Sony has thus far taken a position adjacent to Apple's when it comes to the question of netbooks. Rather than embracing these low-cost, low-power systems that have become incredibly popular with bargain-hunters, Sony stayed out of the market initially. Its subsequent entries have skirted the outer edges of the category, offering premium designs at premium prices (as in the £349 inc. VAT VAIO W).
The VAIO X is the latest, and like Sony's previous Atom-powered high-concept P series, it has only one foot in the netbook camp. Incredibly thin and light, thanks to its carbon fibre chassis and solid-state drive, the 11.1in. VAIO X looks like a high-end ultraportable. It's so weightless that several people picked up our review unit and asked if it was a dummy mockup build, instead of a fully functioning PC.
The extreme design doesn't seem out of place for £1,359 (inc. VAT), if the performance could keep up. Instead, the VAIO X uses Intel's 2.0GHz Atom Z550, a small step up from the same Atom CPUs found in £300 netbooks. Adding 2GB of RAM and Windows 7 helps, and the system is slightly faster than other Atom-powered notebooks we've tested, but the VAIO X still offers essentially netbook-level performance in an extremely expensive package.
And yet, using the VAIO X in coffee shops and on the couch, we found ourselves greatly enjoying the experience. A little bit of luxury goes a long way in a market dominated by price-cutting and commodity products. This is nowhere near the best bang for your buck, but the VAIO X certainly has a place in the hearts of those looking for a brag-worthy conversation piece.
Designed for maximum visual impact, our VAIO X was both extremely thin (1.39cm) and light (780g without the A/C adapter or extended battery), and was also clad in blingy gold. Sony calls this version the Signature Collection, and at least it's a subtle matte finish. A black edition, with a smaller 64GB SSD drive, is available for £40 less.
Thanks to the SSD-only design, the system is incredibly light. Although we have confidence in the ruggedness of the carbon fibre construction, the lid flexed a bit too much under our fingers, especially when opening and closing the lid, which made it feel a little fragile.
The standard Sony VAIO keyboard layout, with its flat-topped and widely spaced keys, works well on larger notebooks. On a netbook-sized unit, the individual keys end up a bit too small, especially compared with what other 11.1in. netbooks have done to maximise typing comfort. The right shift key is particularly tiny. The square touchpad is also on the small side, and leaves a lot of empty space on the wrist rest. Except for a power button, there are no quick-launch or media control buttons, either, making this less than ideal for media playback on the go.
The 11.1in. wide-screen LED display offers a native resolution of 1,366-by-768 pixels, which is standard for an high-end netbook (basic 10in. and 11in. systems typically have 1,280-by-800 screens). Images are clear and bright, and the screen is, thankfully, not especially glossy.
With a system this expensive, it makes sense that mobile broadband is included by default. As always, Sony makes room for a Memory Stick slot, but only a single audio jack for headphone and mic use. Since the VAIO X is so slim, there's barely room for an Ethernet jack — it literally folds out to accommodate a data cable. The standard VGA jack juts out slightly from the side, although we'd rather have an HDMI port, which could have been a better fit.
Although the 128GB SSD drive, mobile broadband, Windows 7 (Home Premium on our review unit, with Professional also available) and 2GB of RAM are all high-end parts, the £1,359 (inc. VAT) VAIO X uses a processor from the Intel Atom family as its CPU. That might be fine for a premium netbook, but prices for those systems typically top out at around £500 at most. At well over double that, buyers could very well have unrealistic expectations about performance.
At 2.0GHz, the Intel Atom Z550 has a faster clock speed than the 1.6GHz and 1.66GHz Atom N270 and N280 processors found in the vast majority of netbooks. In our benchmark tests, it was, indeed, slightly faster than systems with those slower Atoms, including Sony's VAIO W netbook. In practice, the VAIO X felt like an excellent netbook experience, especially combined with Windows 7 and 2GB of RAM (Windows XP Netbooks were restricted to 1GB). But if you're expecting premium performance for a premium price, those expectations may be unrealistic. The VAIO X remains best suited for basic tasks, such as web surfing and email.
There may not be room for it in the thin chassis, but we'd love to see a dual-core ULV Intel processor (as in the Toshiba T135), and Nvidia's Ion netbook GPU, to help with HD video playback (as featured on HP's Mini 311). Until that happens, it's important to keep in mind that you're paying for the design and build quality, not performance.
The VAIO X ran for 2 hours and 23 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the default battery. That was on the low side, especially for a netbook designed for on-the-go use. With the optional extended battery fitted, the results were much more impressive, at 9 hours and 49 minutes. That's easily among the best battery life scores we've seen, but the extended battery is just plain huge — nearly as big and heavy as the system itself.
Sony includes a one-year warranty with the system — although buying such a premium-priced notebook may tempt you to purchase extended coverage (a two-year extension will cost you £129). Support is available via the phone, an online knowledge base and driver downloads.
Benchmarks
Specifications
| Audio | |
|---|---|
| Audio processor | Intel High Definition Audio |
| Microphone | yes |
| Speakers | stereo |
| Audio connectors | headphone |
| Battery | |
| Battery technology | Li-ion |
| Estimated battery life (mfr) | 8 h |
| Number of batteries supplied | 1 |
| Cabinet (chassis) | |
| Case form factor | clamshell |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 27.8x1.39x18.5 cm |
| Weight | 0.780 kg |
| Colour | Gold |
| Display | |
| Display technology | TFT (LED-backlit, X-black) |
| Display diagonal size | 11.1 in |
| Maximum resolution | 1366x768 pixels |
| Expansion slots | |
| Flash card | SD- and Memory Stick-compatible media |
| Hard drive storage | |
| Hard drive interface type | SATA |
| Hard drive type | solid state |
| Hard drive size | 128 GB |
| Storage controller | Serial ATA |
| Input | |
| Pointing devices | 2-button touchpad |
| Keyboard | 83 keys (chiclet-type) |
| Interfaces & networking | |
| USB | 2 |
| Ethernet | Gigabit Ethernet |
| VGA (analogue) | 1 |
| Bluetooth | 2.1+EDR |
| Wireless LAN | 802.11a/b/g, Draft-N |
| Wireless WAN | HSPA (7.2Mbps down, 5.7Mbps up) |
| Memory | |
| RAM installed | 2048 MB |
| Number of memory slots | 1 |
| RAM capacity | 2 GB |
| RAM type | DDR2 SDRAM |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Accessories | AC adapter |
| Other | 0.3-megapixel Motion Eye webcam |
| Motherboard | |
| Chipset | Intel System Controller Hub US15W |
| OS & software | |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium |
| Software included | Windows Media Player 11, Picture Motion Browser, Adobe Reader 9, Microsoft Office Ready 2007 (60 days Try & Buy), McAfee Internet Security Suite (with 60 days free virus updates), VAIO Recovery Utility - HDD recovery (hidden partition), Internet Explorer 8 |
| Processor | |
| Processor manufacturer | Intel |
| Processor model | Atom Z550 |
| Clock speed | 2 GHz |
| Level 2 cache | 512 MB |
| Service & support | |
| Standard warranty | 1 year |
| Video | |
| Graphics processor | Intel GMA 500 |
| Graphics RAM | 760 MB |
| Graphics memory technology | Dynamic Video Memory Technology |
| Expand | |
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