Sony’s glistening new laptop has a
huge screen and lots of power.
Laptop manufacturers seem to be focusing on
slim, light ultrabooks, but they still make laptops at the opposite end of the
spectrum that are bigger, heavier and more powerful. The Vaio Fit is a good
example. This feature- packed 15in laptop weighs a heavy 2.3kg, so it’s more
suited for use around the home than out and about.
As we’d expect from Sony, the Vaio Fit’s black
and silver design is attractive. The lid is made from brushed metal, but the
rest of the laptop is plastic. Despite this, the base feels far sturdier than
the lid, which flexed under pressure more than we'd like. When fully opened,
the lid props the keyboard up at an angle, which won’t suit everyone, but we
found it made typing more comfortable.
Sony
Vaio Fit 15
Most 15in laptops are stuck with screen
resolutions of 1366x768 pixels, but the Vaio Fit’s 15in screen has a much
higher resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. This extra space makes working
simultaneously on multiple documents and programs much easier than on a
lower-resolution screen. It’s reasonably bright too, with good color accuracy
and contrast.
The screen is also touch sensitive for use
with the Windows 8 Start screen and apps. The upright touchscreen isn’t
comfortable to use for extended periods of time though, and the keyboard and
touchpad are flawed too. Although the keyboard is large and has a number pad,
the keys don’t give enough feedback when pressed and don’t have a lot of
travel. The touchpad is large and accurate, but clicking the pad’s surface and
the physical buttons below requires more pressure than other laptops, which
takes some getting used to.
Sony
Vaio Fit 15
Surprisingly, the Vaio Fit doesn’t use one
of Intel’s latest Haswell processors, but one of the older Ivy Bridge chips
instead – the dual core “Core i7 3537U”. It has a clock speed of 2GHz, which
automatically increases to 3.1GHz when necessary. It’s a fast processor and.
Paired with 8GB of memory, sped through our benchmark tests. Sony has plenty of
software pre-installed on the 1TB hard disk to take advantage of this speed,
including Movie Studio Platinum for editing videos and Sound Forge Audio Studio
for editing music.
You can also play 3D games on the Vaio Flt
thanks to the Nvidia GeForce GT 735M dedicated graphics chip, although you’ll
still have to settle for less detailed graphics to get smooth gameplay in the
most demanding games. Battery life at just under five-hour was surprisingly
good for such a large and heavy laptop.
You
can also play 3D games on the Vaio Flt thanks to the Nvidia GeForce GT 735M
dedicated graphics chip
The Sony Vaio Fit is a fast laptop with a
good quality, high-resolution screen. It’s a good alternative to an all-in-one
desktop PC if you want a compact but powerful home computer. It is pricey, but
you can customize it when you place your order to make it cheaper. For example,
choosing a 500GB hard disk and foregoing the touchscreen shaves $228 off the
price. Alternatively, you can add options such as an SSD and a Blu-ray drive (a
DVD writer is already included). Sadly, you can’t replace the substandard
keyboard and touchpad, which stops the Fit getting our unconditional
recommendation.
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Specifications
·
Operating: Window 8
·
Screen: 15 inches
·
Technology: LCD
·
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 px
·
Display: Multi-touch
·
Processor: Intel lvy Bridge Core i7
·
GPU: Nvidia
·
VRAM: 2GB
·
Storage: Flash Memory (SSD), Hybird Drive
·
Audio: ClearAudio+
·
Connections: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC
·
Pricing: $800
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