Sony VAIO FW139E/H

Sony VAIO FW139E/H Specification:

Model
Brand :SONY
Series :VAIO FW Series
Model :VGN-FW139E/H

General
Operating :System Windows Vista Home Premium
CPU Type :Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26G
Screen :16.4"
Memory Size :3GB DDR2
Hard Disk :250GB
Optical Drive :DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card :ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470
Video Memory :256MB
Communication :Modem, Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Card slot :1 x ExpressCard /34 slot
Battery Life :2.0 to 4.0 hours
Dimensions :15.1" x 10.3" x 1.14-1.46"
Weight :6.4 lbs.
Other Features Energy Star compliant: 4.0

CPU
CPU Type :Intel Core 2 Duo
CPU Speed :P8400(2.26GHz)
CPU FSB :1066MHz
CPU L2 :Cache 3MB

Chipset
Chipset :Intel PM45

Display
Screen Size :16.4"
Wide Screen Support :Yes
LCD Features :XBRITE-ECO technology
Resolution :1600 x 900

Operating Systems
Operating System :Windows Vista Home Premium

Graphics
GPU/VPU :ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470
Video Memory :Dedicated 256MB
Graphic Type :Dedicated Card

Hard Drive
HDD :250GB
HD RPM :5400rpm
HD Interface :SATA

Memory
Memory Speed :DDR2 800
Memory :3GB
Max Memory Supported :4GB
Memory Spec :2GB x 1+1GB x 1

Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type :DVD Super Multi
Optical Drive :Interface Integrated
Optical Drive Spec CD Read : 24x max
CD-R Write : 24x max
CD-RW Write : 24x max
DVD Read : 8x max
DVD+R DL Write : 6x max
DVD+R Write : 8x max
DVD+RW Write : 8x max
DVD-R DL Write : 6x max
DVD-R Write : 8x max
DVD-RAM Read : 5x max
DVD-RAM Write : 5x max
DVD-RW Write : 6x max

Communications
Modem Integrated :V.92/V.90 Modem (RJ-11)
LAN :10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN :Atheros 802.11b/g/n Wireless Network Connection(802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth :Integrated Stereo A2DP Bluetooth Technology

Ports
Card Slot :1 x ExpressCard /34 slot
USB 3
IEEE 1394 1
Video Port :1 x VGA, 1 x HDMI
Audio Ports :1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack

Audio
Audio :Dolby Sound Room Audio
Speaker :Internal Speakers

Input Device
Touchpad :Electro-Static touch pad
Keyboard :QWERTY, 86 keys with 2.0mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch

Supplemental Drive
Card Reader One Memory Stick Duo media slot with MagicGate functionality
One Secure Digital (SD memory card) media slot
Webcam 1.3MP

Power
Battery :Standard Capacity Lithium-ion Battery (VGP-BPS13/S)
Battery Life :2.0 to 4.0 hours

Physical spec
Dimensions :15.1" x 10.3" x 1.14-1.46" weight :6.4 lbs.

Sony VAIO FW139E/H Review:

Build and Design
I'm impressed with the overall build of the VAIO FW. It's cased in Magnesium alloy, which makes it look semi-metal and semi-plastic at the same time. It is a very sturdy looking laptop; the screen hinge is perfect and stands strong, rubber feet under the laptop keep it from moving, and I have not yet been able to make a scratch on it. Design wise, it is fashionably sound. It carries the traditional VAIO look; the model I reviewed is the Titanium Grey model with black colored keys. It has a very professional look.

Screen
The screen on this model of the VAIO FW is an XBRITE-ECO LCD with a native resolution of 1600 x 900. Not only is this a unique sized screen at 16.4 inches, but it has a unique aspect ratio of 16:9. This aspect ratio is the true widescreen aspect ratio that HDTVs feature. This true widescreen size is perfect for managing windows while multitasking. You can have about four or five average sized applications on screen comfortably in the native resolution. The screen is a bit on the glossy side, but there are no reflections when there the laptop is turned on. When off, it doubles as a tinted mirror.

Speakers
The built in speakers above the keyboard are of average quality. You can definitely tell the difference between the VAIO FW's speakers and the average external speakers.

Processor and Performance
Now for the fun part! The P8400 Core 2 Duo is remarkable fast in Vista; I have yet to experience a slowdown caused by the CPU. The bottlenecking component of this laptop is the hard drive, running at the average laptop HDD speed of 5400 RPM. The transfer of a large file via a 100Mbps network was fairly slow; this wasn't all the laptop HDD's fault, though. The laptop is capable of 1000Mbps transfers, and the file contained a large amount of subdirectories and files and slow transfer down in Windows. Bootup is fast, even when multiple startup applications are present.
Gaming wise, this laptop will be fine for last generation games. It plays Halo: Combat Evolved at native resolution and everything turned on perfectly. It also plays Half-Life 2 with almost all settings on High (AA disabled) on the native resolution.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The spaced keys on the Sony VAIO FW are fairly comfortable to type with. The keys are built well and they do not stick or have any flaws to them. For the serious gamer, I would not recommend using the keyboard, however. After playing first-person shooters on a real desktop keyboard, playing on the VAIO FW's keyboards (or possibly any laptop keyboards in general) are hard to get used to. But any serious gamer wouldn't be playing on a laptop, anyway. The touchpad is average; it feels a lot smoother than other touchpads, but that's about it. I can't say much about it as almost all laptops now feature similar touchpad technology. The user is able to change basic properties of the touchpad, from button selection to double click speed.