fw490

Well first I would like to see that there is a refresh coming out in a few days... Does anyone here already have it? Thought maybe I saw a picture of the box on another thread.

Anyways, why wouldn't Sony at least offer as an option to give us an LED back-lite screen and maybe a few small step ups like a 2.1mp cam? DD3?? Guess not =[

Anyone else agree or have any other thoughts of what they would like to see?

 

A HiColor screen at 1600x900.

 

Newegg already seems to have one in stock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117927

Anyways, whoever gets this one first, he/she will have one sweet laptop for high resolution mobile gaming. Unlike the previous model's 3650, the HD 4650 should rival most medium range desktop graphics chips, not bad at all for a laptop to game on.

 

Why does it say the video card is only 512mb? Also 2.10ghz is kind of weak.

 

Yeah, the 2.1GHz Core2 is a bit on the low end, this is going to be the lower end of the specs in terms of the FW490 range. For the most part, 512MB should be more than sufficient for vast majority of games on that 1600X900 screen. 1 GB Vram only makes a significant difference if you are gaming at 1920X1200 or higher, plus that class of video cards only have 128bit interfaced with GDDR3 (likely).

If you want really high end gaming, you probably would need to move to Mobility Radeon 4870 or Geforce 280GTX (which is actually a lower clocked desktop GTS 250); those have 256bit memory busses; and in the case of the 4870, GDDR5 that runs at double the rate of GDDR3. But these cards are nearly impossible to fit into a laptop less than 8lbs and fairly thick, and would just kill battery life. Those cards will definitely take advantage of 1GB VRAM in certain situation though.

For such a low price (999 USD), this is very decent set of specs; and the 2.1GHz C2D + Radeon 4650 + 900p screen is a pretty balanced set for a gaming setup; although probably not ideal for some other things.

 

Now, it makes me wonder whether for the FW490 range, it would be the rule that the 900p screen will come with a 512MB 4650; and the 1080p screen would come with a 1GB version.

That would make a lot of sense, 1600X900 screen should not need more than 512MB Vram in pretty much any circumstance.

 

Nope

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=8198552921644564390&parentCategoryId=16154

1GB version, 1600x900.

 

Please do yourself a favor and go to a retail store and take a good hard look at the LED screens on the Dells. Take a long look at the blue overcast to the entire screen -- a blue overcast that every Dell laptop has as its signature. Dell white is pale blue on a regular LED screen -- ALWAYS.

And then go look at the FW's FullHD (formerly called HiColor in the lower resolution) and thank heavens for Sony -- even if it is a CCFL.

 

Check out the AW screen because, as I posted elsewhere, its larger size and high resolution should give you approximately the image sizes of the 1600x900 in the 16.4 inch FW but with FUll HD.

P.S. Some of us resort to double-posting when we are shifting topics or respondents. Does that not make sense? If it is "verboten" we can cease and desist, of course.

P.P.S. Anyone know why using the back arrow on the browser at this forum often leads to a repeat of the same page we're on and a title of "click here" in the history?

 

I agree, having seen many Dell LED displays around univeristy I agree that they are absolutely terrible, seriously overrated and have terrible color reproduction (the whole can't make proper white thing). Because of this I do not agree that LED necessary means better looking display, although in the instances where the LED is actually of a decent quality it is far superior.

Having 1gb of video ram on a 128bit GPU is just plan stupid, the GPU will struggle to address half that amount of memory. 2.1 mega pixel camera, yes although it will be nice it would really be more than a gimmick. 1.3 is usually more than enough to meet the demands of video messaging, plus its the quality of the camera that is really going to count in the end.

 

Is this there NEW Notebook VGN-FW490JFT, No DDR3 memory is it worth $1900+shipped ? I'd pull the trigger but

 

honestly i dont think so.

 

Not really. AW 18.4"@1920x1080 gives you 120 pixels per inch while FW 16.4"@1600x900 gives you 112. I know it seems like a small difference but I can definitely tell the difference by just looking at it.

Moreover, AW is too big for my mobility need. I need to carry my laptop with me every few days if not every day. At 6 pounds, FW is the largest and the heaviest that I could carry without feeling that I am carrying a concrete slab.

 

That's 119 on the AW vs. 112 on the FW according to Notebookcheck's screen size analysis ( http://www.notebookcheck.net/DPI-Fineness-of-Displays.1310.0.html) whereas the difference between the FW's 1600x900 and the Full HD is MUCH greater: 112 vs. 134.

I do agree about the size and weight of the FW. They are the only reason I haven't sprung for that RGB LED of the AW. So I "settle" for using the zoom feature on the FW's FullHD and so far it's been working out.

 

No one else experiencing this? It doesn't happen consistently, I admit, but when it does it is MADDENING.

GRRRR..!!! I just tried it on this page after posting -- and I got the "click here" listing in the history and no return to the preceding page!

Any moderators reading this who can explain this? Site cookies gone mad? I have sent comments to the site email address before with no reply....

 

will the media slot support SD-HC cards? (high capacity?)

 

I rounded the number. The precise number is 119.72 and 111.94. The zoom feature is not perfect and doesn't always work with all applications. Besides, I use XP in which the zoom feature doesn't work at all.

 

This is interesting, because my desktop computer of several years' vintage has XP on it and the lower right corner of the Explorer browser has the zoom feature. Also, "control caps +" also zooms the page there.

I think you know what you want and you don't feel you can compromise. I'm glad you have the FW190 which currently meets your needs.

 

I saw the new FW- 490 "chocolate brown" today at Best Buy, and I have no idea why Sony would give it that name. The color has shiny metallic specks in it, and has more of a dark red wine type color to it. Looks really nice.

They didn't have to JFT model at BB so I just ordered one right now. I'll take some pictures of it when it gets here

 

I was wondering the same thing. When I first saw the chocolate colour, I thought it was more of a red wine colour too and I thought I must be crazy since nobody else noticed this.

 

Please post this problem in Site Suggestions. Actually I think there may be a thread on it already there. If not post it in the sticky at the top of the page.