Sony VAIO FXA59 Laptop (1.3 Ghz Athlon XP1500, 256 MB SDRAM, 30 GB hard drive)

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.12mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 13 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000067NO0
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 15, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Sporting fewer amenities than Sony's high-end mobile computers, yet easily robust enough to run most professional and entertainment software, the Vaio FXA59 notebook strikes a good balance between price and performance. Its convenient all-in-one design also makes it a great choice for those who appreciate true portability.

At 1.9 by 12.8 by 10.5 inches and 6.7 pounds (with battery) or 7.1 pounds (with battery and removable 3.5-inch floppy disk drive), the FXA59 is not an overly large notebook. Yet unlike some Sony portables, it is completely self-contained. A combination CD-RW/DVD drive (24x/8x/8x, 8x DVD) is built right into the unit, as is a spacious 30 GB hard drive. Furthermore, the floppy disk drive may be swapped at any time for an optional second battery.

The system is powered by a 1.3 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1500+ processor, a fast yet cost-effective chip featuring AMD's new QuantiSpeed architecture for improved performance, and PowerNow technology for extended battery life. Sony has paired this processor with 256 MB of SDRAM memory (expandable to 512 MB) and an 8 MB ATI Rage Mobility graphics chip. While its graphics processing speed isn't fast enough for the latest 3-D games, the FXA59 will capably handle anything from standard business applications to DVD movies, transmitting video signals to its large 1,400 x 1,050 15-inch XGA TFT display and audio to its integrated stereo speakers.

The FXA59 is outfitted with more external connections than most notebook users will ever need, including an i.Link IEEE 1394 jack for fast data uploads from devices such as digital camcorders, two USB ports for plug-and-play peripherals, NTSC video-out and external monitor-out, parallel and serial "printer" ports, a microphone-in, and headphone jack. An internal V.90 modem delivers low-speed Web and e-mail access, and a 10Base-T/100Base-TX Ethernet interface supports high-speed surfing and LAN connectivity.

The system's keyboard section features a standard 86-key layout and an electrostatic touch pad. Sony has not included the handy Jog Dial control or Memory Stick media slot found on other models. Pre-installed software includes Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Quicken 2002 New User Edition, Corel WordPerfect Office 2002, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and a broad range of audio, video, and still-image tools and utilities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Overall Performance, July 15, 2002

By 

Mad Dog "maddog6969" (TimbuckThree, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO FXA59 Laptop (1.3 Ghz Athlon XP1500, 256 MB SDRAM, 30 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

First, the downside - the mouse can be flakey. Sometimes it acts as if the left side key is stuck. Other times, you have to tap it ten times to get it to react. Other that that, the only problem we've had has been that some DVD's latch up the WIN/DVD software.

But considering how much use our Vaio has had, we've been very happy. The CD burner has worked flawlessly. I use the Vaio to back up digital images while we're traveling. It's great to be able to burn a CD as backup before deleting the files off of the camera. The kids use it to watch movies and play games and they love the large, bright screen. The off-axis color and brightness are excellent.

This is my 4th laptop and finally, I have one that is fast enough for the applications I run. It's amazing what can be fit into such a small package. One warning: the shape and texture of the unit make it easy to drop when pulling it out of a briefcase. I haven't, but if you aren't careful, it could easily happen.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FXA the only computer you will ever need, June 13, 2002

By 

tim fram (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO FXA59 Laptop (1.3 Ghz Athlon XP1500, 256 MB SDRAM, 30 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

A few months ago I bought my FXA49 laptop computer. I opened it up turned it on and it was set to go. compared to my other exsperences with computers this was amazing. the 1.2 GHZ was giving me acsess at what felt like instent speed. after installing my favroite programs i relize how much of a hard drive 30 GB2 really is. the dvd drive allows me to watch any dvd movie with great sucsses. the cd writers it just what it should be. the 512 megabyte memory is worth it to the byte. the battery power never seems to end aswel. the wait is good for leaveing it on your desk and better for carrying around it says seven but i never would notice. when it says thin it is if you cosider what you are geting. anouther impressive feature is the huge screen if you do the math one 15in screen is bigger than two 10in screens. every feature is worth it and for personal or bussness definately worth the money.
i hope you found this review helpful and get this laptop so you will be anouther witness to this wonderful product.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too fast long battery life!, July 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony VAIO FXA59 Laptop (1.3 Ghz Athlon XP1500, 256 MB SDRAM, 30 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

Sony has very good cosumer support.
This is my first Notebook from AMD, and I love it much faster from my old Penium 3 800Mhz.
Very long batter life too, up to 3 hours(without playing games)
Really sharp and crystal clear screen.
Runs fast cool and quiet, I will keep it for long time.
Cdr and DVD runs great, no complaind here.
Smart investment!
Highly recomand this one, I am sure you will't be sorry!