MSRP: $700
Best Features: Large screen size, fast processor
Worst Features: Poor battery life, unflattering design
Conclusion: The fast processor and great graphics card makes the affordable Sony VPC a great large screen laptop for work and play.
This Sony VAIO VPC E review is specific to the EB42FX laptop. Most of the E series will have the same basic components. The Sony E Series VAIO is a top selling laptop in the Sony lineup. The E Series is designed for extreme computing, and can replace a standard desktop PC for many people. Starting at $699, this is an affordable option for those who need a high performance laptop without wanting to spend thousands of dollars. The bargain Sony VAIO VPC offers everything you would need; including 4GB of memory, a Core i3 processor, an extended number pad, easy to control keyboard and mouse, and more.
Sony VAIO E Pros
The VAIO E certainly has some amazing features. The large 15 ½ inch wide screen is crystal clear. It has 1080p HD performance as well. This is large enough to easily read books, watch movies, or work on several spreadsheets without causing any issues. For a budget laptop, the clarity is pretty impressive. This is important to many, and some of the best reviews of the Sony VAIO VPC E have to do with the graphics and display capabilities.
The Intel Media HD graphics card makes this high performance laptop easy to play demanding games on for those who are serious gamers. The 500GB hard drive provides plenty of space, and the 2.13 GHz processor makes switching between applications very fast.
They keyboard is very responsive, and is almost full sized. People who are touch typists will like this feature. The key pad is also a plus for many people. It’s not common to find a key pad on other laptop computers in the same size category as the affordable Sony VAIO VPC.
You’ll also enjoy built in WI-FI finders, Bluetooth capability, and a DVD burner, which most laptops in this class don’t offer. The DVD burner doesn’t overheat or get hot to the touch either like other laptops in the same category.
The base package offers Windows 7 Home Premium in 64 bit. The cheapest Sony VAIO VPC E will have the standard Windows package, and this is more than enough for the average user.
Fun colors are available, helping to distract from the basic design, which some users have said is boring. You can find the E series in bright blue, hot pink, green, gunmetal, black, and white. It’s also a pretty heavy duty laptop, resisting scratches fairly well. Of course, if you drop it there is no guarantee, but it does appear to hold up better than other laptops in its class.
(text link to buy on amazon)
Sony VAIO E Series Cons
It’s hard to find a good laptop that offers performance with a long battery life. Unfortunately, Sony missed the mark with this as well. Running at full performance you may get 1 ½ hours of play time before you need to recharge it. For simple tasks, such as working on a word processor or spreadsheet you can expect around 4 hours. Sony does offer an upgraded battery, but these will only extend the life by so much. If you need to keep your laptop powered for several hours at a time with no access to a wall charger, this can be a huge downfall for you.
While many other laptops offer great performance with a sleek design, the VAIO E does not. The laptop tends to be on the bulkier side, weighing around 6 pounds with the charger. The design leaves a little something to be desired as well. Even with that, the Sony VAIO VPC E series reviews remain pretty high. Style isn’t nearly the most important aspect when comparing a cheap Sony VAIO to other models and brands.
The speakers could be better. You’ll get much better sound with USB external speakers or headphones. The built in sound card could be upgraded, but this may be more of a pain than it’s worth.
Bottom Line
The Sony VAIO VPC E series is a good choice for those who need something that offers more than the base line laptops. If you work and travel a lot, or you are looking for a good laptop for a college student, this is a good choice. This probably isn’t going to be what you need for a child’s first laptop. Those who just need very basic computing performance will likely not use all that the VAIO E series can offer. As far as cheap laptops go, this is definitely one worth considering.
Finding a discount Sony VAIO VPC is pretty easy. You can find plenty of options for the Sony VAIO E series on Amazon. If you’re willing to try a refurbished model you can find a cheap Sony VAIO VPC E online.
RATING: 3.5/5