I had the pleasure of reviewing the very portable and sleek black Sony VAIO S notebook last year and I was given another chance to review another Sony VAIO notebook from a different series line. Read on to know more about this everyday notebook – the colorful Sony VAIO C.
First Impressions
“It’s GREEN??”
Yes, it was green. Lime Green. Hulk Green. Martian Green. I was hearing all kinds of renditions on what is the actual color of the notebook. Sony named it a simple “Neon Green” (I found out after shamelessly Google-ing it. Well that makes sense!) One thing is certain – it attracts attention for an “everyday” notebook.
The notebook comes in orange, black, white, pink and violet colors but apparently, the neon orange and the neon green ones are the ones that are included in the Vaio Signature Collection C Series. This one-of-a-kind design radiates light around the hard-plastic edges of the notebook, through the VAIO logo at the lid, and around the touchpad. It gives the impression that it’s glowing! This notebook is something I would rather use in the dark!
I like the 14” display – the size is just right for a notebook to be able to appreciate the entertainment and clarity its Blu-ray player could offer. The notebook weighs 5.41 lbs. It’s not as light as the Vaio S laptop I reviewed in the past but for an everyday laptop that has a more affordable (in Sony’s standards) retail tag price, the weight is just right for what it has to offer.
Inside the notebook is a black-colored keyboard area with six rows of raised Chiclet-type black buttons for the keys of the keyboard. Typing was such a pleasant feeling because the keys just seemed so soft to the touch although it’s missing the dedicated Home, Page Up, Page Down, End buttons that’s present on most 14-inchers.
It also has a multi-touch touchpad and four buttons above the keyboard – ASSIST, WEB, VAIO, and the Power button. These are quick-access buttons to VAIO media software, help menu and the Internet. The backlit keyboard sensor is just beside those buttons so when I turn the lights off my room, the keyboard dramatically lights up and the screen dims.
I wish that this notebook came with the rubber keyboard-protector skin because I know that this VAIO C series line came with the accessory of colorful keyboard skins to add to the already-attention-grabbing color. I would have picked the neon pink keyboard skin for this neon green notebook!
Going Into Detail
This Sony VAIO C notebook runs on Intel Core i5-2410M processor at 2.30 GHz, 500gb of storage (expandable to 720gb), and 4gb of RAM (expandable to 8gb) and Windows 7 Professional installed. It also has an AMD Radeon HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) graphics card and an HD camera powered by Sony’s Exmor lens.
You can opt to have switchable graphics which works with the performance and power-saving modes. I set mine to browse the Internet with the power-saving mode while high-performance was set when I do some image and video editing. The optical drive is capable of playing Blu-ray discs making this a complete entertainment laptop.
No elements were placed at the back of the notebook – just at the sides and in front well within your reach. You’ll find the power socket and LAN socket to your left, close to the rear, just the way I’d like for them to be so that I won’t have to worry about cables being in the way while they’re connected. There are 4 high speed USB ports, two at the left side, two at the right (one of which is USB 3.0 compatible).
The DVD±RW / Blu-ray drive opens at the right side of the notebook with the eject button on the drive itself (This I have to mention because the Sony S series laptop had the eject button in front of the notebook. It was unusual). Other important elements around the notebook are the WLAN on/off switch, microphone and headphones jack, HDMI slot and video out socket. It also has a Sony Memory stick and SD card reader combo.
The built-in audio comes through the stereo just right above the keyboard and is loud enough for personal use. The volume controls, brightness and other function keys are found on the first row of the keyboard.
User Experience
Windows 7 is bundled with the notebook and it performed pretty well with a multimedia-capable notebook such as a Sony. My mistake is that I didn’t get to try out the Blu-ray capability since I didn’t have a Blu-ray disc. But hey, you should expect the best Blu-ray experience from Sony.
I did however get to do some video editing with the notebook. I installed Sony Vegas Pro 9 it was a real pleasure editing videos with the notebook because I didn’t encounter any form of skipping in terms of previewing videos as I was editing – my Core i3 desktop computer had its share of skips. I had Sony Vegas Pro 9 open as well as other programs such as Firefox, Word, Excel and iTunes running in the background and there was no delay whatsoever.
Here’s the Windows Experience Index of the Sony VAIO C:
The battery life served me pretty well and I was able to use it for a good 3-4 hours even with a lot of programs running in the background.
Conclusion
One word to describe this laptop: FUN.
You can judge that based on its initial impression – neon green (and it’s alternate, neon orange) is such an attention-grabbing color with light glowing all over. You’d want to be seen in this notebook (and rightfully so) since this notebook is packed with goodness such as its Blu-ray drive and stunning graphics thanks to its AMD Radeon HD 6630M GPU. Sony markets this as an “everyday” notebook but I think it’s packed with features that can very well go beyond your “everyday” needs.
The Sony VAIO C stands at Php69,999.00. Probably out of reach for the average Filipino but those who can afford it won’t be disappointed with the capabilities this notebook is packing and the stares you will be getting when you whip this one out in public.
| Sony VAIO C Specs: |
|---|
| Intel Core i5-2410M Processor 2.30GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz |
| 14-inch WXGA (1366 x 768) |
| Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| 4GB RAM |
| AMD Radeon HD 6630M 1GB VRAM switchable to Intel HD Graphics 3000 |
| 500GB HDD |
| Exmor-powered HD camera |
| 3D-supported HDMI out |
| Backlit keyboard |
| Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n, BlueTooth |
| 1 USB 3.0, 3 USB 2.0 |
| 5.41 lbs |
| Colors: Green, Pink, Orange, White, Black |
| SRP: Php69,999 |
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