A Product Review of the Super Mobile VAIO VGN-SZ645P2 13.3" Laptop from Sony

Super mobile notebooks are all the rage right now thanks to the recent release and subsequent advertising campaign of Apple's Air. These little notebooks are flying off the shelf and that includes offerings from Sony as well. In this review I've gotten my hands on the petite 13.3" Sony VAIO VGN-SZ645P2 and have decided to take it for a spin. I'm going to let you know what this little guy is made of and who is going to get the most for shelling out the dough for one of these beauties. First I'll get started by popping the hood.

Hardware:

Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250

Storage Space: 120 GB hard drive

RAM: 2 GB of installed RAM (upgradable to a 4 GB maximum)

Optical Drive: A CD R/RW with integrated dual layer DVD drive (8x DVD+/-R)

Graphics Accelerator: A top of the line Hybrid System letting you toggle between a NVidia GeForce 8400M GS (using up to 319 MB of shared video RAM) or a power saving integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (250 MB shared)

Dimensions: 12.5" x 1.5" x 9.3" and it weighs in at 4.2 lbs

This is a wonderful notebook with amazing options. As so often is the case the most noticeable thing about this Sony notebook is the XBRITE LCD display which is currently maxed out producing a clean and crisp 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The graphics card hybrid option is wonderful and really adds to the notebooks appeal as it expands its versatility. This notebook plays games as well as it hits the road with these power saving features, it's like have your cake and eating it too. The weight is not a problem either at just over 4 lbs. The notebook only comes with 2GB of RAM which is enough for most applications and it is also upgradable increasing the likely hood that you'll be keeping this notebook for some time.

Connectivity:

2 2.0 USB 2.0 ports (to be used to connect most peripherals like digital cameras, printers and MP3 players)

1 FireWire port (this is used for high speed data transfer typically between a digital camcorder or another PC)

1 VGA port (this is the typical monitor connection)

1 ExpressCard slot (this is used to add peripherals like a cellular modem)

1 PCMCIA (like slot above only older)

1 audio out / 1 mic in

5 in 1 card reader (to you can insert the memory from your mobile devices directly into the notebook)

1 Ethernet port (so you can connect to a wired LAN)

1 56k modem port (to you can dial up with this notebook)

This notebook has everything one would expect. I do think it is probably missing a usb port, although it is so small I don't know where they could squeeze another in. Priced at $1500 this notebook does it all. It has the performance of a larger machine with the mobility of a 13.3". It will please about every consumer except the hardcore gamer (but they would want a bigger screen anyway). I don't expect a drastic price reduction but perhaps since Sony has switched over largely to the newer Penryn processor we'll see some reductions in these that still use the Core 2 duo as a power plant.