The VAIO S (starts at $1,099; $1,399 as tested) is a modern ultraportable with a weak conventional streak. It's just as appropriate for business and power users who want something slim, light, and catchy as it is for those who meet heritage equipment as part of their daily routine. You won't find all the newest bells and whistles here, but if you're a small business owner or worker who needs power and elegance, or if you can't get along without a laptop that can connect to wired networks and projectors, the VAIO S could be for you.
Design and Features
Made of black painted magnesium blend and a little wedge shaped, the VAIO S measures 0.71 by 12.68 by 8.53 inches (HWD) at its thickest point, tapering down to 0.52 inch at the front edge, it weighs in at 2.25 pounds. It's not quite as slim as the Asus ZenBook 3 (UX390UA) or the Acer Swift 7 (at 0.39 inch, our current thinness champ), but it's surely in the same grade as the Rose Gold Edition Dell XPS 13 Touch, our latest top pick for ultraportables.
The Chiclet style keyboard has good backlighting for use in darkened rooms. It feels good to type on, though there is a bit of bend if you press the middle keys hard. The keys are quiet, which will help if your office mates are sensitive to typing sounds. The back of the top lid enlarge under the bottom lid when open, and increase the keyboard angle a bit for typing ease. It works well on a coffee shop table, but may dig into your legs if you're holding the system on your lap.
Read other : Asus ROG G752VT-DH72
On the black colored brushed metal palm rest is a multitouch touchpad with physical left and right click mouse buttons, which is a plus if you like physical feedback for clicks. It's a matter of personal preference, but separate buttons let you know you're left clicking instead of right clicking when selecting a single box in a 200,000-cell spreadsheet, for example. That's not always apparent when you click the center of a one piece touchpad. On the other hand, the touchpad is smaller than we've seen on new laptops like the XPS 13 Touchand its XPS 13 2-in-1 variant. This is inverse to the current trends of wider touchpads on laptops.
The 13.3 inches non touch display has a full HD (1,920-by-1,080) resolution, which is good for apps that display a lot of data. Sure, a 3K or QHD screen, which you will find on the Dell XPS 13 Touch and the New Razer Blade Stealth, may be able to show more information at native resolution, but at full zoom the text in your spreadsheets may look like a 5 points font or smaller. Viewing angles are good, so you don't have to turn the laptop too far to show something to a close colleague.
If you regularly need to connect with older equipment, the VAIO S features both Ethernet and VGA ports, so you'll be able to connect to almost any network or conference room projector. There is, however, no USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 technology, which you will find on thin laptops like the newest base model of the 13 inches Apple MacBook Pro, the Dell XPS 13 Touch, and the HP Spectre 13.
Two USB 3.0 ports and the power jack are on the laptop's left side, while the Ethernet, HDMI, headset, and VGA ports are on the right, along with an SD card reader and a third USB 3.0 port. The AC adapter has another USB charging port (for your phone) on the power brick, which is a nice touch. Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11ac handle wireless connections.
The VAIO S hits the sweet spot for midrange and high end systems in terms of memory and storage. It has a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM, the latter giving you plenty of overhead for multitasking, so you can have dozens of tabs open in your favorite browser, plus a spreadsheet program, Microsoft Word, a messaging app, an email client, and Spotify for listening to background music. There are a few extra VAIO apps on the laptop, mainly for managing power usage, turning on or off the touchpad, and the like, but you will still have a lot of space left over for office documents and your personal files. The system comes with a one year warranty.
Performance
The system is equipped with an Intel Core i7-6500U processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 520, which positions it well for day to day office tasks and delivers enough power that it won't need to be replaced anytime soon. This is confirmed by its above average score of 2,993 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test. That's higher than we've seen from ultraportables like the Acer Swift 7 and the Dell XPS 13 Touch, but below the Asus ZenBook 3, the HP Spectre 13, and the HP Spectre x360 13-w023dx. On multimedia tasks like HandBrake (2:15), CineBench (324), and Photoshop (4:30), the VAIO S was in step with competitors like the HP Spectre 13, the 13 inches MacBook Pro, and the ZenBook 3. The VAIO S's 3D scores were in the same ballpark as those of the other laptops here: fine for casual play, but not for hard core gaming.
The VAIO S lasted 8 hours, 8 minutes, on our battery rundown test. That's very good, and qualifies as all day computing. But it's still a bit short when compared with ultraportables that last 11 (the Apple MacBook, the Dell XPS 13 Touch), 12 (the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the XPS 13 2-in-1), or even 14 hours (the Spectre x360 13-w023dx). On the bright side, it will encourage you to do a regular 8 hours day of work untethered, and leave the VAIO S in the office to recharge at the end of the day.
A Capable, Versatile Ultraportable
An attractive ultraportable laptop that's ready to serve you for the next few years as a personal or small business computer, the VAIO S has the speed to keep up with a multipage Excel spreadsheet, and its light weight means it's no trouble to carry between your clients' offices and then back home. The Dell XPS 13 Touch remains our Editors' Choice because of its longer battery life, better ergonomics from a more comfortable keyboard and a wider touchpad, its use of more forward-looking technologies with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, and a higher resolution screen. However, If you're looking to keep your purchase price between $1,250 and $1,599, then the New Razer Blade Stealth with Core i7 processor and QHD touch screen or the Asus ZenBook 3 are definitely decent of space on your short list. But if you enjoy its aesthetics, the VAIO S is a good choice, especially if wired networks or VGA projectors play a major role in the work you do.
Thank you for visiting. Please leave a comment or request the computer or laptop you want to review. ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon