My husband and I purchase laptops that we can get a discount on through his work in in September of 2009 we purchased two Sony Vaio laptops from Sony. His and Hers computers and my husband’s had a tragic accident with the screen in only a few short months, but mine lasted over two years of really intense usage. I travel a lot, use twitter, tweetdeck is almost always open and it’s a power hog, I probably have 15 IE windows open at a time and four or five windows of Firefox. I’m always using Windows 7 with Microsoft Outlook always open so you can probably tell that I need a powerful machine. Because right in the middle of doing 20 things at one time I’ll decide to open up a photo editing software suite and get some photos ready for a recipe post. I’m really hard on machines…Oh and I have to mention that kids are not easy on machines either.
(I’m using more stock photos than I usually do in reviews because it was hard for me to get a great shot of this computer, my skills are only so good. see…)
I was really disappointed when my previous Sony Vaio died, and if Sony had offered me this review of their newer improved S series sooner I would never have purchased my new laptop a few months ago and you guys would not have this opportunity I put before you at the end of this post.
What To Like in the Sony Vaio S Series:
1 year on-site service. Yes they will come to your house or wherever you are. With my last Vaio I had to have a part replaced, they came, they fixed they left. It was painless and free.
Lightweight, Easy to travel with, it’s light only 4.4 pounds. It’s made out of aluminum. Yes I wish I was keeping this laptop. My current beast of a ThinkPad is so heavy, it’s built like a tank, the Sony Vaio S feels like a feather in comparison, even with the extra Sony laptop battery it’s still light. The extra extended battery on my Think Pad is an added leg that adds even more weight to my beast. Like I said before, If I had received this laptop sooner I would not be giving it away. Here is a picture of the sheet battery that you can screw onto your machine for added battery life. Without the sheet battery you can get up to 5.75 hours of battery life
The optional sheet battery doubles the already long length of the battery. I love how long you can go on this laptop and it doesn’t add heat. The fan still has room to blow and keep the computer cool giving you up to 11.5 extra hours.
The backlit Sony laptop keyboard is pretty cool.
Screen display. I loved my old Sony Vaio’s screen the color is amazing and the screen is bright. Sony’s screens are quite unique and this one doesn’t get fingerprints on it unless they are sticky gooey children’s fingers. 15.5-inch LED-backlit display with 1920 x 1080 resolution for native Full HD 1080p viewing. Plus it has an HD camera included for you to take your own videos and pictures while sitting at your computer.
Power Save options on the Sony Vaio S are a plus. Most the time when you want to save power you have to go into your computer settings and choose power save options. Sometimes it’s really a simple process and other times you probably think it’s not worth the effort. I remember when you had to go into the BIOS to make such changes. Now the Sony Vaio S Series has included a button that will optimize your performance it’s the Speed Stamina Switch.
- Select Speed for maximum power while multi-tasking or running heavier applications .
- Select Stamina to conserve energy and extend battery life for light computing and mobile scenarios .
Also easy to do is transfer your video to a TV screen or another monitor. With integrated Intel Wireless Display technology, you’ll be able to cut down on the cluttered mass of wires surrounding your work station and stop crowding around your laptop screen. You’ll enjoy great image clarity and sound without sacrificing quality and without wires. Set it up once, and sharing your screen is as easy as pushing a button.
What To Not Like:
We’ve learned that if you damage your screen that’s the one part of the Sony Vaio that is not completely covered under their warranty. So treat your screen with care.
The Touchpad takes time to get used to, but all new computers and keyboards to take more time. I’m also not used to the keyboard being so far back, even the Vaio I had before didn’t push the keyboard that far back. But it’s a minor adjustment.
I’m really pleased with the Sony Vaio S Series laptop (Sony Vaio SE1 15.5 VPCSE13FX/B ). It’s powerful, has an amazing screen and really cool new features. Sony knows how to make the screen look amazing, a laptop feel like air, and a really powerful machine that can almost keep up with my powerful usage for two years. It’s super super light.
Enter to Win:
The Sony Vaio SE1 15.5 VPCSE13FX/B (that I reviewed for a few weeks)
The Sony laptop Battery (also part of the review)
To Enter:
Please read this review and leave a comment telling us what you think of the Sony brand and why you want to win this laptop. If there is not a thoughtful comment you will be disqualified.
