Sony Vaio Today

[ajwhite]

I am thinking about purchasing a laptop, specifically the Sony Vaio FW series. However I go to college in a year. So what I am wondering is that: If I buy a laptop today, will it be really "outdated" by the time I go to college?

The Specs: 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 6gb RAM, 400gb Hard Drive, ATI Mobility Radeon HD4650 w/ 512mb vRAM, Blu-Ray disc reader, DVD/CD R/RW drive, FREE upgrade to windows 7

I don't know if there will be any HUGE advancements in laptops in the next year but i am asking you all: Will there be any new "Necessity" tech advancement in the next year that will make the Sony Vaio FW outdated?

Thanks for your help!

 

[NightSurge]

Well I believe they should start having new mobile processors soon. Not sure about within the next year, but soon. That means a Core 2 Duo would be outdated, and a 2.0GHz is not exactly the fastest available. The 6GB of RAM is odd to see in a notebook, and really not necessary. The rest looks great! If you could wait a few months to see if they release a new set of mobile CPU's that would be good. Otherwise look for a model similar to yours but with a faster C2D.

 

[Sheepykins]

love the sony vaio's but when i used to sell computers i would ask the customer what he/she was gonna use it for, you've said college and even a basic laptop can run the internet and an office suite.

do you need a blu-ray player? do you need dedicated graphics? these things all send the prices up in a laptop by around 100 or so.

as for surges comment there is alot of merit in waiting for a new set of processors but thats like anything as soon as this new set comes out then a few months later there'll be better ones or improved versions my friend literally put off building a new rig for a year because stuff just kept getting better.

and as far as i know the intel core 2 duos are still benching as the best dual cores for any machine though some people still prefer athlons (which are rare in laptops mostly turions)

so yeah its a nice machine but consider the use, consider the price and make a cost benefit analysis because to be honest the working time for most laptops is about 4 years before you start having any real problems.

thats my 2 cents anyway

 

[ajwhite]

Well I do like to play games so thats why I went with this bigger screen and graphics card, the only thing that is really making me think twice is the 2Ghz processor.

 

[NightSurge]

Well I do like to play games so thats why I went with this bigger screen and graphics card, the only thing that is really making me think twice is the 2Ghz processor.

Yeah, for gaming on a laptop you probably want at least a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo.

And laptop CPU's do not change as much as Desktops, that is why I suggested he wait. The Core 2 Duo's came out like 2-3 years ago and since then no new set of mobile CPU's have come out that offer better performance (have netbooks to thank since everyone focused on the Atom).

 

[ajwhite]

Well, just out of curiosity, why is this processor slow? and how hard is it to upgrade laptop processors in the future?

 

[NightSurge]

It's not a slow processor, just not fast enough to run modern games at the best settings.

And changing laptop processors is basically more trouble than it's worth. It's possible, but not recommended.

 

[ajwhite]

Ok well thanx for clarifying that it's not too slow, but on another side note, how well do u think it could run Crysis (any version) or Empire total war or Arma 2? those are some of the games i like btw. if it can run them on high settings thats ok, i just want to be able to run "smoothly" without lots of frame rate jumping.

 

[NightSurge]

Well it would definitely not run Crysis very well. The others it would run, but you may see slowdowns if there is a lot of on screen activity like in Empire Total War. If you could find one that has a better CPU and no Blu-Ray drive that might be a better option. This one seems like it is more meant for video/photo editing and stuff.

Check the games' "recommended specs." Most modern games will recommend a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo or higher.

 

[ajwhite]

Doing some research (more research) and was wondering what kind of difference it would make if the Sony Vaio FW had an Intel Centrino 2 platform? *if someone could please explain* what is the difference with centrino 2 and C2D.