Sony Vaio VGN FW 41

.../> Here we have the Sony Vaio VGN FW 41 - a mid to high-spec 16.4" screen laptop, designed with gamers, office workers, professionals and casual users all in mind.

One of the first things I noticed with this laptop is how professional and stylish it looks, with its silver metal lining. It wouldn't look out of place in a teenagers bedroom or a top executive's office. That's one of the first key pro's about this laptop - it suits ...
...Toshiba on their premium consoles. Sony is at the forefront of the industry, so it would have been nice to have that battery longevity in the Sony Vaio VGN FW 41.
These are minor gripes though.

All in all, I found this laptop to be snazzy, stylish, fast and easy to use. As usual there is a price difference between places, so shop around the net and the high street. I'd recommend it to the majority of people, with the exception ... more

I seem to have developed a habit of reviewing laptops, so why break with tradition.

Here we have the Sony Vaio VGN FW 41 - a mid to high-spec 16.4" screen laptop, designed with gamers, office workers, professionals and casual users all in mind.

One of the first things I noticed with this laptop is how professional and stylish it looks, with its silver metal lining. It wouldn't look out of place in a teenagers bedroom or a top executive's office. That's one of the first key pro's about this laptop - it suits practically every kind of person. You wouldn't want to leave it on a train table or cair while nipping off to the loo.
Then again, you wouldn't want to do that with any laptop !

The 16.4" screen is an unusual size, as they are usually either smaller at 15.4" or bigger at 17". The image is impressive, very much so. The colours are crisp and very bright, detailed and vibrant. This is partly due to the fantastic graphics card which is a ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4650. In a nutshell, it makes games look absolutely fantastic, even the most technically demanding ones. Windows Vista ome Premium looks fab on it.
The resolution of the screen is great at 1600 x 900 pixels, but being that this laptop has a blu-ray player for hi-definition movie playback, you'll probably want to consider buying the more expensive 1920 x 1080 version. That one gives you TRUE HD or FULL HD meaning you get a better overall image, like the top-end LCD and PLASMA TV's albeit on a smaller scale.

In terms of the day to day use of the laptop, it is very, very fast from what I've seen - due to it's Intel Core 2 Duo processor helping it do multiple things at once. The different tabs and windows open and shut with ease, and make moving around through the software a pleasure. A big helping hand also comes from the 4GB of memory and MASSIVE 500GB harddrive - great for tunes, images and movies.

You get bluetooth built-in which helps when wanting to transfer images and tunes without wired connections between the laptop and other device. There are also memory card slots and some great buttons not far from the screen that act as shortcuts for rewinding and forwarding tracks, films etc.

There is very little that I can say in terms of negativity when it comes to this little beauty. I found it to be fairly portable at just over 3KG, although I'd have liked it to be a little lighter if possible.
I also found that the battery life (which is standard around 3 hours or possibly slightly less I believe - I think 2.7 hours is quoted online) to be a little disappointing. For the cost I would have expected at least 6 hours. The technology is there, and available regularly from some manufacturers such as Toshiba on their premium consoles. Sony is at the forefront of the industry, so it would have been nice to have that battery longevity in the Sony Vaio VGN FW 41.
These are minor gripes though.

All in all, I found this laptop to be snazzy, stylish, fast and easy to use. As usual there is a price difference between places, so shop around the net and the high street. I'd recommend it to the majority of people, with the exception of tyhe most demanding of consumers who want the absolute best of the best. You really do get what you pay for, and this laptop really is one of the finer models available.

Thanks again Sony! 

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