Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93989 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: VGNFW11ZU.CEK
• Released on: 2008-07-16
• Platform: Windows Vista Ultimate
• Dimensions: 6.83 pounds

Manufacturer's Description

Sony VAIO FW Series Laptop Ultimate screen experience The new VAIO FW Series perfectly combines elegant styling in a unique 16.4" LCD widescreen with all the impressive power and performance of a larger notebook so there's no need to compromise. But it's the revolutionary LCD widescreen that delivers the ultimate multimedia experience: 1600x900 resolution, 100% pure colour reproduction combined with Sony's unique X-black technology for more vivid, brighter and richer colour. X-black LCD Screen The super sharp clarity of X-black screen technology is a VAIO exclusive feature unrivalled by any other manufacturer. The secret ingredient is the anti-reflection coating - ensuring an absolute smooth surface where rays of light aren't broken or diffused. Whether watching movies or gaming, X-black provides the best screen experience in all lighting conditions, with 100% colour fidelity, high brightness, enhanced contrast and a wide viewing angle. HD Experience This large widescreen display provides the best possible High Definition (HD) experience, with 1600 x 900 resolution and a true 16:9 aspect ratio. Enjoy movies, games, photo slideshows and the Internet like never before with intense realism and detail. Blu-ray Disc Drive Delivering an exceptional High Definition experience, Blu-ray Disc is set to become the new global standard for High Definition image and sound quality. The newly released VAIO AR, TP, L and FW Series feature the new Blu-ray standard. You will still be able to use all major formats. One Blu-ray Disc can hold the equivalent of 10 DVDs or 70 CDs. Built-in MotionEye Camera Easy-to-use, with integrated auto focus and auto brightness, the built-in camera is perfect for video calls. Being able to see your friends and family when you're online is so much better than just reading their emails. DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) Easily share your digital content such as your photos, music and videos, without worrying about compatibility. Sony is a member of the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA). DLNA Certified products meet strict internationally recognised standards that mean you can be sure that your laptop can communicate with your other home entertainment products. Windows Vista® Home Premium Windows Vista® Home Premium is the preferred edition of Windows Vista® for home desktop and mobile PCs. It delivers more productivity and entertainment at home and on the go making it easy to enjoy digital photos, music, TV, games and movies, while providing a whole new level of security and reliability. VAIO Movie Story VAIO Movie Story is a High Definition home movie editor for creating a home movie in seconds. The software will export in most formats to view on PC, TV, YouTube or PSP. VAIO MusicBox Easily manage your music the way you want to with VAIO MusicBox music player software. Listen to songs according to your mood without having to hand pick every track. Search for songs quickly with Chorus Playback, and transfer music to your favourite MP3 player. Recommended Accessories Simplify shifting from one place to another with the Sony VAIO VGP-UPR1 USB docking station. Stay on the move for longer with the Sony VAIO VGP-BPL13 extended battery. Keep your laptop protected with the VGP-CP20 slip cover or the VGP-ECC3W carry case. Sony, VAIO, X-black LCD, MotionEye and their logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Corporation, Japan. All other trademarks and logos are acknowledged.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

A superb flagship model, with the price to match. What you pay is what you get.
The biggest selling point must be the screen. Full HD 1920/1080 with Sony's X-Black double lamp technology means colour accuracy, brighness amd constrast are class leading. The model above the AW11XU may have an LED display but it costs double. Buy this laptop and know smuggly you have the best there is (well almost :) )

My vista subscore came back as 5.4.
Processor 5.4;
Memory 5.9;
Graphics (Aero) 5.9;
Gaming Grpahics 5.5;
Primary HDD 5.4

NB A subscore of 6 is the highest score currently attainable, until new, faster CPU/Memory is launched.

Great - pitty about the ATI graphics
Sony has created a great laptop that meets the need for my development team. Generally its a good laptop, like the keyboard, like the screen, like the processor.

Would be better with a faster hard drive

BUT...
Unfortunately this laptop uses an ATI graphics card which fails and crashes the laptop too offten for my liking. I bought two of these laptops for my staff, both give the same problem - even after updating to the latest drivers.

My last lap top was an Acer, also with ATI graphics card and that had the same issues.

Seems neither Sony or ATI are taking responsibility.

Having seen this graphics issue with ATI drivers across two laptop brands and 3 laptops , I would think carefully before buying any laptop that has ATI graphics card.

First consider options
I've little quarrel with the peformance, but I do have a number of quibbles, one of which I regard as significant. As soon as the system is up and running, you are strongly advised to make recovery disks in case of HD failure. I did not have the correct disks. I ordered some and continued to customise Vista.

When it came to making the disks, the Back up and Recovery program reported that it was not working. I had to use the very first system restore point before I could use the facility. This meant that all the customisation I had done had to be repeated. A lot of work. I would very much like to know why a computer costing this much does not come with recovery disks. Three blank disks (cost17p ea.) might at least have been included!!

If you are elderly like myself, and if your computer knowledge is only average, you might consider a cheaper Vaio with Vista Basic. The Vista Ultimate is packed with features you will most likely never use. I have deducted one star, not because of my mistake in purchasing a high spec computer, but because recovery disks and better instructions should have been included. Vaio wrongly assumes that the computer literacy of the buyer is very high. If yours isn't, do order 'Vista for Dummies' at the same time as you place your order. I would have been all at sea without this excellent book.

I deeply miss my old XP, and I suspect that many others will. Still, there's nothing we can do about that.