Question:
[Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
eneral Questions
1) What is your budget?
1400-1700euros retail
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
watching videos probably on video-out a lot in higher resolutions (up to 1366x780 for LCDTv's)
doing some gaming, I'd like as much power as possible for a 15.4"
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
taking it to different places, I'm pretty sure I want a 15.4" widescreen
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, WoW (probably other mmorpgs too)
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Yes;
Acer, Asus, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Lenovo, Packard Bell, Sony, Toshiba
not interested in other brands since I can get a reasonable discount on these...
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
doesn't matter much imho, I'll be happy with 2 hours only using internet browsing
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Yes, I can only buy to my local shop that sells the beforementioned brands, I don't mind not seeing the notebook
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
Belgium
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
widescreen because I watch a lot of movies en series!!
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Preferably glossy for media-use
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Yes I do want it to look nice (preferrably all black!).
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Buying it this week, want it to last 3-4years.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
120-160gb
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
yes DVD-RW
I'm 90% sure of taking the Sony Vaio FE31M:
-Intel® Core™ 2 Duo-processor T5600
-Windows® Media Center Edition 2005 "Vista™ Capable", "Premium Ready"
-15,4inch X-black-LCD 1280 x 800
-1024mb ram
-160gb harddisk
-DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM
-NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7600 with 128 MB VRAM
-WLAN and Bluetooth
but I wouldn't want to miss out on any better performance (I'd only change if the graphics card was a lot better and if it still had Core 2 Duo)
the only thing missing on the sony vaio is a remote control!
greetings,
Koen
and thanks for your help!
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
Yep, It seems to me a very good option, the only problem I can see is the HD. It is a 4200rpm HD and it could become a bottleneck for the notebook performance. And the RAM isn't the fastest also (533 instead of 677). I haven't found a review for that model so I don't know how much these coult affect. Other options are:
HP nc8430
samsung x60
LG S1
Asus F3Ja
But some are more expensive, others has less quality, uff, there is no perfect solution.
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
The HP nc8430 (mentioned above) is an excellent notebook with business quality. I would recommend it, if you found it at good price.
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
what about this one
Acer Aspire 5680
it features a NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7600-SE with 256mb DDR2 onboard and upto 512mb with turbocache (a bit closer to the GS it seems to me, and probably the best thing available on 15.4"?)
a 120gb 5400rpm HD and 2048mb's of DDR2 Ram (no speed specified :'( )
its a tiny bit cheaper than the Sony, it features a numeric pad (I didn't mention it but I do intend to draw in Solid Edge a few times so this saves me from hooking up the keyboard, but I'm not so sure if this is positive? as the keys that I use most are moved more to the left edge of the laptop...)
I don't like the looks a lot however! but its performance may be substantially better no?
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
That Acer probably has questionable build quality...
Go 7600-SE... this "SE" means crippled in some way...
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
That Acer probably has questionable build quality...
Go 7600-SE... this "SE" means crippled in some way...
ok if I'm going for 15.4" I'm definitely taking the Sony
However i've been thinking about making the budget a little larger (2000euros) and getting a 17" with a real videocard (7900GTX with 256-512 dedicated memory)
however it seems none of the brands I can get with a discount (check 1st post) are available with better graphics cards than the 6600 GO :(
thanks for the info guys!
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
what about this one
Asus F3JP-AP041M/Core 2 Duo T7200 2048MB DDRII 160GB SATA ATI X1700 512MB 15.4" WXGA MCE2005
150euros more expensive
but probably packs a bit more punch, I'm asking for more specifications
if this one really has 512mb onboard memory it would definitely kill the 6600GO right? (since the sony one is the crippled 128mb version...)
thanks,
Koen
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
Trutedreviews has published a review of that notebook:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=3660
Maybe that helps you.
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
Asus F3JP-AP041M/Core 2 Duo T7200 2048MB DDRII 160GB SATA ATI X1700 512MB 15.4" WXGA MCE2005
if this one really has 512mb onboard memory it would definitely kill the 6600GO right? (since the sony one is the crippled 128mb version...)
The X1700 is not poweful enough to effectively use more than 256 MB of dedicated memory, so the 256MB version of the X1700 is just OK.
Answer:
Re: [Belgium] 15.4" media core2duo also suited for gaming (Sony Vaio FE-?)
consider the asus a8js with the 512 mb 7700
also consider the asus v1j although its over budget.