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Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z

Notebook Specifications

Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31ZNotebook: Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z (Vaio VGN-FZ Series)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T8300
Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS 256 MB
Display: 15.4 inch, 16:10, 1280x1024 pixels, glossy: yes
Weight: 2.8kg
Price: 1799 euro
Average Score: 75.5% - good
Average of 4 scores (from 4 reviews)
price: 50%, performance: 68%, features: 75%, display: 89% mobility: 51%, workmanship: 79%, ergonomy: 78%, emissions: 65%

Reviews for the Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z

70% Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z 15.4in Blu-ray Notebook
Source: Trusted Reviews English
Despite initially impressing with smart design and good features, the FZ31Z is let down by poor battery life and appalling integrated speakers. It's still a good machine in many respects, but other 15.4 inchers offer a better balance for less money, while larger notebooks can boast stronger multimedia credentials.
(von 10): 7, Ausstattung 8, Leistung 7, Mobilität schlecht, Preis schlecht
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 06/20/2008
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 40% performance: 70% features: 80% mobility: 40%
67% Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z
Source: PC Pro English
With the memory of HD DVD rapidly fading into obscurity, consumers can now buy into Blu-ray with new confidence. And fresh from the format's recent victory, Sony has also gone about refreshing its entire range of laptops with Intel's latest Penryn 45nm processors. A Blu-ray writer and Penryn processor simply can't mask the disappointing battery life and high price.
4 von 6, Mobilität schlecht, Preis schlecht
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 04/22/2008
Rating: Total score: 67% price: 40% mobility: 40%

Foreign Reviews

85% Test Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z Notebook
Source: Notebookcheck German DE→EN
online available, Long, Date: 07/30/2008
Rating: Total score: 85% performance: 84% display: 87% mobility: 74% workmanship: 87% ergonomy: 85% emissions: 89%
80% Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z
Source: Notebookjournal German DE→EN
online available, Medium, Date: 05/26/2008
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 70% performance: 50% features: 70% display: 90% mobility: 50% workmanship: 70% ergonomy: 70% emissions: 40%

Comment

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS is the DirectX 10 capable successor of the GeForce Go 7600 / 7700 for laptops and technically a higher clocked 8400M GT. The performance is slightly above the 7600 / 7700 and, therefore, it can represent DirectX9 games fluently. For DirectX 10 effects, the power of the card is not sufficient.

Lower end of Graphics Cards for users who want to play games. New games should run on these cards, but only with decreased details and mediocre resolution.


>> Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

Intel Core 2 Duo: This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).

The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.

T8300:
>> Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

15.4": 15 inch display-variants are the standard and are used for more than the half of all notebooks. 15.4 inch display with 16:10 are the standard for notebook displays. Nowadays, more and more 16:9 displays with 15.6 inch appear. The reason why so many people like displays with medium size is, that this size is not exhausting for the eyes, does not need too much energy and the laptops can be kept quite compact.
>> To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

2.8 kg: This weight is average for notebooks. Therefore the numerous mass of laptops with 15 inch display fits in this class of weight.

Sony: Sony Corporation is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Japan. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from sonus, the Latin word for sound. The company was founded 1946 with another name and renamed in 1958. Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments—electronics, games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. Sony is a notebook manufacturer of medium size according international market shares.

Sony reviews

75.5%: This rating is not convincing. It must be considered, that there exist hardly any laptops, which receive a rating below 60%. This notebook is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.

>> Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

 

Author: Stefan Hinum, 2008-05- 1 (Update: 2009-10-28)