Features
The 15.4-inch screen is a joy to look at -- it's clear, crisp and pretty accurate in most regards. But ignore the 'Full HD 1080' sticker on the bottom left of the palm rest -- the screen's native resolution is only 1,280x800 pixels, which isn't very high. Sure, the small screen size limits the number of pixels that can be accommodated, but a 1,440x900-pixel panel (as seen on a MacBook Pro) would have been better. We can, at least, be content with the fact you can output video via the HDMI port.
Whereas the top-spec FZ ships with a Blu-ray drive, our third-tier VGNFZ11L.CEK shipped with a standard, and frankly dull, DVD-RW drive. It also has a weedy 120GB hard drive instead of the maximum 200GB. This is fairly rubbish for a multimedia laptop, so unless you have an existing external hard drive, we'd opt for the next model up -- the VGNFZ11S.CEK.
Unusually, all flavours of the FZ have the same base specification: a 1.8GHz T7100 Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of DDR2-667MHz memory. So no matter whether you go for the cheap-o VGNFZ19VN.CEK (£880) or the all-singing, all-dancing VGNFZ11Z.CEK (£1,499), you'll get a very similar level of performance. Be warned, though -- the bottom-spec model has Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, whereas the rest have a superior Nvidia GeForce 8400M GT card. Both will let you play games, but only the latter will let you actually run them at a decent frame rate.
Audio on the FZ series is a mixed bag. The integrated speakers are awful -- barely able to fill a medium-sized room. The laptop has an Intel High Definition Audio sound card so it can, theoretically, output 7.1-channel audio via external speakers. Unfortunately the laptop only has headphone and mic output jacks so 2.1 audio is the best you can get from it.
Being a Centrino Duo laptop, the FZ packs Wi-Fi as standard -- 802.11a/b/g formats are acceptable, but we were disappointed at the lack of support with the faster 802.11n standard. There's no integrated 3G for wireless access away from a Wi-Fi hotspot, but we figure the laptop is a little too bulky to be a mobile office, so it's no great loss.
Software on the FZ is par for the Sony laptop course. You get Adobe Photoshop Elements for editing images, Adobe Premier Elements for editing video, plus WinDVD for movie playback. The woeful SonicStage is included, as is a trial of Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Works. Sony supplies a one-year warranty with an option to buy a further two years.
Performance
The FZ series offers very similar performance to the Vaio AR11S. Despite having a processor that's 200MHz "slower", it racked up 4,324 in our PCMark 2005 test, compared to the AR11S' 4,320. It should, however, have a bigger edge than this score differential suggests. It has twice as much RAM as the AR11S, so it's more reliable a machine when dealing with photo or video editing applications.
It's nowhere near as good as the AR11S for gaming, though. It scored a fairly paltry 1,253 in 3DMark 2006, which is a full 1,606 marks lower. It won't trouble an Alienware, but you'll be pleased to know it will run games at modest settings.
Battery life isn't particularly important on a laptop that isn't designed to stray from the confines of your bedroom or lounge, but for reference, the FZ stayed alive for 80 minutes away from the mains.
Conclusion
The FZ is a solid machine. It's nowhere near as well-equipped as the Vaio AR11S, but if you're after a cheapish multimedia laptop with an optional Blu-ray drive, you could do a lot worse.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Kate Macefield
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Venkata Sudheer Babu Pakala 12 August 2010
Good: some what good look (externally)
Bad: total performence
Comment: i do agree with other 2 fellow Sony vaio victims. I bought my Sony vaio vgn model (approx. Oct 2007). I am not computer background/genius at that time. But later i came to know that there is no heater is needed inside my room in deep winter season in London. Imagine the heat it produces and it makes exhaust fan noise while it is running. The battery back-up is 40min. at the beginning and later it was decreased to zero after an year or 15 months. Now the batter is dead and i am using it with power. Also the mouse pad left key always has some problem and now somehow the cursor jumps to somewhere while typing, It is darn irritating. Later the biggest problem is graphic card. As i said i am non computer background, it took me a while to know the reason (of course i have mac book pro and neglected to research on stupid vaio). Later i found the reason and fortunately graphic card was replaced by Sony centre (UK) at free of cost. Later i opened each and every part and cleaned the battery. Now it is OK with less noise and heat. Last but not least: sound card is worst and utterly flop. At the end i am not a great or even average fan of Sony vaio and i love mac stuff.
cheers,
pakala
londongirl 13 April 2009
Good: Nothing
Bad: Fact that it was programmed to self-destruct after 1 year
Comment: Overheats like mad (too hot to touch!), battery lasts about 10 mins max, screen flickered for months, now has died completely and I can only use the laptop when connected to an external monitor (!), volume button stopped working.........what else.........basically it's absolutely useless only 18 months after purchase, v minimal (eve/wknd) home use, and the so-called customer service is non-existent. The price was very high for something designed to self-destruct after a year. The overheating and screen problems are (I now know) well-known problems that Sony is well aware of, but they continue to sell flawed products at extortionate prices. Avoid at all costs.
Kapuha 10 February 2008
Good: Nothing!
Bad: Sony Corporation ripping people off!!
Comment: I purchased a Sony VGN-FZ140E. We've had this computer for about 6 months. Within the first week of purchasing it, the mouse pad stopped accepting tap commands (i.e., you have to click on the mouse pad buttons to utilize the pad). Each time the mouse pad malfunctions, I have to go back into my control panel to reset it. This occurs about twice every hour. When I have more than 4 webpages open at the same time... the computer itself locks up and I have to reboot it. Then, it takes about 5 minutes for the computer to reboot.
This Sony product is absolutely pathetic. I also own an HP that is 6 years older than this computer, yet has proven to be MUCH more reliable in those 6 years. I trusted Sony only because I've owned TV's and DVD/VCR players from them. My advise... they get out of the computer business and stick to the TVs and DVD players only.
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