Sony VAIO VGN-FZ485U/B 15.4" Laptop (2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 300 GB Hard Drive, Vista Ultimate)
- Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.10GHz) with 3MB L2 cache
- Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate OS
- 15.4" widescreen display with XBRITE-ECO LCD
- Play back Hi-Def media with Blu-ray Disc-ROM drive
Rating: 1 of 5
A lemon computer
Spent my savings on this computer 4 college. Computer locked up after attempting 2 install a purchased version of Microsoft Office Student 2 replace the trial version. After over an hour with Sony Vaio tech support, could not remove the trial version. As per their instructions I had 2 run a systme recovery & reformat the hard drive & then reload microsoft vista updates - took over 2 hours. Then tried 2 uninstall the trial version of Microsoft Office Student - again unsuccessfull. Sony Vaio tech support recommended that I repeat the system recovery & reformat the hard drive a second time. I refused,googled the problem & found the solution - go 2 the Microsoft Office site, download a trial version of Office & once downloaded select the uninstall option. This worked, installed the purchased version of Office Student, all worked well till my DVD drive 3 weeks later could not be recognized. After about 2 hours with Sony Vaio tech support they could not get it 2 work & now will send a technician 2 my home 2 attempt 2 fix the problem. Dell would replace the unit! Do not buy this computer!!!
Rating: 4 of 5
Good quality construction
The laptop looks great & the construction material is solid with good quality. Standard USB ports but with nice SD slot handy. Camera quality is sufficient 4 my use & keyboard is quiet with low stroke. The whole computer looks neat & clean. With upgraded router, we are able 2 use the maximum speed 4 wireless connection (N), which is great! However, it came with a lot of commercial software that we have 2 uninstall them one by one... but i guess that is a common frustration when buying consumer laptop. The audio quality is average... I only wish it would come with non-glossy LCD screen.
Rating: 5 of 5
Sony VAIO - highly recommended!
If you want a high quality product... look no more! This is the laptop that eveyone must have. Blazing-fast performance, excellent color definition & incredible technology.
Rating: 1 of 5
Horrendous LCD ruins this laptop
I knew I had made a mistake when I got this laptop & saw the glossy screen. The screen is so glossy it acts as a mirror where you often find yourself staring at yourself. The viewing angle is also the poorest I have seen on any LCD on any computer ever. When I attempt 2 watch a movie in bed with my girlfriend, only one of us can see the movie without the colors being inverted. We constantly fight over the placement of the screen & eventually both end up being un-happy. The viewing angle is so bad that by shifting your head, I am not exaggerating, one or two inches in any direction you can significantly change the contrast of the colors on the screen.
If it were not 4 the horrendous screen this laptop would have been a pretty good purchase. My next complaint would have been placing the USB plugs at the lower right hand side of the keyboard...the area you place your mouse (the USB cables end up clashing with your mouse & your hand).
If it were not 4 the horrendous screen this laptop would have been a pretty good purchase. My next complaint would have been placing the USB plugs at the lower right hand side of the keyboard...the area you place your mouse (the USB cables end up clashing with your mouse & your hand).
Rating: 4 of 5
Great Laptop, Decent Software
To be clear, I bought the VGN-FZ460E from Amazon.com, which comes with a Blu-Ray drive & 2GB RAM.
First of all, this laptop is great. It's the second one I have ever purchased, & a much needed upgrade from my 6 year old HP. The wireless is fantastic, being built-in 2 the laptop, & nearly everything else was more or less plug-and-play. 3 SIDE USB ports make plugging in a drive or a peripheral utterly painless. Performance is excellent - I can run a disk defragger without noticing while I watch a movie, or surf the web (or write a review on Amazon.com). The appearance is exactly what I wanted - a laptop that I could take into a classroom or the office, yet could run games, movies, etc if it needed 2 (yet 2 test out the NVIDIA graphics card). What really surprised me was how quiet it runs...if not 4 the power light, I wouldn't even know it was running. It makes absolutely no noise...!
Things 2 keep in mind: it's rather large...not quite the 17" size, but certainly a worthly desktop replacement. It's not very light, & does not seem 2 take battery life into much consideration, although if you put it on low power & turn off the wireless, you can get up 2 3 hours of battery life writing a paper, or something else that doesn't require a lot of juice.
My main issues with it, & why it doesn't earn 5 stars, are not at all hardware-related -- rather, it's the software that has been quite an annoyance. Before I rant about it, I must say that Vista looks incredible - the fading in & out of the windows, & the overall "soft" feel of it reminds me of my last swedish massage...very nice. However, comma, two things really irked me while doing the initial set up: 1) Vista's compatibility problems, & 2) Bloatware.
1) Vista - I ordered AT&T DSL concurrently (new place) & apparently they haven't gotten around 2 making their installation software Vista-compatible...this was 6 hours on the phone over three days, five hours of which were on hold with customer service reps...not sure if this was Microsoft or AT&T's fault, but it was certainly not at all what I expected of an OS that had been out 4 over a year. I have never needed 2 deride a company's level of service until that(those) day(s). Next, Vista is not yet compatible with Flash player - the one that plays all those video-like commercials without Media player running. IE crashed every other day until I turned it off. Reinstalling did not help.
2) Sony has installed about two screenlengths worth of (almost all useless) software that I have yet 2 use after two weeks. Much of it is free trial software along with the Vaio suite of software, which I have yet 2 use. I deleted most of the trial ware, until I hit upon Network Magic. I'm sure this program works wonders 4 some people out there, but after uninstalling it, it refuses 2 disappear, re-uninstall, or reinstall - it continues 2 haunt my computer. On one occasion, it even prevented installation of another program I downloaded off the web (can't remember the program). None of this would have been an issue had the software not pre-existed on my otherwise-great-to-use-Vaio 2 begin with.
One more point - no OS disks, & this is almost inexplicable - I had 2 call Sony customer service in order 4 them 2 email me instructions on how 2 make a set of recovery disks. Without looking on the weblogs, I wouldn't have even known that this computer had a backup partition on it. Sony's website was no help.
So, bottom line, this is an exceptional piece of equipment, with some not-so-exceptional software built into it. I was able 2 get quite a deal on Amazon, where I was only paying $100 extra 4 the Blu-Ray drive compared 2 other brands & models out there (the price has since changed). This, coupled with Sony's reputation 4 excellence, drove me 2 buy a Vaio, even though I tend 2 be a more value-oriented customer.
First of all, this laptop is great. It's the second one I have ever purchased, & a much needed upgrade from my 6 year old HP. The wireless is fantastic, being built-in 2 the laptop, & nearly everything else was more or less plug-and-play. 3 SIDE USB ports make plugging in a drive or a peripheral utterly painless. Performance is excellent - I can run a disk defragger without noticing while I watch a movie, or surf the web (or write a review on Amazon.com). The appearance is exactly what I wanted - a laptop that I could take into a classroom or the office, yet could run games, movies, etc if it needed 2 (yet 2 test out the NVIDIA graphics card). What really surprised me was how quiet it runs...if not 4 the power light, I wouldn't even know it was running. It makes absolutely no noise...!
Things 2 keep in mind: it's rather large...not quite the 17" size, but certainly a worthly desktop replacement. It's not very light, & does not seem 2 take battery life into much consideration, although if you put it on low power & turn off the wireless, you can get up 2 3 hours of battery life writing a paper, or something else that doesn't require a lot of juice.
My main issues with it, & why it doesn't earn 5 stars, are not at all hardware-related -- rather, it's the software that has been quite an annoyance. Before I rant about it, I must say that Vista looks incredible - the fading in & out of the windows, & the overall "soft" feel of it reminds me of my last swedish massage...very nice. However, comma, two things really irked me while doing the initial set up: 1) Vista's compatibility problems, & 2) Bloatware.
1) Vista - I ordered AT&T DSL concurrently (new place) & apparently they haven't gotten around 2 making their installation software Vista-compatible...this was 6 hours on the phone over three days, five hours of which were on hold with customer service reps...not sure if this was Microsoft or AT&T's fault, but it was certainly not at all what I expected of an OS that had been out 4 over a year. I have never needed 2 deride a company's level of service until that(those) day(s). Next, Vista is not yet compatible with Flash player - the one that plays all those video-like commercials without Media player running. IE crashed every other day until I turned it off. Reinstalling did not help.
2) Sony has installed about two screenlengths worth of (almost all useless) software that I have yet 2 use after two weeks. Much of it is free trial software along with the Vaio suite of software, which I have yet 2 use. I deleted most of the trial ware, until I hit upon Network Magic. I'm sure this program works wonders 4 some people out there, but after uninstalling it, it refuses 2 disappear, re-uninstall, or reinstall - it continues 2 haunt my computer. On one occasion, it even prevented installation of another program I downloaded off the web (can't remember the program). None of this would have been an issue had the software not pre-existed on my otherwise-great-to-use-Vaio 2 begin with.
One more point - no OS disks, & this is almost inexplicable - I had 2 call Sony customer service in order 4 them 2 email me instructions on how 2 make a set of recovery disks. Without looking on the weblogs, I wouldn't have even known that this computer had a backup partition on it. Sony's website was no help.
So, bottom line, this is an exceptional piece of equipment, with some not-so-exceptional software built into it. I was able 2 get quite a deal on Amazon, where I was only paying $100 extra 4 the Blu-Ray drive compared 2 other brands & models out there (the price has since changed). This, coupled with Sony's reputation 4 excellence, drove me 2 buy a Vaio, even though I tend 2 be a more value-oriented customer.
Watch Blu-ray Disc HD movies in stunning clarity & record content 2 a single 25-50GB Blu-Ray Disc media. Enjoy the XBRITE-HiColor LCD technology that delivers razor-sharp details & bold colors while conserving battery life. A built-in 1.3 megapixel camera & microphone is seamlessly integrated into the lightweight & durable silver magnesium alloy chassis, so you can video chat with friends, family & co-workers. The VAIO(R) FZ notebook is powered by Intel's incredible new hafnium-based processor technology. Faster & more efficient than ever, the next-generation super-powerful Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.10GHz, 3MB L2 Cache) technology turns up the speed on multi-tasking while curbing energy consumption. Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium is easy-to-use & delivers new security & entertainment features. At this affordable price that offers the latest technology take one home today. 15.4 WXGA (1280 x 800) XBRITE-HiColor Display Built-in Webcamera & Microphone NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT with 256MB Dedicated Video Memory with up 2 1535MB shared Blu-Ray Disc BD-R (write)/-RE(write)/-ROM/DVD+-R/RW Drive with Double Layer Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11A/B/G/N Intergrated Bluetooth 10/100 Base-T Ethernet Built-in Memory Stick(R) Duo with MagicGate(TM) Card Reader Built-in Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot ExpressCard 34 Slot 3 USB 2.0, Headphone out; Microphone-in, VGA, S-Video, HDMI, IEEE 1394, RJ-11 (Modem), RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 14 (W) x 10.02 (D) x 1.4(H) Approximate Unit Weight - 6.1lbs
($1,049.00)
Buy Sony VAIO VGN-FZ485U/B 15.4" Laptop (2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 300 GB Hard Drive, Vista Ultimate) Now!
