Sony Vaio W with PineTrail gets reviewed

Although Sony are not known for their cheap laptops, they do have representation in the netbooks class, the Vaio W series. This one sticks to the Vaio reputation and offers nice looks and performances, while of course keeping the price tag above average.

Now Sony too upgraded their netbooks with the new Intel PineTrail platform, and Chris at Netbookreviews.com got the chance to play with one of them and write a review.

In fact, there are many versions of the new W. The one tested was quite buffed up, offering some extras besides the regular specs other netbooks have (N450 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard-drive, Windows 7 Starter OS, Wi-fi N, Bluetooth), like a HD ready 10 inch display and integrated 3G module for easier Internet access when on the road.

Although the review is not very thorough, we noticed that nice chiclet keyboard and big touchpad offered on this new Vaio W. In fact, the touchpad with 2 independent click buttons is one of the ever seen on such small mini laptops. Other than this, build quality is of course very good, as the device is a Vaio. However, there’s are a couple of things i don’t really like about the battery, as it sticks out on the back (like you can see in the picture) and while we’re talking about a 6 Cell one, can only offer up to 8 hours of juice (on paper). And that’s pretty poor when compared with the 14 hours the Asus 1005PE brings on the table.

New Vaio W offers very nice keyboard/touchpad but battery sticks out on the back

Especially when we mention the prices. The buffed one version with 3G sells for $599 right now. But, the good part is that you can enjoy the mainstream version that still offers all the above (including the HD ready 1366 x768 px display), but without 3G, for only $449 (and is available in multiple colors).

So, the new Sony Vaio W is an interesting netbook in the 10 inch class. Offers good looks and quality like every Vaio, but competes with some tough oponents in a category where devices should be cheap, so i doubt its 20% higher than the average price tag will win too many adepts.

Source: netbookreviews.com

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Tags: Pine Trail, Sony netbooks, Sony Vaio

Last updated: September 29, 2011 | Published: February 15th, 2010 | See the comments or add yours!