Sony Vaio F11 - Review/Thoughts

I recently purchased a Sony Vaio F11 laptop, which has become my main work machine. I chose it over a Dell Studio 17, no other machines came close to consideration. I’ll update this post with my thoughts on the machine.

It’s got the Intel Core i5 – 520 processor, 4GB Ram, 500GB Hard disk.

Early thoughts:

Keyboard: Fantastic – it really is a pleasure to use, very spaced out, more comfortable oddly than any desktop/’proper’ keyboard I’ve used.

Built in sound: A significant improvement on any previous laptop I’ve used. You could watch DVDs/Blu-rays without any negative thoughts towards the sound.

Windows 7: As expected works like a dream, no BSOD’s or anything of that nature!

Screen: Native resolution is 1920 x 1080. Which on a 16.4 inch screen means small text! I had to beef up the standard Windows text size significantly. Many web pages need the CTRL + zoom feature found in Chrome. Lets just say I’m getting used to it, some users with eye problems might want to look elsewhere.

3D Graphics: Trackmania and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (1) both work at 1920 x 1080 at a very high framerate. Far exceeded my expectations so far.

Battery charge: I’ve yet to test this. I’m not expecting anything more than a couple of hours max with standard usage.

Looks: Doesn’t stand out too much (which is perhaps a good thing), but also is stylish enough to a look better than many standard ‘work’ laptops.

Blu-ray: Tested one Blu-ray disc, no problems, sound and picture were excellent.

I’ll update this post should anything significant occur with the laptop. I purchased it from a friend for £830 as new (still in packaging), I believe this to be excellent value for money. (RRP is £949).

So far I’m giving it 9/10, it might yet score 10. The only things stopping a perfect 10 are the lack of a Windows DVD to reinstalling using (you can create a set of recovery DVD’s, but for nearly a grand I’d expect them to provide these!), and perhaps the lack of effort to setup Windows so the fonts are a bit more readable. I fixed this myself but many users would not have a clue what to do.