Sony Vaio VPCEB1S0E/WI
A great all-round machine for the whole family to enjoy…
Sony makes some of the best laptops around and the E-Series is one of the most affordable machines that the Japanese electronics giant produces. With the VAIO VPCEB1S0E/WI(£596), you get the quality of Sony’s higher-end models for a snip of the price.
While many of the other machines in this group test, such as the Asus, are powered by older Intel technologies, a Core i3 processor from Intel’s latest generation provides plenty of power here. There’s also 4096MB of memory and the result is enough performance for those looking to run everyday applications as well as multimedia programs.
While the laptop doesn’t provide the same graphical prowess as the Asus, the mid-range ATi graphics card is backed by 312MB of dedicated video memory, and current gaming titles – admittedly with the graphics settings turned down – will run fine, while editing photos and even HD movies won’t cause this laptop any issues.
There’s a DVD drive for both reading and writing discs, while a 500GB hard drive- offering the joint best storage here -provides ample room for a family’s data.
The 15.5-inch screen is decent enough for the price, but doesn’t provide the level of detail the Asus does and brightness levels aren’t quite up to Sony’s usual high standard. However, color vibrancy still impresses, as does contrast.
The chassis features a subtle design which is attractive and understated. A matt-silver finish makes it very easy to keep free of smudges and smears, and the white keyboard and palmrest offer a nice contrast to the lid. It’s worth pointing out the palmrest features a glitter finish. It’s very subtle and almost impossible to see, but may be enough to put some off – we happen to like it.
Comfortable keyboard
An area Sony has always excelled in is keyboard design and this laptop provides the most comfortable typing experience in this group test. The action is crisp and defined, while there is absolutely no flex in the isolation-style keyboard at all, a far cry from the Mesh here. A dedicated numeric keypad has also been squeezed in, for quickly and easily inputting data.
Unfortunately, Sony hasn’t had quite the same success with portability that Packard Bell has and the 140-minute battery life is very poor. Equally, the 2.6kg weight isn’t the lightest here – but the flip side of the coin is you get good durability, so this is a machine that will survive the odd knock on the road.
That it is now possible to buy a Sony VAIO at such a low price is a great selling point in itself. With the quality of much more expensive VAIO’s present, this is a very competitive laptop for the price.
Specs Detail
- PROCESSOR INTEL 2.13GHZ CORE i3 330M
- MEMORY4096MB DDR3 SDRAM
- HARD DRIVE 500G8 (5400RPM)
- OPTICAL DRIVE TRI-FORMAT DVD DL
- SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 15.5-INCH SUPER-TFT
- DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1366 X 768 (WXGA)
- GRAPHICS CARD ATi MOBILITY RADEON HD 5470
- DIMENSIONS 368 X 231 X 42MM
- WEIGHT 2.6KG
- WIRELESS LAN 802.11N
- ETHERNET GIGABIT
- USB PORTS 4
- FIREWIRE NO
- OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM
- STANDARD WARRANTY 1 YR C&R P&L
- PRICE £596
A great all-round machine for the whole family to enjoy…
Sony makes some of the best laptops around and the E-Series is one of the most affordable machines that the Japanese electronics giant produces. With the VAIO VPCEB1S0E/WI(£596), you get the quality of Sony’s higher-end models for a snip of the price.
While many of the other machines in this group test, such as the Asus, are powered by older Intel technologies, a Core i3 processor from Intel’s latest generation provides plenty of power here. There’s also 4096MB of memory and the result is enough performance for those looking to run everyday applications as well as multimedia programs.
While the laptop doesn’t provide the same graphical prowess as the Asus, the mid-range ATi graphics card is backed by 312MB of dedicated video memory, and current gaming titles – admittedly with the graphics settings turned down – will run fine, while editing photos and even HD movies won’t cause this laptop any issues.
There’s a DVD drive for both reading and writing discs, while a 500GB hard drive- offering the joint best storage here -provides ample room for a family’s data.
The 15.5-inch screen is decent enough for the price, but doesn’t provide the level of detail the Asus does and brightness levels aren’t quite up to Sony’s usual high standard. However, color vibrancy still impresses, as does contrast.
The chassis features a subtle design which is attractive and understated. A matt-silver finish makes it very easy to keep free of smudges and smears, and the white keyboard and palmrest offer a nice contrast to the lid. It’s worth pointing out the palmrest features a glitter finish. It’s very subtle and almost impossible to see, but may be enough to put some off – we happen to like it.
Comfortable keyboard
An area Sony has always excelled in is keyboard design and this laptop provides the most comfortable typing experience in this group test. The action is crisp and defined, while there is absolutely no flex in the isolation-style keyboard at all, a far cry from the Mesh here. A dedicated numeric keypad has also been squeezed in, for quickly and easily inputting data.
Unfortunately, Sony hasn’t had quite the same success with portability that Packard Bell has and the 140-minute battery life is very poor. Equally, the 2.6kg weight isn’t the lightest here – but the flip side of the coin is you get good durability, so this is a machine that will survive the odd knock on the road.
That it is now possible to buy a Sony VAIO at such a low price is a great selling point in itself. With the quality of much more expensive VAIO’s present, this is a very competitive laptop for the price.
Specs Detail
- PROCESSOR INTEL 2.13GHZ CORE i3 330M
- MEMORY4096MB DDR3 SDRAM
- HARD DRIVE 500G8 (5400RPM)
- OPTICAL DRIVE TRI-FORMAT DVD DL
- SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 15.5-INCH SUPER-TFT
- DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1366 X 768 (WXGA)
- GRAPHICS CARD ATi MOBILITY RADEON HD 5470
- DIMENSIONS 368 X 231 X 42MM
- WEIGHT 2.6KG
- WIRELESS LAN 802.11N
- ETHERNET GIGABIT
- USB PORTS 4
- FIREWIRE NO
- OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM
- STANDARD WARRANTY 1 YR C&R P&L
- PRICE £596
