Sony has pimped its VAIO FW with a new Signature Collection model – VGN-FW590FFD – and wants you to consider it as your gaming rig. I have been privileged to play some with this pretty cool notebook for a few days and here are a few deets for you to ponder up if you in the market for a notebook that can pretty much do it all from heavy program multi-tasking to gaming. Let’s take a look at the specs first, as it pretty much determines its flexing muscle:
- 16.4″ LED-Backlit Screen
- 1600 x 900 Resolution
- Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz)
- 500GB HDD, 7200 rpm
- 4GB DDR2 Memory DDR2/800Mhz can be maxed out to 8GB!!!
· ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 Graphics
Max. External Resolution via VGA : 2048 x 1536 Max. External Display Resolution via HDMI: 1920 x 1080
Processor : ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 with Total Available Graphics Memory of 2799MB (max.)
Video RAM : 1GB dedicated Video RAM
- Built-in Motion Eye Webcam & Microphone
- Card Slots: Memory Stick Duo, SD Media, Expresscard/34
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g/n, Gigabit Ethernet
- Inputs/Outputs: 1 x Headphone, 1 x DC, 3 x USB, 1 x Microphone, 1 x HDMI, 1 x Firewire, 1 x VGA
- Weight: 6.9 lbs.
- Battery Life: 3.5 hours
- Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
First of all, this notebook was a joy to work with in my review. It comes preloaded with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OS. After initial set up of Windows 7, it finally booted to the desktop and to my surprise I saw no bloatware loaded! It was so nice not to think about of uninstalling dozens of unwanted programs and jump right into exploring this baby. The design as you see in the pictures is definitely aimed at guys. The lid has an interesting design to reflect its gaming capabilities; however I think I would have added some striking graphic to gain more attention. FW is a direct descendant of VAIO FS (if I can so say) and its design has been improved significantly. I could even notice some curves and the glowing power button that first showed up on VAIO Z series.
Notebook is preloaded with standard VAIO software if you are into movie creation or editing with VAIO Movie Story, Click to Disc/Editor – easy to use software pieces and with 4 gigs of RAM (can be doubled if you wish), the notebook swiftly handles and renders heavy video files. You won’t run out of space either, as its roomy 500 GB hard drive (7200 Rpm) can store enough HD goodness. One thing this notebook was missing was a Blu-ray player/burner, however since it is aimed at gaming, there are other FW configurations that offer Blu-ray option. The LED-Blacklit screen really shined at 16.4”. College dudes should really dig into this notebook, I found it to be pretty slim and not very heavy (at about 7 pounds) to carry around, it is not your VAIO AW that you want to keep on your desk.
Bluetooth with stereo A2DP comes as standard on many VAIO models and I believe seems to be overlooked some. If you have not experienced wireless music streaming via Bluetooth, you are missing out. I have paired this notebook with a pair of Sony DR-BT21G easily, fired up Slacker Radio and worked on some reports. Other wireless capabilities pretty much include the alphabet of Wi-Fi – 802.11a/b/g/n is present for your use. It’s nice to see 802.11a protocol still present as it is less congested and usually free of any other interference. I use it widely at home with my VAIO routers (did you know Sony made routers, or used to): PCWA-AR820 and PCWA-A500; even my Locationfree LF-X11 streams seamlessly via 802.11a…but I digress.
Motion Eye camera is sweet too and works like a champ with Skype.
Since this VAIO has 1 GB of dedicated Video RAM, you get a pretty decent frame rate while playing games. I just think it is crazy to think that nowadays a notebook comes with 1 GB of VRAM, I remember times when 256 MB of it was more than enough and was considered top of the line in a desktop! To compliment this fat VRAM feature you get an HDMI output too. In the video below you will get to see how easy it works with an HDTV and OLED TV. So if you are not happy playing your games on this crisp 16.4 LED screen, connect it to your 30” Sony Bravia or whatever you have with an HDMI cable and start your shooter games. Resolution on an HDTV looks great and gaming is pleasant.
I think the frosting on the cake for all of the above is the price tag. I am happy that Sony priced it right at just a grand and 70 dollars. If this notebook was sold a few years ago, we’d see it MSRP scream $2000. But thank goodness we live in different times with tons of competition around.
Overall, notebook performed well, ran pretty quiet and did not get hot underneath at all, which is nice. Check out some pics below and hit the video for more. Thanks to Sony and Ana for sending this notebook for a review.
