Sony VAIO VGN-FW350J/B 16.4-Inch Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray Drive, Vista Premium) Black

Inspired by theater screens, the Sony VAIO VGN-FW350J/B broadens your entertainment horizons with a brilliantly colorful 16.4-inch high-definition LCD, dedicated AV controls, HDMI output to your HDTV, and more. Great for watching widescreen movies or viewing two web sites side-by-side, the 16.4-inch screen also minimizes the annoying black bars you see when playing widescreen movies. And the Blu-ray Disc optical drive (read-only) lets you play high-definition Blu-ray Disc movies in crystal-clear resolution. You'll also enjoy the Dolby Sound Room suite of audio technologies for immersive surround sound pumped through a home theater speaker system or just a pair of headphones. Making your own movies is also easy with the included Sony Movie Story software--just choose the supplied template and professional-looking cutaways, cross-fades and soundtrack syncing are automatically done for you.

The Sony VAIO FW in black.

Reminiscent of a rolling wave, the smooth, curved lines of are as functional as they are attractive--from the iconic new cylindrical hinge to the sloping bend where the keyboard meets the display. Striking, yet sophisticated, this deep black VAIO FW notebook utilizes advanced paint technology that's applied to the magnesium chassis, making the color appear to shift in tint at different angles.

It's powered by the 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor, which boosts speed, reduces power requirements, and saves on battery life. It offers a fast 800 MHz front-side bus speed and 2 MB L2 cache. Other features include a 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB of installed RAM (8 GB maximum), Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics with up to 1750 MB of available memory, dual-layer DVD+/-RW and CD burning capabilities, ExpressCard 34 slot, quad-mode Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth connectivity (including stereo music streaming), a 1.3-megapixel webcam built into the bezel, both Memory Stick and SD card readers, and pre-installed Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1).

This Sony notebook is Energy Star 4.0 certified, and has received a Silver EPEAT designation for meeting standards to help reduce its environmental impact. Additionally, it is RoHS-compliant, effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances.

Spec Check Color: Black 16.4-inch LCD screen 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor 320 GB hard drive 4 GB RAM (8 GB maximum) Combo Blu-ray Disc Read-Only and DVD+/-R drive Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) & Bluetooth 2.1 Intel 4500MHD graphics (1750 MB shared) Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) Weighs 6.7 pounds

The Basics

• Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor has a 2.0 GHz processor speed, fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

  With two computational execution cores in a single processor, it provides greater system response when running multi-threaded applications simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. It's optimized for multitasking and is ready to support the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. It can simultaneously run multiple demanding applications--such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching business productivity applications--while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background. Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include:

  • Smart Memory Access: Improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed.
  • Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
  • Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
  • Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.

• Hard Drive: The large 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.

• Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM (PC6400, 800 MHz, 2 x 2 GB) helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. This notebook has an amazing 8 GB maximum RAM capacity (4 x 2 GB). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed.

• DVD/CD Drive: This Sony notebook is capable of playing back Blu-ray Disc movies in stunning clarity, as well as playing your current library of purchased and burned disc content. This notebook can also write standard DVD and CD media. The BD drive offers a 2x speed for reading BD-R/RE discs and a 2x BD-R/RE DL (dual layer) read speed. It also offers the following write speeds for standard DVD and CD discs: 6x DVD+/-R DL, 8x for single-layer DVD+/-R, 6x DVD+/-RW, 24x CD-R/RW, and 5x for DVD-RAM.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 86-key keyboard (2mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch) and electro-static two-button touchpad. Playback controls include play/pause, stop, forward, rewind, AV mode, mute, volume +/-, WLAN/Bluetooth on/off.

Screen, Video & Audio
This Sony VAIO has a 16.4-inch TFT display with a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels (native 720p for high-definition viewing). The 16:9 aspect ratio ensures that you won't miss an inch of the original picture from your favorite movie while also providing valuable extra workspace. The XBRITE-ECO technology delivers brilliant colors and stunning clarity with efficient power usage, and it features an anti-reflective coating to minimize reflection and ensure a beautifully clear image from any viewing angle. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, which uses shared video memory (up to 1750 MB allocated from the system memory). For external monitors, it provides a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 using HDMI and 2048 x 1536 via VGA. This graphics card is built with Intel Clear Video technology, which delivers clearer, more detailed images by eliminating many of the jagged edges and video artifacts seen when viewing interlaced content and features powerful color control to ensure videos are not too dark, overly bright, or washed out.

This laptop also has an integrated audio card with Dolby Sound Room suite of technologies, which delivers virtual surround sound from stereo speakers or any pair of headphones and is designed for environments where multiple surround speakers are neither practical nor possible. It includes Dolby Digital (for 5.1 discrete channels of surround sound), Dolby Headphone (delivering the experience of a 5.1-channel soundtrack from any set of headphones), and Dolby Virtual Speaker (providing 5.1-channel surround sound from any pair of speakers).

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with the integrated quad-mode Intel Wireless 5100AGN Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and wi-fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range--great for closed office environments). With the Bluetooth connectivity, you can communicate and synchronize with Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as PDAs and cell phones as well as enjoy wireless stereo music streaming (thanks to its embedded A2DP profile).

This notebook also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 34 card slot (though no PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. Here's the full list of connectivity options:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 HDMI output (for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable)
• Analog video output: 1 VGA
• 1 ExpressCard/34 slot
• Memory Stick/Memory Stick DUO slot (with MagicGate functionality)
• Secure Digital memory card slot (compatible with MMC cards)
• 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
• 56K modem (V.90)

Operating System
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (with SP1) is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Microsoft Windows Live OneCare anti-virus and recovery (trial version), Microsoft Works SE 9.0, Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student (60-day trial), Sony Click to Disk Editor (CD and DVD burning), VAIO Movie Story (video editing), VAIO MusicBox

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 15.1 x 10.3 x 1.46 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 6.7 pounds.

Power
It's powered by the VGP-BPS13/S rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which has a battery life of between 2.5 and 5.5 hours (depending on usage). This laptop is compliant with Energy Star 4.0 specifications, meaning that it uses less power and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by meeting very strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.

What's in the Box
This package contains the VGN-FW350J/B notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty, and Sony offers 1-year of toll-free telephone technical assistance.