Customer Reviews
Almost PERFECT! 
2007-11-25
It delivers what it promises and more! Excellent BLU-RAY & HiDef performance (edit HD content & burn).Battery life could be better.
NOT quiet 2hrs (to finish viewing a movie)on standard battery.
About 3 1/2hrs on HiCapacity battery, at the cost of extra weight/size/$250. Still HIGHLY recommended...ALMOST perfect.
WHERE IS BLUETOOTH MR . SONY ? 
2007-10-08
I dont know if it is a good news or bad news for you but Unfortunately,this computer does not have BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY !!!! I had bought a Original Sony VAIO BLUETOOTH MOUSE and now I can not use my mouse on this computer !!!..This is not a mistakee..This is a FAULT !SONY DOES NOTHING ANYMORE..I HOPE YOU WILL NOT BUY THIS ITEM..! Exact These computers , every notebooks exact this HAVE BLUETOOTH..
I like it.. 
2007-09-28
I agree with a lot of people on how much junk Sony preloads on this computer. I have removed a lot of it, but there is still more to go.. I've been using this computer about 1 month and have had NO problems.. Definitely worth what I paid for it!
Uniform complaints 
2007-09-22
I considered buying this computer. But uniformly everyone including C Net and PC magazine have same complaints about the junk that Sony puts into this fine computer.(Hope SONY is listening). Did anyone hear about the Mac coming out with a very light weight small screen SONY killer?
Graphic chip is not so well 2007-08-22
The design of the computer is very nice with silver color, also the weight of the computer is light compared with other same sizes computers.
Display is very blight, it looks good.
Vista works smoothly, but this computer is not good for computer gamers because on the Vista, graphic rating is just 3.3. Probably 3D games do not work.
Overall, it is totally cool and sophisticated, but other VAIO upper models are better.
Great laptop with flaws 2008-03-28
Ok, I'll try to keep short what has already been said:
* Tons of bloatware. Took me two days to clean using methods widely posted on the net. Best way is to do a semi-clean install. It requires a little tech savvy-ness but the difference after is night and day. I can see how this is a problem for most folks, but I'm particular about how I work with my computers, so it's expected that I put in some time with every new computer that I acquire, whether it's a Mac or a PC. Given that, it did take more time than usual to get this one into shape.
* Blu-ray is beautiful on our projector. The 15.4" laptop screen is not "Full-HD" as the sticker on the keyboard seems to imply, but then again, we primarily use this on a projector, so screen size & resolution is not as important.
* The 4200RPM seemed like it would be a bottleneck, but that hasn't been a problem for us. We might upgrade to 7200RPM at some point.
* Brilliant screen, although ours came with a very slight blemish around the edges. Not worth sending back, however.
* Regarding the 3GB limit... Without getting too technical, that is mostly a limitation of 32bit operating systems. If you decide to go to Vista 64bit (not recommended as you may discover application and driver incompatibilities.) that barrier should go away. Also, 2gb is good enough for us. Caveat: we did not intend this to be a desktop replacement machine, so there's not a whole lot of multitasking going on.
* THIS IS KEY: The Blu-ray drive can BURN as well as read!!! Not enough emphasis on this. There are many laptops out there with BD-rom drives, but very few that can write.
* Not much has been mentioned about the keyboard, which is one of the best notebook keyboards I've used. That includes about 10 pc notebooks and 2 mac powerbooks. Goes without saying that this is a personal preference thing. Your mileage may vary.
* This isn't necessarily a complaint about the FZ180, but rather DRM in general: HDCP is a huge headache. I won't expound on why it doesn't work, but I'll merely say that I want to watch legally acquired copies of movies. I should be able to put in my store rented BD and just go. Not so. Occasionally I will have to reboot so that the laptop can recognize my HDCP compliant projector. I also couldn't watch through the VGA connection when we first got the laptop and hadn't yet bought the HDMI cable. It should be a lot easier.
* Battery life is average (about 2 hours of surfing) and the extended life battery is expensive -- a consideration if you plan on traveling with it a lot. We're not willing to sacrifice weight for more battery life as this machine is meant for the home. I have a 12" HP for work that I fly with.
* Someone mentioned that their laptop didn't come with wireless N mode "installed". Not sure what they mean (driver perhaps?), but ours can connect to N networks just fine.
* Lack of bluetooth is disappointing, especially since we were planning to get the bluetooth ExpressCard Remote to go with the machine.
Overall, it's a very nice laptop that you should plan on spend some time to configure. We're pretty happy with the purchase so far.
Update: Still happy with the purchase, although the touchpad/click button annoys me. I'm now using a mouse whenever possible. Minor, but worth a mention.
SHAME 2008-03-21
Sony is very well know for their high quality notebooks, nevertheless this model is a shame. Let me be very clear this model is a outrage with sony clients.
* It takes forever to start.
* it has more than 40 unuseful trials (Thats right 40, I am not kidding)
* It does nto have bluetooth (The cheapest mobile phone in the market may have it)
*Premium Price
*When you open IE (4 tabs open eachone of them is a advertisment. something like Buy Adobe, Buy smartdraw ....)
SONY THIS IS MY LAPTOP NOT YOURS. THIS IS FOR MY PERSONAL USE NOT YOUR ADVERTISEMENT, UNLESS OF COURSE YOU GIVE ME IT FOR FREE. BUT I HAVE PAID ALMOST US$ 2000
SONY YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED.
AWSOME VGN-FZ180E 2008-01-28
The VAIO is great its light and thin and its powerful. The sreen is bright blu ray looks great on it although it did take 30 minutes to delete the trial software other than that its a superfast notebook!! worth the money:)
Just say NO. 2007-12-06
I compared this VAIO with other computers of similar design. And decided that the price differential (from a MacBook Pro) was compelling enough to opt for the Sony. Big mistake.
First, the VAIO ships with not only a load of crap-ware preinstalled, but the removal of same can cause serious problems. Symantec doesn't like removal. The Quickbooks version sent preinstalled is incompatible with Vista and it tells you so, should you care to start it up.
Vista/VAIO will only recognize 3GB of ram, even if you take them up on the recommendation to install 4GB.
Forget about Bluetooth. The VAIO doesn't come with it installed, or wireless N either. If you try to install a Bluetooth USB the install crashes with various units.
The Sony does have some nice design features, a beautiful screen, Blu-Ray Drive, and a very cool switch to kill Wi-Fi when you are in a hostile environment. It's light and fast. But this computer isn't ready for Vista, and Vista isn't ready for the world.
One word on Amazon...they are the best. They took the VAIO back without a sqwauk and refunded my money...all of it with no restocking charge. Although the computer was a nightmare, dealing with Amazon was perfect.
Bottom Line? Buy a Macbook Pro from Amazon. Get a rebate, good price and sleep at night...
VAIO VGN-FZ180E/B from Powerbook to VAIO Wow! 2007-12-05
Sony VAIO VGN-FZ180E/B 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Home Premium)
I own a 1st generation Powerbook Aluminum. And while I love my PB it is getting quite 'long in the tooth'. I was shopping for a replacement, and the new MacBooks start at $1999.00. A bit pricey. So I started looking at Windows laptops. The VAIO, by far, offers the best feature set, for the amount of money spent. Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo 2GH processor, 2GB ram, 200GB HD, and a Blu-Ray disc burner for under $1400!!
The machine is very peppy. The xbrite display is jaw dropping gorgeous! Very bright, colors seem vibrant, warm.
Setup was a breeze, and Vista practically connected itself, to my wireless network.
The laptop is very robust. I have had several programs open at once, including a desktop workspace manager application, for managing multiple desktops, and I did not experience any performance issues.
If there is a 'downside' to this laptop, it is that Sony loads it with so much bloatware, adware, trialware, none of which - in my opinion - adds any value to the machine. Boot-up time, out of the box, was a bit slow, but was noticeably faster, and quite acceptable, once I eliminated non-essential programs, from startup.
Simply put, build/finish is very nice, solid feel, robust management of multiple applications with little degradation in performance, inclusion of Blu-Ray burner sealed the deal, as the features provided, are well worth the money that was spent. A good value!
