VPCCB2AFX/W
3.5
5
2
2
Jack of all trades and master of none.
Performance:
The performance of this system is good overall. The i5, well, the new processor performs well in about any system. The 650GB Toshib HDD was a little too slow for my taste, so I swapped the 5400RPM HD for a 120GB intel SSD from Best Buy. Overall, the system is very responsive after the drive swap and more than powerful enough. 4GB of ram is enough to handle watching videos, working on documents and browsing the web at the same time with more ram to spare. What?s nice about the memory is that configuration is two slots with one empty and the other containing a 4GB DIMM; that means you only have to purchase another 4GB DIMM to max out the memory.
Aesthetics and Construction:
The laptop is sturdy and looks great. The keyboard is back-lit and is also a pleasure to type on. I purchased the black model and it has a dark royal purple tent to it (it does not look feminine if this is a concern). Nothing feels cheep or flimsy on this model laptop although the keyboard has some give to it if you put enough pressure on the keys near the numeric keypad.
Sound Quality:
Sound quality could be better considering myself having a background with using MAC computers and the Kardon speaker upgrade in Toshiba computers. The sound is not terrible and is fine and loud enough when watching videos (ie Netflix) for personal use. I really wish Sony would come up with some solid contract to get descent speakers in their laptops to compliment their phenomenal screens. The S and Z series are questionable on sound quality although they have great screens, they sound muffled and high-pitched. I really wanted to get an S model because of the anti-glare full HD screen, graphics card, battery life, sheet battery and size. However, the sound quality took away from the overall experience of the E and S series. I went with the C-series because it offered the best sound quality compared to the E, S, and Z series when I was looking over the floor models at the Sony store. The F series has the best sound quality overall, but it still needs some work when compared to Toshiba's Kardon speakers or Macbook pros.... Also, you will need to enable Dolby Sound from the task-bar on the C-series (possibly on other models too), it increases the loudness and range of sound.
Screen:
The Full 15.5? HD 1080p screen is the best I've seen on any laptop; yes, even Macintosh computers. I would have rather preferred the anti-glare finish on the screen, but it still looks nice being glossy. The brightness seems to be at-least 300-350 nits and colors appear natural and vivid. The lid is sturdy and there is no flex with pressure on it. The auto-brightness works very well on all the Sony laptops I've come across. It adjusts the screen to ambient light discreetly and is hardly noticeable when adjusting to the ambient lighting. Sony computers are the only systems I've used where I look forward to having the senor enabled.
Track-pad:
The track-pad is not very large, but bigger than the average; I'm comfortable using it. The click buttons work well and nothing stands out about them other than they are responsive.
The battery life is as advertised on the site.
I rated the laptop 4 out of 5 stars because of the sound quality.
Overall, I?m a satisfied owner of a quality Sony C-series laptop.
October 6, 2011
Slightly above average laptop for the price
This is my 4th Sony Vaio purchase so I may have a bit of a bias when it comes to Vaios, but I'll try to be objective.
Pros:
-Having a blu-ray drive is great because I can connect my laptop to my TV via an HDMI cable and watch blu-rays on my TV.
-The screen resolution is absolutely gorgeous and colors are vivid and bright. It makes watching videos, viewing pictures, etc. a joy on this screen.
-The 2nd gen I5 Intel processor is an amazing processor. I'm constantly multitasking with two browser windows open side-by-side (thanks Windows 7) while also listening to music and possibly buffering online movies in the background. The I5 handles all these tasks with ease. I've yet to play any games on it yet, but I feel relatively certain I could play a game such as Call of Duty and get a decent frame rate.
-The backlit keyboard wasn't necessarily a great thing but it would have been a sin to not have included one on this laptop for the price since I consider anything close to $1000 as a luxury laptop.
Cons:
-The speakers are pretty weak, in my opinion. It only takes one look to see the two small speakers at the top right and left above the keyboard and know that the decibel output will be less than impressive. I was able to Google ways to increase the max volume on mine, but it ends up sounding terrible as you near max volume level.
-The optical drive is far too loud. I made the mistake of putting in a CD while I was in the library and I was quickly embarrassed when everyone around me turned to see where the jet engine noises were coming from. Trust me, it really does sound like a jet engine taking off!
-I know not everyone dislikes this but I, personally, dislike the offset trackpad. I'd much rather not have a # keypad and just center the trackpad as I feel it's difficult for right-handed people to use a trackpad that's oriented to the left. This is a small issue, however.
Conclusion:
All in all, it's a decent laptop to have, but not a terribly good value for the price. I feel there are better values out there, but you must keep in mind that you're also paying for that big, shiny "VAIO" across the top of your laptop. I've had this one for about 2 months now and I can't say I've had any terrible problems (system failures/blue screens of death) yet. Thus, I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for an above average laptop that will stand out aesthetically (that's not a Mac) and is willing to pay a premium for this.
September 19, 2011
