Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC: Stylish and Portable Notebook

The Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC is one of Sony's portable notebooks that incorporates a solid state drive. It is small, portable, beautiful and packed with features that you won't expect on a 11.1 inch device.

The Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC has a gorgeous black carbon-fiber casing. Carbon fiber is the material used in jets and sports car (maybe that's why it is such an expensive notebook) that makes them sturdy but lightweight. Well, the carbon fiber casing did indeed make the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC lightweight as it only weighs 2.6 pounds, about the durability, well, only time can tell, I'm not about to drop my cousin's $3000 dollar laptop just to test "durability".

The 11.1 inch WXGA wide screen display is small but the XBRITE-HiColor Technology enables you to view vibrant, clear and crisp pictures with minimal reflection when using your notebook outdoors during sunny conditions. The only downside of having a small LCD is that small text is very difficult to view which probably isn't a good thing for those who are visually impaired.

The Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC also boasts of a built-in web camera, speakers and fingerprint reader on its small body. How Sony was able to put all of that on th device without compromising design or performance is truly an engineering marvel. Typing on the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC is also enjoyable. I expected the keys to feel a bit cramped since the device is small but the raised keys and ergonomic design is user-friendly.

Since the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC has a solid state hard drive, storage capacity is limited only to 32GB. Sony boasts that flash memory increases your notebook performance with faster boot-ups and loading of applications. I really don't feel that there was a difference though I didn't exactly time it, but the time the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC took to boot up felt exactly the same as other laptops. Maybe the difference is only a few seconds or maybe it's because other laptops I've tested has a faster processor. To be comparable, I needed to test it on a laptop with similar specifications but different hard drives. The good thing about solid state hard drives is that it reduces hard drive failure because it has no moving parts.

Connectivity is also not a problem with the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC, it has built in Bluetooth, Wireless 802.11 a./b/g/h LAN, and Wireless WAN that uses the Sprint Mobile Broadband Service. For me, Wireless WAN networks on a laptop should be a must just like Wireless LAN. WAN networks allows you to connect to the Internet even if you're not in a hotspot. You just need a compatible simcard from Sprint so you can access the internet using their EV-DO mobile network.

Though the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC is a beautiful and portable device, I really don't recommend it for the power user. Though the battery life of the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ19N/XC can last up to 7.5 hours, more than double the battery life of other laptops, the limited storage capacity would deter you from fully enjoying the device.