Sony VAIO X Review – Ultra Portable, But Pricey

Perhaps what amazes most about the Sony VAIO X is its miniature size and weight. It weighs only 1.5 pounds and has a thickness of half an inch. This extremely elegant looking notebook is tinier than some netbooks and with its brushed aluminum body of either black or gold and the high price tag, it seems to target only high executives. Other than the beauty, what else can you expect from this laptop?

One thing you can expect from the Sony VAIO X is good battery life. The standard battery lasts up to about three and a half hours but you have the option of an additional battery (which will increase the weight of the laptop to about 2.2 pounds but will give you up to fourteen hours). It has an Intel Atom Z550 processor 2GHz and comes with 2GB of RAM.

The laptop’s 11.1 inch screen has a resolution of 1366×788 guaranteeing you good image quality. The backlit keyboard is good for working in the dark and the buttons are spaced widely. The only trouble with the buttons is that they are exceptionally small and might present a challenge for people with big hands. Equally small is the touchpad but you have the option of a wireless mouse.

The laptop provides a reasonable number of ports including two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, a VGA port, a headphone jack, a MemoryStick Pro slot while an optical drive is an option at additional cost. The operating system is Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit and it comes loaded with the Sony Creativity Suite, a program that helps you import, organize edit and publish in a single program. In addition, you get anti-virus software from Norton Internet Security pre-installed for a thirty day trial period.

The Sony VAIO X also operates almost noiselessly. Even when pushed to its maximum, you can expect little heat and hardly any noise. On the downside, however, the laptop tends to struggle when you are multitasking and it might disappoint when you use it for movies and games. Additionally, the in-built speakers do not produce good quality audio which might not be too pleasant when you consider what the laptop costs.

While this pricey laptop has a number of factors militating against it, it is still has its unique qualities which the competition will have trouble beating or even equaling. When you can afford it, it is certainly worth buying.

By: Nadav Snir

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