Vaio FZ4000 Release

It has been a long time since I've been in the market for a new notebook. Now that my Inspiron 9200 is starting to show signs of age (the trim and hinges are starting to come apart), I've decided that I should update my technology.

One feature that I really want is a BluRay drive. I found the Vaio FZ4000 to be very appealing. The pricing and feature balance is great (almost too good).

I configured the custom system I want but it says that everything is on backorder. Is the FZ4000 being shipped yet? I haven't seen anything about shipment estimates, but I am very anxious to find out.

Also, on a final note, what would be the best way to get 5.1 sound from my laptop? I'd be using my laptop as a BluRay player (I know it is inconvenient, but I am too cheap to buy a separate player), but I don't want to lose out on the high end audio experience.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that my receiver processes audio through HDMI, so it would only act as a video passthrough. I haven't taken much time to look into the Creative sound cards for laptops, but I figured I could get some good advice here.

 

I also ordered the FZ4000 and I says available around 1-28-08. I'm supposed to get a email. The Blueray drive worked great in my FZ290. I bought several rewriteable 25GB disks for backup. I have have one movie whcih is Spiderman. Make sure HIColor XBrite display.. I'm not sure about the 5.1 output.

 

i think i'm the only one who is getting the fz...without a blu-ray drive.

i'd rather use an external hd...then a blu-ray disc. i have a ps3...no need for another blu-ray player. plus...sony is about to start allowing you to extract the blu-ray movies from your ps3 to your psp...and i could put it on my sony vaio....or just have downloaded high def movies....

but thats just me. i could understand if you didn't have a blu-ray player already...however, i just feel the drive speed is slow...and hd prices are low enough to buy a nice sized external.

however, i do love the look (going with the FZ-4000 with white)....my only gripe is that damn GPU....sigh.

 

About 5.1, if you are using an HDTV most of them have a digital output (often optical). So you could send HDMI to the TV, then ouput the optical 5.1 from your TV to your receiver. That's my plan at least. On my Samsung HDTV, which is pretty old now, the optical output is entirely separate from the TV's built in audio.

 

More to the point the Blu-Ray drive works very well and the burns are reliable. When I spoke to the CSR I was told it would be shipping by months end but sigh-that weak GPU is a killer for me. That is why I called to begin with as most are offering 8600gt's and now shipping with 8800 gpus.

 

i agree the GPU and screen res is the only thing preventing me to pull the trigger. The dells resolution on the xps1530 is considerably better, but i have been told that the Sony displays are still great and can rival that of the dell if not look even better.

 

I had a Dell 1530 1280x800 next to the Sony FZ290 1280x800 and the Xbrite HIcolor screen blew the dell away. Much better color and brightness.

 

WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n w/Integrated Bluetooth®
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
LCD 15.4" WXGA (XBRITE-HiColor™)
DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
200GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (7200 rpm)
4 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 2 GBx2)
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9500 (2.6GHz)

 

Awesome. I think I'm fairly confident in the system I have configured. I'm trying to stick to a rather restricted budget, so I've had to make some sacrifices.

I can't really justify spending an extra $200 to get the BluRay writer, so I am likely going to factor that out. I'll probably opt in for the HiColor screen option, seeing as how a lot of people are rather pleased with it.

So, I'm looking at the following specs.

Intel Core Duo 2.4GHz Processor
Vista Home Premium (I'd be tempted to go back to XP)
2 GB of RAM
160 GB HDD
BluRay Read Only Drive
XBRITE HiColor Screen Upgrade
Default Graphics/Wireless Card
Polished Mosaic Keyboard Trim
Standard Battery

The total comes to $1489.99 before shipping and taxes.

That doesn't seem too bad, given the features and brand name (which tends to carry a heavy price).

Is anyone aware of student discounts that may be available from Sony? Apple offers about $100 off of purchases for student use and Dell has some sort of discount program. That'd be excellent if Sony offered a comparable deal.

 

That's the exact configuration I ordered. $1489 is a pretty slick price for what you get there.

 

i'm still debating whether to get this laptop or not...i've been working with my sony rep for over a week now on it...and i keep getting cold feet...mostly because of the gpu.

here is my setup if i decide to purchase.

* Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz)
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* 2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 1 GBx2)
* 200GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (7200 rpm)
* DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
* LCD 15.4" WXGA (XBRITE-HiColor™)
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
* WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n w/Integrated Bluetooth®
* White
* Extended Battery (BPL8)

3 Year Express Ship Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling Protection for Notebooks

Sony VAIO® Neoprene Notebook and AC Adapter Case

VAIO® Urban Messenger Carrying Case

Total = $1792.99 (tax included - free shipping)

 

nope sony doesnt do student discounts

 

take a look at this deal
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8651167&type=product&id=1195599780039
it has powerful gpu 8800 nividia but weak proc.(upgradable)