Sony Vaio VGN-X505VP

Talking of battery power the X505VP managed just over two hours in the Mobile Mark battery rundown test. This isn't the best battery life by today's standards, but considering the size of this notebook, it's pretty impressive. The battery is built into the hinge mechanism, just like with the original Vaio 505 and unclips simply in case you want to carry a spare with you. As for performance, the X505VP isn't going to break any records, but the overall design of this machine almost transcends the question of performance. No one is going to buy this machine because of how it performs, people will buy it because they can't help but give in to their desire to own it.

As well as Windows XP Professional, the X505VP ships with a full software suite. For office applications you get Microsoft Works 7, while the Adobe Companion Pack will take care of all your creative needs. This application suite from Adobe is exclusive to Sony Vaio products, and I've seen it shipping on all recent Sony notebooks. What you get is a copy of Adobe Premiere Standard, PhotoShop Elements 2.0, PhotoShop Album Starter Edition and Acrobat Elements to help you turn standard office documents into distributable PDF files.

Now, here comes the bit you've been waiting for, the price. With a ground breaking product like this you know that Sony is going to have to charge a premium for the R&D and the manufacturing costs. Well, despite wildly inaccurate reports elsewhere, Sony has quoted me a price of £1999 for the X505VP, which, in my opinion is a bit of a bargain for such a technological marvel. Despite the fact that many notebooks have more features than the X505VP, none of them have managed to squeeze as much into such a tiny box. But to be fair, all of this is pretty much moot, since the X505VP is something that you decide to either buy or not the minute you see it, and if you fall under its spell, factors like, price, performance and features just aren't going to come into the equation.

Verdict

Words like beautiful, stunning and stylish do nothing to describe the X505VP, and even the pictures accompanying this review don't do it justice. It's not the fastest machine out there and the price isn't insignificant, but what you're getting is the pinnacle of mobile computing. One day all notebooks will look like this, and for me, that day can't come soon enough.

Related Reviews

Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8010
Acer Aspire 1355XC budget notebook
Bsquare Power Handheld
eMachines M5116 budget notebook
Acer Aspire 1705SCi
IBM ThinkPad X31

Visit The Reg's Review Channel for more hardware coverage.