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Overall Rating

Not perfect, but simple and elegant.
For the price this laptop offers, it’s a pretty good deal. Be Sure that when you do get it you know what it’s for.

The video card is by far the systems downfall, it’s (as an early reviewer said) an intel 4 family video card so those looking to any high end or recent gaming might be looking elsewhere, a gaming laptop with this display size at this price doesn’t exist. That being said, it still plays games like WoW on lower (not lowest, but lower) settings and it can be enjoyed comfortably. Any game circa 2004 will run fine, but you shouldn’t be expecting much from an on-board video card (also I stress that laptop video card upgrades typically are impossible)

The Machine does have a Blu Ray drive and I’m sure Sony is more than interested in you watching their new format on it, and to be honest despite the max resolution of 1280×800 the Blu Rays really shine, they look gorgeous and clean … the problem is there is no DVI ouput just VGA which means you will be watching them on the laptop and nothing else if you want to enjoy your Blu Ray. I have a PS3 though, for home use. Still, it’s nice when you go on a trip and need to take your favorite high def movie along. Despite the weaker card the computer still makes Blu Ray look good, an earlier review speculated it wouldn’t be possible but it is. It looks fine.

The design of the computer is really nice, the body of the computer is textured almost like cloth giving it a comfortable feel. I have one friend who bizarrely enough will rub my computer when he sees it I have to admit it is rather nice feeling. Sony has always had a nice design aesthetic and it shows here, with a nice looking, well laid out keyboard, and solid feeling construction. The shape and feel of the laptop really has that sleek minimalist feel that many companies today seem to be going for. Which is simply because it makes the machine look good, I dunno what else to say there.

The computer isn’t without its flaws, however. For starters Sony includes an incredibly large amount of software with the computer. Some programs are useful, but largely they waste your space with some very insulting programs, like a wireless setup wizard that takes you to the default windows one, no one needs to waste space on such asinine programs. Vaio update, alternately, seems useless until you discover their drivers are edited for the laptop so you have to go through them. Another bizarre decision on Sony’s part.

In conclusion if you’re a person who wants a computer that isn’t embarassingly ugly with a sleek classy minimalist design, and wants good performance in a mid-priced laptop, this very well could be for you. If you’re looking to do heavy high-end gaming or need your first Blu Ray player there are better ways to spend your money for both of those.

Hope this helps and answers any questions anyone has.

Overall Rating

Specifications not as listed!!!
Rated 1 stars.