Sony X-Series laptop review

TWe’ve admired the thin and light MacBook Air before, and come to terms with our disappointment that Windows users didn’t have a comparable equivalent. The recent Nokia Booklet 3G comes close, but if you want something more powerful and with a screen approaching the Air’s 13-incher, this new and beautifully designed machine from Sony has a lot going for it.

No surprise that such a stylish machine would come from Sony’s stable – the company has a history of making great-looking computers which few other manufacturers can match. So it’s certainly a laptop that will look great in your CEO’s possession, as it’s casually plonked onto to the boardroom table or the desk in the First Class lounge.

It’s spectacularly slim and in certain configurations qualifies for shouting out that it’s the World’s Lightest Laptop from behind its demure gloss-black casing. But does it do the business? Pretty much, yes. The 11.1-inch screen is bright and pin-sharp with HD resolution despite its modest size. The keyboard is expertly spaced so that it’s easy to type on even for longer documents. Small laptops traditionally have poor mouse pads, but the one here is highly usable.
Onboard memory is not outstanding at 2GB, but nippy enough to work well and at speed, even when multitasking. The hard drive (choose from 128GB or 256GB capacities) is also fast and responsive as it’s the light flash memory kind. And if you’re not in a wireless hotspot, the sim card slot hidden under the battery means you can connect through the 3G phone network, too.
This is a really excellent laptop, delivering classy looks and performance. It is absolutely unbeatable for portability. But the high price, though good value given the components, just denies it a fifth star. Even for your CEO.