As the Sony Vaio CW Series Red notebook hops onto our desks, here’s an exclusive review of the Sony machine that runs on Windows 7. Sony’s renowned Vaio range of laptops deliver good performance but come with outrageous price tags. It was back in November that the company put to fore its CW Series of power-packed multimedia notebooks. The CW series is where the company really worked on lowering the price points yet offering an efficient performance. The device emerged as a powerful multimedia device at an affordable price, bringing in some competition to manufacturers like Dell. Well, the CW series wasn’t just about performance as Sony maintains its love for style and elegance. The device is splashed with several colors.
Well, the impressively designed Fiery Red Vaio caught our attention from the moment the device was unboxed. It oozes super-stylish looks with a bright Red color to woo the ladies. All tech-savvy style icons with a budget can opt for the Sony Vaio CW notebook and if Red is not your color then Sony lets you pick among the hues of Black, Pink, Blue and White.
We wouldn’t call the CW a good portability option, but the device isn’t too heavy either. Its thickness ranges between 1.09-inches to 1.52-inches and we found this Sony machine quite sturdy. The hinges firmly shoulder the 14-inch LED backlit screen. In addition, the affordability factor makes it all the more desirable. We don’t say the price tag is impressive but looking at the earlier price points from the company, we’d say it’s amazing for the spec-sheet offered.
Talking about its design, the eye-catching device is dipped in glossy Red hue. The stylish 14-inch notebook’s lustrous outer body (lid) and the palm rest reflect style and sophistication. But one cannot escape the smudged finger prints on the lid and palm rest. As each time we used the notebook, our fingerprints settled on its glossy textured body. The other parts of the notebook sport a matte black finish.
Notebooks usually come with a small locking system to securely fold back the notebook. However, the notebook does not follow the usual game and features a slightly smaller lid (breadth-wise). This leaves a narrow horizontal space which houses LED indicators for power, battery and Wireless mode. The front part also equips memory slots for Standard SD cards and proprietary Memory Stick Duo cards. Well, we wonder if Sony wanted to add to the style (didn’t look like) with the distinctly designed lid. However, it leaves the device with smooth, rounded edges for additional comfort.
The right edge of the device equips a standard CD/DVD optical drive (you will have to pay additional for Blu-ray), alongside ExpressCard slot, USB port and microphone and mic ports. The power jack, Ethernet jack and LAN jack are housed on the rear of the device while the left side of the CW is integrated with two USB ports, VGA, HDMI and i.LINK IEEE 1394. Overall, the device features three USB ports but we’d appreciate more as the device places itself in the class of offering almost all ports you’d find in a desktop. So, all CW users would have to worry much about device connectivity with the plethora of ports included.
We welcomed CW’s display capabilities. The 14-inch backlit screen offers resolution of 1366 x 768 for an enjoyable viewing experience. The LED backlit options offer decent viewing even in brightly lit conditions. However, we did experience a few glare issues. But overall, it offers a great display. But we wonder why Sony didn’t integrate support for 1080p. The Chiclet keyboard is an eye-candy, enabling simplified typing. The keys are slightly elevated above the surface for comfort while typing. There is considerable space between the keys while palm rest stretches along a wider path. Above the keyboard and just lining below the right hinge area are the shortcuts to Web, Display Off, Vaio Center and also power button. The dedicated Vaio Center lets you tweak the settings according to your convenience. The Display Off enables switching the monitor on or off while the Web takes one directly to the browser page. The 320GB hard drive makes ample space for your precious data which is further expandable using the memory slots.
According to Sony, the notebook offers about 4 hours of battery life. With sporadic (not literally) usage, the battery life was decent and could stretch for more time. However, using it at the best levels of brightness and whilst gaining high performance with several apps running simultaneously, we could use it for less than three hours. Well, audio quality is something we have been looking for in notebooks for quite some time now. Disappointingly, the device hasn’t been able to raise the bar either. With mediocre sound quality, the integrated speakers are unsuccessful in delivering good sound.
On the other hand, the Nvidia GeForce G210M does its job well. We did face a few issues while installing games. In fact, the optical drive didn’t respond at times. After consistent efforts, we finally installed BioShock and Spore. The graphics were excellent, elevating the gaming experience. Apart from tedious installation, the Vaio CW successfully impressed us as a gaming machine. Gaming is always easier with a desktop keyboard, however, CW’s keyboard didn’t let us complaint either. The Nvidia Control Panel further adds to the convenience as it allows modifications and upgrades as per your preferences.
We are also impressed with Sony’s overall performance efficiency. Powered by 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4096MB of fast DDR3 memory, the device offers a good speedy performance. This Sony machine was great at multi-tasking. We managed to watch our favorite episode of The Big Bang Theory video on YouTube alongside a few downloads and usual emails and surfing, all at the same time. It was smooth and we didn’t get a chance to complain.
The viewing experience was amazing as we watched a few videos and one of our favorite sitcoms. However, as aforementioned, Sony has to work upon the audio quality. The sound is comparatively better with a microphone. Music zealots would be highly disappointed. Those who prefer gaming minus the headphones, keep external portable speakers handy.
Overall: The device possesses outstanding multimedia power for notebooks in its class. In fact, it could even surpass a few larger systems. Well, the graphics are excellent, so this PC would make a great deal for PC gaming enthusiasts. Well, it does leave room for some improvements.
The Sony Vaio CW has a quality feature-sheet with a good display and excellent graphics. However, it’s poor on sound quality and is slightly bulky. We don’t say that the device is a must-have but it could make a great option for those looking for stylish looks, powerful feature set, yet a reasonable price tag. It has managed to grab a rating of 8 on 10 from us. It is available in India at a price of Rs. 57,990.
