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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"I really tried to like this one."
Pros: Beautiful main stream notebook, lots of features
Cons: The specs and DVR arent worth the $$
Summary: I?m a huge Sony fan. They are known for great quality products and are usually one step ahead of the game. I pretty much ordered the FS680 but I purchased the extended battery making it a custom laptop.
The exterior is sleek, thin, lightweight and good looking but can still serve as a desktop replacement. This is a mainstream laptop for the average Joe that enjoys the internet, watching DVDs, organizing digital pictures, audio and home videos. It even comes with a TV tuner in the dock allowing you to watch and record live TV. The 15.4 inch X-brite screen does wonders for multimedia and pictures. The Click to DVD is great; I was able to transfer from my NEW Sony HC90 Mini DV camcorder straight to DVD with a few clicks.
This computer was not made for the gamers or high end graphic fans but the FS could still handle a few above-average applications. With this in mind I disregarded repeated comments/reviews about the memory using DDR instead of the latest DDR2, not to mention the sluggish 4200rpm hard drive speed, the new standard is 7200rpm. I later found out my 3 year old (refurbished) Gateway already had 4200rpm; so much for upgrading right? The extended battery went from 100% to 98% within 1 minute, even after I lowered the brightness on the X-brite screen; 4 ? 5 hour battery life? Yeah right!
I was disappointed to find the flap on the PC Card slot was loose, it was not clipped on properly from the inside. It wasn?t a major flaw but when paying over $2700 (total), it means a lot! I decided to keep this VAIO for a week then return and re-order. I was definitely not going to start dealing with tech support on the very first day. Luckily, this qualified me for free shipping back to Sony. Good Cust. Serv.
Well, at least I was getting a cool PVR/TV tuner and DVD dual layer burner right? WRONG! 1. You must still change channels using the Cable box original remote control not the VAIO remote for live TV. Furthermore, when preseting the VAIO to record, the cable box must remain on AND set to the channel. This means that viewing another program when recording is out of the question. Also, we have 2 cable boxes/TVs for 4 adults in my home; I cannot prevent others from watching their own shows on my account. Even if you have a cable box dedicated to your VAIO, you STILL cannot pre set your VAIO to record multiple programs on different channels. Can someone let me know if Im doing something wrong here?!?! The external speakers are also very low. The DVR dock was the major turning point. I believe dual TV tuners are coming soon by other manufacturers and may resolve some of those issues but I always Sony was ahead of the game.
A beautiful laptop does not compensate for the price. I can easily get better specs for $600 less. If it were less expensive or had up to date specs at the same price I would easily give it an 9 rating. Too bad, I really tried to like this one.
