Sony VAIO PCG-FXA36 Notebook (1-GHz Athlon, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.51mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 12.8 x 1.9 inches ; 7.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005T3IV
• Item model number: PCG-FXA36
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,066 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

Whether you're looking for a notebook for business, as a desktop replacement, or for entertainment purposes, the Vaio PCG-FXA36 has a lot of appealing features. These features include a 1 GHz AMD Athlon CPU, 256 MB of RAM (expandable to 512 MB), 15-inch, 1,024 x 768 resolution active-matrix screen, and combination CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. Additionally, the system has a 20 GB hard disk, 56K modem, and 10/100 Mbps Ethernet NIC. Loaded with Windows XP Home Edition, this notebook weighs 7.2 pounds.

Product Description

Maximum power, storage, and mobility. ThatM-^Rs what you get with this PCGFXA36 notebook computer from Sony. Packed inside is a 1GHz AMD® AthlonM-^Y 4 processor, 20GB hard drive, 256MB RAM and new Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition operating software. And with its compact, all in one design, the floppy drive, combo CD-RW/DVD drive and hard drive are all housed together, so you donM-^Rt have to worry about carrying along extra gadgets. Everything you need to get your work done when youM-^Rre on the go.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great machine with a few drawbacks, May 3, 2002

By 

Dinubabear (Landover, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-FXA36 Notebook (1-GHz Athlon, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

I'v had this machine for over 6 months now & I love it. I was not used to XP, but have found the operating system, doesn't crash. Programs will, and XP closes them down. XP will not handle all hardware though. I insisted on installing something, and it said that the driver was not approved for XP, but I installed it anyway. The device never worked, and XP froze the driver each boot. I uninstalled it, but it destroyed DirectX's 3D until I reinstalled XP. The modem usually connects between 49 & 52. The DVD/CDRW works great. Pulling out the 3.5 for a second battery more than doubled it's short power life. 1 battery usually lasts 1.2 hours. With a second SONY battery (nonames shorted out-By Sony's Design??) it lasts a little more than 3 hours. Cable modem is super fast either connected or by wireless PC card. And the software movie shaker lets you make your own movies. I installed the full office Suite, and Flash & Dreamweaver, works fine. My only complaint is XP, which will run SOME programs in 95/98 emulation mode but not all (Games). When the thumb pad doesn't work well, licking your finger helps. Not all function keys work like mobile Pentium, and there is no instruction. Calling Sony, they will explain it for you, but expect a long wait. Online help is usually instructions to reformat. If you want 512 MB RAM, you'll have to replace BOTH 128MB cards with two 256MB cards. Stands up to being dropped while on without losing your program. Listening to DVD's with headphones is great. One of the largest viewable laptop screens. Hard drive is partitioned 8Gig Fat32(limit) & 11Gig NTFS.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FXA36 - a great machine with some glitches, January 4, 2002

By 

Astro (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-FXA36 Notebook (1-GHz Athlon, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

I've owned an FXA36 for a little over 2 months. It is a great machine but has some minor glitches. The modem is a software based modem. I have upgraded the software from the Sony site but still does not contect at any higher than 33.6k and disconnects a lot. My hardware based Zoom modem on my old desktop consistly connects at 52k and seldom disconnects. But I recently used the FXA36 ethernet card to connect a cable modem and it works great! The 8x CD writer (there's also a DVD and CD rewriter - all in one) works great and is intuitive. Sony technical assistance has been very helpful and knowledgable although the waits can run 20 minutes and longer. Not sure I like Windows XP it comes with as much as Windows NT or Windows 98, but maybe once I get used to it.

All in all, despite having to reload the total operating system right after I bought it because the telephone modem would not connect to the internet, I've grown to love the thing. It is speedy and light weight. I using it as a desktop replacement and except with some problems with the Windows sound scheme and various user profiles, I am very pleased (Note you should check the Sony support website at http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/support/pc/pcgfxa32-fxa36/ for software updates).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure dependability in a sleek, professional body, June 2, 2002

By 

H. Kyu (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony VAIO PCG-FXA36 Notebook (1-GHz Athlon, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive) (Personal Computers)

If you are looking for a super-fast laptop that's so hard to crash, and is cool enough to actually run on your laps, your search may be over.

Until I used this laptop, I was beginning to think that all the later laptops are slow, heat-emitting, energy-hogging machines with poor display, that crash every few months.
This Sony PCG-FXA36 totally made an exception in my perspective towards today's laptops.

It comes with a new generation of AMD's Athlon MPU with Powernow! technology that runs 75% more efficiently, and does more work at the same # of clock cycles than other processors with a similar speed rating. This means longer battery life, cooler computer, and faster performance. The 1GHz Athlon 4 (laptop ver. of Athlon XP) performs equally to a regular Athlon or Pentium III 1.2GHz. I thought it was just talk until I opened the new Microsoft Media Player 7, the heavy one, in just two seconds.

It also comes with a CDRW/DVD combo drive that can burn entire audio CDs in just about eight minutes, when using its really user friendly audio player/recorder. As user friendly as putting a blank CD and hitting the on-screen record button, after putting songs on its playlist.

In addition to the colorful new Windows XP OS from Microsoft, it comes with an alternative file manager exclusively from Sony that is sooo neat, where the icons float around, you just have try it yourself to appreciate it.

For the external display output, it has an RCA jack in addition to the standard 15-pin header. This feature allows users to use their home TV sets or projectors with RCA signal input jacks alternatively to the built-in LCD display. This lets its users watch DVDs or do presentations on a bigger screen, a feature I really like.

The LCD display that it has is as good as a Macintosh iBook's LCD display. Sharp, accurate colors, and has a very good viewing angle.

This little Sony laptop reminds me of a portable mono Sony cassette recorder that I owned when I was about four years old. I treated it rather roughly and played with it frequently, yet it did not break down on me even once. It was still in good condition when I turned twelve years old.

This Sony PCG-FXA36 is nothing but a product of pure quality craftsmanship!