your responses

my question regarding Norton Ghost is still important for me even if the restore from sony resets to factory. Actually, I may want to not restore to factory but just to a previous state for example before a malicious soft that I have installed.

So does Norton Ghost work with notebooks and specially with Sony and Asus?

After searching a while, even if sony design is top, there are several things that makes me think about other notebooks like Asus:
- No option for a 7200 rpm HDD on FW series
- No eSATA port

These are important points for me since I have few 3.5" 7200 rpm HDD that I'm gonna put on external enclosures; so for speed I'll need eSATA.

I suspect sony doesn't offer 7200 rpm HDD on its FW series because they may contribute to much more heat on the notebook (?).

The data rate difference between 5400 and 7200 rpm HDD can be more than 20MBps.
Even if, I couldn't have an internal 7200 rpm HDD, I'd like to have that possibility with an external one.

The other reason I think of Asus instead of Sony is that I think the support regarding CD drivers must be better.

Can you suggest me some Asus models equivalent to sony FW series ?

many thanks
nalooti

 

Sony has frequently offered a 7200 rpm drive in its FW series: the FW1 series had 200GB 7200rpm available in its CTO as did, I believe, the FW 2 and FW3 series with the 320GB versions. There are models in the FW4 series, even preconfigured ones like the FW450JB ( http://www.docs.sony.com/release/SPECS/VGNFW450JB_mksp.pdf) that have 320GB 7200rpm drives. And the FW490 in the configure to order offers it as an option, as well: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...52921665899058&categoryId=8198552921644564390

The lack of an eSATA port is one of the reasons that I think Sony is probably planning a newer model FW within the next six months to a year rather than these clear "refreshes" with juggled CPUs, GPUs, etc.

Frankly, this Sony information on the 7200 rpm drives I just provided is so easily available on the Web that, coupled with your clear desire to purchase an Asus, it leads me to say that it might just be abusing the good will of the Sony forum members to ask that question (what Asus should you buy) in this thread.

 

thanks for the info,

you may know that customization can be different from country to country; also no pre-assembled 7200 rpm hdd is proposed where i live.

seems you don't like asus!

nalooti

 

I don't have much experience with Asus. I just think you'll get more information about Asus notebooks on an Asus thread!

As for there being no pre-configured models with a 7200rpm drive where you live, does the configurable model offer it? The CTO in the States has that as an option.

Good luck with your search for a notebook that suits your needs. Suggestion: check out reviews at notebookjournal.de for models that you're considering from any major manufacturer.