Sony FE790 Review (Specs & Pictures)

This is my first review. I wrote everything I could think of at the moment. Tell me what else you'd like to see or improved!

I took the pictures with a Sony 6 MP DSC-W30 digital camera. I'm in no way a master at messing with the settings/and/or talking pictures. Obviously the computer is more beautiful in person

OK!

Here we go:
-------------------------------------------------------

My FE Specs:

15.4" WXGA TFT with XBRITE-HiColor Technology and MOTION EYE Camera (1280x800)
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 (PCI Express, 128 bit, 16GB/s, 550 million vertices/sec, 400MHZ)
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5600 1.83GHZ 2MB L2 Cache
1 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-533, 1 GBx1) PC2-4200 DDR2, 533MHz <<Upgrade to 2GB soon>>
667MHZ FSB
80GB HD 5400RPM
VGA out with Smart Display Sensor
10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet with RJ-45 interface
Sony Sound Reality - Audio Enhancer
Memory Stick Duo media with MagicGate functionality
ExpressCard/34 Slot: 5-in-1 Memory Card Adaptor (VGP-MCA20) supporting Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Secure Digital, xD-Picture Card, and MultiMediaCard (MMC)
PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot with CardBus support
DVD+-R DL_DVD+-RW_DVD-RAM Drive
Keyboard: QWERTY, 86 keys with 2.5mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch
6.17 Pounds (with standard battery)
14.41” (W) x 1.02” -1.39” (H) x 10.81” (D)
Price: $1418.00 + $97tax = $1515 (I HATE taxes).

Why did I buy this laptop?

My budget was ~$1500. I needed a lightweight laptop for school, homework, gaming, programming, music, and videos. Battery life was not an issue for me; if the battery lasts 2-3 hours I'm perfectly happy. I needed a laptop with 64 bit support -- as I will most likely buy Vista when it arrives. I wanted a laptop with a good build and screen quality. The laptop had to be one I would use daily for 2-3 years.

I was looking at the Sony SZ340 in addition to the FE. I stopped looking at the SZ when I noticed that the same configuration as my FE would be above $1700. There was one other system, however, that I almost bought:

1. Dell XPS M1210

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2GHz/667MHz/4MB)
Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 TurboCache
Price: $1533

Conclusion: The T7200 is a nice feature (and a cheaper upgrade than the Sony) -- but I don't really like the GO 7400. I really like how this setup comes with 667MHz RAM. The reason I did not pick this system was because the screen quality is not as good as the Sony FE. I checked out the M1210 in person and I was not impressed by the screen quality (pretty average). The Sony FE has an exceptional screen -- the brightness and clarity are amazing. It may sound weird and perhaps not important to some people -- but I think the FE looks better than the M1210. The sleek & white laptop looks beautiful.

How I purchased

I ordered my laptop directly from www.sony.com. I did this because I hate going to places like CompUSA -- just a personal bias. I configured the laptop exactly how I wanted it and had it ordered in less than 30 minutes. Obviously the downside from ordering online is the wait time on the shipping. But hey, I think that is rather enjoyable myself. It allowed me to anticipate my new friend for a long time.

Boxing and Shipment

I wish I would have taken pictures of how horrible Sony's packaging was. It was shipped by Fed Ex in a large brown box. Inside this box was another box -- suspended, held together, by nothing but plastic wrap! I am very upset with Sony about this packaging. Talk about cost cutting. How can they explain the logic of such horrible shipping? One would think Sony could have at the very least put some shipping peanuts to better protect the system. I was worried that the computer was damaged. Thankfully it was not.

I found a review in the forum by pathens who took photos of the shipping. The review was for the Sony BX540B11. My shipping looked exactly like pathens. You can take a look here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=77950

Screen

I have to start with my favorite part! My only sadness is that 1280 x 800 is the highest resolution. I'm used to higher desktop (and there are laptops too) resolutions. Still I think 1280 x 800 is a good enough resolution. If I remember correctly, the aspect ratio is 16:10 (8:5).

Watching videos and playing games is a wonderful experience on this screen. There are 8 brightness settings controlled (unless you say otherwise later on) by the S1 programmable key. I find 8 too bright for my eyes during normal usage. When I watch videos or play a game I set the brightness to 8.

No matter what angle I look at the screen -- I can see everything clear and perfectly.

My screen shipped with not a single dead pixel. When I press on the back of the LCD there is hardly any screen bleeding. The screen is firmly attached to the laptop itself -- and has no flex.

I ordered by screen with the built-in MotionEye camera. I'm not sure about any specs about this camera. I can say that the quality is good enough for IM software. Just don't expect anything special from it.

Here is a side picture:



How thick is the screen? About the size of a regular Sharpie.



Build

6.17 Pounds (with standard battery)
14.41” (W) x 1.02” -1.39” (H) x 10.81” (D)

This is not the lightest 15.4'' laptop around. There is the 5.7 pound 15'' ThinkPad T60, or the 5.7 pound 15'' IBM ThinkPad T43p 2668 for example. Maybe there are even lighter laptops.

But do I really feel 6.17 pounds in my backpack? Thank goodness I can feel the slight increase of weight in addition to my usual textbooks -- or I would be constantly looking around making sure I actually had my laptop with me! The point is that 6.17 pounds is light enough for me. I find it light enough to carry it quickly into different rooms in the house, classrooms, etc.

I really like the quality of the build. I'm not certain about what materials were used. Nothing on the laptop feels "cheap plastic-like". I don't think the hand rests/lid would scratch too easily -- but I'm not willing to do a test either.

I have not noticed any discoloration on any part of the system -- and as of this review I've had this Sony for about 2 weeks -- and have used it in excess of 5 hours a day.


Keyboard


Typing on the keyboard has a satisfying click-click sound. It must be understood that this sound is very slight and in no way could be considered annoying. The keyboard feels secure and does not feel cheap. The keyboard itself has 86 keys with 2.5mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch. I found no flex in any of my keys.

Besides the standard keys, the FE790 has: a mute button, volume up/down, S1 & S2 (programmable buttons). The default settings for these are:

S1 = adjust the brightness of the screen (out of 8).
S2 = adjust the external monitor (if I was only so cool to have an external LCD).

So I changed S2 so it launched FireFox.

I wish the FE790 had more media/programmable buttons than what is offered.

Speakers & Audio

Unfortunately every beautiful thing has a flaw. The biggest flaw for the FE790 is the sound. The actual quality of the sound is fine -- no matter what type of music I play I have found no audio distortion. Music and voices are clear.

So what is the problem?

The volume. I have to confess it is louder than Apple's volume (for a comparison). As far as I know, there is no way to fix this problem. So how bad is it really? You can definitely hear videos, music, and games without a major problem IF you are in a quiet place. Take it to a more public place like a coffee shop, however, and you will be struggling to hear anything at all. To me this is sad because I like to blast my music wherever I am (to much fanfare I'm sure).

Of course you could always get external speakers that would outperform the internal speakers anyway.

The FE790 uses Sony Sound Reality Audio Enhancer.

The headphone and microphone jack are located in the front of the laptop.

Wireless

The FE790 uses the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (802.11a/b/g). I don't really know what else to say about it other than it works like its supposed to and connects to any network available. The range is pretty good I think. I was in class the other day fully connected to the school network (on low but still enough for AIM!) and this one kid with an Asus asked how I was online. He couldn't connect. I'm sure the Intel PRO is nothing truly special -- maybe I was lucky that day.

One other note (not sure if this is unique to the Intel PRO): I can play Quake4 online while sitting about 30 feet away from the router (with GPU settings). The game play is pretty good with no lag (FPS is good). I do encounter lag when I'm playing against 9 or so players. I have not yet hosted a game on the wireless connection -- and I can't imagine it would be any good anyway.


Input and Output ports


4pin i.LINK connector(IEEE 1394), 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA out
10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet with RJ-45 interface
Microphone and headphone jack
Memory Stick Duo media with MagicGate functionality
ExpressCard /34 Slot: 5-in-1 Memory Card Adaptor (VGP-MCA20) supporting Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO , Secure Digital, xD-Picture Card, and MultiMediaCard (MMC)
PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot with CardBus support

Battery

I got the standard battery because I don't need anything else. I get 3 hours on the battery with WiFi on, web surfing, etc. I tried to play Quake4 on the battery. I got an amazing 48 minutes before I was asked to plug in the AC.

The battery life is fine with me. The usual hangouts for my Sony are home and school. Both of those places have outlet power.

If the day is sunny and I need to catch some rays I still find I have enough battery time to sit outside in-between classes.

Of course you could buy the larger battery ($100). I'm not sure how much more time you'd have.

Noise and Heat

This laptop is very quiet. I have not yet taken it apart to determine how many fans it has -- but I suspect a single fan cools the GO7600 and the CPU.

Light duty tasks don't even require the use of the fan at all. I can surf the web, listen to music, talk on AIM -- and the system stays cool with no noise.

When playing Quake4 the system still remains cool. The fan will kick in for a few seconds after prolonged play and then shut off. When the fans do come on there is the obvious sound the fan is running. I don't think this is distracting. I played Quake4 for 4 hours straight at one point -- and I touched underneath the laptop -- it was warm -- but not alarmingly so.

DVD-drive access: When installing software the drive stays pretty quiet. Sometimes it gets loud but then goes quiet. I'm happy with it.

This laptop is perfect for your lap: it stays cool, is light weight, etc.


CPU Info

Intel Core 2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83GHz
Architecture 64-bit
Internal Clock 1.8 GHz
Internal Clock Maximum 1.8 GHz
External Clock 167.0 MHz
Socket Designation N/A
Type Central
HyperThreadingTechnology Available - 2 Logical Processors
Capabilities MMX, CMov, RDTSC, SSE, SSE2, PAE, NX
Version Intel Core 2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83GHz



Caches:
Level 1 64 KB
Level 2 2 MB
Level 3 0 B

Performance

O.K now the fun parts.

I got a nice score from the PI program. I calculated 2 million digits of PI in 1 minute 18 seconds. Not too bad for 1.83GHz. In comparison the C2D 2.0GHz Dell XPS M1210 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7200) got 1 min 02 seconds according to AngryMob: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=79586



What about 3DMark05? I got this score with no messing around with the GPU:




I LOVE MY SONY!

PROS:

1. Screen quality & clarity (Can't be seen in pictures!)
2. Stong build, wonderful feel
3. Good weight
4. GPU

Cons:

1. Sound volume is too low
2. No other color options besides white (as of yet)
3.

Conclusion: A wonderful computer. Take a look at it, play around with it, and you'll fall in love.

Other pictures:

Here is a picture of my desktop using Belltech CaptureXT Screen Capture. Setting = lowest brightness. The picture quality is a little off -- the words on icons are 100% clear:



And:



Another:



Side:



(MORE pictures tomorrow: HD TUNE, 3Dgames, etc)

 

wow, that's a very good price, especially for a Sony! surprised you got this price off of their site too

 

and it comes with free engraving even.

Very desirable price. i would like to see the printout from display >properties to see the lcd model.,

 

Thanks for the review! $1418 before tax is a good price for that laptop with it being from Sony and all. Glad you're happy with it!

 

Is this what you wanted?:



And here is the opening control panel for the GPU:

 

knowing him, I think he's looking for what type of LCD panel you have (usually something from AUO, CMO, Samsung, etc). However after looking for one myself, I dont think that info is under dispaly properties

 

I don't get it. I *guess* the LCD panel is from Sony (as its attached to the laptop)? I'm not using an external monitor if that is what he's asking.

 

nah, I don't believe Sony makes any of their LCDs they use on their notebooks. AUO, CMO, Samsung and LG are the most common. However finding out is actually kinda difficult.

in any case, about the keyboard.. have you ever tried the Sony SZ's one? if so, are they similar?

 

sony does make many of the lcds in their notebooks.

I do doubt this one though. something to do with the exchange rate of the yen.

ok go to advanced, monitors its in there.

 

Nope, never tried the SZ keyboard. I went into the SonyStyle store around here and they didn't even have the SZ on display.

 

Nice review and sweet notebook but I am a little concerned with the 3d mark 2005 score, shouldnt that be at least 1000 points higher?

 

Nice review!

 

i dont see it listed anywhere but I think its the 128 mb version.

 

Yes it is the 128mb version.

 

girl , nice review

 

Hello everybody.

I just received my VGN-FE790 by Fedex on Monday. I bought it with the Large Battery Pack. This is what my question is about. If I¨m using the internet via Wi-Fi, I think I can barely get only a couple of hours of battery life - and with the larger battery. Using a lower screen brightness or a different power saving mode (I think I used "Optimised") helps a little bit I guess, but still - the larger battery is quite clunky and heavy to be honest actually, and I think it cost something like an extra $100 (rip-off?) so I was expecting a bit better performance to say the least. Or is the Wi-Fi just such a "battery drainer"?

 

can get for 1099.99 now at compusa (yes the very chain you mentioned you don't like has it for best price of all of them. personally I prefer them over cc & bb for this type of thing because they don't specialize in computer stuff.

order online from merchant outside your state and just pay shipping which is much less then the tax.

I disagree that this sony laptop doesn't feel cheap. compared to asus (v6j at least) this sony vaio f
e feels quite cheap & plasticky when I played with it.

I do like the looks of it and the price is now great making me wonder why I paid so much more for an asus that most ppl don't know when I could have paid less for a sony vaio that everyone will be like wow.

screen is only wxga also so I couldnt do it. and t5600 isn't worth it cus its only 2mb cache. I would want the 4mb cache t7200 of the sz.

now that I have a 15'' standard sxga asus v6j I will be getting a 17'' wuxga with good vid card. might consider sony especially if its cheaper then the upcoming asus W2p with hddvd. but that's the problem, sony uses bluray and I want hddvd. prob should have gotten sny fe then for 15'' and then asus for the 17'' w2p. but oh well. I really liked/wanted the v6j and standard screen is a rarity now and 15.1'' standard looks bigger then 15.4'' wide plus couldn't do the xga res of the sony as well as a few other shortcomings.
great price though now. still wonder if I shouldn't have saved a few hundred to get the actually more known respected (by the dumb masses) brand. eff that and while I do have a psp and like it I don't really like sony even for tvs and I don't like their memory stick crap and don't want to use that in anything I don't have to.

I'm just not a real sony fanboy but at these lower prices it is tempting.

 

This is the best SONY ever. And u cannot get a graphics card at Comp USA. Only sonystyle has the customization for graphics...!

 

customization of one at sonystyle.com costs a lot more though. prob still less then asus though sadly for me as an asus enthusiast.

i have played with the FE and did feel the build quality seemed cheap plasticky nad not nearly as good as Asus but suddenly after always being overpriced , sony vaio laptops seem to be at more reasonable price.

i might consider a sony vaio for a 17" but i want hddvd not bluray and the 17" sony doesn't have the looks i like as much as the 15.4" fe so I"ll prob end up with another Asus, the W2P instead of the Sony VAio 17".

besides in daily life many ppl have sony vaio's and the FE even, noone has the first sleek light thin 15" laptop in the asus v6j plus its great yet understated professional looks.

 

Just got a similar model, and I have to say, build quality is **** for the Sony.

- Lots of leakage on the screen.
- DVD/CD Drive tray can be pushed in when its not opened.
- Latch lock seems abit flimsy
- Battery moves when inside the battery bay.


Very disappointed.

 

agreed, but i think the screen is not that bad, mine does have some leakage but you can hardly realize though

 

Well, after reading alot about how "high quality" Sony screens are, I was quite disappointed to see some bleeding, considering my HP DV5000t didnt have any at all.

The only reason I went with Sony was because it had 7600 & T7200 CPU. HP Australia only offer HP 6000t with T5500 and 7400, but the build quality is subperb.

 

HP build quality is better then Sony? thats bad. Asus build quality is second to none.

 

I would DEFINITELY suggest a dv6000 over a Sony vaio FE. The Inspiron E1505 is really the bang-for-the-buck if you really need to save up.

Better yet, just pick up an ASUS. the screens are better and brighter anyways.

 

i tried almost all asus models, weird that i don't like their lap material, it is like a sheet of metal that felt like it can be bended similar like sz. i like r52's plastic too. maybe im a fan of plastic.

 

Seeing as you posted this awhile ago, have there been signs of discoloration of the keyboard or stains? Also, is bluetooth available for this laptop? Thanks!

 

You provided a nice write up. I bought one and one month later the DVD player is broken and calling Sony is useless.

 

Good review! Thanks for taking the time to write it up!