...reviewing the Sony Vaio VPC W11 S1E/White

Now, it might be the fact that I watched 2012 a few days ago, or it might be because I love Sony stuff or it might just be because other netbook's just aren't as cool...

Or it might be all of those things, but the reasons behind the purchase of the Sony W11 was a basic need to do internetty things beyond my iPod touch and do some type-e-type in a library or mcdonalds or starbucks, nursing that one macchaito allday.

The big factor in buying one now was twofold, mother kindly gave me some birthday money and secondly, the price of the Sony pushed it into an area filled with some older or more basic netbooks.

Sony make quality products, it a fact. They're like the Audi of electronics. Well, at least the VW Golf.

Most netbooks are basically the same machines; an Intel Atom processor with a Gig of RAM and a harddrive ranging from 120 to 160 to an expensive 320GB.
The processor speeds or numbers are becoming a new way to confuse us all. Remember when it was just a 486, 586, pentium and that was it. Pentium was newer and better than a 586, which in turn was better than a 486. Easy as.
Now Intel have a complete range of chippy bits. Plus then there's AMD and their range of numbers and names.
Anyway, the Atom is Intel's smallest processor and in the Sony, it's a N280. Which I'm thinking is better than the N270 fitted in the comparable Samsung NC10 netbook, which SL's mother has.
The Sony has two USBs, a pointless wired LAN connection and two 35mm jacks for headphones and a mic. It has a mic and small speakers in-built, to go with the 0.3mp webcam above the brilliant netbook best screen. It also has a SD card slot, like others but also a Sony own MemoryStick slot too. The MemoryStick thing is something Sony just won't let go of, even when SD, Flash and others which beat the MS, are now all on the decrease. Memory cards to swap about between things are just not needed anymore. It's just two slots, like a nun, wasted.

Right, so where is the W-series Sony different?
Well, apart from the hi-res screen and the sexy white chassis and case, not much. In fact, at it's normal price (£350), I wouldn't even bother. But at £280, it's pitched up against Acer's, the Samsung NC10 (which is getting on in computer terms) and some patchy Asus. The Sony has a better, more solid two hinge opening and magnetic closure. On the cheaper Asus's, the hinges are on sticks, making it ripe for snapping. Where the Sony is really different though, in a good(ish) way is the design of the keyboard. It's a MacBookPro-esque spaced individual keys with the slightest of movement when depressed.
I'll take a picture on my phone and bluetooth it to the netbook, as like others, bluetooth is de'regur, or whatever. Technology, really, these days.

Sony's W11 and the much more expensive W12 with a 320GB harddrive is available in white, brown and acid pink.

Sony are filling in a middle grown in the technology/style landscape. With computers it is the easiest to explain. Apple with their MacBooks and iMacs are at the high end; expensive stylish, different (but everywhere), and for the arty-types, with there Jamie Oliver scooters and cookbooks. Then you have the PC crowd, all there, sitting, black not beige but still PCs, cheap feeling keyboards, a parts-bin of different makes to create some truly ugly machines. Then there's Sony. Straddling the gap. Better than other PC brands, with a recognisable name and strong image. A decent design dept which manages to create tactile and hardwearing laptops, desktops and now, a bit late, netbooks. Sony also gives the impression they care when their products fail, unlike some fly-by-night brands (looking at you Asus). Sony price themselves into this category too. You have to pay for quality you know.

I've had the netbook for three days now so this was never going to be in-depth now, but it's all positive, bar the missing battery (£88 from Sony and £60+ on eBay) and the spacebar (which only makes a space when typing if you hit it right in the middle, might as well be a space button, like other keys). It would have been nice to have microsoft Word or some of office but nothing come with it as standard these days. I've got a copy of Works, that'll do for writing my drivel.

So to summarise my summary:

+
looks and feels better than the rest of the normal netbooks
good value for a Sony at £280
hi-res screen and brilliant contrast with great backlighting range
lightweight
the cool keyboard looks good and once you get used to it, really nice to use
it's a XP based PC, no Mac snowleopard nonsense here
an N280 instead of a N270, yay
lovely feeling touch pad
If you have this in 2012, you live to see 2013 (2012 the movie)

-
spacebar is not consistently making spaces
0.3mp webcam is only OK for skyping, not for selling your wares, you know, net whoring.
the right hand shift key is tiny and the ?/key's just there, where it should be
battery life is only 2-3hours if you're lucky, Samsung NC10 lasts 4-5hours apparently


 7
---
10

A quality product that's all touchy-feely with a lovely white lid and MacBook-like keyboard, but battery life could/should be better.

Would recommend at this 'bargain' price.