Product Listing

Sony VAIO X - Xtraordinary Thinness

By Aloysius Low - 3 Nov 2009
Launch SRP: S$1999

X Marks the Spot

X Marks the Spot

While the magnesium alloy chassis does give the unit some strength, we did note that there was quite a bit of flex on the unit, both on the keyboard area and on the screen. While the screen flex was more or less expected, we didn't quite expect the lower half of the unit to actually bend that much. Then again it's a pretty thin device, so the flex is part and parcel of the design aspect. However, the flex isn't anything to be alarmed about and it was perfectly acceptable for such a thin and trendy notebook such as the VAIO X. In fact, the unit didn't feel at all fragile in our hands despite its thin frame and flex and that's testament to its design. Still, we do caution users to avoid undue pressure that can warp or cause damage to the screen area.

The insides retains the sexy elegant look that's promised on the exterior.

Moving on to inspect other build aspects of the notebook, we found that the screen quality was great with decent viewing angles and brightness. You'll find that despite the higher resolution (1366x768), the fonts were still pretty crisp and clear. Heading downwards, we find a familiar looking keyboard that's done in chiclet style. Despite the extra space from its almost 12-inch (11.6-inch) frame, the keyboard and key layout still feels tiny for comfortable usage. There's also quite a bit of flex that does sometimes detract from the typing experience.

The keyboard is laid on in a chiclet manner, though the keys are kind of small for a netbook of this size.

Sony has also included a wireless switch at a very accessible location for ease of use - just above the keyboard.

Thankfully though, the multi-touch capable trackpad is fine, and the buttons pretty responsive. So far, so good you say for the usability aspect, but there's just one little flaw with the audio subsystem of the VAIO X. If you were thinking of using this lightweight machine as an entertainment device, we suggest skipping this idea. In fact, even music playback of any kind isn't recommended at all by us via its supplied speakers, as they are just too soft even at full volume (unless you are blessed with superhuman hearing capabilities). And by soft, we really mean "I can't hear a thing and no I don't have hearing problems" kind of soft. A pity indeed to find such a blemish on such a classy looking netbook.

The touchpad works fine, and supports multi-touch, though we find this feature to barely work (as with all current multi-touch capable touchpads for Windows machines).

 

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