Sony have a strong fanbase for their VAIO range of laptops. They have a reputation for excellent build quality and industry leading performance and with the Sony VAIO E series, they manage to continue this tred.
The E series looks great and features a number of colours to choose from. It comes with a matte case which reduces potential for fingerprints all over the case. It comes with a 15″ screen and weighs just over 2.5kg which is not a bad weight for a machine of this size but it does not make it ultra portable.
Like most Sony machines, there are many nice little extra features. The first of these is a raised palmrest which makes it much easier to type on for longer periods of time.
The spec is the machine is very good. Firstly it has a high powered Intel Core i5-520M 2.4GHz processor. This can also overclock when required to nearly 3GHz. The rest of the spec is very strong featuring 4GB RAM, 320GB hard disk and integrated graphics card.
It also features the standard ports covering HDMI, Wi-Fi and an integrated DVD-RW.
The machine performs very well and it is a great machine for entertainment, photo / video editing, browsing the web and multi-tasking.
The battery is the one area that the machine lets itself down. It only delivers about 2 1/2 hours of power from one charge. However, it is possible to upgrade to a higher power battery. Also, based on the size of the machine, it is really meant for home use anyway so you shouldn’t often be far from a power socket.
This is a great choice for a powerful home entertainment laptop that you will definitely not be disapointed by.
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Asus have released another great laptop in their range in the U50Vg machine. This one comes with a larger screen making it an excellent entertainment machine.
It comes with a good sized keyboard that is easy to type on and is also backlit for typing in low light. The trackpad also has a light that follows the path of the finger.
It is not a portable unit even though it weighs less than 2.5kg but it has a large 15.6″ screen. The battery produces a respectable 3 hours of power. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is good and it also comes with a 2GB RAM and 500GB hard disk which is a great size for storing music and films.
Expansion ports are plentiful covering many USB, HDMI and VGA. It also comes with a DVD-RW player. The keyboard is well positioned and each to type on for long periods.
This is a good machine to replace your desktop and works as a wonderful entertainment machine.
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The ThinkPad was originally an IBM model but it came under Lenovo’s management when they acquired on the range from IBM in 2005. Lenovo’s latest model in the range, the ThinkPad R500 covers the mid-range market and does a great job too.
It is put together very well making it a solid machine that also looks great. This is a solid business machine that can be put through its paces when being carted around and is a great choice when deciding which laptop to buy.
It is a relatively portable machine but is not the lightest in its class weighing in at just over 2.5kg. It does have the portable battery credentials providing over 6 hours power from just one charge.
The keyboard is excellent and makes extended typing a joy. It comes with a 15.4″ screen that is easy to use in high light. Other useful business functions include the integrated fingerprint scanner, this enables the laptop to be secured to only those with the correct fingerprint.
The spec of the machine is good with a powerful processor and enough RAM. It features a lot of expansion ports as well.
This is a good mid-level business machine that is slightly heavier than others, but excellent battery power and general build quality make it a good contender.
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