Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGN-FW520F/B 16.4-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a PC guy, but I am also familiar with Macs. I love the Sony VAIO...this is my third one since 2001 and they are all still working great. This new one though is the best. My favorite aspects are the beautiful screen, Windows 7, and the Blu-ray player. I have used it for a couple weeks now, and it really is a laptop I just love to work on. The new graphical items in Windows 7 are awesome, which makes the user experience much more fun. The VAIO also comes with pre-installed software, but it's all stuff you want to keep on it--like the Sony audio/video applications. And again, I just can't stress enough how wonderful the screen is. My wife is a photographer, and she has taken some photos that just have that "so real" look to them on the screen...kind of like viewing a Blu-ray moview on a great TV. I am very pleased with this purchase.

Pros:

- Wide & bright screen, good enough to watch movies.
- Fancy body design, looks beautiful.
- Spaced keys, makes typing very comfortable.
- good quality webcam/mic that works in low light and can track face movements.

Cons:

- Short Battery life.
- Does not have the modem jack as it shows in the product description and the picture.
- No backup OS DVD. Recovery partition on HDD.

Overall a good desktop replacement.

I read all the reviews and did not find a single one here that matches my experience so far. I've owned this for >1 year now so below are the pros & cons:

Pros:
- Looks beautiful
- Excellent keyboard (can type very fast)
- HDMI & Blu-Ray means I've not needed a blu-ray player so far.
- Good screen

Cons:
- Terrible battery life. If you don't play video/audio or stream from the internet you may get 2 hours from this otherwise 1.5 hours is max. The battery life indicator is totally off. It may start off showing that there is 4 hours of battery life available, but it will reduce that to 2 within a few minutes and then even less as you keep using it. YOU ALMOST ALWAYS WILL NEED A POWER SUPPLY NEARBY. I guarantee it.
- Heavy. This thing is not light weight.
- Lots of junk software loaded including some Sony software. Why can't they just provide the rest on a disc and let us choose to install it if we want. All VAIO software is junk. It cannot manage anything and hangs up and slows your machine down. Also uses up resources and reduces battery life. I suggest uninstalling all.
- Placement of the 3 USB ports close to each others on the same side.


In summary, I loved it when I ordered it and got it first, but now I'm ready to get rid of it for something that is lighter in weight and will have longer battery life. I am willing to compromise on looks!

Im completely impressed, it is the best laptop i have ever had, the screen is excellent, great for gaming, it makes no sounds at all, great keyboard,decent audio, bluray is great, hdmi conection is really smooth, i just love it, and this comes from a mac user.

I bought this notebook to replace my older Vaio.

The screen is beautiful, it plays blu ray movies, I love the keyboard and Windows 7 is excellent!

The only thing I dislike is the placement of the USB ports. Other than that, I'm very happy with my purchase.

I was very pleased with the easy set up and operation of this laptop. There was an easyness about the whole process that put even a "non-tecky" like my self at ease.

This has many of the bells and whistles of a much more pricey laptop. I paid $1749 plus tax and shipping was free when I got mine. I've had it since Christmas and so far it works great, even with on-line video gaming. It's size packs more power than any others I had in the past and it has a cool design and shell. It is a perfect laptop for any college student as it will handle even the most demanding software. I got it thru Amazon and then got extended warranty plus damage coverage for most anything through SquareTrade Warranty on-line. I also like the Windows 7 that came with it. It is a huge improvement over the last Windows operating system.

I would agree with the most of the reviews before me, it's just a nice pc and I love it. I don't want to go into specifics but I'll tell you that every time I use it, I discover something new that I like it.
About the battery life so what, this is a big laptop, it's not made to be carryed around, so if you are looking for battery life buy a little netbook, it will last 10 hours they say,

Anyway, to me its a great buy and I enjoy it a lot.

This is the greatest laptop i have ever used. Its amazing not only in gaming but also great for watching movies. It never lags and runs every program hella fast. The battery life is awesome thanks to sonys battery program! JUST BUY IT!!!!!

I purchased an FW laptop in November 2008 and the keyboard failed in August 2009. Service was responsive and replaced it. In January 2010., keyboard failed again and Sony will not cover since the computer is "out of warranty". I have another brand that is still working after 8 years. One year life is outrageous!