Sony VAIO(R) VPCF122FX/B F Series 16.4" Notebook PC - Black

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 6.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B003SQGSQS
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,548 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004

Product Description

Enjoy maximum performance and amazing HD entertainment on a top-notch 16.4" widescreen laptop with a backlit keyboard and integrated number pad. And with a quad core Intel Core i7 processor, dedicated NVIDIA GeForce graphics, and a Blu-ray Disc drive, you will experience the ultimate in smart performance and a razor-sharp picture with amazing depth and clarity. Rediscover your favorite music, photos and more with Media Gallery. Developed with design in mind, Media Gallery includes a stunning UI with easy-to-use features and technology that takes the work out of enjoying your media. In one-step you can easily simplify your massive music library into unique playlists. SensMe Technology suggests photos and music based on your unique viewing and listening habits, reminding you of forgotten favorites. Plus, with integrated GraceNote and YouTube support, you can get the full scoop on your favorite artist or uncover music videos and interviews you didn't know existed. You'll have everything you need in one sleek package. 16.4 Widescreen Display (1600 x 900) Built-in MOTION EYE camera and Microphone with face-tracking technology NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU with 1GB of dedicated video RAM Intel High Definition Audio with Dolby Home Theater Blu-ray Reader & DVD+-R/RW with Double Layer Combo Drive Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n WLAN 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Bluetooth Stereo A2DP (2.1 + EDR) Multimedia Card Reader - MS PRO (Standard/Duo) media slot with MagicGate(TM) functionality, ExpressCard / 34 media slot, SD media slot Pointing device - Electro-static Touch Pad (Multi-Finger) Ports - 3 x USB 2.0 (one shared with eSATA), IEEE 1394, Headphone Output, Microphone Input, VGA, HDMI, RJ-45 Ethernet Dimensions - 15.3 (W) x 1.22-1.62 (H) x 10.4 (D) inches Weight - 6.4 pounds (with standard battery)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a Barn Burner, but Okay, January 17, 2011

By 

James R. Walker "Making the Difference" (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony VAIO(R) VPCF122FX/B F Series 16.4" Notebook PC - Black (Personal Computers)

I'm giving this one 3 stars. I don't see the big speed improvement when compared to my 2 year old Dell. Then again, I haven't tried any games that would take advantage of the 1G video card or heavy processor intensive work. I mainly use it for everyday use like email, MS Office, browsing, running a web site, etc.

Things I don't like:

- Keyboard: It takes getting use to. Typing on the raised keys is defintly diffenent then the conventional keyboards.

- Hard drive: Not the fastest at 5400rpm. I might upgrade to either with a SSD or a 7200rpm HD. Also, you can hear the HD spinning, reading and writing under the keyboard. Clicking sounds are a little annoying.

- Memory: Only comes with 4G when it could support max of 8G. Comes with 2x2G and if you need to upgrade, you need to pull out the existing memory. It's a waste of money.

- Weight: Little on the heavy side.

- Comes with a Blu-Ray reader and not a Blu-Ray burner

- Bloatware: :Added Value" or not, I've uninstalled tons of unwanted software.

- Back-lit keyboard (goes off after few seconds. Can't leave it on all the time)


Things I like:

- Large screen, 16.4"

- Ease of making backup media in case the hard drive crashes. You'll need 3 DVDs.

- Back-lit keyboard (makes it easier to see the letters in the dimmly lit room)

- Price; I got mine really cheap as I bought it as an opened box and it was a previously retuned item.


Bottomline: Not a bad machine; I wouldn't have bought it for the full price;

2.0 out of 5 stars Unreliable, Flimsy, a headache, October 11, 2011

By 

Seth G. Nelson (Raeford, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony VAIO(R) VPCF122FX/B F Series 16.4" Notebook PC - Black (Personal Computers)

Bought this laptop a year ago and of course after the one year warranty, things go south.
The laptop is flimsy, as the majority of the case is made from plastic. When you pick this thing up, you can feel and hear this thing cracking and flexing. Not Good.
As a result of the flimsy case, components began failing. First the blue ray player went out, but not completely, it still plays blue rays and burns DVDs and cds. It just won't read regular US DVDs. I've reformatted the hard drive, installed all updates, and cleaned it and everything under the sun! After contacting sonny about the problem they recommended the drive needs to be replaced.
Second, the hard drive failed after I reinstalled everything after the failure of the blue ray drive. Luckily I had an extra 320 gig laying around. The disk drive's failure was mechanical, possibly due to the lack of internal support or shock absorbing properties of the case itself. I do not travel much; it's a shame after about 4 trips in a backpack the drive/s fail.
After the hard drive and blue ray drive failures, I was convinced things were ok again. Wrong. As I am Skyping the wife, in mid sentence, the keyboard and touch pad quit working. I'm thinking virus, although I have up to date Norton, driver failure or something. After troubleshooting every software possibility, it turned out the ribbon that connects the display buttons and keyboard, have a bad connection. I wiggled the ribbon, which is located under the speaker panel by the caps lock lights, and the keyboard came back. The touch pad, however still does not work. So I took it all apart to find that a manufacturing flaw caused the ribbon of the touchpad to be pinched between the case. Over the course of a year, the thin and flimsy ribbon wore through.
I use a Bluetooth mouse so I had to borrow a usb mouse to install my Bluetooth mouse, but now everything is working, except the touch pad of course.
With how unreliable this computer is, I would never use it to type an important document, you never know when this thing will fail you. I'm going to give it to my 6 year old to play with.
On the plus side, despite the slow hard drive, the processor, graphics, ram and esata port are great.
The display is fuzzy, not very clear.
Never again Sony.
Seth