Customer Reviews

Sony Vaio VGN-FW590F3B 16.4" 4GB BluRay Burner Laptop

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just received this laptop 2 days ago. I've been using it as I've been setting it up as my main PC. It has a great build. Feels and looks fantastic. I watched a blue-ray disc and it looked great on the laptop's screen. Bluetooth is nice to have to be able to listen to music from the laptop on my bluetooth headset.

I've used it on battery power and it lasted over an hour and a half, and I had the setting at "balanced". The system said I had over 62% battery life remaining and I had been viewing video, pics, and wireless web usage.

The only thing that I haven't adjusted to yet is the sound from the fan whenever it's plugged in. I have it set to "Performance" mode whenever it is plugged in, but the sound from the fan kind of is going to get some taking used to. It's not loud, but you can hear it when things are quiet. It's not much, but something I'll have to get used to.

The other thing, which is minor, are the stickers Sony put on the wrist wrests. I would have rather not had the stickers all over the the wrist wrests. But hey, that's just me being picky. It has nothing to do with the system or the performance.

Reason I gave it 4 stars: was because of the fan. Were it not for the fan noise, it would have been 5 stars. I'm sure in a month or so, I will be used to the fan and will change it to 5 stars.

Update (July 7, 2011): Since my original post, I have changed this laptop rating from 4 stars to 5. This laptop has worked perfectly for me. I have since gotten used to the fan and really don't notice it in most environments.

I usually only keep laptops for a little over a year, but I see myself keeping this one longer as I see no reason to upgrade.

Pros:
plenty of options (blu-ray, bluetooth, hdmi, wireless b/g/n, gigabit ethernet, large screen, etc.)
fast (performance)
comfortable
sturdy
reliable

Cons:
Screen brightness could be a little brighter.
Heavy (not a good laptop for traveling)

Since I purchased this laptop, I have had 0 issues! Also, I open and close this laptop daily and it has held up just fine.

I definitely recommend!

My old laptop was getting blue screens and intermittent Internet connections, so I researched my options. I liked the combination of price, size and performance that this Sony offered. I've been using it for two trouble-free months.

I intended to use this computer strictly as a desktop replacement. But the graphics are so good that I'm going to try it for streaming Netflix when I travel. I uninstalled the usual pre-loaded software, turned of the UAC (since I'm the only user), cleaned up the start-up files, and the laptop is operating quickly. I am happy with Windows 7 (with UAC off). The laptop is very quick to find and connect to my home's wireless connection. The 16.4" screen is a nice viewing size. The screen is as tall as my 5-year 15.5" laptop but wider. There's enough memory to let automatic updates, backups and scans occur.

I recommend placing the laptop on a riser or fan, because it runs quite warm. I use it at a desk on electric power with the battery out.

I bought this laptop mainly for bluray player (and burner), a discrete ATI graphic card (for multimedia) and large screen (to do work) at a good price. I thought about getting the ASUS 17 inch A1 laptop for gaming but decided not to since I already have a high performance gaming desktop. plus the ASUS costs twice this laptop. Received this Sony laptop for 1 week, first set up wireless, then downloaded and updated all windows 7 patches (>50) and VAIO patches. Bluray movies (Valkyrie, Life series) are beautiful. Browsing internet, applications are speedy. This laptop's Core Duo 2.2 GHz, 4 Gb DD2 RAM is fast enough for common apps. you don't really need new i7 CPU, DD3 RAM unless for heavy apps such hi def video editing, etc. Then I installed Call of Duty 2, and 4, and racing game GTR 2 to try out. All played smoothly (probably >40-50 fps) at max resolution for this laptop 1600x900, with 4x antialiasing, medium settings. this is surprisingly pleasant being able to play these games as this graphic card ATI is not really for gaming. Gaming laptops with mobile graphic cards ATI 5870, Nvidia 360M are much more expensive > $1500.

Pros:
1. Good price for the features: Bluray, discrete graphic, large screen with good resolution, 7200 RPM HDD (vs. 5400 RPM in most standard laptops)
2. Mainly for multimedia but surprisingly good for gaming, at least those games I tried (new demanding games probably need better hardware)

Cons:
1. battery life is not long, about 2.5 hours using wireless. but it's expected due to standard battery capacity, large screen, discrete graphic (integrated graphic uses less power)
2. Screen is good and bright enough but I don't think it's LED backlit (not listed in the features), which is available in most current laptops

I've been using my Vaio FW 590FEB every day for over a year now. This is truly a very high quality product and is more than the sum of it's parts. Here are a few reasons why:

1. I've used HP, Dells and now this Vaio for my office. In terms of build quality the Vaio is head and shoulders above any Dell or HP I've owned. This laptop is solid!

2. My version has a 1080p screen with a Blu Ray drive. Along with the Nvidia GPU with 1GB dedicated video memory the FW is a potent multimedia lap top.

3. The inbuilt speakers are much better than the Dells and HPs I've owned and you can actually use it to watch a movie or listen to Pandora without carrying external speakers.

In terms of performance, the notebook is pretty fast (it has a decent 2.53 Ghz dual core CPU) and mine came with 4GB RAM which is more than sufficient to handle all sorts of regular productivity apps.

IF there is one weakness it has to be the battery. At around 2.5 hours I believe it is on the short side. However, compared to Dells and HP it is par for the course. I'd have preferred it to be around 4-6 hours.

The laptop can run hot, but since it uses a dual core processor it is much cooler than the more recent laptops of this size that can run much hotter.

Overall, this is a great laptop with fantastic build quality. Based on my experience with this Vaio my next laptop will also most likely be a Vaio!

I searched for a while for that perfect laptop for what I need and I believe I've found it in this Sony. It doesn't come w/ too many add-ons which is great. Photoshop and Cool Edit work great on it as well as iTunes. The DVD Blu-Ray is a great option and looks dynamite on the screen. It's even cooler when you hook it up to a HDTV.

It is light-weight and looks tough and has so far stood up to a lot of use and movement. The placement of some of the side ports are a little irritating. But I think that all depends on how you're going to use them.

Btw, I ordered this computer on a MON afternoon and it was in my hands the next day. Super-speedy delivery!

After searching through many laptops from Sony and i guess this is the best. It has blu-ray burner, large screen, fast harddisk and reasonable core processor. Accounting all these specifications and the price. Its the best deal ever seen. I am really satisfied with the product and should have bought another for my brother. Excellent, Viva Vaio!

I will preface my review with the point that I would probably give this laptop 4 stars (at least) if it weren't for the terrible barrel hinge design. I find the form factor very attractive. The keyboard is a pleasure to use--the keys stick up just enough and give a pleasant click feel when pressed. The track pad is also a pleasure to use and the mouse keys have a solid feel to them (though the clicking sound could stand to be quite a bit quieter--I would cringe if I had to use them in a library). The physical audio keys are also nice, and the speaker isn't all that bad (which is saying something for a laptop--especially with no subwoofer).

However (and this is a massive however), the barrel hinge was implemented in manner that almost suggests Sony was intending for your laptop to fail just outside your warranty period. After about six to nine months I noticed that the power button portion of the hinge was becoming loose. I looked underneath and noticed that every time I opened the laptop lid (the screen), it was rubbing against the hinge and forcing it down. Eventually, it broke and the power portion of the hinge began to hang loose. It still worked, however and the left side was still fine, so I never bothered sending it in for repairs. Then one day several months later, within a month or two of the warranty expiring, I noticed that the battery was not charging despite being plugged in. The charging receptacle within the left side of the barrel hinge had finally become completely loose and the charging connection within the laptop would not connect. I now have to bend the power cord at an angle and anchor it under my laptop for it to receive a charge at all, which causes my laptop to sit unevenly on the table and wobble. The battery also seems to die much quicker than the stated remaining time.

There is absolutely no excuse for such supremely poor build quality from such an expensive and (supposedly) reputable brand as Sony. I can't wait to replace this piece of crap, but I can't stand the thought of getting a mere year out of a $1,000+ laptop (and I'm not willing to pay another few hundred to Sony to patch up their poor design), so I'm bearing with it for now. I strongly recommend against this laptop, and I will never waste my money on a cheaply built Sony piece of crap again. There's just no excuse for this weak point.

I've had this Laptop for well over a year and it is still running strong. From day one when i got i start it using it as my main work computer, since my previous desktop has gone to hell. My work consist of heavy graphic design, and having multiple applications open as well as browser and several things more and this baby has gotten the job done.

I also use it for streaming Netflix and again i have no issue with it, i even added one of my monitors and extended the desktop with out issues. I have plugged it in to my Flat screen and watched Netflix through the HDMI as well as streamed Blu-rays with out any issues. The best thing i love about this is that it gives you the option to upgrade your ram to 8GB if needed, which i plan on doing soon.

Overall great computer for the price. Unlike another review i do not have issues with the hinge, i open and close my computer all the time and i have no problems with it. I definitely plan on keeping this for another year at least

One thing i do recommend is that if you use this all day get Notebook Fan to keep it at a cool rate

I looked around for a laptop for several months!!!! i even bought a 17" Dell inspiron but was so disappointed with the fan noise...i had to send it back!!! no more Dell for now...So between HP and Sony I was kind of hesitating...This deal got my attention and even if is not a duo or quad core processor, it is a very good one!my main worries were built quality and noise....the other experience was bad...the only thing i can't figure out about this Sony is the battery hook up at its slot....either i'm doing something wrong or it's really bad design option....it seems that the battery only hooks from one side...the other side stays a bit loose and i kind of hate it....i would like to now if there's a way to do improve this!
Hope to check this out on future reviews.