Color:Brown Media:Personal Computers Autographed:No Memorabilia:No Batteries Included:Yes Operating System:Windows 7 Starter CPU Manufacturer:Intel CPU Speed:1.66 CPU Type:Intel Atom N280 Processors:1 System Bus Speed:667 System Memory:1 Memory Type:SDRAM Hard Drive Size:250 Floppy Disk Drive:None Modem:None Display Size:10.10 Battery:1 Rechargeable Li-ion Shipping Weight (lbs):2.6 Dimensions (in):7.1 x 10.5 x 1.3 Warranty:1 year warranty
Buzz Kill!October 29, 2009 Pamela Van Beekum(San Francisco) 74 out of 85 found this review helpful
Sony has made a big mistake in how they have represented this net book or mini Vaio. Sony evidently can't produce a netbook style computer with competitive battery life and ship it with the monster high capacity battery that is competitive and lasts 7 hours but ruins the sleek look of the computer. Even on Sony's Web site as well as Amazon's they present this laptop in every photo with a sleek profile and a small battery that they claim lasts 7 hours.
Big untruth. Or shall we cut to the chase and say that it is a lie and deceptive. The computer arrives with the large capacity battery which is the only one that can last 7 hours and the reason it is not pictured is because this darling mini vaio looks like it has a tumor growing from it. The profile is NOTHING like pictured in all the images on both the Sony and Amazon's site.
I do love the computer itself - it is amazing and unlike some netbooks it will run more than just surfing programs and has an awesome 250gb.
This put me in a conundrum as I love the pc but hate the battery and certainly didn't want to buy another $89 battery with only 2.5 hours capacity.
Amazon in all their greatness made this good for me and are sending me the real standard battery at no cost while allowing me to keep the tumor battery for the times I need the longer battery life. It doesn't make me real happy to only have a 2.5 battery life but for those times I want the sleekness it will be perfect.
Without Amazon and their high integrity, I would have sent this back and been pretty disappointed at my time being wasted.
Thank you Amazon. And Sony - this is really a regrettable sales practice - and actually not legal.
Quality NetbookJanuary 5, 2010 Mark(Indiana) 17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I am very satisfied with my W Series netbook. I was aware of the criticisms posted by some other reviewers. The netbook works fine for me. The profile photo on Amazon clearly shows the battery unlike some other sites. It doesn't bother me at all. It tilts the netbook at a nice angle, and it keeps the netbook cooler. The fan is not that loud. The display is great! The high resolution images are superb. If you are far-sighted, you might want something else. I like the clarity of the images. The right shift key is small, but I have adjusted. The keyboard feels nice and I can type fairly rapidly. I bought it for reading email, surfing the web, and working on basic Office documents. It does all of these things well. There are cheaper products, but I like the Sony quality and reliability. I recommend this netbook.
Superficially attractive design, but beware of functional issuesDecember 13, 2009 Robert L. Estes(Nashville, TN USA) 15 out of 16 found this review helpful
I have been using one of these (brown finish) for about 6 weeks, and I must say that it is a mixed-bag, ultimately disappointing for the premium price level. The physical appearance is quite nice, consistent with other VAIO designs, and the screen resolution is excellent. The extended-life battery helps to tilt the keyboard when sitting on a desk, so the bulge doesn't bother me; but the small chicklet keys and layout will bother many potential users, particularly since there are plenty of netbooks with side-to-side keyboards and larger, easier to stroke keys. The small "shift" key is particularly annoying - I frequently hit the adjacent "up" key, positioning text where I don't want it to be. The memory-stick slot can be dedicated to ReadyBoost use while keeping the SD slot open; but there are only 2 USB connectors - many less expensive units have three. Upgrading the memory to 2 GB ($40 extra, advisable for a netbook running Windows 7) is a chore, requiring the keyboard to be removed for access to the slot. I broke a small plastic retainer when doing this, so the right side of the keyboard would not stay flat when re-positioned until I fixed the break with Gorilla Glue - and probably voided the warranty in the process. Another early problem: unless a separate "lock" tab for the battery is engaged, moving the unit or maximally tilting the screen back can move the contacts just enough to shut down the unit, requiring a cold re-boot (and losing any unsaved data). It does perform well once configured with 2 GB of memory and a 2 GB ReadyBoost drive.
If you are a Sony addict like me, this one is a better buy than the originally released W111AX models; but if I had looked at these units more critically, I would probably have purchased one of the less expensive, full-width keyboard models by Toshiba, HP, or other manufacturers.
Netbook done well.December 25, 2009 Richard T. Berman(Minneapolis, MN USA) 8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I read all the Amazon-based customer reviews and ended up purchasing the white VAIO. I had a netbook already, an early issue bargain-basement Dell 9" that mainly taught me what I wanted instead, and this Sony is it. Let me react to a number of specifics some others have voiced concerns about. I list the two downside comments at the bottom of this review, but here is the long list of the upside points:
Battery -- (1) it is large and unconventional in shape, but I actually like it -- it tilts the netbook at a great angle; (2) battery life is as advertised -- over seven hours -- and that is terrific (my Dell lasted only two hours off a full charge).
Chip -- the 1.66 (rather than 1.6) is unusual among netbooks of this generation.
Fan motor -- it is just about ever-present, but it is low-tone and I easily got used to it; more important, it does its job, keeping the netbook cooler -- my Dell was hot to the touch and I couldn't do anything about it, except take it out of action, to cool it down.
Keyboard -- HUGE difference from Dell and many other brands; the VAIO keyboard is right-sized, has more keys in better locations, and are elevated from the deck, all making this keyboard much better.
The 250g hard drive easily accommodates a range of software, where my Dell struggled with its 80g.
Built-in camera is way better than the one is the Dell, one Skype with my son made that clear.
I haven't used the on-board slots for memory cards yet, but look forward to using them and am pleased they are there.
Resolution is great; on-board speakers are dreadful, but it does have high definition capability for headphones and external speakers.
Just so you know, the white color is more a seashell than white -- really nice, but cosmetic value only.
The downside -- (1) I love Windows 7, but wish I could upgrade to Home Premium; (2) biggest downer is the 1G limitation on memory -- with lots of software loaded it seems like it will drag a bit, but hasn't yet -- and besides, most netbooks are similarly limited. UPDATE ON DOWNSIDE: Another owner of one of these pointed out that I could do both of these upgrades. So there is no downside for me at all now. By the way, it's personal preference, but now that I've used this for a while, I like the tilt that the extended life battery gives the deck -- even more! It is a little gawky when it's in the travel sleeve (foam), but that's no biggie at all.
Overall? Love it! Recommendation -- do it once and do it right -- buy this one.
hey don't dismiss this thing!January 31, 2010 Fenery(Orlando) 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ok i was reading through all the reviews here before i went and bought a netbook and I have to say i was scared by the reviews on here. The fat battery thing in particular. Well I got one anyway and I had to say that i am NOT disappointed in any way so far. Yes it does indeed have a very strange battery design, possibly even ugly....BUT it has an amazing battery life and other than that it's awesome! This little guy is weightless and works like a charm. It can do everything my mac powerbook can do and it's a lot smaller and lighter. It did have a small issue in that windows 7 starter wouldn't let me make my own wallpaper at first and that's BAD! But before you get mad like I did, let me inform you that you can you know *nudge* *nudge* fix it, so that you can make your own wallpaper no sweat. So once that problem was overcome I so far haven't had any issues using it to everything i usually do on a laptop. Watch movies, download files, itunes, etc. I don't recommend anything like dvd creation or things like that, but that's obvious anyway....
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