A Critical Review of the Sony VAIO VGN-NR360E/S 15.4" Notebook

When you think of Sony's Vaio brand of notebooks you often think of sleek high performing notebooks with a high price tag. Sony has recently reduced a number of their notebooks below $1000 allowing the general notebook consumer to own a Vaio. These reductions have caused a flurry of Sony laptop purchases. The Sony VAIO VGN-NR360E/S is a 15.4" notebook that falls into this category. I have been lucky enough to get my hands on one and have decided to give it a try. First let me get started with a few of the basics.

Hardware:

Processor: 1.73 GHz Intel Pentium T2370 dual core

Storage Space: 200 GB hard drive

RAM: 2GB RAM (not upgradable beyond this)

Optical Drive: 8x multi-format CD R/RW with integrated dual-layer DVD drive

Graphics accelerator: Intel X3100 video card (Utilizing up to 358 MB of shared system RAM)

Dimensions: 14.2" x 10.6" x 1.5" and weighing in at 6.2lbs

As always when matched head to head on the showroom floor with other notebooks it is the 15.4" WXGA high-definition display, producing its 1280 x 800 resolution that really catches your eye. This notebook has an excellent clear and crisp screen that Sony is known for. The notebook is decently powered but won't be winning any awards. It performs most general computing tasks without trouble but you can expect some lag when you're cranking up the newest game or firing up Photoshop. The mobility isn't too impressive either weighing in at over 6lbs.

Connectivity:

Integrated Wireless

4 2.0 USB ports (to be used to connect a number of peripherals like printers, MP3 players, and digital cameras)

1 FireWire port (designed for high speed data transfer between digital camcorders or other PC's)

1 VGA output (this is a typical monitor connection)

1 ExpressCard slot (to be used to add peripherals like a Bluetooth adapter or a cellular modem)

Memory stick / SD card slot (to allow the direct insertion of solid state memory from your mobile device)

1 audio out / 1 mic in

The connectivity is average although the absence of a Bluetooth adapter is noticeable. This notebook is a great option for students especially or really anyone that needs to do general laptop work (i.e. office programs or Internet browsing). It plays movies and music great, so students that need a little entertainment will be pleased; it just won't play high end games (thanks to the mobile Intel graphics card). The current average price is just under $800 which is about right for this notebook considering it is coming from Sony. I would recommend shopping around a little to see if you can find a comparable notebook for a little less, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few out there. In the end though this Sony performs fine, and is a solid notebook from a solid manufacturer.