With so many different kinds of laptops available on the market, it easy to get stuck with the wrong kind of machine which doesn’t suit the needs it was purchased for. It’s also easy to end up with a computing machine that doesn’t do enough or is quickly replaced. We’ve taken a look at two laptops, one catering to the high end of the market, and another for those on a budget.

The Sony Vaio EB1S0E

The Sony VPC-EB1S0E was the first laptop to embrace the powerful Intel i3 Core processor when released in February early this year. The Sony Laptop is definitely fast and the laptop also comes with an ATI Radeon HD 5470 which makes the device perfect for gaming. The battery doesn’t last long, only allowing for about three and a half hours of use, but other than the Sony VPC-EB1SOE is a quality device playing HD video and looking really good with its two-tone design. The Sony VPC-EB1SOE retails at £472.90, but comes with enough features to provide good value for money.

The Dell Inspiron 1545

Photo: Dell

The Dell Inspiron 1545 is a budget laptop which comes with all the features for basic and some advanced computing. The 1545 is the most customisable laptop available on the market, with Dell offering customers the option to basically build the device according to their needs in the same way one chooses options for their car. The Dell laptop is, however, solidly built and will come with the 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo 2 with a 160 GB hard drive and an integrated Intel GMA 4500HD graphics card which makes the Dell Inspiron 1545 HD-ready. The Insprion 1545 retails for £299 standard, but the price of the Dell laptop skyrockets with the more options added.

Buying a new laptop shouldn’t be difficult task. Potential buyers can either go for a device which comes with the features they want like the Sony Vaio laptop, or make their own laptop from scratch like with the Dell laptop.

Sony has officially opened the gates to quality hell. Or they’re throwing in the towel. Or they know something we don’t. Either way, the Japanese company has announced a division two for its Vaio laptop, where other companies will design and manufacture the laptops.

Taste of Vaio

In an interview with PCPro, Ryosuke Akahane, deputy president of the Vaio group, claimed though other manufacturers will develop this new Sony Vaio range, the ‘taste of Vaio’ and the ‘style of Vaio’ will be retained.

Details

Photo: Sony

This new Sony Vaio laptop division will still have the Vaio branding and Sony would approve the manufacturers beforehand. This, Akahane claimed, would ensure that the division two Vaios will be of comparable design and manufacturing quality to the division one Vaios, with the only difference being the technology contained within.

Premier League and Championship football

Why this strategy has been adopted bemuses us. Unless Sony applies the screening and quality control of that found on, say, Apple’s App Store for example, it will be very difficult to keep sub-standard laptops out. And, even if the company did adopt the screening process Apple applies, to reject a laptop at prototype level or even late-stage design would be financially damaging to the potential partners, which would intern put great strain on Sony’s relationship with them.

How this new Sony Vaio range won’t be championship football to the core Vaio’s premier league is unclear. It appears scale is the primary driver behind this initiative. Sony has said that they plan to sell 10 million Vaios in its current financial year, which represents a nearly 50% increase over last year’s 6.8 million, else, argues Akahane, they won’t have the competitive market share they need.

Sony Vaio notebook laptops have always been about colour and options. The Sony Vaio VPCF11M1E/H is no different, and though the laptop isn’t cheap, it is well specced and a worthwhile addition to the Vaio range, if not slightly visually underwhelming.

Technical specifications

Available in white, blue, black, pink and red, this Windows 7 powered laptop has its processing done by a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-520M processor. Add that to DDR3 1GB memory scalable up to 4GB, as well as a built-in hard drive with a capacity of 500GB, the Sony Vaio VPCF11M1E/H is no slouch.

Interface

Photo: Sony

The input interface uses Sony’s proprietary isolation-type keyboard, where the letters and symbols are separated from the number pad, and works particularly well. In terms of key waiting, the feedback is tactile, and the isolation system, though taking a long time to adapt to if you’re coming from another laptop, works extremely well once you’ve adjusted.

Appearance

The Sony Vaio VPCF11M1E/H is not the fashion icon the Vaio notebook range is known for producing, sadly. Sacrificing function for appearance has meant that the historically high price tag for the laptops has become less palatable since you’re not paying a unique looking laptop. This is not to say it looks terrible, but at that price range, recommending a Macbook instead makes more sense.

Entertainment

The Sony Vaio VPCF11M1E/H has a built-in Blu-ray drive, with Sony attempting to position the laptop as a media centre. While the 16.4-inch 1920×1080 Full HD display looks great, it’s still very difficult to consider it a ‘home theatre’ device. The screen is simply too small to even do Full HD any justice whatsoever.

The Vaio notebook is very well built and is extremely capable. It is unfortunate, though, that Sony has left out the design flair that often accompanies Vaios in the interest of making the laptop more capable.

One of the typical features of all the previous Vaio CW notebooks has been the NVIDIA GEForce graphics card and the Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/L is no different. It enhances your 3D gaming experience and also allows you to easily edit your pictures and videos and work easily with those graphic-hungry applications.

The Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/L is powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor and has a clock speed of 2,130 MHz. With the 4096 MB RAM, the laptop works quite efficiently with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. The networking features of the Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/L are offered by the integrated Bluetooth technology, Wireless-LAN and the LAN 10/100/1000. With the provided HDMI output you can hook your laptop to an HDTV and view all the content from your notebook on the big screen.

The latest kid of Sony Vaio is powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo processor P7450 and has a Cache memory of 3MB. Every application runs smoothly on the Genuine Windows (R) 7 Home Premium operating system owing to the 4 GB RAM. The Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/R notebook has a hard drive of 320 GB memory capacity providing enough space for storing all your songs, videos and other files. The Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/R contains an HDMI port for HDTV connectivity and also contains a 4 Pin i.LINK port.

With the Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/R, it is easy to work with HD video, large image files or graphics-hungry applications due to the dedicated graphics card, NVIDIA GeForce and the dedicated video RAM. You can have a video chat with your business associates and friends all over the world with the integrated webcam and the wireless internet connectivity feature.

The Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/W is fitted with 3072 MB of RAM which ensures swift functionality. The RAM can be extended up to 8 GB which is more than enough. The Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/W is fitted with an Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4300 processor that enhances the overall performance of the device. The hard disk memory is around 320 GB which allows you to store all sorts of audio, video and various other files without any hassle. This laptop is equipped with a 15.5 inch display that provides a resolution of 1366 X 768. The device is also installed with an Intel GMA 4500M graphics card that enables you to run all sorts of software. The device is fixed with a number of connection ports which include 3 X USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 Firewire (i.Link) and ExpressCard.

It also has an inbuilt 5 in 1 card reader which enables you to connect all sorts of memory cards with the laptop. For best results you must carefully read the user manual provided with the whole kit.

]]> http://www.mobile-computing-news.co.uk/mobile-computer-news/laptops/1461/sony-vaio-vgn-nw20efw-the-nw-series-notebook-is-known-for-ease-of-use-and-style.html/feed 0 http://www.mobile-computing-news.co.uk/mobile-computer-news/laptops/1458/sony-vaio-vgn-z51xgb-this-z-series-notebook-represents-some-of-the-best-sony-has-to-offer.html http://www.mobile-computing-news.co.uk/mobile-computer-news/laptops/1458/sony-vaio-vgn-z51xgb-this-z-series-notebook-represents-some-of-the-best-sony-has-to-offer.html#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:46:03 +0000 James http://www.mobile-computing-news.co.uk/?p=1458 People who wish to have the latest laptop technology must have a look at Sony Vaio VGN-Z51XG/B. The laptop comes with the new Windows 7 operating system that would keep you ahead of the crowd. Sony Vaio VGN-Z51XG/B has an imposing Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor with a 4GB RAM that offers you unmatched for performance with every task. The massive 400GB hard drive enables storage of bulk data. Apart from performance it has various other special features as well which make it a complete package.

The Sony Vaio VGN-Z51XG/B has been constructed using carbon fibre so it is 200% stronger as compared to the traditional laptops. It offers a scratch resistant screen that would offer vibrant visuals always. The other attractive features include the 5 hours battery life along with the 3G mobile broadband. One of the best things is that Sony Vaio VGN-Z51XG/B comes with NVIDIA GeForce 9300M graphics card. It has 13.1 inches LCD display. It offers resolution of 1600 x 900 that helps in deeper contrast with truly natural realization.

The battery and the AC adapter terminal are aligned along with the elegant cylindrical spine that makes it convenient for the users. The keyboard is carved with a single aluminium sheet that provides the required rest to your palm. The keyboard offers a continuous surface that is then styled into smooth curve at the front of this laptop. The addition of this feature makes the Sony notebook appear even more stylish. It also adds comfort as well as durability.

Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/P laptops have got optical disc drive with DVD writer feature and have got 15.5” LCD display that provides you sharp pictures. It is like a boon for Internet surfers as it gives one touch access to Internet. It has also got a web cam attached to it that facilitates users to live chat with their loved ones. The Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/P weighs just 2.7 kg that helps users to easily carry it along with them. It has got Wi-Fi access, 3 USB ports for fast data transfer and LAN port. All these features of Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/P are simply unparalleled and make this laptop the best buying choice for the customers.

The Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/W is equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 which provides swift functionality. The clock speed of the device is around 2130 MHz. The Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/W is also fitted with 4,096 MB RAM that further enhances the speed of the device. The RAM can be expanded up to 8 GB which is more than enough. The hard disk memory is around 320 GB that allows you to store all sorts of files. The 14.0 inch display provides crystal clear pictures. The resolution of the display is around 1366 X 768 which is quite high in comparison with other devices. The device is also fitted with nVidia GeForce GT230M graphics card which enables you to play all sorts of PC games.

The Sony Vaio VPCCW1S1E/W is also installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit operating system which enhances the overall performance. It is also equipped with a webcam which enables you video chat without connecting any external device. This is one of the best laptop available in the market.

The Sony Vaio VGN-FW51MF/H is fitted with an Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor which ensures swift functionality of the device. The clock speed of the device is around 1530 MHz and it is fitted with 6144 MB of RAM which further enhances the overall speed. The hard disk memory of the laptop is a whopping 500 GB which is much more in comparison with any other laptop. The Sony Vaio VGN-FW51MF/H is also equipped with a 16.4 inch display which provides a resolution of 1920 X 1080. This laptop is also fitted with ATI Mobility Radeon HD4650 graphics card which enables you to play all sorts of PC games on your laptop.

The best feature of Sony Vaio VGN-FW51MF/H is that it is fitted with Blu-ray ROM optical drive which enables you to play all sorts of Blu-ray discs. It is fitted with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system which further enhances the performance. It is one of the best widescreen laptops available in the market.