Everything but a coffee maker!
Written: Feb 08 '02 (Updated Feb 11 '02)
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Pros: Many features, great display, plenty of RAM and hard drive space.
Cons: Not much, just hard drive partitions.
The Bottom Line: One of the best values I've seen in notebooks.
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| jumperless's Full Review: Sony VAIO FX390 PC Notebook |
I guess this is notebook month for me. We just received the Sony VAIO FX390K from CDW for a new marketing rep and I got the pleasure of setting it up. This looks a lot like the FX340 I just reviewed, but it has a larger screen and is bigger. I am very impressed with this model, it’s ease of setting up and what it has to offer. Here’s what I found and think.
CPU:
The FX390 has a Mobile Pentium III at 1000 MHz with Intel’s Speedstep Technology. Another good, well-rounded CPU for uses ranging from word processing all the way up to gaming and graphics. I would choose this over a Celeron based notebook because the price is fair and performance is more versatile. Which is important because you can’t upgrade the CPU in most notebooks.
RAM:
This has 256MB of RAM, thankfully! I would recommend purchasing a notebook with at least this amount because it’s still cheaper than it used to be and gives the notebook a longer lifespan before an upgrade is needed. It can be upgraded to a max of 512MB, it has 2 DIMM slots, one empty. This is nice because you only need to purchase a 256MB DIMM to upgrade and don’t have to remove any existing RAM.
Storage:
The FX390 has a 30GB hard drive. Very generous of Sony, but ours came in two 15GB partitions. The rep was happy about this because it will be easier to separate his files from programs, but I prefer one big partition for less configuration when installing programs. If the C drive is full, you have to remember to install on the D drive during installation or have problems. It would be easier to have all space available on the C drive, which most programs default to. Also, with large notebook hard drives, you should back up important files regularly. Notebook hard drives aren’t as reliable as desktop hard drives, but they’re a lot better than they used to be though.
This also has a combo CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. The CD-RW feature makes it easy to back up files and store music or other media to a blank CD. The DVD-ROM feature is nice because with the long battery life, you can watch DVD movies while traveling or are stuck in a long wait. It basically turns your notebook into a portable theater, but you may want to pack earphones as well.
Finally, this has a 1.44MB floppy drive. Not used much today, but still needed for quick file copies, boot disks or digital cameras that use floppy disks.
Operating System:
There are two versions of this notebook. The FX390P has Windows XP Professional and the FX390K has Windows 2000 Professional. We purchased the FX390K because the rep was familiar with W2K. I did not locate a version with Windows XP Home Edition, I don’t thinks it’s available.
Size:
The FX390 is 12.8” wide, 2.2” high and 10.5” deep. It weighs 7.5 lbs. with floppy drive in. It’s a little heavier and bigger then the VAIO FX340 I previously reviewed, but it has a larger screen, which will add weight and I thinks it’s a worthwhile tradeoff. The case is dark gray/black plastic trimmed with dark purple.
Display:
It has a 15” TFT LCD that is very crisp and bright and will support about 16.7 million colors. The colors are great compared to a CRT monitor, I did not notice any distortion or off tones. It looks good from all visible angles.
Warranty:
Like the FX340, this only has a 1-year parts and labor warranty. I’m going to go through the same thing I did on my FX340 review because they have the same warranties. Because you can get usually around 4 years of use from a laptop like this and would want to because of the price, I recommend buying an extended warranty for it, which will give you a 3 or 4 year warranty. I used to work in a repair center and saw how much notebook components can cost. A motherboard can cost around $1,500, not worth replacing if it’s not under warranty.
Because an extended warranty is usually sold through the retailer, this can affect where you purchase it. Retailers like CompUSA, Circuit City and Best Buy sell and service there own warranties. It would be worth while to do a little research into who delivers the best service. From personal experience, I would go with CompUSA because of faster turn around times on repairs. Yes, an extended warranty will add between $250 to $400 dollars to the purchase price. But think of it this way, notebooks are a lot cheaper then they were even 2 years ago and if the manufacturer were to put a warranty on the notebook that long, they would be charging a lot more for it.
Sound:
The speakers are okay for only 1 watt, not for gaming or even listing to music. But I haven't really heard of great speakers on a notebook. There are output jacks to hook up external speakers or headphones if needed.
Video:
The FX390 has an Intel 815EM graphics chip with 11MB of RAM shared with the system RAM. It’s a 2D/3D card, but not for high-end gaming or graphics. It’s fine for playing DVDs and some games and graphics though. Again, it’s hard to have a high-end graphics card in a notebook because they get too hot and do not have proper airflow in the small case. So this is a good card for a notebook.
Connections:
Ports on back include serial port, parallel (printer) port, video port, NTSC video out port, two USB ports, RJ-11 port, microphone in jack, headphone jack, 10/100Mbps Ethernet port, port replicator port.
Communications:
The FX390 has a V.90 56K modem and 10/100 network card built-in, leaving the two PCMCIA slots open for future upgrades.
Input:
Like the FX340 I reviewed earlier, the FX390 has an 86-key. It also has three Programmable Power Keys (PPK). You can configure these to launch applications.
It also has an electro-static touchpad. Among all notebook pointing devices I have used, I prefer the touchpad, it’s easier to adjust to and it’s close to the buttons for faster navigation.
There is no PS/2 port on the back for an external keyboard, you’ll need a docking station for that. There is a serial port that can be used for an external mouse and two USB ports that could be used for a USB mouse and/or a USB keyboard.
Battery:
The FX390 has a lithium ion battery with a max life span of 3.5 hours. It does not have an option for a second battery.
Software:
There is a lot of pre-installed software. Nice of Sony, but I’m sure more than many users need and will have to be removed at some point. Here’s the list:
Adaptec Easy CD Creator, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word 2002, Norton AntiVirus, Quicken 2001, QuickTime, RealNetworks Real Jukebox, RealNetworks RealPlayer, Sony DVgate, Sony MovieShaker, Sony OpenMG Jukebox, Sony PictureGear, Sony Smart Capture, Sony Visual Flow, VAIO Support Agent, WinDVD 2000, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator.
Accessories:
The FX390 comes with a lithium-ion battery and AC adapter. A strange accessory is the weight saver fake bay filler to put in place of the floppy drive to make the notebook lighter. This seems useless because the overall weight is 7.5 lbs. with the floppy drive and 7 lbs. with the weight saver fake bay filler, not much of a weight savings, I’d probably never use it. It also comes with a video cable to connect to a monitor or projector.
Overall:
For about $1,680.00 (subtract $100 rebate from Sony, $1,580.00), this powerful notebook is a great value. It has enough CPU power, RAM and hard drive space for just about anything and will be useful for years without becoming outdated. My only minor complaint is the hard drive partitions, which would be considered a convenience for some users so I won’t dock the notebook rating.
The FX390 may be more that some users need, but they will be able to get more uses out of it down the road. It deserves a 5-star rating.
Thanks for reading!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1680
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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jumperless
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