Sony VAIO VGN-FW170J/H 16.4″ Laptop
June 17th, 2009 | 65 views | Posted by in Computers & Accessories
Sony VAIO VGN-FW170J/H 16.4″ Laptop
Broaden your entertainment horizons with the VAIO FW notebook featuring an extra-wide 16.4″ XBRITE-ECO LCD display. Great for watching widescreen movies or viewing two websites side-by-side, this entertainment-rich notebook minimizes those annoying black bars you see when playing widescreen movies. Watch and record DVDs and get the most out of your games with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. An entertainment powerhouse, the VAIO FW notebook is inspired by theater screens, born from SONY HD expertise and powered by the energy-efficient an super-powerful Centrino 2 processor technology ¿ the latest and greatest from Intel.
Inspired by theater screens, the Sony VAIO VGN-FW170J/H broadens your entertainment horizons with a brilliantly colorful 16.4-inch high-definition LCD, dedicated AV controls, HDMI output to your HDTV, and more. Great for watching widescreen movies or viewing two web sites side-by-side, the 16.4-inch screen also minimizes the annoying black bars you see when playing widescreen movies. You’ll also enjoy the Dolby Sound Room suite of audio technologies for immersive surround sound pumped through a home theater speaker system or just a pair of headphones. It offers high-definition Blu-ray Disc playback capability, which supports full 1080p HD video as well as up to 5.1 discrete channels of uncompressed digital audio. The Blu-ray system is backwards-compatible with standard DVDs and CDs, enabling you to enjoy your digital library for years to come. The optical drive can also write a full range of disc formats, including dual-layer DVD discs.
Reminiscent of a rolling wave, the smooth, curved lines of are as functional as they are attractive–from the iconic new cylindrical hinge to the sloping bend where the keyboard meets the display. Striking, yet sophisticated, this titanium gray VAIO FW notebook utilizes advanced paint technology that’s applied to the magnesium chassis, making the color appear to shift in tint at different angles.
It’s powered by the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor–with Centrino 2 technology–which boosts speed, reduces power requirements, and saves on battery life. The 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 includes a quick 1066 MHz front-side bus and 3 MB of L2 cache, providing an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved multimedia and multitasking performance. Other features include a 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB of installed RAM (maximizing capacity), Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics with up to 1340 MB of available memory, ExpressCard 34 slot, quad-mode Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth connectivity (including stereo music streaming), a 1.3-megapixel webcam built into the bezel, both Memory Stick and SD card readers, and pre-installed 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1).
This Sony notebook is Energy Star 4.0 certified, and has received a Silver EPEAT designation for meeting standards to help reduce its environmental impact. Additionally, it is RoHS-compliant, effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances.
Spec Check
- 16.4-inch XBRITE-ECO LCD screen
- 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor
- 320 GB hard drive
- 4 GB RAM (maximum)
- Blu-ray Disc read, DVD±R read/write
- Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
- Bluetooth with stereo music streaming
- Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics
- 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1)
- Weighs 6.4 pounds
What’s in the Box
This package contains the VGN-FW170J/H 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.
Sony VAIO VGN-FW170J/H 16.4″ Laptop Review
I specified the model on the title as the reviews for all Sony FW laptops are shared amongst all models in Amazon.
I consider this model to be a great purchase. Contrary to many modern laptops, it actually looks great, with very modern styling that is suitable for both home and business users. The screen has a different aspect ratio (16:9) than most computers, which is more suitable for watching DVDs or comparing side by side documents than the traditional 4:3. The 2.26 P8400 is the same processor found on most FW computers, even those costing hundreds of $ more, 3GBs of RAM, which is the maximum usable RAM in Vista SP1 32bit, 250GBs of RAM which is enough for most users,etc.
The graphic card on this machine is the ATI HD3470, with 256mb of dedicated memory. This card will handle your graphics a lot better than the integrated Intel cards found on some higher priced FW models here in Amazon and is one of the best features of this particular model. It is not a high end graphic card, but it can handle the necessities of most users, including those who use their laptops for casual gaming.
I found an inconsistency on Amazon’s product description for this model. In the “network” section, it specifies that this model comes with Intel 4965 wifi chipset, which is not the case. It comes with Atheros wifi (N capable). This is not really a bad thing, you won’t notice a performance difference, but the fact that it has the Atheros wifi chipset instead of the Intel one is the main reason why it can’t be labeled as a “Centrino 2″ laptop, even though it has all other required Intel technologies. The sticker on the laptop will say “Core 2 Duo” instead of “Centrino 2″. Again, this is only a label.
Performance-wise, it’s plenty fast. It comes with some trial software that some users will prefer to uninstall (like me), but this is the case for almost all notebook manufacturers and it shouldn’t take too long to do so.
Overall, highly recommended.
Buy Sony VAIO VGN-FW170J/H 16.4″ Laptop
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