Sony VAIO VGN-FW140E/H 16.4" Laptop (2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Grey
Broaden your entertainment horizons with the VAIO FW notebook featuring an extra-wide 16.4" XBRITE-ECO LCD display. Great for watching widescreen movies or viewing two websites side-by-side, this entertainment-rich notebook minimizes those annoying black bars you see when playing widescreen movies. Watch and record DVDs and get the most out of your games with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. An entertainment powerhouse, the VAIO FW notebook is inspired by theater screens, born from SONY HD expertise and powered by the energy-efficient an super-powerful Centrino 2 processor technology – the latest and greatest from Intel.
I specified the model on the title as the reviews for all Sony FW laptops are shared amongst all models in Amazon. I consider this model to be a great purchase. Contrary to many modern laptops, it actually looks great, with very modern styling that is suitable for both home and business users. The screen has a different aspect ratio (16:9) than most computers, which is more suitable for watching DVDs or comparing side by side documents than the traditional 4:3. The 2.26 P8400 is the same processor found on most FW computers, even those costing hundreds of $ more, 3GBs of RAM, which is the maximum usable RAM in Vista SP1 32bit, 250GBs of RAM which is enough for most users,etc.
The graphic card on this machine is the ATI HD3470, with 256mb of dedicated memory. This card will handle your graphics a lot better than the integrated Intel cards found on some higher priced FW models here in Amazon and is one of the best features of this particular model. It is not a high end graphic card, but it can handle the necessities of most users, including those who use their laptops for casual gaming.
I found an inconsistency on Amazon's product description for this model. In the "network" section, it specifies that this model comes with Intel 4965 wifi chipset, which is not the case. It comes with Atheros wifi (N capable). This is not really a bad thing, you won't notice a performance difference, but the fact that it has the Atheros wifi chipset instead of the Intel one is the main reason why it can't be labeled as a "Centrino 2" laptop, even though it has all other required Intel technologies. The sticker on the laptop will say "Core 2 Duo" instead of "Centrino 2". Again, this is only a label. Performance-wise, it's plenty fast. It comes with some trial software that some users will prefer to uninstall (like me), but this is the case for almost all notebook manufacturers and it shouldn't take too long to do so. Overall, highly recommended.
