Sony Vaio VPCY118GX/BI

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Reviews for the Sony Vaio VPCY118GX/BI

80% Sony VAIO VPC-Y118GX/BI 13.3-inch Ultraportable Laptop PC
Source: Comp Reviews Archive.org version
Sony's VAIO Y series ultraportables may be affordable for the brand but it does cost several hundred more than the competition. What this extra money does pay for is a much more durable magnesium chassis and some peripheral ports not found on any of the competitions units. Performance is typical but the battery life is a bit below average and Sony's claims.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 03/24/2010
Rating: Total score: 80%

70% Sony VAIO Y Series
Source: Laptop Mag Archive.org version
Sony’s first 13-inch ULV ultraportable offers a durable magnesium design, sound ergonomics, and good performance for an affordable price. Sony took its sweet time bringing its first 13-inch ULV ultraportable to market, but it was worth the wait. It offers a more durable design than the ASUS UL30A ($799) and a better touchpad than the HP Pavilion dm3 ($814 when similarly configured). But while the VAIO Y’s nearly 6.5 hours of battery life is good, both the ASUS and HP machines last over 9 hours on a charge.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/28/2010
Rating: Total score: 70%

Comment

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) HD Graphics: Onboard graphics card that is built in the new Arrandale CPUs (Core i3 / i5 / i7 Dual Cores). Depending on the model and Turbo Boost, the GMA HD is clocked between 166 and 766 MHz.

Only some 3D games with very low demands are playable with these cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

Intel Core 2 Duo: This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).

The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.

SU7300: Slow clocked dual core processor with a low TDP of 10 Watt.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

13.30":

There are hardly any tablets in this display size range anymore. For subnotebooks, on the other hand, it is the standard format.

The advantage of subnotebooks is that the entire laptop can be small and therefore easily portable. The smaller display also has the advantage of requiring less power, which further improves battery life and thus mobility. The disadvantage is that reading texts is more strenuous on the eyes. High resolutions are more likely to be found in standard laptops.

Sony: Sony Corporation is one of the largest Japanese electronics companies. The company was founded in 1946 under a different name and initially produced rice stoves. The company launched the first transistor radio. In 1958, the company was renamed Sony. Sony is a combination of the Latin word sonus (sound) and the English word sonny (little boy). Today, its core business is consumer electronics. The company is engaged in the development, design, manufacture and sale of electronic equipment, instruments, devices, game consoles and software. Sony operates in the following segments: Gaming and Network Services, Music, Images, Home Entertainment and Sound, Imaging Products and Solutions, Mobile Communications, Semiconductors, Financial Services and Others.

75%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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