Sony VAIO VGN-FZ250E/B 15.4" Laptop (2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 Processor, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)In association with Amazon.comfrom: Sony  
Availability: Usually ships in 4-5 business days
Brand: Sony Color: Silver CPU Manufacturer: Intel CPU Speed: 2.2 GHz CPU Type: Intel Core Duo Display Size: 15.4 inches EAN: 0027242725270 Hard Disk Size: 250 GB Item Dimensions: Label: Sony Manufacturer: Sony Model: VGN-FZ250E/B MPN: VGN-FZ250E/B Processor Count: 2 Publisher: Sony Release Date: September 16, 2007 Studio: Sony System Memory Size: 2000 MB System Memory Type: DDR2 SDRAM Features:
Accessories:
Editorial Review: Product Description: The VAIO(R) FZ is a thin-and-light entertainment notebook featuring a 15.4" widescreen LCD with XBRITE-ECO technology and embedded A/V controls for one-touch access to your music, movies and pictures. XBRITE-ECO CD technology delivers razor-sharp details and bold colors while conserving battery life. A/V Instant Mode lets you go straight to watching a movie, playing music, or viewing photos without ever booting-up the operating system. Magnesium alloy makes for a remarkably lightweight and durable chassis. Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Graphics Processor, 358MB Available Graphics Memory Electro-Static Touch Pad Pointing Device QWERTY Keyboard, 82 keys with 2mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch Built-in 1.3-Megapixel Motion Eye(TM) camera and microphone 10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet (RJ-45) Integrated V.92/V.90 Modem (RJ-11) Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection (802.11a/b/g/n) Multimedia Card Reader - One Memory Stick(R) Duo media slot with MagicGate(TM) functionality Optical Drive - 4x DVD+R DL Write, 8x DVD+R Write, 8x DVD+RW Write, 8x DVD-R Write, 6x DVD-RW Write, 24x CD-R Write, 16x CD-RW Write, 24x CD Read, 8x DVD Read, 5x DVD-RAM Write, 4x DVD-R DL Write and 5x DVD-RAM Read Inputs and Outputs - Ethernet Port, Headphone Jack, Memory Stick(R) Media Slot, Modem Jack, Secure Digital Slot, Microphone Input, S-Video Output, 3x USB Port, VGA Output and DC-In Windows Vista Home Premium is easy-to-use and delivers new security and entertainment features Dimensions - Width 14 x Depth 10.02 x Height 0.98-1.4 Weight - 5.9 pounds Amazon.com Product Description: With subtle sophistication and undeniable elegance, the lightweight Sony VAIO VGN-FZ250E/B notebook PC is crafted with an aesthetic touch and careful attention to detail. Offering a brilliantly colorful 15.4-inch XBRITE-ECO display, this 5.75-pound laptop maximizes LCD space with advanced space-saving engineering techniques, including a reconfigured battery and motherboard design. It's packed with entertainment features, including embedded A/V controls for one-touch access to your music, movies and pictures. A built-in 1.3-megapixel Webcam and microphone are seamlessly integrated into the durable silver magnesium chassis so you can video chat with friends, family and co-workers. This notebook is powered by the 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 processor, which offers a top-of-the-line 800 MHz front-side bus speed and 4 MB L2 cache. The Core 2 Duo processor provides an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved gaming and multitasking performance, as well as excellent battery management. It includes Intel's 4965 AGN wireless LAN, which will connect to draft 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g networks as well. Other features include an extra-large 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB of installed RAM (4 GB maximum capacity), multi-format/dual-layer DVD+/-RW drive (which also burns CDs), ExpressCard slot, and Intel GMA X3100 graphics card. This laptop also comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures. Entertainment Features Imagine having the ability to enjoy your entertainment on your notebook without ever booting up. The VAIO FZ notebook with A/V Instant Mode lets you kick off your entertainment with a single push of a button. Go straight to watching a movie, playing music, or viewing photos without ever booting-up the operating system, thereby conserving a significant amount of battery life. The VAIO FZ notebook also includes a full set of dedicated multimedia controls just above the keyboard. A round A/V interface jumps out of the clean design of the VAIO FZ, adding a unique and practical touch to its sophisticated appearance. These intuitive music and video controls are user-friendly, so you can easily control your CDs, DVDs, pictures and home movies with the push of a button. The Basics
The 15.4-inch WXGA LCD offers Sony's XBRITE-ECO display technology and has a widescreen resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The XBRITE-ECO technology delivers brilliant colors and stunning clarity with efficient power usage, and it features an anti-reflective coating to minimize reflection and ensure a beautifully clear image from any viewing angle. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, which uses shared video memory (up to 358 MB allocated from the system memory) and provides Windows Vista Aero interface support and enhanced 3-D graphics performance--delivering over 2x scores on 3-DMark 06. Intel Clear Video Technology provides outstanding video playback with sharper image quality, increased clarity, and customizable color controls. It also enables enhanced visual quality of interlaced content on progressive displays. The audio card includes Sony Sound Reality technology with DSD (Direct Stream Digital) support. Networking, Connectivity & Expansion Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with the integrated Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965 AGN LAN chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and Wi-Fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range--great for closed office environments). This notebook also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 34 card slot (replacing the PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. Here's the full list of connectivity options:
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi. Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities. Preloaded Software Includes Sony Click to DVD (for easy DVD creation), Microsoft Works SE 9.0, Microsoft Office 2007 (60-day trial), Symantec Norton 360 All-In-One Security (with 60 days of Live Update). Dimensions & Weight This notebook measures 14 x 10.02 x 1.4 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 5.75 pounds. Power It's powered by the VGP-BPS8 rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which has a battery life of between 2.5 and 5.5 hours (depending on usage). What's in the Box This package contains the VGN-FZ250E/B notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty, and Sony offers 1-year of toll-free telephone technical assistance. Average Rating:
 Rating: - great laptopI felt great. screen was really bright.. the kind of sound (quality) was awsome very clear but to have volume you gotta put additional speakers.- Cons: VISTA is AWFUL. and of course, lots of packages on trial or limited tryout...... BUT SONY IS SONY.... Rating:  - UnreliableI purchased this laptop in January 2008. Everything worked well in the beginning and the all of a sudden everything would freeze after the laptop was idle for 20-30 minutes. It was happening 2 - 3 times a month and then it started happening more frequently (5 - 6 times a day). Every time it would freeze I would have to press the power button 6 seconds so the laptop would restart. The Sony technical support advise me to perform a Recovery. During the recovery process an error came up and after contacting the Sony Technical support I was told to send the laptop to one of their service centers because the hard drive had bad sectors and had to be replaced. I had the laptop serviced and the hard drive was replaced. Everything was working well for about one week when it started freezing again and crashing 4 - 5 times a day. I took it back to the service center and found out today that the motherboard has to be replaced. I tried to get a refund or a replacement but I was unable to do so. I only gave it one star because it's an expensive laptop and I find it unreliable. Rating:  - Truly excellent once you get rid of all the bloatwareThis notebook is just outstanding, truly one of the best out there, but with just one caveat: you absolutely have to get rid of all the useless software and do a bit of optimization of the preloaded software first for you to see the true potential of this machine. Be aware that this does require some knowledge of PCs and some familiarity with adding and removing programs, however, so make sure you know what you're doing before you start deleting things. Out of the box, I was impressed with the form factor: it's very thin, the case is metal (magnesium), and has a sort of understated elegance to how it looks. The screen is amazing -- easily the best or one of the best notebook screens I've ever seen, including Macbook Pros -- crystal clear, as bright as a desktop display, and with extraordinary color reproduction (essentially uses the same technology as their stellar Bravia TVs). But when I booted it up for the first time, I was dismayed to see the sheer amount of advertisements, trial offers, and other "bloatware" it came with. Everything from Spiderman 3 movie downloads and wallpaper, to Sony's "toobars," it was unbelieveable, and it slowed down the machine unnecessarily. I spent probably about 30 minutes to an hour uninstalling all this; for the most part all you really need to do is use "add/remove" programs to clean up 95% of it. But once you get all this off the machine, you'll realize that it was worth the aggravation -- there is one seriously fast notebook underneath all this after all! If you are a serious gamer, you will most likely want to pass (but you wouldn't be looking at Sony to begin, right?), but if you are a casual to moderate gamer, this machine actually does have some serious graphics chops to let you enjoy games when you feel like it. My machine was configured with the NVidia 8400 GT card, and with that and just 2 GB RAM I was actually able to run any game I had on hand with more than adequate frame rates. For example, I am a flight simulator fanatic and I'm actually able to play Flight Simulator X on high settings with 40 fps! Probably the most surprising was that I can actually run Crysis quite well (but only using DX9). This is amazing performance for a machine that's not dedicated necessarily to gaming. But this model is not without its weaknesses and for this machine it is definitely the battery. On maximum energy saving mode, I am still only able to get approximately 1 hour, 40 minutes from a full charge -- not quite enough to get through a DVD movie on the plane, for example. This may or may not be a drawback for you, depending on what you'll use this notebook for, but for me it wasn't an issue as I don't travel with my PC that much. There is an extended battery pack available which will increase the battery life considerably, but it adds a lot of weight and bulk so I opted not to get it. All said, I am very pleased with my purchase and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a sleek mulimedia notebook. With all this performance in a thin, elegant package and with one of the best screens you can get, it has given me true pride of ownership. Just remember that you do have to spend some effort up front getting rid of the horrendous bloatware, but once you do, you'll have a truly excellent machine to take around with you. Rating: - Stereo-out disabled. DON'T BUY!While overall, this is a good machine, Sony disabled the option to record audio signal, which makes recording streaming web audio impossible, as well as taking advantage of features of audio and DJ software. Apparently, the reason behind disabling the feature, which has been available until Vista, is concerns about piracy, but no other computer manufacturers has done it! So, go with a different computer. Rating: - Works great after learning VistaThe laptop is shipped with MS Windows Vista which I had not seen before. It took awhile to figure it out (like how to configure an administrator ID...it ships without one). The only real "problem" I had was that it wouldn't play blu-ray DVDs until I downloaded the latest driver...that was a bit annoying. I humbly think I'm pretty computer savy so I have sympathies for folks who can't figure out Vista and drivers. Anyway, now I am very happy with the laptop. It is really fast and the WI-FI receiver seems to be very sensitive. As I had read in other Vaio reviews, the battery (as shipped) life is not on par with other laptops available. This is not a big issue for me, but if it is for you then I would recommend ordering the heavy duty battery. Also as I read in other reviews, there is a lot of advertising and trial software installed. Since I haven't purchased a computer in a while, maybe this is now the norm. 
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