Sony Vaio VPCF21Z1E

I got to test this for a week. it's heavy and expensive, but fast and reliable; it's not a laptop anymore, it's a machine. so, if you think it can decently replace a blu-ray player&recorder, a 3D TV (glasses included), a playstation and a computer, it may be worth it. I have to say I only used it to watch movies and as a computer, not to play games - but I expect there are on the internet dedicated reviews for this alone :)

a bit in detail:

design:
somewhat awkward, but interesting in its own way. one could definitely not describe it as compact. the keybord is backlit, which is a great feature, and dims out after a while. the touchpad is placed slightly to the left, a bit unnatural if you're used with its regular central place, but in time proves useful. the touchpad also has a texture that helps you find it in the dark while watching movies. I could however do with less shine.

display:
it's native fullHD, 1920x1080 pixels. the sharpness, contrast and colors are amazing. sony claims the refresh rate on this one is 240Hz - I can't tell, but it does make picture motion much more fluent than the usual 60Hz. the 3D watching experience is great, too. there is a dedicated button above the keyboard that lets you switch from 2D to 3D and backwards. however, the unit recognizes both if the movie is 3D and if the glasses are turned on, and it switches automatically to 3D. I watched "alice in wonderland" and "cloudy with a chance of meatballs" - mind you 3D watching is a bit exhhausting, after every 40 minutes to 1 hour I began to experience a little headache.

power:
powered by a 2nd-gen i7 2GHz quad-core processor, which comes with turbo boost that takes it up to 2.9GHz when needed, and thanks to the 8GB of RAM behind it, there is no wonder that it moves briliantly. it doesn't sweat, it's silent and responsive. the video chipset itself is a good match - an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M, with a dedicated 1GB RAM. so, no surprises here.

connectivity:
the usual USB ports, definitelly HDMI, wi-fi and the sort. no surprises here either.

battery:
bad surprise. it lasts less than 90 minutes when used heavily, but I think one should expect this, considering the level of consumption coming from the display, the video chipset, the processor etc. nevertheless, I believe sony could have found a better solution here.

OS and software:
pre-installed windows 7 home premium on 64-bit, adobe photoshop and premiere, a number of 3D media players to choose from, plus the always handy dandy vaio goodies, I especially enjoyed vaio gate, which is a sort of a customizable retractable shortcut stripe placed on top of the screen.

so, if you are a regular gamer or a gadget freak, and you have disposable income, this laptop is definitely worth exploring, at least for a test drive.