Sony VAIO VGN-FJ170P

Sony's new FJ series of thin and light notebooks is a good mix of portability and performance with a number of multimedia features, but there are a few items that might make people reconsider their usefulness.

11/18/05 – Sony has taken a unique approach with the new FJ series of notebooks by offering the system in five colors. The problem with this is only the black model is widely available while the other colors are only offered via the Sony Style website at an additional cost.

Powering the black FJ170P/B is the Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73GHz) processor. This is slightly slower than the 750 found other notebooks, but most people won't notice the difference much. It is matched up with 512MB of PC2-3200 DDR memory that lets it run most applications without too much problem.

Storage on the FJ170P is quite strong. The large 100GB hard drive provides plenty of storage space and the 5400rpm spin rate provides good performance. In addition to this, Sony has included a 8x DVD+/-RW dual layer burner to read or record music, movie or data CDs or DVDs. The included Memory Stick slot restricts it to only interfacing with Sony's digital flash card technology unlike most companies that offer multi-card readers.

The 14.1” wide screen is smaller than most thin and light screens but this increases its portability while still allowing for excellent movie playback. The integrated graphics prevent the system being used for any 3D graphics such as gaming.

One of the unique features to the FJ series of notebooks is the integrated web camera. Too bad the camera is fixed to the lid forcing some awkward screen viewing when using the camera feature.