VGN-FE: Difference between revisions
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==Summary== | ==Summary== | ||
[[File:Sony Vaio VGN-FE Gray.jpg|alt=A gray Sony Vaio VGN-FE|thumb|388x388px|A gray Sony Vaio VGN-FE]] | |||
[[File:Vaio VGN-FE white.jpg|alt=A white Sony Vaio VGN-FE|thumb|386x386px|A white Sony Vaio VGN-FE]] | |||
The Sony Vaio VGN-FE was introduced in 2006, as Sonys new mid-range offering. With good performance for a decent price, its clear that this 15.4" Laptop was targeted at people, that wanted a good user experience and performance, but didnt need a luxury case or a superb screen. With measurements of 14.4 x 10,8 x 1 inches and a weight of 2.8kg (6.17lbs), the VGN-FE was average when compared to ther 15" to 16" laptops. You could get the Laptop in two choices of color; white and gray. The latter aging better over the time, due to the white plastic having a hang to turn yellow over time. | The Sony Vaio VGN-FE was introduced in 2006, as Sonys new mid-range offering. With good performance for a decent price, its clear that this 15.4" Laptop was targeted at people, that wanted a good user experience and performance, but didnt need a luxury case or a superb screen. With measurements of 14.4 x 10,8 x 1 inches and a weight of 2.8kg (6.17lbs), the VGN-FE was average when compared to ther 15" to 16" laptops. You could get the Laptop in two choices of color; white and gray. The latter aging better over the time, due to the white plastic having a hang to turn yellow over time. | ||
Revision as of 10:37, 3 August 2022
This page is WIP
Summary
The Sony Vaio VGN-FE was introduced in 2006, as Sonys new mid-range offering. With good performance for a decent price, its clear that this 15.4" Laptop was targeted at people, that wanted a good user experience and performance, but didnt need a luxury case or a superb screen. With measurements of 14.4 x 10,8 x 1 inches and a weight of 2.8kg (6.17lbs), the VGN-FE was average when compared to ther 15" to 16" laptops. You could get the Laptop in two choices of color; white and gray. The latter aging better over the time, due to the white plastic having a hang to turn yellow over time.
The earlier models, being called VGN-FE11, came with the Core Duo T2300 for lower-end and midrange models, while the higher-end models recived the Core Duo T2400. Soon after the first "facelift" model, the VGN-FE21, was introduced. The VGN-FE21 was the first FE to feature the faster NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600. With the 3rd series, the VGN-FE31, Sony replaced the Core Duo T2300 and T2400 with the Core 2 Duo T5500 and T5600 Processors. The FE31 also featured a worse screen than the previous models. The last revision to the VGM-FE series was the FZ41. Here improvements were made to the screen, though it wouldnt match the one found on the earlier models. In addition to the improvements made to the screen, Sony also offered the Core 2 Duo T7200 on the FE41Z. Throughout its life, the VGN-FE was offered with the choice of 1 and 2 Gigabyte of memory, the latter being reserved for the Full-Spec model on the FE31 and Mid- to Full-Range on the FE41.
Generally the VGN-FE series can be split into three categories, Entry/Basic Level, Mid-Range and High/Full Spec. Lower/Basic Level FEs have the letterys B (Basic) and H (Entry) at the end of the Name, e.g VGN-FE11H, VGN-FE21B. A Mid-Range VGN-FE would have the letter M (Mid-Range) at that place; e.g VGN-FE11M. The letters S (High-Spec) and Z (Full-Spec) at the end of the name signal that this device is a High- or Full-Spec respectivly. There are not many diffrences between these designations, since they are mainly used to show diffrences in memory and Hard Drive Size, as well as to differentiate between devices with the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 and 7600 models.
According to many reviews from around 2006, the Vaio VGN-FE was excelent for mobile image- and videoediting, thanks to its decent CPU and GPU, especially the T7200 and Go 7600 models. Sadly the 2GB of memory out of the box put a damper on that performance. Together with this powerful hardware came a DVD-RW diskdrive, a plethora of 2,5" SATA HDDs ranging from 80 to 200GB, one ExpressCard slot, one PC Card slot, a PCMCIA Type-II slot, S-Video and VGA out, support for SD, Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick Duo and xD-Picture Card, physical volume buttons and two programmable buttons. Bluetooth and webcam could be had as options, though most VGN-FEs where equipped with those. Only the VGN-FE28B did not come with a webcam.
As usual with Sony computers, the VGN-FE came with a plethora of software, such as SonicStage, DVgate Plus, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Works and Skype. Windows XP Media Center Edition was used as the choice of operating system throughout the VGN-FE11 to -31 models. With the release of Windows Vista, the newer VGN-FE41 was delivered with Windows Vista Home Premium.
The VGN-FE was superseded by the Sony Vaio VGN-FZ Series in July 2007.
Detailed Specs
Processor: Intel Core (2) Duo T5500, T5600, T7200, T2300, T2400
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 / Nvidia GeForce Go 7400
Display: 15,4", 16:10, 1280x800 X-BlackII LCD WXGA
RAM: 2x SO-DIMM DDR2 (upgradable to 4GB)
Storage: 2,5" Serial-ATA HDD
OS: Windows XP Media Center Edition / Windows Vista Home Premium
Weight: 2,8 kg
2006 MSRP: 1699€
Daily Usage Today
As many other early Windows Vista laptops, the VGN-FE is still pretty usable today. When upgraded to 4GB of memory the VGN-FE is still capable of webbrowsing and textediting, as well as other casual uses. Playing games from around 2007 is also no problem thanks to the NVIDIA GPUs. Playing any modern 3D games will not result in a good experience, since the 7000 series GPUs are quite out of date today. Nontheless, modern 2D games will probably run just fine.
Resources
Downloads
Follow our guides to download and install drivers.
Sources
NotebookCheck, Wikipedia, SpecsPro, Sony and icecat
Pictures: newegg.com