Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGN-FW510F/B 16.4-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Pros:
Good specs for a mid-grade notebook
Comforable & quiet keyboard
Upward facing speakers
HDMI output
Aesthetically pleasing

Cons:
LCD is dark even at full brightness
Fan comes on intermitently every 4-5 mins
Heavy (6.9 pounds)
Low battery life (~2.5hrs on light usage)

Review:
I bought this at Bestbuy the weekend of Black Friday ($649.99). It's rare to find a mid-grade notebook that has dedicated graphics, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, GigE & 802.11n connectivity, and a 1600x900 display. Even at MSRP, the specs are pretty good for the price. The keyboard is very quiet and comfortable to type on. The touchpad is a decent size but the 2 buttons are hard to click (I generally use the touchpad tap gestures). The max volume on the speakers are pretty good and they actually face up. Many lower end notebooks have them facing down going away from your ear and also gets muffled if you put it on your bed. The HDMI is great for connecting to an external display. Unfortunately, the integrated glossy 1600x900 xbrite-eco display looks pretty bad. Even on max brightness, the LCD is not very bright. The viewing angles are bad. Normal sized text is hard to read unless you're looking at the LCD straight-on. This is my first experience with extended usage on a Sony xbrite-eco display and I'm a bit disappointed. I haven't used a TN-panel in 3 years, so I am a bit spoiled on monitors. I'm also very conscious of computer noise. The fan comes on and off frequently and cannot be controlled by 3rd party software (This is true of all Sony Vaios). I checked this out using HWMonitor. The PC idles around 50C. When the CPU gets stressed to 59C, the fan starts spinning and cooling the CPU down until 51C, then stops. This is a regular pattern that occurs maybe every 4-5 mins, but on the other hand, many notebook cooling systems are the same way. The good thing is this never becomes one of those lap-scorchers. This thing is quite heavy at 6.9 pounds. The big LCD and dedicated graphics add weight and also trim down the 4400mAH battery's life. I get 2.5hrs on light usage. I think this could have used a bigger battery, but I think Sony didn't want to have to market a 7 pound+ computer. There is still pre-installed garbage software that you'll want to uninstall but it's not as bad as it used to be. This is currently my main computer and I usually have it "docked" to my external S-IPS Dell monitor, external keyboard/mouse, and constantly charged, so I don't feel the effect of the dull LCD, weight, or battery life.

Overall, I still really like the computer. To get similar specs elsewhere, you'd have to spend $1000+. It looks very sleek and has the Sony "Vaio" branding if you're into that. With a 16"+ laptop, weight and lowered battery life are a given. The hardware is very good other than the LCD and the cooling sytem is a little bit below average in my opinion. I'd say if this looks good on paper to you, head down to a brick and mortar to check out the LCD brightness, viewing angles, and weight before making your decision.

I recently bought the FW 501F and it is a great laptop for home and study projects, solidly built and with superb performance and capacity for gaming and browsing. If you do not mind the lack of BD player, this laptop is a winner, but amazon's prices for the same product are way above than Best Buy ($200+ difference). I already own a sony laptop FW 270J and they are excellent products. I would recommend this sony to anyone, over almost any other brands.

I have never dealt with such poor service in my entire life as I dealt with for my Sony Vaio VGN-FW. Less than six months after purchasing the computer the network connection stopped working. After two hours of dealing with Sony tech support they finally sent a technician, who replaced the network card but still didn't solve the problem. The next step was to send the computer to the Sony fix-it center where it was to be "assessed" and "processed". Then, I got the news - according to Sony the switch to the wireless card was broken in the off position, it was somehow "my fault", and it would cost $700 to replace. This was a complete and utterly false and shameful assertion on their point, especially since the only time that the wireless switch had ever been used was when the Sony tech had toggled it in her diagnostics. After two days and considerable agony dealing with the customer service center I was finally able to get Sony to agree to replace the network card with no cost. All told the experience cost me two full days of my life and a month without my computer - all to get what I should've had all along . . . a working laptop. I bought a Sony due to their reputation as a top-notch brand, but I will never make that mistake again - they were deceitful in how they approached the issue and they made every attempt to screw me along the way.

I recently purchased this for Christmas for a family member as a gift. The Sony VAIO VGN-FW510F/H 16.4-Inch Gray Laptop is very user friendly. The person using this is not the best with computer technology but Sony makes things very easy to understand and all the functions are obvious and easy. Windows 7 is very nice, intuitive and connected with printers and other peripherals very easily. I think for under $800 this laptop is a great buy. 16.4 "makes it easy to read for the entire family, and yet it is not cumbersome at all. I like this much better than the 14 or 15" models I looked at in the stores.
Battery life is not bad, but less than the stats stated here. I'd say 90 min is reasonable expectation with normal use. No blu-ray drive, but that isn't a big deal to me yet. Otherwise, I can't find much wrong with this laptop, and I would buy again if I needed another one.

I owned my first ThinkPad in '98. Been sold on the line. Unfortunately, mine finally bit the dust. Since Lenovo took over the division, the ThinkPad line has gone to crap. So... I needed to look for alternative options.

I found that buying a new laptop is a lot like buying new shoes. You can't just buy them online without trying them out. This laptop was an ergonomic fit, not to mention the features. If you're looking for plenty of keyboard space, a large (an awesome) display, 64 bit OS, 4 GB RAM, and a 500GB hard drive... this is it. The HDMI output doesn't suck either.

Regardless, I'm happy with my purchase.

First of all I currently own 4 Sony Vaio Computers:

1. Vaio FW (upgraded to Windows 7 Professional): Just a fantastic combination of performance and build quility. True workhorse. HPs and Dell look dull compared to the sleek and elegant FW.

2. Vaio X (64GB SSD + Verizon broadband): Light as a feather, fantastic design, leaves all other netbooks in the dust, Mac Air looks boring compared to this. Performance is significantly faaster than the air as well. Includes VGA and Full Windows 7 Home Premium (which means it comes with the fantastic Windows Media Center). Includes 14 hour extended battery. Even with the extended battery the X looks sleeker than the Mac Air!

3. Vaio TP: I paid around $2000 for this excellent home theatre PC that does eveything. Again, very sleek and excellent performance.

4. Vaio LT All in one: I paid around $2000 for this, again an excellent all in one, better than an iMac in every way possible. Better audio (includes a built in sub woofer!), Blu Ray player and includes Vista Media Center + HD TV Tuner!

So what's the problem? For both the TP and LT computers which are Vista Sony support refuses to upgrade the graphics drivers to support windows 7. This means I can NEVER upgrade these from Vista to Windows 7. Sony makes great hardware, no question. But when it comes to support they are the worse. So IF you are budget conscious in any way or need your computer to be future proof for more than a couple of years NEVER EVER consider a Sony. This is coming from a big Sony supporter. Unlike Apple who back their hardware, Sony does NO such thing. You're on your own with Sony.

The FW is a great notebook and so far has worked flawlessly for me, but recent history tells me that Sony will probably not support it, now that the F series is out.

I wanted a tidy wireless replacement and am very happy with my Sony Vaio. Weighing in at over 6lbs. it is not suitable for travel but works well anywhere in the house with a wireless router. The speakers are disappointing and tinny sounding, but that's forgiveable considering the overall quality of my purchase.

I needed a laptop that was suitable for doing some desktop publishing and photo work. I looked at the inexpensive netbooks and ruled them out as too hard to type on and unable to run all the software I needed. After checking out a number of makes at local stores I settled on Sony. 10 years or so ago I had a wonderful little Sony laptop and I was tempted to buy an SR series machine which was very similar. But at the end of the day I couldn't justify the price premium I would have to pay for portability. So I saved myself $150 and got this one instead.

The machine runs fast, boots fast, and remarkably didn't come with too many excess programs on it. A few hours and I had it setup the way I needed it with all of my software loaded. I've been a loyal XP user and wasn't sure I wanted to go with Windows 7 but the transition has been easy (I still run XP on my main desktop machine).

One of the pluses on this machine is the better ATI graphics card. Many of the cheaper machines run the standard Intel cards. Getting blu-ray would have been another $100 or so and since I'm not going to be watching movies on the machine I wasn't willing to pay for it.

I like the keyboard and find it easy to type on. Likewise the mouse pad works very well and does a good job of not being too sensitive. Battery life under most conditions is a bit over 2 hours- fine for home use but not really good for traveling. But if you are going to travel this is a heavy machine and not really suitable. I'll borrow my wife's netbook if I have to get on a plane.

At the end of the day the Sony is a premium product. I could have bought a cheaper machine with similar specs. But the attention to detail and usability to me make the Sony the way to go. It is a much more enjoyable experience working on the Sony.

This Sony VAIO is a very nice laptop for the money. It was delivered before the estimated delivery date. I bought the laptop for my husband and he really loves it. It has a very sleek look and performs very well.

I bought this laptop sony vaio vgn-fw510f about one mounth ago...I am really amazed by the way it lokks, because I have never imagined a laptop to look so bussiness...it's awesome...i really recomend it to everyone who needs a laptop...the screen resolution is 16:9...it's a little wierd at the beggining, but now I wouldn't change it for anything in the world!and the performances are really good... maybe the autonomy of the battery is a little small, something like two hours!but with all of this you will have the chance to have a really powerfull, fancy and performant laptop, named sony;))...thank you, and excuse my english, I am from Romania:D...enjoy it!