Around the front, you’ll find card readers for both standard SD cards and Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick Duo cards. The right side includes yet another USB port, dedicated headphone and analog-in jacks, along with a ExpressCard slot for expansion and of course, a built-in optical drive (CD/DVD standard, with Blu-ray as a $70 option). The left side offers two USB ports, an i.LINK IEEE 1394 connector, and two flavors of video: both VGA and HDMI. Ports and Connectionsĭespite its 14.1-inch size, the Vaio CW comes with no shortage of ports and connections, including many we’re most accustomed to finding on desktop replacements. Together with the full-size Chiclet keyboard and a matte trackpad with large and clicky right and left buttons, the CW offers one of the most comfortable typing and navigating experiences we’ve encountered on a notebook. But we like how this design allows the palmrest to slope down to form a smooth, comfortable edge – something Apple sacrificed to style on its razor-edged MacBooks. Unlike notebooks that seem to clam up when closed, the Vaio CW has a screen that falls just slightly short of the base when folded shut, leaving a rounded-off shelf of indicator lights and the palm rest exposed. Both the lid and palm rest come swathed in your finish of choice, with matte black overtaking the rest of the chassis. Although they collect smudges and fingerprints the same way the hood of a BMW might if you managed to build a keyboard into it, we have to admit we fell for the deep luster and shine.
Sony’s lust for glittery automotive-style finishes manifests itself yet again in the CW, which comes in no shortage of colors with pomped-up names like Royal Indigo and Fiery Red. Weight of 5.3 pounds is reasonable for a 14-inch notebook, but not particularly impressive. It doesn’t quite challenge the unibody sturdiness of Apple’s MacBooks, but a nice set of display hinges and a reinforcement below the touchpad and keyboard keep it from ever overtly flexing, unless you go out of your way to try. While it won’t catch any catcalls on dimensions alone, we think the sturdy feel more than justifies the extra millimeters here and there.
This is the Marilyn Monroe of notebooks, not the Paris Hilton. Design and Build QualityĪt 1.09 to 1.52 inches thick, the CW shows none of the obsession with thin that the rest of industry seems to be falling into like a gaggle of teenage girls. Our machine came equipped with a Core 2 Duo clocked at 2.2GHz, 4GB of RAM, and GeForce G210M discrete graphics. Other starting specs include a 250GB hard drive (upgradeable to 500GB) and 2GB of RAM (upgradeable to 8GB).
#SONY VAIO S SERIES LAPTOP COVER UPGRADE#
The base unit comes equipped with a Pentium Dual Core processor rather than a Core 2 Duo, but a $50 upgrade will bump you up to one. Both fall toward the bottom of the Nvidia line, but put Intel integrated graphics found on many machines in this price range, such as Asus’ U元0A, to shame.
Every single CW includes an Nvidia GeForce graphics card – either the GT210M with 256MB of RAM in the base unit, or the GT230M with 512MB in higher end units. Features and SpecsĪlthough the $719 starting price point suggests budget notebook more than a desktop replacement in the computing power department, the Vaio CW makes few concessions to price. The fresh Vaio line of Nvidia-powered 14.1-inch notebooks charts an intelligent course between style and substance, while keeping price in check all the while, making it a great choice for the practical fashionista on a budget. The new Vaio CW series, however, melds Sony’s knack for sharp design with a trait more foreign to the company: affordability. Perhaps no tech company short of Apple makes style more paramount than Sony.