As I'm studying IT at college I needed a laptop that would be perfect for my studies quick enough to deal with all my applications and being a student, affordable. The VGN-N11S is perfect for all of these, but don't be fooled by the price. At last, Sony have brought us a good quality laptop with many great features which is affordable! They state that this laptop is the 'Perfect Balance Between Value and Versatility', I definitely agree!
Specifications:
Processor: Intel Core Duo T2050 (1.6GHz x 2) Hard drive: 100 GB RAM: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM Battery Life: 3.8 hours
15.4' X-black LCD monitor DVD±RWI love the slim design; its height is only 2.9cms. The bright white colour makes this laptop look modern and stand out from others. I was quite worried at first about the colour getting dirty easily, but its actually not that bad at all. It can easily be wiped over. It doesn't have a clasp like some laptops which can easily be broken. I like the way it simply snaps shut, this adds to the clean modern look. I was quite disappointed with the weight though, it feels quite heavy at 3.1kg.
I was originally going to buy the VGN-N11M which is pretty
much the same as the N11S but comes with 512MB RAM instead of 1GB and an 80GB hard drive instead of the 100GB, but I needed that extra speed and space to deal with all my tasks. (I also got a good deal on the N11S on eBay.... £550.... Bargain!!!! :-) )
The 1 GB of RAM makes this laptop pretty speedy, but it can be upgraded to 2 GB if desired. This can easily be done by sliding the memory cover off the back and clicking the RAM into place. It has instructions of how to do this in the manual, which is in electronic format instead of the good old paper book. I would definitely like to upgrade the RAM at a later date and will keep you posted when I do to let you know the difference.
The hard drive is partitioned into 2 drives (C:/ drive and D:/ drive), this may confuse some people who are used to the CD drive being drive D:/ but you can easily get used to this.
Both parts of the hard drive don't actually equal 100GB, in fact C:/ = 46.5GB and D:/ = 38.6GB. This is still plenty, but it's advertised as 100GB and the box states 100GB and that's what it should be, right?
It comes with lots of software, which can take up lots of hard drive space. E.g Google Earth and Search bar is preinstalled, which are over 20MB each. Ok, so these can be easily uninstalled, but I think its pretty unnecessary for all this extra software. Instead they should have supplied the full version of Microsoft Office, in place of the 60day trial version! I comes with a 90day trial of Norton, which I would definitely suggest uninstalling when the trial runs out, then choose a lighter anti-virus program as my laptop seemed to load so much quicker without the memory eating Norton.
I was very impressed with the 15.4' X-black LCD, Sony are bang on when they say its for a brighter picture, sharper contrast and vivid lifelike colours. I was blown away with the clarity of the picture and the colours. The display is even brighter when the AC adapter is plugged in. I would defo suggest the adapter is plugged in while watching a DVD to get the most out of it.
The keyboard looked pretty scary at first. The keys are flat with gaps in between so no eating biscuits while working on it, it would be a nightmare trying to get any crumbs out. The actually functionality of the keyboard is great though, especially for touch typing. The keys feel smooth and there isn't a delay between keying and the text appearing on the screen, so you wont find yourself going back over your document because you missed letters out like I've seen on other laptops, so this is good for the quicker typists. The touchpad is very sensitive, so I would say it's not for the heavy handed.
As for the speakers, I was pretty surprised at Sony for supplying this mint laptop with these tinny monstrosities. With Windows media centre being the operating system, and having lots of media software preinstalled you'd have thought they'd have supplied some good quality speakers to get the most out of all the software. I personally didn't buy this laptop for the sound. Even though the speakers are crap, I think its got a good sound card. If I want to listen to my music at home, I just plug in my 800w speakers anyway:-) I don't need to blast my music while I'm on the move, so its good for my needs.
Sadly it only has 2 USB ports, which is probably the most negative thing I can say about the laptop, there's plenty of space where more could have been placed. Perhaps the employees at Sony wanted to get off early that day and couldn't be bothered to add anymore. It's a shame as there's a USB connection on pretty much every peripheral these days. If this is a problem though, a multiple USB hub can be purchased separately for under a tenner on good old Ebay.
It has a Lithium ion battery, which means you don't have to let the battery discharge fully before recharging and it wont get damaged. Battery life is 3.8 hours, this is a long time compared to other laptops, I've known most to only last an hour! Although it depends what its being used for; e.g. if your on the net, listening to your music and playing games at the same time as files are downloading, it obviously wont last the full 3.8 hours! It displays the percentage of the battery , but it doesn't tell you how much time (in minutes) the battery has left like I've seen on other laptops, which I think is a bit of a let down from Sony.
As a Sony product, it comes with the standard Sony 1 year warranty, which can be registered easily online. Before purchasing this laptop, I've read that the serial number is hard to find, which I was quite worried about when it came to registering. The serial number can simply be found in the Vaio Control Centre under System information.
I think this laptop would be perfect for someone who is into photography, thanks to the handy card readers and the lifelike colours on the x-Black screen.
All in all I think this is a great laptop, Sony have done a great job at producing a laptop that is pretty speedy thanks to the Centrino Core Duo processor and 1GB RAM. It is also capable of running Windows Vista, so it should last you a long time! At such an affordable price I would definitely recommend it to anyone!
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Feb 12th, 2007
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