Sony Vaio VGN-TX2XP/B

This laptop was bought as a replacement to my Sony VAIO TR1MP which was stolen from me in March. It has all the same functionality as the standard TR and TX range with a few adjustments and upgrades.

The TX2XP ships with 1GB or memory which is shared with the graphics card (which comes set at 128MB). The memory can be upgraded with a further 512MB should you feel the need. The hard disk drive size has also been substantially increased from a measly (and easily fillable) 30GB drive to a whopping 80GB drive. The internal optical drive has also been changed from a CD-RW/DVD drive to a Re-writeable DVD drive. The processor is also a step up from a 900Mhz Pentium M processor to a 1200Mhz Pentium M processor. The Pentium M is perfect for this laptop as it allows the battery to last so much longer than standard laptops. I've had it running for up to 6 hours at work before it went into hibernation mode and safely switched off.

Playing DVD's is a dream on this screen with pixel perfect resolution. One fantastic addition to this range of VAIO laptops is the "A/V" mode, allowing the computer to be switched on and used as a DVD player, CD Player or image viewer without having to boot into an operating system. This saves on battery power substantially. An excellent feature.

I use the wireless functionality on a daily basis at work and at home, and consistantly the speeds are high and the connections never fail. I also use the bluetooth regularly alongside my Nokia 6280, allowing me to send text messages from my laptop as well as take regular back-ups, make adjustments to the phone book, get on the internet with the phone's 3G functionality, etc. The wireless card supports both 802.11b and G modes. This basically means it can handle the original type of wireless communication (B) as well as the newer and faster wireless speeds (G). I have no boubt however that we will have the technology in the future to handle even faster wireless modes, but with broadband here in the UK not up to the standard of the USA or Korea, I don't see us needing faster wireless functionality if the broaddband speeds are slow anyway.

One problem I had with the TR1MP was that the USB ports were on either side of the laptop. For me, this was an issue as I was using an external hard drive for video editing which required power from two USB ports in order to run without an external power supply, and the cable supplied would not allow me to plug into both ports due to it's short length. Sony have rectified this by having both USB ports on the same side. They have also relocated the optical drive from sliding out the front to sliding out from the right. This is much better for using on a desk as I was constantly having to push the laptop away from me to put in or take out CD's and DVD's.

Lastly, although I have mentioned that the screen is fantastic for DVD's, I have a slight issue with the quality of it. The resolution is great but I find it looks grainy, almost like fine sand, on certain backgrounds. If I put the background to pure white it becomes very noticeable. I don't understand this as the screen is apparently the same as the TR1MP which did not have this issue. However, to add to the positivity of the screen, Sony have included "dual lamp" technology for this range which basically means that there is even light across the entire screen with no fading at the ends or in the corners. It also means, so I have noticed, that the middle fifth of the screen seems to be slightly darker, perhaps where the dual lamps overlap each other. This causes an off-balance of brightness in certain colour-strenuous situations. An example of this is when I am editing photographs. I find I have to drag the image across both sides of the screen to make sure I am happy with the image... but then, I am a bit of a perfectionist! I think most people wouldn't notice this brightness issue. The screen also has Sony's patented Onyx black technology, giving a much better spectrum of contrast. This is definitely an advantage over every other laptop I have seen.

Did I mention the casing is made of carbon (Carbon Quartz to be exact)? Talk about thin and light! It weighs almost nothing at all when put inside my backpack for work. It means I'm not carrying around a large laptop case which basically has "steal me" written on the side! With these dimensions, small and sleek, this laptop will easily slide into suitcases, backpacks, rucksacks. It even fits inside the glove compartment of our car.

So, overall I think this is a lovely little laptop. Powerful enough for some games, although it's not designed to be a games machine. It has ample communication options and ports for every appliance (including a 4 port firewire port at the back) and a built in card reader in the front for the Sony Memory Stick and SD cards.

Another Sony winner, by far.