sony FS550 review a little mini review that i made

Well i just got my laptop today the new sony vaio fs550..

I will make this short and add some pictures.. firstly when i got the box from the delivery person, it was extremely light i was so suprised. I opened up and the first thing i noticed how dam SEXY it was.
the looks on this laptop are very impressive, then i flipped the display upward and i could see teh xbite display all nice and everything.. actally the screen is very impressive .. i am not to sure though if i like it or not cause of the reflections..
anyway it's an intel sonoma 1.6ghz with the intergrated graphics with 512ddr 333mhz ram. though i have read that i can add ddr II on it?
anyway here are the pictures

http://img162.exs.cx/img162/1025/picture0017rq.jpg
http://img91.exs.cx/img91/2766/picture0023hx.jpg
http://img24.exs.cx/img24/29/picture0036yr.jpg
http://img23.exs.cx/img23/5861/picture0040gg.jpg
http://img22.exs.cx/img22/4062/picture0057ih.jpg
http://img29.exs.cx/img29/1893/picture0061fn.jpg
http://img27.exs.cx/img27/2217/picture0070uc.jpg

i hope you enjoy, if you want anythin else pm me or leave a message here like stats etc::

DVD viewing: the screen look amazing, though the VOLUME is really low even though all internal settings are a high res.
other than that that the palm rest and touchpad are a bit warm and the lower portion of the display. is running well so far.

Quality built: really tough nice material no flex whatsoever. the fan doesn't come on aften and when it does it's really low noise.

so far so good , but this model with the intergrated video is not a good choice.

and also i have read some problems iwth the hitachi drive, and this model has it, and it's true it's makes some kicking noise, and when u try to load something it kicks and lags the pc a bit

 

Pictures look great. I just saw one at the store and it looked very nice. Keyboard seemed better than the Toshiba m45 that was close to its specs.

I am not too worried about the hd or ram, as they are upgradable for min. cost.

Is there a problem with the drivers for sound, cause the one in the store did not have any sound? I would try and find the one with the nvidia card, but they only had one model at the store.

Also, there was some test doing pi out to the 2million decimal. I would be curious to see what your new machine can do it in. I tried on this older dell lattitude and it was very slow.

i'll check in later to see how you like it after a few days. Oh, how about the battery life, some of these new centrino chips are not as long as should be.

thanks,
kek

 

which test are u referring too? and i'll do it?

the battery life isn't that great so far on my second day , i have been able to get two hours out of it, with wifi turned on, though i would get that same amount with my compaq with an amd processor and wifi turned on.

but it's so sexy thogh it's hard to say no to it
the screen is super fabulous, dvd's movies are amazing on it.

in the USA ( i live in canada ) u can customize it now on their webpage with the nvidia graphics.

I wish they would ship to canada!

 

Thanks for the quick review.

Can you check what PCMCIA and FireWIre controller it uses. It's importatant for the sound card I plan to use with it.
You can see that in Device manager: "IEEE 1394 Bus host controller" and "PCMCIA adapter".

 

for PCMCIA it says generic card bus controller

and for the IEEE
it is using::

Texas instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

 

I am thinking about getting one of these! They look great, and with a surpising base price of $1,099 [USA; sonystyle.com]. You should make a full review~!

Windows - The operating system that runs the world.

Toshiba - Quality, price, and features!

 

How easy is it to access the harddrive and ram? I would really like to buy this laptop and replace the harddrive with a 7200rpm drive, and upgrade the ram to 1GB...

 

if i were u i woudnl't buy this model buy it from www.sonystyle.com and customize ur own

but the ram and hard drive are very easy i have taken more pictures i will try to upload and u can see how easy it is

 

more indepth review here u go

Review:

I will start with the pro’s and than move on to the con’s

Firstly, the screen. Amazing quality, very bright when chosen with the appropriate settings, but otherwise very legible, very clean, and just over all great. When viewing movies through the dvd player they are great. Though a con about it. It does reflect and at times a lot depending on the light conditions.

Weight: This laptop is not heavy at all. I believe it is around 6.2 pounds which to me makes this a good portable laptop if your not looking for high end features.

Built quality. At first I was little scared of buying a Sony because people have said they aren’t that good etc etc, and also owning a Compaq I was scared to go for a big name company again because my Compaq build quality wasn’t that well. This Sony FS 550 hands down is built very tough. Very hard plastic it seems like it, I really don’t know the material but it’s solid. Black on the bottom, light grey inside and the keys. The screen doesn’t move that well it’s very tight when releasing the latch you need to use both hands.

Touch pad is good, very sensitive at times. I always have to have a clear path when I am typing because if I touch it the cursor moves all over the place! Sometimes it doesn’t move that well and you have to put some force for it to move, but other than that it seems very responsive.

The keyboard, well it’s good, soft, I just don’t like the fact that the buttons are in this order CTRL than FN. I always press FN instead of ctrl when I am copying things and I end up cursing because I think that laptop isn’t working. I was used to the Compaq layout. The keys though seemed a bit raised, not sure how I could explain it, but they seem fragile in a way.

DVD+-RW. I really haven’t tested this out, but just watching movies. It gets loud when its spinning. I burned one dvd at 4X no problem.

Fan noise: Not that loud when it goes on. It seems to go one for a short very short period couple of seconds and then it goes off. It doesn’t stay on long, and it doesn’t go on very often. For such small casing it seems to cool itself just fine. I was typing some of this on my bed, on the cover and I picked up the laptop and it wasn’t hot, just a little bit warm. I was surprised. The only thing I feel gets warm is the right palm rest, and the track pad.

Graphics: well don’t play any games and you will be fine. At times this laptop has problems loading pages with a lot of graphics and it slows down. Sony tech told me this is because the graphics in this machine are dynamic so the memory is adjusting by the amount of graphics it’s thrown at it. Only 1gig of ram can be added to the system from the sony specs, and it comes with 2x256DDR 333mhz ram. For a Sonoma based laptop SONY make this version into a budget laptop. They did not even include DDR2 or a pci-e card but other manufactures have done this such as dell. I tried to run Aquamark 3D, well running at 1024 and the settings it has when first loaded it was taking forever to get through the first screen. The average FPS was about 5-7. With test was done with power bar on. I got tired of waiting so I cancelled it. 3dmark01, this machine scored about 4500points. So if your looking to play games move on to another laptop or visit www.sonystyle.com and configure a FS550. I wish I had this option here in Canada, I would of jumped all over it. It was slow when I was playing solitaire show down over MSN with my cousin which just uses FLASH, and at times the system would freeze, and pause, and then continue.

It comes with windows xp home edition, and it’s bloated with a lot of stuff that most of us will never use. I have everything still running and I have not yet to remove or reinstall windows BUT it came with a lot of pre installed programs!

Sound Quality: Well it’s not the best I have heard. My older Compaq 915CA had jbl speakers and that thing played music well. This laptop though it says HD sound, the volume is really low, even at full. Though the one cool thing I like when you press the FN key and the up or down volume (Fn+F4 or F5) it shows an onscreen display like a media centre sort of thing.

Battery LIFE: ITs not the best after three days of charging and draining, i am still only getting at least two hours of it.. two hours and a bit i should say. i was getting that with my amd compaq system.

Wireless Internet: Not sure what is going on here, but the connection with this laptop drops a lot, though on my other wireless machines it works fine, i have to toggle the switch on and off and it will work again. I know it is not my router because when this machine drops the others that are wireless are still workin fine.

If your not going to be playing games, and just need something portable with a great screen, 3 USB ports, one IEEE, dual layer dual format dvd writer, vga out, memory stick, wifi, and a PCMCIA slot then this laptop is for you. Though if you need Bluetooth etc and other features look elsewhere. I am not to sure if I will keep it, because at the price of 2199.99 Canadian I am not to sure if it’s really worth it. I have found Acer laptops for 1999.99 with more features than this laptop. Though I wouldn’t recommend it, I was expecting more from it. The integrated graphics really slow this system down. ONE thing it doesn’t lack which a lot of other manufactures do lack IS the LOOKS. HANDS DOWN I give this laptop a 10 in the looks, slim, and xbrite. I really like the screen though and I am hoping that we in Canada well have more options of the FS - Series.

 

Thanks for the review!

Windows - The operating system that runs the world.

Toshiba - Quality, price, and features!

 

Thanks for the review.

The video card was the thing I was worried about and it sounds like it is using too much main memory.

Although the case looks great, I will wait until I can find one with a dedicated graphics card. I can order online with Sonystyle and get a pci-express card, but It is a nvidia one that also shares memeory.

I will wait for one with dedicated, but good luck with yours. If you are unhappy with performance just return it and try something else.

good luck.

 

something just doesn't sound right with your machine. I can't imagine sony releasing a laptop that "stutters" when just loading a simple web page. I would definately try and exchange it. Ive never seen or heard of a machine with integrated graphics bogging down the machine as you described. I would also be concerned with the humming noise coming from the LCD that you described in your thread over at notebookforums. You almost scared me out of buying one of these but I'm going ahead anyway. Sounds like it could be the hard drive that is the problem and not the graphics at all.

 

Thanks mucho for the review. I have a credit at Amazon to use up and I am just waiting for the FS570 to release. It has 1 gb of RAM, 100 gb HD and a 1.73 M processor, otherwise, pretty much the same.

However, how is the unit with the integrated video specs, this worried me a bit, also, Sony lists max supported RAM as 1 gb - but with Vaios they say you can often squeeze in more, do you have the capacity for it with the 550? I won't be gaming, just multimedia and lots of downloading -how is it for that?

Also, it is important for me that the laptop is QUIET in general operation - sounds like that is the case for you but HD is sometimes a bit noisy.

I also compared the Sony with Toshiba Satellite M45 series, but, M45 has no where near the looks or screen from when I saw them both at Best Buy here in Flordia. But M45 does have supported RAM up to 2 gb and video out S port (comes with cheap 512 RAM though) . Sony does have dual layer drive and a port replicator available with VGA out (for $200 more of course). Also, M45 is cheaper by a couple $100 bucks. Again, on appearances, I do agree with you about physical looks of the FS, it is probably one of the best looking laptops I have ever seen - the Toshiba, well, it's Toshiba, not quite as bad looking as a cheap HP, but getting there.

Thanks, even do a full review if you can...

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by marooned

 

Are you still able to return the laptop? That really sucks spending that kind of money and having to make allowances like that. Maybe the graphics driver needs some work as well, who knows.

 

I wish Sony would actually do some market research and release the FS series with WSXGA

(1680x1050) option here in the US. I'd also like to see a more powerful video card such as

an nvidia go 6600 w/128mb or a Mobility Radeon X700 w/128mb.

But in reality I doubt they will put anything better than a X600 in the FS (and that

probably won't happen for 6 months). I am puzzled by Sony, they have some of the best

aesthetic style yet they ALWAYS put some low end components in their laptops; and without

sounding arrogant I am willing to pay for the better video card option but it is not even

available.

I understand that the FS is a supposed to be a budget laptop but surely they can have the

options available for those looking for high end specifications.

I was all set on buying the FS but the lack of a WSXGA LCD and the inferior video card has

detered me from the purchase(the nvidia go 6200 has lower benchmarks scores then a radeon

9700 and is esentially a 32mb card that shares 96mb with the system ram = not 128mb as

sonystyle claims but esentially a video card with SHARED memory and ONLY 2 pixel piplelines

while the radeon 9700 has 4 pixel pipelines even though it is 'older' technology.

Attrocious! Forget about gaming at an ACCEPTABLE levelon this 6200 garbage!)

For a while sonystyle had a description by the nvidia option that was HONEST and explained

that the 6200 was actually only 32mb dedicated and 96mb shared but they have since reverted

it to '128mb' when it really IS NOT a 128mb dedicated video card.

I wrote sonystyle to inquire about these options and did not receive a response and I doubt

I will. I was thinking about the S-Type but the customizable S-270 at the high end only

comes with a 64mb radeon 9700 - not good enough.

I'm sure some may suggest a sager but to me I should be able to get a high end laptop with

function and form, meaning good aesthetics (magnesium alloy case) and good performance (a

solid video card. I wish I could get my message across to decision makers at Sony USA!




HKG852

 

Thanks for the photos and review! I would like to ask a couple more questions.

I am thinking of buying a customized Sony FS laptop (NVidia GeForce Go 6200, Pentium M 740/1.73 GHz, dual-layer DVD+-RW, 60GB HDD at 4200rpm, 2x256MB RAM) and am wondering if these are the right specs for me and what kind of extended warranty I should buy.

I have never owned a laptop and want something to replace my desktop. I don't play games but a lot of multimedia. I plan on bringing my laptop to work every day, so the light weight of the FS is attractive. I also love the Sony's sleek design. Typically, I'll have Firefox, MS Outlook, and Winamp running simultaneously. If I'm working on a PowerPoint presentation, I'll also be running Adobe Acrobat and Picasa2 alongside the aforementioned applications. And seeing how I treated my last cell phone, I can say I'm a bit on the clumsy side. My questions:

1) Will the FS be able to run all the above programs at the same time without slowing down my machine considerably? Should I go for the 1GB RAM?

2) Will the FS series last me at least 3 or 4 years? I am willing to upgrade the RAM to 1 or 2 gbs, but would like to keep everything else basically the same. How long will I be getting a true XBRITE display until it starts to fade noticeably?

3) Is it worth paying US$316 for a 3-year Onsite Service Plan plus Accidental Damage Protection? or basically none at all? (The ADP is key.)

4) How come, without the ADP, the Onsite Service Plan is cheaper than the Express Ship Service Extension?

5/P.S.) How about the Sony FS compared to the new Fujitsu N3500 (also new Sonoma Pentium M 740 chip at 1.73GHz, 2x256MB RAM, 60GB HDD but at 5400rpm instead of 4200 rpm for Sony, color-enhanced Crystal View instead of XBRITE for Sony, dual-layer multi-format DVD-RW, no option for video card) (I don't care for the TV tuner)?

 

The FS video card issue raises some interesting questions.

1/Market: the demand for uber-powered graphics is driven by a teenage male market which is obsessed with games of glorified pingpong (ie Far Cry/Half-Life etc) -despite the gorgous visuals it's all about fast reactions and hitting the fire button before the baddy/enemy.This is not Sony's core demographic for laptops trust me - Playstation in any case is aimed at the trigger happy little boys and not so little boys. Vaio, and it may make you blush or giggle when you consider it, is aimed at sophisticated 25-50 year olds who have the cash to buy expensive, well made stuff and who like to play games a few times a week. They enjoy Far Cry but what really does it for them is something with more depth (even Children of the Nile has more depth than Call of Duty-although GTA is a major exception to the rule that teen games lack depth). Resource management and tactical and simulation games are often far less graphically demanding than the shoot em ups, and don't forget that the Sims and Myst, inter alia, have made far more money for the industry than any number of shooters. So: don't waste your time blaming Sony for what they're not trying to do, or just buy a Playstation (much cheaper than a laptop.

2/Technology: the real issue is USB ports. We have plug ins for everything from hard drives to DVD players- why not plug in video cards? It's really time that the industry tackled this - a lot of computer people don't want to buy a new laptop just to play a new game, they don't even want to fiddle with the innards of a tower case to fit a new card in their desktop, and they can't stomach the thought of a Playstation with all its tacky associations - so they opt out and the games industry loses profit on its expensively made products.

3/The Turbo Charge card in the FS is not that bad in fact: according to the techie websites it will play Far Cry at anywhwere between 20 and 47fps on the lower resolutions, although of course that's not its real purpose - the purchasers of the FS are more likely to play Rome: Total War or the new 3D version of Crusader (when it appears), games which benefit from a decent card but which don't demand massive speed.

4/ A useful thin and light alternative to the FS might be the new Samsung Sens X25 which hit 11,647 in 3D Mark 2003.

 

Actually Hakford I am in the 25 -50 age group and I'm actually a web designer and 3d modeler which is why I demand powerful graphical components in a laptop. I doubt you even work in CG or computer graphics which explains your lack of understanding as to why developers in my area of expertise would need the extra graphical power. (As demonstrated by your speel about "sophisticated users" followed by some crap about playing RTS', spare me mate you have no idea)

I don't understand why you are defending Sony, I doubt you have any vested interest in them and your point about RTS' is besides the point. If Acer, Samsung and other manufacturers are able to offer X600/X700 vid cards in their new Sonoma based laptops then why must Sony insist on the weakest video cards available. I am willing and able to pay as I mentioned in my last post so it's quite obvious you missed the entire point of my post. So for the benefit of simple minded Sony ass f*ckers like you I will elaborate in one sentence: Sony, you have great design aesthetics but put some decent vid cards into your laptops!



HKG852

 

In addition Hakford your comments about a usb vid card are just ridiculous. Laptops are about integrated all in one units. If your insight about peripherals were correct then laptop manufacturers would not integrate dvd burners, bluetooth etc. and you would not hear people complaining about laptops not including certain components.

As for your comments on the 'Turbo Charge' card your lack of precision in defining the exact card as well as the lack of a link to show these supposed benchmark results tell me you are an amateur who does not even work in IT for a living.

HKG852

 

let me be honest here for a bit..
on my one desktop i will do the following test use a OLD cheap 16MBSD ram video card and try to run aquamark, and then compare it to this dynamic memory integrated b.s and i'll let you guys know this..

as for the one guy in here getting the customized notebook, well, hm i dont think it allows 2gigs of memory but maybe? not sure the specs do say 1gig..

it might last you three five years who knows, i dont..

i tried dreamweaver trial from macromedia, hmm at times it would leg, but it would be ok,

I think another downfall is the hard drive and the 4200rmp it slows it down a lot even during install.

 

Let's get one thing clear. The kind of intemperate language used in the posts above is counterproductive. It's also extremely childish. I also strongly suspect it's against the rules of the forum, rules which which people signed up to.

There is no need to take things personally and this kind of temper tantrum actually puts people off from contributing to what are supposed to be discussions about computers.

I stand by the comments that I made in good faith and I have one piece of advice for the mouth-frothing, carpet chewing types: switch to decaffeinated...

 

A few more points.

1/In case anyone has any doubts there is no rule that says you have to work in IT to contribute to this forum.

2/If somebody uses abusive language don't let this put you off - report it to a moderator and try not to behave in the same way. On other occasions do remember that critical comments are not always meant personally.

3/More to the real point: there is no reason why laptops should always be self-contained. It's a fact that many laptop companies, including Sony and IBM have produced machines with plug in parts, especially portable optical drives, for example. As far as I know there are no laptops currently on the market that have built in printers - now they really would be self-contained.

There may be technical reasons, but there are no solid commercial or ergonomic reasons that should prevent the development of plug in graphics cards.

4/One website which gives quite a favourable review of the Turbo Cache
is called Beyond4D, it goes into some detail about all aspects of the card's performance...and I base my opinions of the card upon it...there was also another site which gave a similar verdict, but I can't seem to find it again and life's simply too short to worry about it...

 

1. I did not say you had to work in IT to contribute to this forum, but if you decided to use a condescending tone to reply to a post then expect this kind of response.

2. Obviously no one finds my language offensive except you so I think you should just quit with the moderator. Do you go running to your mummy when someone bumps into you on the bus? Grow up.

3. Built in printers in a PORTABLE laptop hmmm.....what are you talking about???!!!!

4. Turbo Cache is mearly a technology on the new nvidia go GPUs, in this post I have been talking about the Go 6200 which is the entry level card. Just so you know there is the 6200, 6600, and 6800.
It seems as though you are confused since you refer to Turbo Cache like it's a model of GPU when it is just a feature.

I was not able to find a site called beyond 4D, links usually start with http:// and end with .com, just so you know.

HKG852

 

The fact that Hakford did not rebutt any of my comments obviously means everything I said was true. The next time you decided to go on a pretentious rant about sophisticated users understand that you were the one asserting your opinions on a personal level.
I find your commentary based on unfounded misinformation and to me that is counterproductive.
I too stand by the comments I made and have one piece advice for sensitive, hypocritical types. Do your research before making fictional statements.

HKG852

 

My main concern is to have a good, open discussion. My second concern is that forums are gradually killed off by foul-mouthed foot stamping and name calling: people just think it's tacky and everything quickly goes off the point.

Open debate depends on a relatively relaxed approach to the hard fact that there are people out there who disagree with you and who occasionally come up with ideas you haven't thought of yourself...as for Mr. Angry, any reader of these posts can judge for themselves about the level at which he operates...

And remember, report people who try to abuse you...We want a proper forum, not a shouting match...

 

Mr. Angry is still posting, so presumably the moderators think that his foul-mouthed approach to debate and discussion is fine.So a bit of personal commentis ok. Fair enough.

Well we won't sink to the same level, but we can always enjoy some fun at his expense, winding him up is amusing, just so long as he doesn't have a coronary in the middle of it.

Mr. Angry says he's a computer expert, as opposed to us blundering consumers. He likes everything to be just so, how sweet (pedantry is always amusing)

However he's incapable of finding a website on Google. He needs the exact address, does this stickler for detail, and what will be our reward for providing that: will he say thanks or will he whisper more sweet nothings across cyber space?

2/He claims that laptops are meant to be self-sufficient above all else, despite all the evidence to the contrary and then blows out more steam when the point is made about why don't laptops have built in printers, then? How self sufficient is a laptop that has to be plugged into a printer?

For the record this is perfectly feasible in technical terms. Even though Angry has never heard of it, four years ago ago I actually owned a portable Brother word-processor which had a built in printer (I gave it so someone who needed it, and it still works perfectly).

Come on Mr.Angry, get really angry: see how many swearwords you can get into one post...Go for it...

 

The fact that Mr Hypocrite continues to respond to my posts shows he is perpetuating everything he supposedly is SO concearned about. I'll admit that this is not relevent to computing, at the same time Hakford is doing everything he is apparently so eager to end.
As for the level at which I operate it is based on logic whereas your level is clearly based on ignorance (not a single response to the holes I have found in his technical misinformation)



HKG852

 

Mr Hypocrite I am really not angry at all but I'm having a good time disproving everything you say and giving you time so you can change the subject. You describe me as foul mouthed yet I haven't used any profanity since my first post (perhaps I should name you mr sensitive).

As for finding the site I noticed you used it in a previous post but could not even remember the name of the site (it was 3d NOT 4d) and here is the link.
http://www.beyond3d.com/previews/nvidia/nv44/
This review is for the desktop version which differs from the GO series which designates GPUs for laptops. (Just so you know, probably another area of confusion for you)

Also please don't use 'us', all my comments are directed towards you Mr Sensitive, I don't claim to be the authority on laptop knowledge but I clearly know alot more than you. Judging by what you said I think most people on this forum know more than you.

Your comments about the word processor should be a good indication as to the equipment you have owned and know about, you are probably still using a word processor as a laptop so I supposed I should forgive your lack of knowledge. Come on Mr Sensitive if your word proessor was so great why do people use laptops in 2005. Are you playing RTS'on your word processor.
It's time to come out of the caves and join humanity in the 21st century.

HKG852

 

com'on guys relax::

the nvidia go, not sure how good it will be in this laptop since again IT IS shared memory which dynamically changes with what ur doing, just like the intel setup, which slows down durin heavy stuff.

Secondly batttery life really sucks on both the notebookes i have tested a good 1.5-2.0 hours, even at low brightness on the screen wifi off etc that i have tested

 

The basic point still stands.

1/Vaio has obviously not been targeted at uber - dedicated games players - this may change, but the business model Sony is using does matter, and it affects the issue, especially as the same company makes a lot of money out of Playstation.

2Graphics cards will continue to gain in power as the search for film quality games continues.

3/This leaves laptop owners with an upgrade problem which the computer industry has hardly addressed - for instance a year or so the Fujitsu Amil0 A with a 128MB Radeon 9700 card seemed ideal, judging from what gamers said on websites- already to the initiated this no doubt is starting to look a bit out of date, and if not it soon will look so...

4/The obvious economically sensible option is upgradeable cards that you insert or that you attach: very little work has been done on this it seems, and this failure has cost both laptop makers and game makers a lot of money. Why get into games at all if you are constantly buying new laptops just to keep up (the games are often expensive enough as it is, and they're not always that good), and for that matter why buy a laptop if in this one respect it dates so incredibly fast?

5/The other aspect is that, despite this, you can play many games on old laptops - to some extent the whole issue is hype and inflated expectations - I even got Rome: Total War to play on a Vaio with 64MB integrated graphics - it didn't play very well, but it played. This reinforces my argument that the new generation of laptop cards will be quite good for playing 90% of existing games, and in fact the evidence suggests that they will even play the very fast games (though not brilliantly). The problem of course is that in 3-4 years this will not be the case, maybeeven sooner, unless you want to sapend all your time playing yesterday's games - which brings us back to the obvious solution: plug in graphics..

6/For the record I've owned half a dozen Vaios in the last 4 years, from the C1 Picturebook to the desktop replacement GR. In that time I've also owned a Dell PC and an IBM PC and two sony Clies.For my next purchase I'm currently looking at the Sony A series (the A317 has just been released in the UK with a 128 MB Radeon X600 card), the S series, and the FS: what's interesting about the FS is it's a helluva lot cheaper than the others, and it seems to have a usable graphics card, on the basis of the reports mentioned, on e which will be adequate for at least the next couple of years (I don't really want to play Doom or the very latest Medal of Honour -mind you as part of the same experiment mentioned above I even got Medal of Honour to play perfectly well on a 32MB integrated graphics card).

 

Hey hey now. Let's play civilly or the thread can be closed. Everyone is entitled to thier own opinions, but personal attacks and foul language are not tolerated.