I don’t try to hide the fact that I’m a total Apple fangirl. I personally own a MacBook Pro, an earlier model of the Pro, an iPhone, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and an iPod Shuffle. So when the kind people at Sony offered to send me their new S Series VAIO laptop to review, I admit I initially thought the laptop would end up being just an extra backup computer to use in the office. Instead, my experience with the S Series laptop has far exceeded my expectations, and I find myself really loving the laptop (even over my own MBP) in a couple key areas:
Incredible battery life (much better than the MBP). I told you before, and I’ll say it again: this baby has up to 15 hours of battery life with its extended sheet battery…wow. When I took a trip to California for an Intel conference a few weeks ago, my S Series was my go-to tech companion! While my fellow conference attendees had to negotiate for access to the sparse power outlets around the room, I left cord and charger at the hotel and just brought along the laptop with its sheet battery. The laptop lasted me the entire day, and then some. (And I’m talking pretty interactive use – I was live tweeting the event, surfing websites, responding to emails, and taking notes at the same time.) This kind of confidence in a laptop’s battery life just doesn’t come with my Macbook. I never go anywhere with my Mac without bringing the charger along too, because I can’t trust that my battery will last. With the Sony S Series though, I literally can go unplugged for an entire day with no worries. And don’t forget: just for students, Sony’s offering a free sheet battery along with the purchase of a VAIO S Series!
Polished design (as good as or maybe slightly better than the MBP). First of all, the S Series is just a really beautiful machine (plus, I lucked out with a pink model…a color I’m pretty sure Apple would never offer in a million years). It’s incredibly sleek, streamlined, and professional-looking — just as well formed as the Macbook Pro. I also love physically interacting with the laptop. Typing is, well, fun! This may sound like a silly detail to include in a review of the laptop, but as someone who works on a computer more than eight hours a day, it’s important to me that the keys feel very responsive and comfortable, and that they’re not too loud when pressed. Additionally, one main design feature that disappointed me in my Macbook Pro was the edge of the laptop right where my arms rest as I’m typing. For some reason, Apple made that edge quite sharp and so every time I type, my arms get scratched up! VAIO features a nicely smoothed edge there so, again, typing is a joy.
Other thoughtful features. There are some snazzy toggles on the S Series that make the user feel a lot of personal control over the computing experience. A toggle between “Stamina” and “Speed” controls whether the laptop’s performance is optimized for marathon or sprint-type computing. Another toggle labeled “Wireless” controls whether you want to enable wi-fi or not. Sometimes it’s really satisfying to be able to manually toggle these kinds of switches manually rather than click to, say, Airport and connect or disconnect.
So now for the most important question: Mac or PC? For me, because I’m so completely Apple-fied with my many devices, from an integration standpoint it makes some sense for me to turn to Apple for my laptop as well. But this is obviously not the case with everyone, so my best advice is to try out both devices and see what works best for you. I will say, though, for the on-the-go collegiette™ running to and fro between classes, activities, libraries, and events, the Sony VAIO S Series’ amazing battery life (and still light weight) may just be the deciding factor in its favor. I know that I personally will definitely be calling on my S Series over my Mac whenever the occasion calls for reliable, long-lasting performance.