Sony VAIO VGN-N130G

The Sony VAIO VGN-N130G proves that Apple isn’t the only company that can turn notebooks into design statements. Available in your choice of white, black, or like ours, wenge brown (picture coffee with too much cream), the minimalist, angular machine is intriguingly appealing.

 

The clean, uncluttered design continues under the lid, with a white keyboard (with characters in pleasing blue and orange) set into an expansive deck. Of course, the lack of clutter also means a lack of dedicated multimedia controls, but we suppose that’s the price of visual simplicity. The keyboard and touchpad are comfortable to use, though the mouse-button clicks are a bit too noticeable.

 

The 15.4-inch glossy widescreen delivered rich, vibrant colors and did well with DVD playback. Viewing-angle performance was good side to side, though we noticed a bit more glare from this screen than with other glossy panels. Sound quality is very good, though we would have preferred a bit more volume at the maximum setting.

 

Sony includes the most complete software bundle of this group, a nice bonus for a budget-minded machine. The VAIO Recovery Tools restore preloaded applications and drivers; the VAIO Backup Utility backs up your system; the VAIO Hardware Diagnostics tool checks the health of system components, and DVGate Plus video-editing software lets you make your own movies and burn them with the included multiformat DVD burner. The Media Center Edition OS on our unit can be upgraded to Windows Vista Home Premium at no charge.

 

The VAIO includes the usual ports, though the memory card reader supports only Memory Stick formats and SD. The 1.6-GHz Intel Core Duo T2050 processor delivered a score of 196 on MobileMark 2005: not terrible, but not great. Battery life, too, was merely okay, at 3 hours and 45 minutes. Wireless throughput (15.2 Mbps) was good, and if you dial back the display settings, you can get a playable 44 fps on F.E.A.R.

 

The Dell Inspiron E1505 edges out the VAIO with its better performance, but if you want to trade some speed for a classic—as opposed to trendy—design statement, the VAIO is the better choice.

 

Don’t miss our comparison product roundup: Dual Core Notebooks Under $1000.