Sony VAIO PCG-FXA32 Notebook (900-MHz Duron, 128 MB RAM, 15 GB hard drive)

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 12.8 x 1.9 inches ; 7.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005T3IU
• Item model number: PCG-FXA32
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,765 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 15, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Sony Vaio PCG-FXA32 is a basic laptop for general-purpose use. Its price is lower than average for notebooks as a whole. Additionally, the system weighs 7.1 pounds and has a 900 MHz AMD Duron processor, 128 MB of RAM (expandable to 512 MB), a 15 GB hard disk, a DVD-ROM drive, 56K modem, and 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network card. Its screen is a 15-inch, active-matrix display with 1,024 x 768 resolution. Windows XP Home Edition comes installed.

Product Description

The notebook computer that thinks like a desktop. With a 900MHz AMD DuronM-^Y processor, 128MB RAM, 15GB hard drive, new Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition operating software and all in one design that houses the floppy drive, DVD drive, hard drive and 15M-^RM-^R XGA TFT display, this Sony PCGFXA32 provides the power and resources to get your work done in a compact, portable design. And with an Ethernet port, built-in modem, and i.LINK® interface you can still have the connectivity of your PC at home.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Product but Extremely Poor Technical Support, December 31, 2001

By 

wu chou (Basking Ridge, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-FXA32 Notebook (900-MHz Duron, 128 MB RAM, 15 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

I bought an FXA-32 laptop for home use, and it is a very good product given the price. It comes with an impressive 15" display and graphics are fantastic. The speed of FXA-32 is O.K. But to my suprise, it runs much faster after I added in an extra 128MB RAM (total 256MB). Kinston is running a promotion for Sony and I got the extra 128MB almost free (just pay $9 shipping cost). The machine is very reliable, and I don't see any reason to buy a desk top computer for home use.

However, the customer service of Sony on FXA-32 is the worst I have ever seen (not even remotely close to Dell). They do not return your email!!! I tried more than 10 times to reach them by phone, even at odd hours. But not a single time that I can get through. Circuit City alwayse refers the problem to Sony, but that is a black hole after many tries.

Here is a list of things I found on my machine:
(1) It needs to download various updates from Sony Web site and install them one by one (an hour job with a good IP connection).
(2) Volume control can only be set through control penal.
(3) Brightness control is not found and disabled from keyboard.
(4) System reading on CPU speed is buggy. I got a wide range of readings from 564MHz to 900 MHz.
(5) The manual is poorly written and not helpful.
(6) On my machine, Microsoft Word is not properly installed, missing wordret.ini. But without support, there is no way to fix it.

These are all minor problems if there is proper technical support. But overall, it is a very good machine and I give it a 4 star.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Computer for the price., December 11, 2001

By 

Sean C. Patton (Sahuarita, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-FXA32 Notebook (900-MHz Duron, 128 MB RAM, 15 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

I bought this computer for my wife and have been pleasantly surprised by it. The screen is 15" which makes for very nice veiwing. The touch pad is a good size and responds well, but we bought a mouse for it, and hooked it up with no problems.

We also wanted to do wireless internet through our cable hookup. Installing the wireless card was fairly easy but Windows XP said it had not approved the card for the XP OS. But after installation I have never seen that warning again, and the wireless card works fine.

Another plus is that you get "free" 128mb ram upgrade. Yes the ram is free but they charge you 10-12 dollars (depending on type of shipping) for shipping. I found the shipping a little high but heck its free, I cannot complain to much.

There are a couple of drawbacks. 1)The operating speed which says 900 duron, but is actually about 667mghz. Getting a P3 or P4 drastically increases the price of a laptop, so I can settle for the speed. I have a P3 800mghz desktop, and can notice very minimal slowdown when comparing the two. 2)The sound is very light. Having the sound maxed out still seems to be very quiet. I do not know if buying external speakers would help or not. I venturing to say they would help.

The programs are fairly good ones. The DVD player works good, and is very clear on the screen. Windows XP, while still in it's infantile stage runs smooth. I also do see some ghosting from time to time that another consumer wrote about. I am guessing this is an XP problem.

Overall a very good first time laptop. The screen is top notch (which to my wife matters most), just wish the sound was a little better. I would recommend this laptop for first time buyers. Vetrans of laptops may want to look elsewhere.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, October 17, 2003

By 

mark (nowhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-FXA32 Notebook (900-MHz Duron, 128 MB RAM, 15 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

Battery life: 30 minutes doing nothing
Tech support says this is normal!
What?
YES, they say this is normal. Now I Know they have no sense.
What can you possibly acomplish in 30 minutes on a laptop, assuming you are doing something productive. Forget about using this laptop in the airport.
The poorest, most sorry, stupid, neanderthal tech support on the planet.
Opposite of a Toyota product, wish they made a laptop.