I too have my eye on a Sony FJ (VGN-FJ1Z/W). It comes with a 5400rpm drive, 1024DDR2@400mhz and....... "Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 128 MB max. shared with Main Memory" AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!! (or so I thought)
But....... I have not found any referance to the detrimental effects of PCI-e 915GM chipsets and onboard graphics anywhere on the net.
ComputerMusic mag put a Sony Vaio VGN-FS215z, a Dell Inspiron 6000, a Apple G4 powerbook, a Hi-Grade Notino C7000i, a HP dv1139ea and a Rock Peagasus TL 'head-to-head' with regards to music production. The vaio did quite well, keeping up with all the others in terms of Cubase SX track count and whatever. The G4 struggled, only managing 3-4 tracks compared to the rests 14-15 track counts.
Fair enough... the test Vaio had a nVidia GeForce Go 6200 inside, a 'Turbocache' semi-onboard type card, which is different to the 'Intel 900' type in most of the FJ series, but I heard (from the RME audio website) that higher end graphics cards put into PCI-e 915/925 laptop chipsets are mainly what cause some 'clicks and pops' during high-stress testing of DAW laptops.
Surely the Intel 900 onboard graphics won't cause these laptops to become useless for people like us who plan to use them for comparitivly relaxed uses under Ableton Live?
It's not as if we are planning to record whole philharmonic orchestras in surround using all the channels of an RME Fireface or DIGI002 unit..?
