looking at a sony

heard the screens were amazing compared to most and top of the line product altogether

going to be my first, dont really like dell, but im looking at an FW (will be my main source and will be connecting another monitor to it when stationed at home)

but have seen the battery problem? do you recommend it? itll be plugged in 95% of the time!

thanks for any help

 

oh and I will be using it in school not college but we are allowed in high school, no real gaming, online poker and movie watching etc

MAINLY

hopefully this will work for college to if I decide to go

 

I'm looking at the same (FW11E) and will also be adding a second monitor. I have a Dell C510 at the minute (running a 1.6 Ghz Celeron and 398Mb RAM, 20 GB HD - pretty rubbish compared to the Sony spec lol)

Trying to find info as there is also an FW21 but has a slower processer for more money (because of Blue Ray - which I don't want)

 

I really want blu ray, more money, but with the screen quality, its gonna be my main watching

 

I am in exactly the same boat as both of you. The FW11E comes with the P8400 (2.26GHz) processor in it, but its sucsessor, the FW21L (why not E again?) comes with Blu-Ray drive (which i would like ) But also with the T5800 (2.00GHz) processor. I don;t think my useage of the laptop will warrant taking another step up the FW Series ladder again, but I'm a bit dissapointed in Sony, why couldn' they have kept the P8400 in
Now I dont know which one to buy, but I'm wavering towards waiting for the 21L. If i were you who don't want the Blu-Ray get one of the last 11E's while they are still around, as otherwise you'll pay a premium for something you dont want.
For me though the 21L works
Cant wait for it!

 

honestly i just want someone to either sell the sony to me (give me stuff thats good about it) or turn me away i want a good first lappy! ive heard alot of good though just one more comment from the "experts"

 

I love the screens on these ! Build quality and such are very nice too

If it's gonna be plugged in 95% of the time i don't see how the battery-problem will do any harm for you at all, you wouldn't even notice that!

 

If you want to read something good about Sony, reference my opinion here.

As for you power situation, my advice would be to just take the battery out. Most notebooks now and days will run straight off the AC adapter without battery. If you leave the battery in there and run it 95% of the time from the wall power, the electricity is still running through your battery and eating up charge cycles. This will, in tern, cause your length of battery life to diminish much quicker.

BBGus

 

I never knew you could run a laptop w/o a battery in it.
That is helpful for me because mine will often be off mains power and charging the battery when it isnt dead can damage it/lower the overall battery life, correct?
That happened with my PSP

 

I think it's better to use the Battery Care utility to keep your battery charged at 50% when on AC. That way you might still need to buy new batteries but only every 3 years or so, and if you're going to be travelling you can always adjust the battery care to 80% or even turn it off to use 100%.
And in the mean time, if you have a brief loss of AC power it won't cost you your work...

 

so you recommend a sony as the best or one of them? thats my main concern!

 

Different models by different manufacturers are good for different uses and people's tastes. There's no such thing as a perfect laptop... it's a compromise. Sonys are generally good for: display quality, build quality and design/looks. If you're on a tight budget and don't value these strong points, there are probably better options out there.
Try filling in the questionnaire and posting in the 'which notebook should I buy' forum if you would like opinions on which is the best notebook for your specific needs.

 

I did and the vaio fw is what Ive been told

for movie viewing and when I want to branch off to a dual monitor and also for internet viewing and stuff like that, but I just wanted to make sure

 

I think it's best that you go and have a look at one, if you haven't already. The FW is undoubtedly a nice machine, but personally I would find it too big. If you are looking for a desktop replacement or something with a nice screen for browsing on the sofa or watching movies on, it's great. IMHO, it's a bit big/heavy to be lugging around if you're often on the road, though.

 

InfyMcGirk, where I can find that Battery Care Utility? Is that a program I must download first or is it built in and I dont realize this function? I use VAIO VGN-CR220E

Thanks

 

I don't have my Z on me right now, but I think you can find this utility via Vaio Control Centre. Try looking in Control Panel > Vaio Control Centre or similar...

 

I open Control Panel right now, but I can't find Vaio Control Center or something like that..

Here is the list of what I found on my control panel
- System and Maintenance
- Security
- Network and Internet
- Hardware and Sound
- Programs
- Mobile PC
- User Accounts and Family Safety
- Appearance and Personalization
- Clock, Language, and Region
- Ease of Access
- Additional Options

Please guide me, I really need that program, thank you.

 

Have you done a clean install, or is this how your laptop arrived? I don't know for sure that the CR series has the Battery Care utility... only that several different Vaio series use it.

 

Hey try this..
Click on the Start menu -> then All Programs -> then look for VAIO Control Center

 

That would be a good feature for me to have if when I get my VAIO.
Thanks for the heads up, but I think it will only be on the more Portable (>14") Laptops that'll have this feature.

 

No, I'm pretty sure that all of the recent models have this feature..
Because I really can't see why they would only put it on the more portable laptops..
The bigger laptops need this feature even more than the more portable ones.
since they will be plugged in more, and so this feature is more important..