Sony is known for their sleek designed and powerful black Vaio notebooks. Well this Vaio is offered in Pink and I have my hands on one. In this review I’m going to let you know if Sony’s Vaios are just a pretty when they’re in Pink. I’m going to let you know how loaded this thing is and who is going to get the most out of this notebook. Lets start at the top.
Hardware:
Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium
Display: 14.1″ LCD screen
Processor: 2.0 Intel Core 2 Duo
Storage Space: 250 GB hard drive
RAM: 2 GB RAM (expandible upto a 4 GB maximum)
Optical Drive: CD R/RW with integrated DVD +/- R RW burner
Graphics Accelerator: Intel GMA X3100 graphics card
Weight 5.5 lbs
Dimensions: 13.2 x 9.8 x 1.67 inches
Well, out of the box the first thing you notice is that it is Pink. Ideally the consumer would be obviously be geared towards the younger female market – it’s not a very professional look. Also beware of the glossy exterior that is a scratch magnet so be careful when taking it in and out of its case. The second thing I notice is the 14.1″ widescreen XBRITE LCD running at a resolution of 1280×800. It is very nice, crisp, and bright. It has a glossy finish and looks great when you compare it to other models side by side. If you get a chance to see one of these in person in a retail store I would recommend it.
The processor is fairly strong. It isn’t going to play graphically intensive games but it will hold its own with mild to moderate 3d rendering. The integrated graphics card limits things a little. The 2gb of ram is a little bit of a limitation too. If you’re interested in doing a lot of multitasking, using Photoshop in conjunction with other editing programs etc. then I would consider upgrading the RAM.
It’s mobility is great, it is fairly light which is a good thing I guess for a notebook designed to be carried by teenage or 20 something girls.
Connectivity:
Integrated WiFi (connect to a wireless lan)
Integrated Bluetooth (connect wirelessly with any enabled device, wireless mice, phones etc)
3 2.0 USB ports (industry standard connection, use with printers iPods, digital cameras etc.)
1 FireWire port (for quick data transfer between a digital camcorder, or from PC to PC)
ExpressCard slot
Memory Stick and SD card readers
1 VGA output (to connect upto a standard monitor)
1 S-Video output (connect to a project for your video output)
The connectivity here is fairly standard. You’ll be able to do just about anything you need to do. I hope you have a Sony camera though so you can insert your memory card directly into the notebook; otherwise you’ll have to invest in a card reader. It bothers me that Sony only supports their own format of solid state memory. At $1100 it is priced just right. I would think that just about any student would love to have this notebook. It will do everything you need it to from school work to watching movies and managing pictures and music. Keep an eye on this one though often prices will drop on these off colored notebooks before the rest of the stock so these can often be used as a barometer of nearing sales.
