VGN-FJ

Overview

The Sony VAIO VGN-FJ (aka. Type F Light) was a line of stylish, thin-and-light 14.1" notebook computers released by Sony in 2005 and were available in a variety of finishes to their magnesium-alloy-plus-plastic casings depending on domestic markets and configurations (White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Violet, etc.).

The VGN-FJ notebooks were primarily designed for Windows XP, with later models intended to be Windows Vista capable. Notably, they shipped with XBRITE-ECO 1280x800 native resolution displays and utilized Intel's Sonoma platform (2nd-gen Centrino platform) which featured the Mobile 915 Express series chipset, the mPGA478C CPU socket and either the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG or 2915ABG mini-PCI Wi-Fi adapters. However, no Bluetooth adapter of any kind was included throughout this lineup's production run.

Based on configuration these notebooks shipped with anything from a Celeron M (~1.6 GHz) to the markedly more powerful Pentium M (~2 GHz). Of importance to note is that the lower-end models, in addition to settling for Celeron CPUs, do not include the built-in MOTION EYE webcam and came with a 60GB HDD rather than the typical 100GB.

Initially targeted as a home and office-ready computer (FJ190), more capable models (FJ270/370) were then released and marketed to be home, office and student-oriented computers instead. The otherwise lower-spec models enjoyed a more colorful selection of casing finishes, later further expanded for a definite deal of time as the extra finishes were exclusive to the Japan-only 10th Anniversary limited edition, featuring bespoke lid art. The VGN-FJ series was later succeeded by the VGN-C series.

Specifications

CPU: Intel Celeron M/Intel Pentium M

RAM: 512MB/1GB DDR2 SDRAM (2 slots, PC2-4200, max. 2GB)

Display: 14.1" WXGA 1280x800 XBRITE-ECO LCD

Graphics: Intel 915/950 Graphics Media Accelerator (128MB of dynamically allocated RAM/video memory)

Storage: 60GB/100GB 2.5" SATA HDD

Media: MOTION EYE built-in fixed webcam (1.3 MP), 1x PCMCIA Type-I & Type-II with CardBus support, 1x MS/MSPro/MSDuo with MagicGate functionality, dual-layer DVD/RW burner

Ports: 1x iLink S400 IEEE 1394, 1x VGA Out, 3x USB 2.0, 1x headphone jack, 1x microphone jack, 1x A/V OUT jack

Network: WLAN 802.11a/b/g, Ethernet, 56Kbps modem

OS: Windows XP Home Edition (later models were sold as Vista-capable)

Daily Usage Today

As is true of several machines of the era (VAIO or otherwise) the VGN-FJ makes a fair case for itself in terms of continued light-duty usage well into the modern day. Office work, "3D Leap"-era gaming and Media Center use cases should pose little challenge to its hardware even today so long as one keeps the limitations of the Intel 2nd-gen Centrino platform and the 2GB RAM hard cap in mind. A consistently good way to bring performance back to a tolerable level is to swap in an SSD as a boot device.

Downloads

[VGN-FJ270 Windows XP HDD Image + Recovery Partition]https://archive.org/details/vaio-vgn-fj270-winxp-oem-with-recovery-00-00

[VGN-FJ270 Windows XP Recovery DVDs]https://archive.org/details/vaio-vgn-fj270-winxp-disc1of2

[VGN-FJ drivers and utilities archive]https://www.helpdrivers.com/notebooks/Sony/VGN-FJ/

Sources

[Sony VAIO FJ170/B review]https://www.cnet.com/reviews/sony-vaio-fj-review/

[Sony VAIO FJ180/B review]https://uk.pcmag.com/reviews/26199/sony-vaio-vgn-fj180

[Sony VAIO VGN-FJ190PS product page (JP)]http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGN-FJ90PS/

[Intel Technology Journal (Vol. 9; Issue 1; published Feb. 17th, 2005)]https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/research/2005-vol09-iss-1-intel-technology-journal.pdf