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    about to buy a VGN-FE690

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by bypass, Jun 30, 2006.

  1. bypass

    bypass Notebook Enthusiast

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    before i go with it i have some things i would like to know about this notebook :confused:

    1-should i get XBRITE-ECO™ or XBRITE-HICOLOR™ screen? which one is better to reduce eye strain or use for long periods of time?

    2-when purchasing do i need to check the "battery" option and "ac adapter" or does this notebook already come with one and those would be extras?

    3- would battery life be improved if i get the gma 950 instead of the nvidia card when doing light work or would it be the same?

    i will be doing my purchase trough sonystyle.com
    any other advice would be great since i haven't seen this notebook in person altough i've seen some older vaios and read the reviews of the fe models too
    thanks
    bypass
     
  2. nixon

    nixon Notebook Evangelist

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    1 - I'd personally go for the XBRIGHT-HiColor screen, just because, if you are going to look at the thing for the next few years, it might as well be a high quality screen.

    2 - No. That's just if you want extra ones.

    3 - It would be improved slightly, but you would sacrifice the ease of running Vista when it actually comes out. Sure the 950 chipset will run it, but the NIVIDIA card will help take the strain off the processor.
     
  3. bypass

    bypass Notebook Enthusiast

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    which warranty should i get? does the "Standard Limited Warranty" cover anything?

    edit: i think i am going crazy, today i saw a go 7400 as an option with the notebook, now it says NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 [add $75.00] ?
     
  4. aznkid1008

    aznkid1008 Newbie

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    the fe690 (last i checked) had the option for the 7600 not the 7400. i too am interested in this laptop and was wondering how well the 128mb go7600 performs for games such as BF2, oblivion, and any other games people have tried. thank you
     
  5. bypass

    bypass Notebook Enthusiast

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    do you think i should get the gma 950 or the go 7600? i will be playing games sometimes but i don't want to kill the battery life
     
  6. xSNAKEx

    xSNAKEx Newbie

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    i don't know much about graphic card but comparing it with my pc which is using a radeon9550, i think my vaio run better. u should really get the graphic card. don't think it will make much of a diff to the battery life... maybe a couple of minutes. :p
    it perform well with BF2.
    if you play games even once in awhile and if you wanna to have vista, you should get the 7600. :D
     
  7. bypass

    bypass Notebook Enthusiast

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    since it doesn't make much difference i will go with the 7600 then, every now and then i like to play some games :)
    thanks for the advice
     
  8. ovalmagic

    ovalmagic Notebook Enthusiast

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    1.) Do not go for ECO...its a single lamp vs dual lamp in HiColor. Also, take care that some pre-built FE690 models have ECO and some have HiColor. So, if you plan to buy from a retailer check out the spec sheet.

    2.)It comes with battery and adapter

    3.) GMA 950 wud be better for battery but wont give much power to your games

    I had heard ppl having probs with FE's dvd drive and mousepad (on FE550 mostly), hence i took a safe turn and settles for FS840W. And as per my experience, its an AWESOME machine. My machine is XBrite and the display is fantastic, i compared it with ECO and found mine much brigher and better. Hope this helps!
     
  9. bypass

    bypass Notebook Enthusiast

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    thanks, i am ordering the notebook now, the config is
    dual core 1.66, 1gb ram ( 2x 512),100gb 5400, 7600 go, dvdrw, hicolor screen,wifi & bluetooth, etc for a total of 1489 plus tax & shipping.

    i read also at the nvidia site about this feature of the 7600 go:
    http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_powermizer.html
    i don't know how accurate it is, but seems like it can save some battery life if not using the card's full potential