There are notebooks made for travel, and there are notebooks made for Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery entertainment. Sony's latest VAIO F (VPC-F136FM/B) falls in the latter camp. Boasting a high-resolution, 16.4-inch widescreen, the latest Core i7 processor, robust NVIDIA GeForce 3D graphics, and even a Blu-ray drive, the VAIO F ($1,299 at Best Buy) offers plenty to love. Meant for users who often roam from room to room, the VAIO F provides lots of computing Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery power and multimedia prowess minus the size of a traditional desktop rig. Still, $1,299 is nothing to sneeze at. Check out the full review below as we delve into this machine's strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if it's worth the splurge.
Design
Design-wise, the Sony VAIO F plays a very conservative game. Our model's chassis sports a smooth, matte gray lid, Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery with the only embellishment being the understated Sony branding and larger VAIO logo writ in metallic silver. Weighing in at a hefty 6.4 pounds, the VAIO F has a decidedly sturdy feel to it. Measuring 15.3 x 10.4 x 1.6 inches, the VAIO F can be stuffed into most laptop bags. However, this laptop's girth will make you think twice about lugging it anywhere for long. Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery That said, the VAIO F is lighter than other desktop-replacement laptops on the market, such as the HP Envy 17 (7.5 pounds).
When we watched a downloaded episode of 30 Rock Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery from Samsung's Media Hub store, we were impressed with the detail. The display provided strong viewing angles even in bright light or outdoors.
Keyboards
Samsung bundles the Galaxy Tab with two virtual keyboards, its own and one from Swype. Because this tablet is narrower than the iPad, we found it much easier to enter text without stretching our fingers all the way across the screen.
Still, we made quite a few errors, where we accidentally hit the wrong key, particularly in portrait mode. We appreciated that @ and .com Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery keys showed up when we typed in an e-mail address field, and that the .com button was present when typing URLs in the browser. A welcome optional predictive text feature suggests words as you type.
With the Swype keyboard option, you can quickly enter text by drawing a continuous line from Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery letter to letter, and the software is smart enough to enter spaces between words. Plus, you can easily tap things such as periods and special keys in this mode. It's definitely worth a try.
Unlike the iPad, the Galaxy tab offers haptic Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery feedback so you can get a simulated tactile feel while you're typing. If you don't like this feature, you can turn it off, but if you love it, you can adjust the level of vibration up or down, something most Android phones don't offer.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab is fast becoming the main competitor to the iPad. With its hi-res 7-inch screen, a more travel-friendly design, and access to the Android Market, the Tab strikes a strong balance between a large smart phone and Apple's larger tablet. However, with each of the four major U.S. carriers selling the 3G-equipped Galaxy Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery Tab with their own pricing and a smattering of extra features, it can be difficult to decide which one to buy. With a $599 price with no contract required and data plans starting at $20 a month for 1GB, the Verizon Galaxy Tab offers a lot of flexibility, but is it worth the high up-front price?
Editor's Note: Portions of this review were taken from the original review of the Sprint Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Design
The Galaxy Tab's premium design stands out in Sony VGP-BPS13A/S Battery contrast to bargain-basement slates such as the CherryPad CherryPal. The glossy all-black front has a premium feel with four light-up capacitive touch buttons for Home, Back, Settings, and Search. Unlike the Sprint Galaxy Tab, which has an all-white back, and the T-Mobile Galaxy Tab which has a specked-black back, the Verizon Galaxy Tab has an even more attractive textured black surface.
At 13.5 ounces and 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches, the Galaxy Tab is significantly thinner and lighter than the iPad (9.56 x 7.47 x 0.5 inches, 1.5 pounds). Sony VGP-BPS13/Q Battery While not small enough for most pants pockets, it can slip into a large coat pocket and easily slides into most purses.
Like most Android tablets, the Galaxy Tab offers only minimal connectivity options. In addition Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery to its microSD slot and a 3.5-inch headphone jack, the Tab has a proprietary docking port that it uses to connect to the charger or to your computer's USB port. Samsung also sells a couple of accessories, including a keyboard
and an HDMI-out dock, that connect to this port. Sony VGP-BPS8A Battery However, we wish that the device used a standard microUSB port for charging so we could attach a standard cable.
While it's not as vivid as the AMOLED display on some of Samsung's Galaxy phones, the 7-inch screen provides bright, colorful images at a high resolution. As the first Android tablet with a 1024 x 600 screen, the Galaxy Tab provides a lot more screen real estate than any handset. The greater screen real estate allows you to see more Sony VGP-BPS13AS of a web page
without scrolling or zooming out, and it also allows you to view more detail in photos and Sony VGP-BPS13S videos.
The VAIO F is crafted from black and dark gray plastics. While this lends a sober, business-like style to the laptop, it also isn't what we'd call terribly premium; other machines in this price range offer metallic finishes. There is a little bit of flair here, such as the power Sony VGP-BPS13/S button that sits in the circular hinge and glows green when the laptop is on and slowly pulses orange when asleep. Above the keyboard is a long speaker grille which subtly blends into the VAIO F's dark gray color scheme. The expansive palm rest area is delicately textured.
Heat
The VAIO F didn't get hot under the collar. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, we measured the temperature at the Sony VGP-BPS13B/S center of the keyboard to be 93 degrees. The touchpad returned a slightly cooler reading of 90 degrees, and the underside of the chassis registered 89 degrees. However, once the laptop really starts to flex its muscle, fans begin to audibly pump air out of vents on the VAIO's left Sony VGP-BPS2 Battery side.
The VAIO F's large, comfortable keyboard is virtually identical to the previous F series model Sony VGP-BPS22A Battery we enjoyed before. Featuring big, black, chiclet-style keys that are similar to those found on MacBooks, the keyboard offered satisfying feedback with a nice soft pop with each stroke. Another welcome feature is the backlighting. Illumination is set to adjust automatically by default, but you can also toggle brightness manually to suit your Sony VGP-BPS22 Battery tastes.
We tested this Digital Surround System with the VAIO F and found it improved our audio experience a good deal. The bundled headphones are light and comfortable, provide a decent amount of bass, and sport a flip-down mic for audio chat during gameplay. Also cool are the DR-GA500's surround audio effects. While not quite the amazing Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery virtual surround as advertised, these cans did expand our perceived sonic field and made music, movies, and games more enjoyable.
Ports and Sony VGP-BPS2A Battery Webcam
Due to this laptop's large size, the VAIO F comes well equipped with connectors. Running along the Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery left side you'll find Ethernet, VGA, and ExpressCard ports. There's an HDMI connection for outputting HD video and sound to home theater systems. There's also a combo eSATA/USB port and iLINK for connecting extra peripherals. Two more USB ports and the Blu-ray drive can be found on the VAIO F's right side. Sony VGP-BPS2B Battery There are headphone and mic jacks plus a S/PDIF port here as well. The front lip features Memory Stick and SD Card slots, plus a physical switch for activating the wireless radios.
To the right of the keyboard is a full number pad that will please Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery home accountants and gamers alike. An unfortunate side effect of this addition is that the keyboard is shifted a little left on the deck. As a result, the touchpad sits directly below the spacebar and is positioned on the deck's left side; this alignment can take some getting used to. Still, the touchpad provides friction-free navigation as well as multitouch gestures. Though not as big as the MacBook's or the HP Envy 17, the VIAO F's 3.2 x 2-inch touchpad is also on the large Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery side and offers lots of room to maneuver. The two mouse buttons below are big as well.
Outfitted with a 16.4-inch display, the VIAO F's expansive screen pumps out a sharp resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. While its pixel density is not quite high enough to natively display 1080p video content, movies looked great on the laptop's screen. After popping in our Apocalypse Now Blu-ray disc, we were treated Sony VGP-BPS21A/B Battery to an impressive show. The glossy screen delivered deep blacks in nighttime segments and rich colors especially during the pivotal chopper attack scene. Viewing angles were not bad either, letting groups gather around to enjoy the experience. That said, the VAIO's display didn't appear as bright as other large mainstream notebooks we've Sony VGP-BPS2C Battery tested, specifically the HP Envy 17 and Dell Studio 17.
Audio and Optional Headphones
The long speaker grille positioned directly below the screen and above the keyboard generates a sizeable batterymag.co.uk amount of volume. Unfortunately, bass was noticeably lacking. Playing Slacker Radio tracks from electronic to Motown stations resulted in a tinny, Sony Laptop Battery alarm clock radio sound. For music appreciation and proper audio treatment of movies, we suggest opting for a good set of headphones.
Speaking of which, Sony sells a new Digital Surround Headset System ($200) which promises to provide a virtual surround-sound experience. The system consists of a DR-GA500 processing unit and a specially designed gaming headset. Essentially acting as both an external audio device and breakout box, the DR-GA500 supports analog audio inputs from stereo all the way up to 7.1 channels. For digital input, the DR-GA500 connects to PCs via USB.
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