Notebook Hybrid / Tablet SONY Vaio Duo SVD11215CV - Black
Intel
Core i5-3317, 4GB DDR3, 128GB SSD, GbE NIC, WiFi, Bluetooth, VGA Intel
HD Graphics



Background of Sony VAIO SZ2 laptop
The VAIO SZ is Sonys latest thin and light range of notebooks, available in a range of specifications all with dual Intel / nVidia graphics and Intel dual core processors.
Sony VAIO SZ2 (view large image)
I opted for the flagship SZ2VP model with the following specifications:
Being the limited edition prestige model, this was only available to purchase through Sony Centres or Sony Style online. After a visit to my local Sony Centre and being told a very vague "we might be able to get one for mid September" I decided to pursue the online method!
Build and Design
Sony VAIO SZ2 setup (view large image)
My first thoughts on unpacking the SZ were "wow...its small!" This is my first laptop, yet with the top level VP only weighing in at 1.69 kilos (3.7 lbs) I was very pleased with the size and weight of the unit.
The VP features a carbon fibre top casing, yet there is much discussion as to how much carbon fibre is actually present in the laptop! The casing does not feature the weave you would expect from this material, yet it still provides an interesting effect and also contains blue metallic particles visible in certain light conditions.
The palm rest and keypad area have a brushed aluminium finish which makes a great change from the plastic of many other machines and gives great aesthetic appeal.
There are a total of 5 switches located above the keyboard; two shortcut switches, a wireless on/off switch, power button and the graphics switch. Its a shame you cant turn off wifi/Bluetooth independently with hardware switches but it is easily done from the software utility.
VAIO SZ2 right side view (view large image)
VAIO SZ2 left side view (view large image)
VAIO SZ2 front side view (view large image)
VAIO SZ2 back side view (view large image)
Screen
The LCD features LED backlight technology, which gives a very thin screen and lid -- only around 5/6mm thick. Whilst helping to reduce weight and giving a great look to the product, it does make the LCD seem slightly fragile with a little amount of twist (though probably not as much as youd expect from something this thin).
The 1280 x 800 resolution works excellently on the 13.3" screen. Not having perfect eyesight, I was concerned about a high resolution on a smaller screen but I find it a pleasure to use with absolutely no problems.
It features Sonys X-Black technology, which gives the typical glossy effect to the screen. Not having a massive range of experience with various manufacturers, I cant really compare it to others, yet suffice to say it also seems to feature some kind of anti glare coating which is hard to describe but it seems to reduce the visible reflections from objects behind you. I am also impressed with the very large viewing angle on the screen, far more so than any other LCDs Ive used.
The brightness on the screen is excellent and I find myself turning it down from the highest setting when indoors and only using the brightest setting when outside, which still gives a decent picture.
Features and Performance
Im not a gamer yet I tend to run multiple applications at the same time, particularly resource hogs like Photoshop. The Core Duo seems to live up to the task very well though I cant say its any faster compared to my desktop running an Athlon XP at 2.17Ghz with the same 1GB of RAM and a lowly graphics card.
The dual graphics are a fantastic feature and allow you to switch between the integrated Intel GMA 950 chipset, or the dedicated nVidia GeForce 7400 with 128mb dedicated memory. Use the Intel while running office applications to conserve battery life, or the nVidia for more extreme use. A restart is required to flick between the two chips, which is a bit of an annoyance yet it is still an excellent innovation and something I havent come across in any other laptops.
The fingerprint reader is located between the two touchpad buttons and although I considered it a toy in the pre-purchase stage, I now consider it a godsend! It can be used for logging onto Windows, launching applications (assign an app. to each finger) or entering passwords into web windows. It does the job very well and recognises my fingers first go around 95% of the time. To check security I asked a co-worker to try and logon to my system but they were denied access even after 5 minutes of trying! While Im sure its not that secure, it is certainly a viable alternative to entering hundreds of passwords.
The optical drive provides pretty much every kind of functionality I could ever dream of with dual layer DVD +/- rewrite ability. My only gripe would be that the disc tray seems a little fragile, yet for the amount I use the drive this is only a minor concern. I suspect this is due to the thin form factor of the laptop.
Expresscard 34 and a PCMCIA slots both feature on the laptop, yet the Expresscard is filled with Sonys included card reader which seems to cope with all the main formats such as SD and MMC. A built-in Sony memory stick duo reader takes care of their own format, but its a shame they shun the popular SD format to a separate reader in favour of their own cards.
Included media card reader in the ExpressCard slot (view large image)
It also seems Sony were a bit tight on room by only including two USB 2 ports, which although is adequate for myself, Id have preferred to have seen more.
Theres VGA out but no composite video for outputting to a TV, which I consider a major downside on a laptop costing £1800 ($3,000)! Also, my VGA to TV converter doesnt work on this laptop like it did on my Mac Mini meaning it will be difficult to output the image to a standard TV screen.
Heat and Noise
The laptop seems exceptionally quiet, and the fan noise is almost inaudible in anything other than total silence. Ive yet to hear the fans totally shut down, but this may be because I primarily use the nVidia graphics. Shortcut button 2 is pre-set to drop fan noise and CPU clock, yet whenever Ive used it the difference has been minimal.
The optical drive is far from quiet when in use and during start-up, yet again as I use it so little this is not a problem for myself.
It seems to produce a fair amount of heat when using the nVidia graphics, though no more than Id expect from a performance orientated machine with dedicated graphics and it never gets annoyingly hot, just quite warm. Again this is something I can live with. Using the Intel graphics allows the laptop to run very cool and quiet.
SONY Keyboard and Touchpad laptop
After reading various forum reports of problems with the spacebar and keyboard in general on the SZ I was very sceptical. However after using it for a few weeks it seems to have none of these problems. I neither greatly like or dislike the keypad and assume its something Ill grow to like over time but at the moment Im still adjusting from my full sized Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard.
The key travel seems about right and it seems relatively quiet in operation. Being a touch typist, I still occasionally hit the wrong key but again, Im sure this is something I will adjust to over time.
The touchpad has a slightly rough texture to it which works well, and it is easily configurable from within windows for scrolling and tapping speed, etc. Another neat feature is the ability to use the top left corner to maximise, minimise or close windows. Perhaps this is common to other laptops too, but I was still impressed by this simple feature. I later discovered, however, that I kept inadvertently tapping the top left corner while typing and this led to me closing the window I was working in! So this corner functionality has now been disabled; a shame really.
Sony peakers laptop
I was all set to purchase a cheap pair of speakers to supplement my laptop, yet I think Ill leave this for a while now given the quality of the built in speakers. Peering through the grille results in what looks like a pair of tiny (half-inch) diameter drivers which result in an exceptionally clear and loud sound. Of course, theres no bass but I really wouldnt have been disappointed had the speakers had JBL or similar logos on!
External audio is provided through a 3.5mm line out socket, though the output seems very quiet when using this into my amplified external speakers. There is also a massive amount of hiss/feedback that appears only when the AC power cord is plugged in. If someone uses the external audio a lot then this will prove annoying and the Sony representative I spoke to did not have any idea what it could be. SPDIF optical output would have been nice, especially as this one of the most expensive laptops on the market today!
Sony Battery laptop
Doing everyday tasks as I have been for the past weeks, using the nVidia graphics and wireless and Bluetooth on I reliably get just under three hours battery life. This is using a high/mid LCD brightness setting. I expect 4+ hours easily using the Intel graphics with wireless switched off. Sony offer an extended life battery, but it is far too expensive at around £240 and increases the size and weight of the laptop considerably (see the notebook review forums).
Sony Bundled Software laptop
This is by far and away the laptops worst feature. The amount of bundled useless software was unbelievable and performance out of the box was far below my expectations. Sony make it reasonably difficult to do a clean install, by not providing a separate windows CD (or any CDs... for that matter) in the box. They include a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive and there is an option to create your own recovery discs. The problem with recovery is that it would reinstall all the bundled nonsense!
I have a separate standalone copy of XP pro so I installed this on the laptop with no problems, using the drivers available to download from Sonys website. Though there are many forum posts relating to this issue, I had a problem free clean install and everything works perfectly.
Benchmarks:
Super Pi calculated to 2 million:
| Notebook | Time |
| Sony VAIO SZ2 (2.16GHz Core Duo) | 1m 14s |
| Asus W3H760DD (2.0 GHz Pentium M) | 1m 33s |
| Dell Inspiron e1505 (2.0GHz Core Duo) | 1m 16s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo) | 1m 18s |
| Toshiba Satellite M100 (2.00GHz Core Duo) | 1m 18s |
| Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Duo) | 1m 29s |
| Dell XPS M140 (1.86 GHz Pentium M) | 1m 41s |
| Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M) | 1m 53s |
| IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M) | 1m 45s |
3DMark05:
| Notebook Comparison | 3DMark05 Score |
| Sony VAIO SZ2 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce 7400) | 1,851 |
| ASUS W3V (2.0 GHz Pentium M, ATI X600 | 1,263 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m (2.0GHz Pentium M, ATI X600 128MB) | 1,659 |
| ThinkPad T43 (1.86GHz, ATI X300 64MB graphics) | 727 |
| Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB) | 2,530 |
| HP dv4000 (1.86GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB) | 2,536 |
| Toshiba Satellite M100 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB) | 1,660 |
HD Tune:
Conclusion
I am very pleased with the SZ2VP. Is it a performance machine...is it a thin and light...is it a desktop replacement? It combines extreme performance in an exceptionally lightweight package. I was after a super-fast notebook to take to university and the weight saving is a fantastic plus.
Spending an afternoon reformatting isnt much work for the machine you have at the end, but it shouldnt be a required step.
Loaded with extras
Both inside and out, special personalized extras are abundant throughout the VAIO® CR notebook. From the unique keyboard font and structure to the A/V controls, radiant silver trim and pulsing LED glow function, this fun and personalized notebook is packed with a great deal of innovative design and entertainment extras that will set itself and its owner apart from the crowd.
High technology meets Fifth Avenue
Like the clothes you wear and the car you drive, the color of your notebook reflects your style and taste. With a deep, glistening multi-layer coating of paint, a luminous silver trim and four gorgeous colors to choose from, the VAIO® CR is a functional fashion statement, helping you get the job done while separating you from the crowd.
Sangria
Energetic, bold and sexy, the glossy deep red chassis and black interior of the Sangria VAIO CR notebook will turn heads and draw attention wherever you roam. Akin to a high-end sports-car, the remarkably beautiful Sangria VAIO CR notebook will impress with luxury and perform with finesse.
Indigo
Stunning, smart and sophisticated, the spectacular Indigo VAIO CR notebook features a radiant deep blue exterior and chic silver interior. Trendy, yet timeless and strikingly cool, the color-combination is so noticeable and unique it’ll draw “oohs and ahhs” right from the box.
Cosmopolitan
Like Grace Kelly and Aubrey Hepburn, the Cosmopolitan VAIO CR notebook is classically beautiful and loved by everyone. Decked in a soft silvery-pink with a strawberry-milk interior, you’ll fall in love with its beauty and elegance and adore its charm and grace.
Dove
Pure and simple, the Dove VAIO CR notebook has a look of natural beauty and elegance. With a silver and ivory blended exterior and smooth white keyboard, it’s warm and comfortable addition to the home and a gorgeous, yet functional travel accessory.
Intricate painting process
Available in Sangria, Cosmopolitan, Dove, and Indigo, the VAIO CR notebooks line of lustrous coats and exquisite color shades are the result of a painstaking paint-blending and application process.
Like the finish of a luxury sports car, multiple layers of paint are meticulously applied to the chassis of the notebook, which is then buffed and dried to get that "just right" shade and beautiful luster. Each color is framed by an iconic silver luminous trim, a luxurious characteristic that makes the paint coating pop - especially when the notebook is closed.
Complete the outfit
With such a uniquely colored notebook, you’re going to need some matching accessories. To make the look complete, each VAIO® CR notebook comes with its own funky VAIO branded wallpaper and optional matching carrying bag and mouse.
Get moving. Get noticed.
With its cool colors and stunning silver trim, the VAIO® CR Notebook is just too pretty to leave at home. Weighing just 5.9 lbs1 with a built-in CD/DVD player/burner, up to 3-6 hours of standard battery life6 and a 14.1" display2, the VAIO® CR is perfect for personal computing and entertainment on-the-go.
Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N technology
Introducing the next great advancement in wireless technology – Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N. With built-in Wireless-N technology3, the VAIO® CR notebook lets you wirelessly surf the web and e-mail with greater performance, range and reliability than ever before.
Wireless-N offers a massive boost in speed and considerably more range than 802.11 a/b/g connections. You can even wirelessly stream video throughout your home or office with blazing-fast speed5. Also, Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N is backwards compatible with existing 802.11 b/g networks, so there is no need for any additional hardware or cables – its all built-in
Portable entertainment paradise
Enjoying entertainment on a notebook has never been easier or more fun. Simply select the "AV mode" button just above the keyboard and your VAIO® CR notebook will jump to entertainment mode without booting up the operating system. A complete set of multimedia controls make content navigation a breeze while a built-in 1.3 megapixel digital web camera lets you quickly snap photos and participate in live video chats. Complete with a great set of speakers, a stunning 14.1" widescreen display2 with XBRITE-ECO™ LCD technology and a CD/DVD player/burner5, the VAIO CR notebook is a portable, easy way to enjoy your digital entertainment.
AV Mode
Imagine having the ability to enjoy your entertainment on your notebook without ever booting up. The VAIO® CR notebook with instant AV Mode lets you kick off your entertainment with a single push of a button. Go straight to watching a movie, playing music, or viewing photos without ever booting-up the operating system. Convenient, built-in multimedia control buttons also let you play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, stop, eject and control volume – all with one-touch ease.
Built-in camera and microphone
The VAIO® CR notebook features a built-in 1.3 megapixel digital web cam that lets you quickly snap photos and participate in live video chats5. The CAPTURE button makes it easy to take digital photos with the MOTION EYE® camera, which is discreetly located above the LCD screen to allow easy angle adjustment and natural eye movement while video chatting.
XBRITE-ECO™ LCD technology
Developed by the people you trust to deliver amazing flat-panel TVs, Sonys patented XBRITE-ECO™ LCD technology delivers razor-sharp details, crisp, bold colors and glare-free viewing – all while conserving battery life. Brightness is evenly distributed across XBRITE-ECO displays, which also feature a special anti-reflective coating to lessen glare and light reflection while reducing eye fatigue when viewing for long periods of time.
Lots of slots
With plenty of slots, ports and jacks, the VAIO® CR notebook lets you enjoy entertainment easily, and makes it easy to transfer files to and from external devices and your notebook.
Create your own DVDs
Create, manage and share your home movies and photos with the beautiful and powerful VAIO® CR notebook. With a built-in suite of multimedia tools and CD/DVD burner4, you can create your own customized DVDs, complete with interactive menus and customized themes. With Click to DVD® software, you can present your digital video content in a fun DVD package – complete with interactive menus and customized themes.
Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology
Get the ultimate mobile experience with unparalleled processing speeds, longer battery life6 and enhanced wireless connectivity3. The VAIO® CR notebook features Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology, Intels latest and best notebook technology to date.
Powered by an Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor and an 800 MHz Front Side Bus, this state-of-the-art technology provides screaming-fast performance and the mobility, power and flexibility you need for high-speed5, wireless computing on-the-go3.
Windows Vista™ Home Premium
The VAIO® CR notebook comes pre-installed with Windows Vista™ Home Premium, a breakthrough operating system that brings your computing world into sharper focus while delivering the productivity, entertainment and security you need.
See the difference with a spectacular new look, instant search, built-in Windows® Media Center and automated security features. Create beautiful family albums and home videos, listen to your favorite music, and connect with friends and family. Windows Vista™ Home Premium makes it easier and more enjoyable to do just about anything on your PC.

Easy to Use laptop
Because the VAIO® UX Micro PC is a full-functioning PC using Windows Vista™ Business, application user interfaces are familiar and easy to use - you get full access to all your electronic documents, including the Internet and e-mail with attachments6 Advanced wireless capabilities6, are built right in, and expansion is a breeze with the included port replicator.
Superior Widescreen Display sony vaio laptop
The VAIO® UX Micro PC comes with a high-density 4.5" widescreen SVGA display5 with Sonys original XBRITE™ technology, providing brilliant colors, sharp contrast, and crisp images, as well as the durability required to support the units touch-panel functionality. And with the anti-reflective coating to minimize reflection, youre assured an exceptionally clear image from almost any viewing angle.
Take your tunes to-go
In addition to being a portable PC, the VAIO® UX Micro PC can also serve as your MP3 player, with the ability to download, hold and playback thousands of your favorite songs.
Two built-in cameras (yes, two)
Two built-in digital cameras are strategically implemented into the VAIO UX Micro PC, letting you capture, store, and share digital photos or even take part in live video chats6. And since the VAIO UX is capable of displaying in both landscape and portrait formats, youll view and enjoy your media in the orientation of your choice.
VAIO UX Premium Micro PC
Premium models of the VAIO UX Micro PC feature a sleek black form factor and cutting-edge flash memory. Faster and more reliable, flash memory provides quicker access to applications and a rapid boot-up while improving battery life.
Faster
The integration of flash memory reduces the time it takes for your PC to power up, access programs, and write data to the hard drive so you can operate multiple applications simultaneously and efficiently
More Reliable
Data is written to stationary flash memory instead of a volatile rotating hard disk so you have less risk of hardware problems when youre on the move.
More Efficient
Since flash memory doesnt need the energy to rotate a hard disk, it takes much less power to operate, thereby conserving battery life.
| Manufacturer: | Sony |
| Model: | Sony VAIO NR160N/S - Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5 GHz - 15.4" TFT |
| Description: | Intel Core 2 Duo (1.5 GHz), 1 GB DDR II SDRAM, 6.2 lbs, 15.4 in TFT active matrix, Microsoft Windows Vista Business |
The VAIO NR is available in three colors (brown, white, and silver) with a full range of Intel processors (from the 1.46GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2310 to the 1.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5450) starting at $799. The only screen offering is the 15.4" WXGA but the notebook can take up to 4GB of RAM. Built-in wireless 802.11 a/b/g is standard.
We reviewed Sony’s silver version of the NR (VGN-NR160E), priced at $829. Following are the specs for the notebook as reviewed:
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Build and Design laptop
The overall first impression that one has when looking at the NR series is that this notebook was designed to look nice yet be affordable. From the range of available colors to the fabric-like textured LCD cover and palm rests the NR is a simple yet striking design. The "granite" silver version looks like metal at a distance but upon closer examination its clear that the notebook exterior is made of thick plastics.
As mentioned above, the lid of the VAIO NR also has a nice textured finish with the VAIO lettering in a recessed silver plastic. Overall the look is very clean. After opening the lid and seeing the matching silver plastic interior of the NR I expected a cheap feel to the case with a significant amount of flex to it. Surprisingly the case is very sturdy with relatively thick plastic and metal interior reinforcement in just the right places.
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The VAIO NR lid does not have a latch to hold it closed, but the hinge mechanism works well and firmly holds the lid in place. There is some flex to the screen lid but it’s just enough to keep the LCD from being too rigid. There certainly isn’t enough screen flex to worry about.
Sony officially classifies the VAIO NR as a "portable" notebook. Were pretty sure all laptops can be considered "portable" but the NR is reasonably thin for a 15.4" notebook (1.5" at its thickest point) and has a weight of only 6.2 pounds. That said, the depth (front to back) of the NR is a little large compared to other notebooks in the same class. In fact, we couldnt get the NR to fit in some smaller 15.4" notebook bags.
Performance and Benchmarks laptop
The dual core processors that come with the VAIO NR-series provide more than enough performance for average use, even at the 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo configured in our test unit. We would have liked to see an option for an even faster Core 2 Duo "Santa Rosa" processor for those consumers willing to pay a little more … particularly since the NR doesn’t offer a dedicated graphics option. The 3DMark06 benchmarks are low, but this is due to the fact that the NR uses the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 which shares the notebook’s system RAM. If the NR was equipped with 2GB or more these benchmarks might have been slightly more impressive.
wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi.
| Notebook / CPU | wPrime 32M time |
| Sony VAIO NR (Core 2 Duo T5250 @ 1.5GHz) | 58.233s |
| Toshiba Tecra A9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz) | 38.343s |
| Toshiba Tecra M9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz) | 37.299s |
| HP Compaq 6910p (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz) | 40.965s |
| Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz) | 76.240s |
| Zepto 6024W (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz) | 42.385s |
| Lenovo T61 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz) | 37.705s |
| Alienware M5750 (Core 2 Duo T7600 @ 2.33GHz) | 38.327s |
| Hewlett Packard DV6000z (Turion X2 TL-60 @ 2.0GHz) | 38.720s |
| Samsung Q70 (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz) | 42.218s |
| Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi (Core Duo T2500 @ 2.0GHz) | 42.947s |
| Samsung X60plus (Core 2 Duo T7200 @ 2.0GHz) | 44.922s |
| Zepto Znote 6224W (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz) | 45.788s |
| Samsung Q35 (Core 2 Duo T5600 @ 1.83GHz) | 46.274s |
| Samsung R20 (Core Duo T2250 @ 1.73GHz) | 47.563s |
| Dell Inspiron 2650 (Pentium 4 Mobile 1.6GHz) | 231.714s |
PCMark05 comparison results:
| Notebook | PCMark05 Score |
| Sony VAIO NR (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100) | 3,283 PCMarks |
| Sony VAIO CR (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, Intel X3100) | 3,612 PCMarks |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100) | 4,153 PCMarks |
| Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100) | 3,987 PCMarks |
| Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB) | 4,189 PCMarks |
| HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400) | 4,234 PCMarks |
| Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400) | 3,487 PCMarks |
| Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX) | 5,597 PCMarks |
| Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400) | 3,637 PCMarks |
| Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400) | 3,646 PCMarks |
3DMark06 comparison results:
| Notebook | 3DMark06 Score |
| Sony VAIO NR (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100) | 504 3DMarks |
| Toshiba Tecra A9 (2.20GHz Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130M 256MB) | 932 3DMarks |
| Toshiba Tecra M9 (2.20GHz Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130M 128MB) | 1,115 3DMarks |
| Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950) | 122 3DMarks |
| LG R500 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS 256MB) | 2,776 3DMarks |
| HP dv2500t (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB) | 1,055 3DMarks |
| Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB) | 1,329 3DMarks |
| Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100) | 532 3DMarks |
| Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB) | 1,408 3DMarks |
| Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU) | 1,069 3DMarks |
| Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB) | 2,344 3DMarks |
| Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB | 2,183 3DMarks |
| Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB) | 2,144 3DMarks |
| Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB) | 1,831 3DMarks |
| Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB) | 1,819 3DMarks |
| HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400) | 827 3DMarks |
HDTune results:
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Screen
The 15.4" glossy screen is a WXGA 1280 x 800 beauty with excellent color and contrast. The display features fairly bright and even backlighting with eight levels of brightness. Horizontal viewing angles are excellent, making the screen an ideal choice for two or more people to watch a DVD or streaming video. However, vertical viewing angles are far from impressive for a notebook in this price range. If the screen is tilted just slightly forward the entire screen “washes out” making it all but impossible to see low contrast details.
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Keyboard, Touchpad and Other Input Buttons
The keyboard on the VAIO NR is perhaps just standard fanfare for Sony notebooks, but it is one of the more unique features of this notebook when you first open it. Unlike most traditional PC notebook keyboards the keys on the NR keyboard look more flat. The keys are well cushioned and responsive to light touch though there is a somewhat noticeable degree of travel. If you prefer the traditional “indented” shape of keys then you might not like the flat surface of the keys on the NR. The keyboard is quite solid with no flex whatsoever. Overall, if you can get used to the lack of dedicated keys and the shape of the keys themselves then you will find this keyboard a genuine joy to use.
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The touchpad is nice and large with a very usable and responsive surface. The mouse buttons are likewise nicely sized, the buttons have a reasonably deep feedback with noisy clicks. Along the top of the keyboard is a dedicated “AV Mode” quicklauch button that in theory lets you activate the media player functions without booting Windows. I had to say "in theory" because the AV Mode button didnt work on our notebook. We updated the notebook with the latest software and drivers from Sony but every time we pressed the AV Mode button the notebook would just start Windows.
Input and Output Ports laptop
Lets take a quick tour around the port offerings of the VAIO NR:
Front side: Memory Stick reader, SD card reader, indicator lights, and WiFi on/off switch. (view large image)
Back side: Nothing except the battery, DC power jack, and the modem and Ethernet ports. (view large image)
Left side: Kensington lock slot, optical drive, and two USB 2.0 ports. (view large image)
Right side: ExpressCard 34 slot, two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire port, headphone and microphone jacks, VGA out, and heat vent. (view large image)
Why Sony included a separate reader for the MemoryStick Pro card and another reader for the SD card is likely one of those mysteries that will never be solved. Many notebooks save space and weight by providing a single 5-in-1 memory card slot that reads SD/xD/MMC/MemoryStick type cards. I can only guess that Sony wants to draw attention to their proprietary memory card format.
Audio
The VAIO NR has stereo sound via speakers located above the keyboard. With the speakers located on the top of the interior in this way they tend to direct the sound at you and make for a surprisingly enjoyable listening experience. While the built-in speakers aren’t the best that I’ve heard in a notebook of this size, they are certainly better than most notebooks of this size. The headphone jack is located on the right side (a less than ideal location for people who like to plug in external speakers and use an external mouse at the same time).
Heat and Noise laptop
The VAIO NR runs extremely quiet with the 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor. The bottom side gets a bit warm, but temperatures remained comfortable enough to keep the NR on the lap. Temperatures are likely kept within acceptable limits thanks to a rather large heatsink visible through the vent on the side of the NR. Below are images with the temperatures listed in degrees Fahrenheit.
The system fan is quiet when running. You have to put your ear down at desk level to hear it over any other ambient noise in the room. Despite the lack of noise the fan pushes out a significant amount of heat … enough to make your hand uncomfortable if you put your left hand next to the vent during benchmarking.
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Battery
Sony claims the battery life of the standard 6-cell battery at 2.5-4.5 hours of use depending on how you use the notebook. During my test I obtained 3 hours and 2 minutes of battery life using the notebook at half screen brightness, wireless on, and a mixture of web browsing and idling. Clearly you would need to have the screen brightness turned even lower and do little more than let the notebook idle if you want to obtain the full 4.5 hours that Sony claims. You can get a large capacity battery for an advertised 4.0-7.5 hours of usage time unplugged, but the larger battery will add weight to the notebook.
One issue of note regarding the battery is the unusual amount of “battery wiggle” in our test unit, similar to what we found in the Sony VAIO CR. Even with the lock switch in the “locked” position the battery is loose in the back of the NR and makes an audible shaking sound as it moves inside the battery compartment. If the locking switch is set to the unlocked position the battery is so loose that you can accidentally disconnect the battery from the power connectors just by picking the notebook up and tilting it backward. This wouldnt be an issue if the battery lock switch stayed in the locked position. Unfortunately, the lock switch has a tendency to easily slide into the unlocked position. This is an unacceptable design flaw because it means users can unintentionally power off the notebook while using it. The last thing you want is for your notebook to shutdown while you’re in the middle of typing an important document.
Conclusion laptop
The Sony VAIO NR is a stylish, affordable notebook with a solid set of features that is sure to be appealing to college students or anyone looking for an attractive notebook on a budget. It features enough performance and build quality to keep most users happy. However, thanks to the non-functioning AV Mode, lack of dedicated media buttons, and what can only be called a “design flaw” regarding the battery, consumers might be able to find more attractive choices in the same price range.
Overall, the Sony VAIO NR is a genuinely impressive notebook for Sony, in no small part thanks to the low selling price. That said, there is room for improvement.
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