Laptop VAIO FW490 16.4"
 

Situation:

Going to grad school in September, wanting to buy a laptop since I will be at school for 12 hours a day...

Purpose for laptop: Homework, read journal articles, do research, webcam with gf, surf the net, and i would like to play the new StarCraft.

now, i know the Vaio is probably too pricey for my purpose, except playing StarCraft...

if i get the Vaio, it will be with HD display, should i get the bluray rom as well?

is that laptop any good? i don't want a HP/Compaq, i had 2 of them and the power cord/battery always have issues after 1 year.


im split between:

1. buying this VAIO for $1720 taxes in. i will be using this for school and the new StarCraft.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz)
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home 64-bit (English only)
Black
4 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 2GBx2)
320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD4650 graphics card with 1GB vRAM
LCD 16.4" (XBRITE-FullHD™)
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
Standard Battery

OR

2. Buy a cheap $800 15.4" Laptop or even a $500 Eee PC + build a $1000 gaming computer. (the problem is, i have a $399 desktop that's perfectly fine)


What i have now: $399 refurb HP desktop that i like + $900 compaq laptop that's going to die anytime.

suggestions? or experience with the VAIO FW series 16.4"?

do you plan on taking the vaio to school to take notes?

i'm using the 16.4"FW as a desktop replacement..
size is comfortable enough for homework and movies while i lie in bed

but in the rare event i take the vaio to school to take notes, if i set it on those attached table thingers that you slide out, the screen can get dizzy.. i guess i would suggest considering what you're used to as a comfortable viewing distance, especially if you're going to take it out. when i was using it at school it felt like the entire class behind me was looking at the display...

actually carrying the vaio is not a problem, it has a nice build and finish, thin design

running on P8400 2.26 C2D with 4GB RAM.. vista 32-bit no problemo
weaksauce card for gaming though.. but it's a laptop, not too surprising

i wont be using a computer to take notes in class because im doing economics and its all math and graphs. i might use it for econometrics which i will have to play with big datasets.

the video card is redeon 4650. isnt that decent enough to run starcraft? i would assume its almost the same as WoW.

i think i will go with the 1st option since i dont really want to throw awayy current desktop. lol.

more inputs? wat about a dell xps?

personally.. i would go with a decent laptop.. nothing overly expensive.. $900 max?
save the money for the new desktop till when starcraft 2 actually comes out, then build a gaming rig, theres really no reason to rush upgrading or even buying a new desktop atm
and really your need for the laptop is some notes at class, online, and sometimes webcam

a netbook might do your job.. but yea just my 2cents, wait till starcraft 2 comes out before actually in deciding to upgrade or even buy a new desktop ;)

stop dreaming, the SC2 is not going to be as fancy as farcry2, crysis or whatever

I'd say, by the time SC2 is out, any nettop out there can run it at lowest resolution