'Technically' is the operative word, there, because the one area the X-series really disappoints is performance. The 1.86GHz processor is complemented by 2GB of 533MHz RAM. Indeed, 2GB is the maximum the X can accommodate, and while that means most applications run fairly well, there are some multimedia bugbears to think about.
Mission impossible: HD video playback
For instance, we tried to watch a YouTube video in HD mode, and were rewarded with a stuttering, unwatchable slideshow. The same happened when we went to Vimeo.com. HD streaming on the X-series, it seems, is out. You can, of course, forget about gaming - the Intel GMA 500 graphics adapter isn't up to much.
Performance is otherwise okay. With Windows 7 Professional in Aero mode we experienced the odd slowdown - switching to the Windows Classic theme reduced bottlenecks. And, the hard disk is a Samsung SSD with a capacity of 128GB and some spectacular secondary specifications.
It's Sata II compatible, for a start, giving it a maximum theoretical transfer speed of 3Gb/s. It clocked up a PCMark Vantage score of 11,060, yet with an overall result of 1635 – the X is hardly Earth shattering, and is indicative of future performance frustrations for those who like to work with multiple webpage tabs open. Other category suite results were 848 for TV and Movies, 996 for Gaming, 2957 for Music, 1364 for Communications and 2065 for Productivity. Memory tests crashed and failed to deliver a result.
The lithium-ion battery takes up a fair bit of space under the X series' chassis. With its constraints on it thickness, it takes up nearly half the depth of the underside and virtually all the width.
Fitted with VGP-BPX19 extended battery pack
The X series' tiny size and light weight prompted us to hope for great things, but a final battery life of a little over three hours isn't going to set many pulses racing and it's a shame that such a travel-friendly little machine couldn't muster a bit more.
COMMENTS
@andy 70
I agree with you completely, but also think this applies to ALL sony products...
Sony is overpriced across their whole model line. Their TVs cost more and don;t look or have as good of specs as LG or Samsung. Their PCs are too proprietary and also too expensive for the spec. Their HT receivers blow up too often. Their speakers pale in comparrison to others like Klipsch and HK. Their cameras have nice lenses, but again proprietary, as is the memory stick format. Ericson phones have left the earth almost completely due to either high price or inferior design or both, as have the Sony PDAs.
Having worked several years in a retail shop, i can also attest that Sony had the highest percentage of non-waranty repairs by far, and were close to the bottom for product reliability under waranty (we tracked our sales vs repairs and provided this to our customers if they asked). Sony's reapirs also seemed to take longer...
Today I have no single Sony product in my house. I'm still considdering a PS3 only because there's no viable competition, and no xBox games interest me that are not also available on PC. (not to mention the included BR player and now NetFlix supprot).
Spectacular design, but lost the plot
Portable means able to survive portability. I would have expected a company from a country where _ONLY_ a TouchBook or a "Dell Brick" can survive the Tokio subway morning gro^H^H^Hrush hour to know that.
No thanks, I would stick to my S10-e. It may weight 1.5 times as much, but it is at least capable of surviving being carried around.
Me coat, the big grey-blue trench one with an S10-e in the left pocket.
Sony Insanity
Sony have completely lost the plot. For a little more cash you can get their own TT-series.
50% higher weight at 1.2kg and thicker but you get same 11.1 form factor.
With that extra weight you get a proper core 2 duo that offers over double the performance of an atom, dvd or blueray burner, 4gig of ram, and HD capable graphics with HDMI port. Plus everything else the X series does and a lot more besides like TPM.
If you really want a sony netbook you have the V and W series to choose from. The W series is a bog standard netbook with Sony style - the V is a quirky almost MID sized netbook with WWWAN. Either option is better than the X.
IF you want second hand you can get the older , but still briliiant TZ ultraportable from Ebay for around £500.
What nutter at sony green lighted this?
i disagree
what utter nonsense, I've had a VAIO laptop for 5 years now, use it almost everyday for purposes as varied as facebook and video editing, it has survived countless train journeys, house moves and the only thing that has gone wrong is the headphone jack (frankly after 5 years of excellent service I wasn't even mildly annoyed, a £10 usb audio out sorted it)
awesome laptops and considering the longevity, excellent value for money.
after my experience with sony I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone - a colleague has had a mac for a simkliar amount of time and during that his has died TWICE because of apples "ever-so-helpful" updates.
I have one and I like it!
I needed something small and light. All I use my X series for is MS Office and the internet and it does exactly what I need it to do.
I didn't buy it expecting to run Half Life 2, nor did I expect it to be more powerful than my desktop or Vaio Z. But the X is so small I don't even notice I have it in my bag! That is the beauty of this machine. It's the ideal travel companion.
I went for the top of the range model (cost a whopping £1700). There's no other machine in the world that is as small and light as this. It's not worth £1700 (what laptop is?) but I am very happy with it.
