Sony VAIO VGN-NS160E

Processor: 2GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T3200
Memory: 2GB RAM
Storage: 160GB hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD±RW
Screen: 15.4 inches
Graphics: Integrated GMA 4500MHD
Weight: 6.4 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1.5x14.2x10.6 inches
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

Like most budget notebooks, Sony’s $779.99 VAIO VGN-NS160E/S sacrifices a few features to keep costs down, but it has something that most low-cost systems don’t: a Blu-ray drive. Throw in some of Sony’s neat entertainment software, and you’ve got a nice multimedia notebook for under $800.

Sporting a Granite Silver finish with a textured look and feel, the 6.4-pound NS160E/S is unique in that it eschews the popular high-gloss look found on many of today’s notebooks. The system’s 15.4-inch, 1,280x800 display, based on Sony’s XBrite-Eco technology, delivered vivid colors and matched up nicely with the included Blu-ray/DVD combo drive. We fired up Resident Evil: Extinction on Blu-ray Disc and were treated to a highly detailed, crystal-clear picture. The screen provided a nice wide viewing range, too. We were disappointed by the lack of a Webcam, though.

The keyboard deck is roomy and uncluttered, and the two-button touch pad is nice and wide and provides smooth cursor control. We love the use of slightly larger than normal keys on the keyboard but miss the convenience of the media-control buttons found on nearly every consumer notebook these days. Instead, the VAIO has an AV Mode button that launches an onscreen media-control panel, and next to that is an audio mute button. The speakers located above the keyboard are loud and can handle high volume without distorting, but they lack bass tone. 

Unlike the HP dv5-1140us, Lenovo ThinkPad SL500, and Gateway M7818u notebooks, the VAIO does not provide an HDMI port. However, it does offer four USB ports and a FireWire port, as well as a VGA output and ExpressCard, Secure Digital, and Memory Stick Pro slots. The 160GB hard drive comes with Windows Vista Home Premium and a nice selection of Sony’s multimedia programs, including its Movie Story movie creation software and Music Box music-cataloging application. You also get Sony’s Click to Disc Editor for editing multimedia content and burning it to recordable media.

At the heart of the NS160E/S is an Intel Pentium Dual Core T3200 CPU running at 2GHz with 2GB of system memory, which combined to deliver mediocre performance across the board. A Futuremark PCMark Vantage score of 2,766 lagged behind the Fujitsu LifeBook A1110 by 276 points but bettered the Toshiba Satellite L305-S5902 by 242 points. Its Windows Media (8 minutes and 21 seconds) and iTunes (5 minutes and 25 seconds) encoding times were also merely average, and it needed 1 minute and 12 seconds to boot into Windows. 

The integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics controller turned in a Futuremark 3DMark06 score of 822 while running in native resolution mode, which indicates that this system is not well-suited for 3D gaming. The VAIO lasted 2 hours and 10 minutes on our DVD battery-rundown test, which means you should be able to get through a full movie without requiring a charge.

The Sony VAIO NS160E/S has a few shortcomings, but its crisp display, Blu-ray drive, and spacious keyboard make them easy to overlook. 
Price (at time of review): $779.99

author : John R. Delaney