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Sony Latest News Vaio FW11M is one of low price offers only a blu ray ROM drive (read, no write) and hardware devices not superb. You also have to do without Sony Dual Lamp technology. In the brief review that follows you will discover if you saved a corner.
HOUSES
Sony News Today introduces its first notebooks with 16:9 format screen from 16.4 ”. The Vaio FW11M represents a new category of notebooks that would rank among the 15.4 ” and 17 ” and thanks to the integrated blu ray-lends to home movies.
Just like the 16:4 of the Acer Aspire 6920G, hinge design dominates. Unlike the Acer, Sony FW series ends are decorated and in the middle section disappears under the bar that contains the speakers. At the far right is the power button illuminated, indicating the status of your notebook with different colors.
Another special feature is the keyboard that has, now common for Sony products, several buttons integrated into the case. This draws in part on Apple’s MacBook Air look.
The case appears, at first glance, very flat. This is because the upper surface completely flat. However, the FW11M is the small size of the Apple MacBook Air Pro.
The invoice of the notebook is not the most important aspect. For example the materials of supports for wrists not is of excellent quality and yields considerably if you apply pressure. Speaker bar is not pressure-especially when the battery is disconnected-but this, of course, does not represent a major critical issues. Another critical point is the crunch that you feel opening the laptop. Many competitors are able to do better. However there are also positive aspects on Vaio. For example, the cover of the display is extremely resistant and protects the screen very well. Also the input devices behave nicely leaving a good impression.
As mentioned above, Sony uses a zipper enveloping perla its range FW11. This has the disadvantage of the limited opening angle. The FW11M didn’t hook closure therefore care must be taken during transport-as well as ingress of objects fit between keyboard and screen at the risk of damaging it.
Connectivity
For the doors there are almost no criticality. Currently only lacks an eSATA connection and a card reader that supports different formats from Sonys Memory Stick Pro and SD Cards. The HDMI port for digital video and audio and Firewire 400 are appreciated. Reflecting the characteristics of multimedia, the series has the FW11 MotionEye webcam with good image quality.
The connections are o.k. but, individual ports are a bit too close to the front (especially the USB ports), because you can create problems with cables.
Sony provides FW11M with a notable software package for Audio, Video, photos or, and DVD burning. Plus Adobe Premiere Elements 4 (video editing), Microsoft Works 9 (Office) and Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 (image processing). In addition, there are various Sony Vaio software included (Music Box, SonicStage Mastering Studio, Media Plus, Movie Story). There are also programs in test (MS Office 2007 and McAfee Internet Security).
Input devices
The keyboard of your Vaio FW11M iha a design similar to the MacBook Air and has a good layout. The keyboard is properly integrated into the case and does not emit any noise. The keys have normal size and allow a good typing. overall the keyboard is appreciated.
Thelarge touchpad offers good sliding properties and can be used with precision. The two buttons are secured to the case and offer a good pressure point with considerable noise.
In addition, the Sony Vaio offers an extra bar with multimedia keys on top of the keyboard. This provides quick access to multimedia functions (such as “mute” is accessible with FN + F2).
Display
We were keen to try the wide screen 16.4 “in 16:9 format. A sticker on your notebook highlights the presence of “Dual Lamp Technology”. But a small asterisk also points out that “… only on selected models”. Unfortunately, the VGN-FW11M does not belong to this category. Therefore users must make do with a single light in the background. The result is a significant reduction in the brightness of the display. On average just146 cd/m ² (136:1 at maximum contrast). This combined with the reflections of glossy surface, makes advised against a light. Based on external tests, models with Dual Lamp Technology arrive at a brightness of up to 360 cd/m ². The constant high resolution of 1600×90 pixels gives users a large desktop and a good view.
Nevertheless, the images give a good impression.
Performance
Something was spared even as regards the performance of FW11M. Compared to the higher priced models, has a processor and a graphics card that is less efficient. In our case it was mounted a Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26 GHz and 3 MB L2 cache from. The new 45nm Penryn CPUs made comes from and FSB1066 and should provide enough performance for most applications.
The integrated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 is pretty poor for the games. Being a graphics card for beginners is only suitable for a limited number of games. The recent games are fluid with only minimal details. But even the older games like F.E.A.R. can be played only with medium details discreetly. The advantage of HD 3470, is integrated in the Avivo HD video decoder. The graphics chip supports the CPU in decoding video high density. In tests the CPU during the screening of the film on blu-ray “Cars” has remained at about 15-22%.
The Sony FW11M got a bit disappointed because they are not parties or the 3D Mark 06 nor the PC Mark 05. But the laptop did not disappoint during online games. This laptop handled the most demanding online games that we tested from this great site. It performed fluidly during all the casino games we tested even when we got the casino bonus because the graphics go a bit hectic during the time.
For Office, video editing and image management without pretensions, Sony offers sufficient performance, thanks to 4 GB of RAM.
| F.E.A.R. | |||
| Resolution | Settings | Value | |
| 1024 x 768 | GPU: max, CPU: max, 0xAA, 0xAF | 38 fps | |
| 640 x 480 | GPU min, CPU min, 0xAA, 0xAF | 271 fps | |
| Cinebench R10 | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| Rendering Single 32 bit | 1760 Points | ||
| Rendering Multiple CPUs 32 bit | 3257 Points | ||
| Shading 32bits | 601 Points | ||
Hitachi 250 GB HTS542525K9a serial ATA disk is about average in terms of speed. Where necessary, superior performance, we recommend replacing the Hitachi HDD faster.
Noise level
Our noise surveys were spoiled. The test was conducted in an air conditioned room and basic noise level 38dB. Therefore it is not possible to give information about the lowest noise.
The fans of Vaio VGN FW11M revolve even stowed away, but are considered a little noisy. During the activity become a bit noisier. But are annoying are very silent environments.
Temperature
The temperature of the case of FW11M remains at an acceptable level. Even the supporting points of the wrists remain in 29° -31° c. The maximum temperature of 42.9° C at the bottom cannot be considered critical.
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| Maximum: 36.2° C average: 32.6° C |
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| Maximum: 42.9° C average: 33.2° C |
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Speakers
For your Vaio notebook devoted to film screenings, the quality of the speakers is very important. Stereo speakers there are convincing only in part. Because of some flaw of the subwoofer, there were low dencenti during the test. In addition, the maximum volume may be too low for some films. The sound is o.k. , however, in view of the size of the notebook.
Battery operating time
The 53 Wh lithium-ion battery relatively small allows the FW11M about 1.5 h at peak performance. Therefore the autonomy should be much higher in normal usage scenario.
Overall
The Sony Vaio VGN FW11M is one of the economic models of the series FW11. The absence of the second lamp by background, leads to an Atypically dark image for Sony. Especially for those who watch the films and would like more light. Also there are reflections on glossy surface that disturb. Remains positive high resolution and display colors from 16:9 display.
As with all models in the FW11, FW11M has a mediocre Bill. You have to accept creaks and the lack of rigidity of the supports for wrists.
Of course there are other pluses to this multimedia laptop Sony. For example, thewide range of software in equipment for music, videos and photos. Typical Sony, emissions are reduced.
Players and users who want to use the notebook outdoors should opt for the model with Dual Lamp technology (eg. FW11ZU).
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