Sony VAIO VPC-EA46FM/V Review
Sony's VAIO laptops have always had a style that set them apart from the rest of the pack, and the Sony VAIO VPC-EA46FM/V ($799.99 list at Best Buy) continues that trend. Its vibrant violet finish will certainly garner this mainstream laptop a fair amount of attention, as will its many wireless features and entertainment-friendly Blu-ray drive. It won't bowl you over with blazing graphics speed, but it is an otherwise solid performer.
Design
It's hard not to notice the VPC-EA46FM/V; the lid is done up in a dazzling violet color with a swirling pattern, both of which are protected by a clear high-gloss plastic coating. There's a small Sony logo at the front of the lid and larger VAIO badge in the center. Although the glossy finish will keep the color looking good for years, it attracts lots of fingerprint smudges and will need to be polished every so often. At 4.9 pounds the VPC-EA46FM/V is just a tad heavier than our Editors' Choice, the Asus U41JF-A1 ($857 street, 4.5 stars) (4.7 pounds) but is still lighter than the Samsung QX410-J01 ($829.99 street, 4 stars) (5 pounds) and HP Envy 14-1110NR ($1,050 list, 4 stars) (5.5 pounds).
The violet color scheme extends to the wrist rest, touchpad, and screen bezels, although the bezels have a matte finish. The black chiclet-style keyboard has plenty of room between keys and is firm, but as with most 14 inch laptops, it lacks a number pad. The touchpad looks smooth but is lightly textured and provides just the right amount of friction. The dual mouse buttons are average sized and give off a low click when pressed.
At the top of the keyboard deck are three buttons; the Assist button launches Sony's VAIO Care software which includes diagnostic and troubleshooting utilities and a recover and restore application. The Web button launches a browser, and the VAIO button brings you to Sony's Media Gallery menu where you can open a photo viewer and video and music players, and you can configure them for streaming content over a network. Also above the keyboard are two speakers that aren't very powerful, and are way too trebly. You'll want to keep the volume a bit below the halfway mark to avoid distortion, or better yet, use the headphone jack with a set of ear buds. The VAIO's 14 inch display has a maximum resolution of 1366-by-768, and like most laptops displays is illuminated by LED backlighting. The glossy anti-glare coating helps punch up color quality but is reflective. However, the panel does a great job of displaying HD (720p) content and has wide viewing angles.
Features
The VAIO VPC-EA46FM/V packs a lot of features into its compact frame. On left side are Ethernet, VGA, and HDMI ports, an eSATA/USB combo port, and an ExpressCard 34 slot. On the front of the laptop are slots that accept Sony's Memory Stick flash media and SD (Secure Digital) media. Here, you'll also find a Wi-Fi switch and headphone and microphone jacks. Three USB ports are located on the right side next to the DVD/Blu-ray combo drive. Wireless features abound; in addition to 802.11a/g/n and Bluetooth wireless networking, the VPC-EA46FM/V comes with an integrated WiMAX 4G broadband radio, and it supports Intel's WiDi (wireless display) technology. WiDi lets you wirelessly send HDMI audio and video to an HDTV, but the TV must be connected to a WiDi receiver, such as Netgear's Push2TV.
The VAIO's 640GB hard drive comes with Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) installed along with a boatload of Sony software. In addition to the Media Gallery and VAIO Care programs you get PMB (Picture, Motion, Browser), which lets you edit and organize photos and catalog your video clips, VAIO Gate, an onscreen menu system where you can launch your favorite apps, and VAIO Control, which give s you access to system info, power management and network settings, and security settings, all from a single location. Other programs include Corel's WinDVD Blu-ray player software and trial versions of Microsoft Office 2010 and Norton Internet Security.
Performance
Sony VAIO VPC-EA46FM/V The VPC-EA46FM/V uses a first-generation Core i3-380M processor with a clock speed of 2.53GHz and is populated with 4GB of DDR3 system memory. It performed well on our PCMark Vantage benchmark, turning in a score of 5,636. That's a bit higher than that of the Asus U41JF-A1 (5,560) and more than 300 points higher than the Dell Inspiron 14R-1296PBL ($579.99 list, 3 stars). Its Cinebench R11.5 score of 2.11 was in line with the Samsung QX410-J01 (2.12) and HP Pavilion dv4-1265dx (2.11) but trailed the Asus U41JF-A1 (2.39). It processed our Photoshop CS5 workload in 5 minutes 22 seconds, which was just a second faster than the Dell 14R-1296PBL but half a minute slower than the Asus U41JF-A1. On our Handbrake multimedia test, the VPC-EA46FM/V needed 2 minutes 57 seconds to transcode our test file. The Dell 14R-1296PBL did it in 2:58, and the Samsung QX410-J01 finished it in 2:54. The Asus U41JF-A1 beat them all with a time of 2:38.
As is usually the case with an integrated GPU, the Intel HD Graphics solution can handle video but doesn't provide the horsepower needed to run graphics-intensive games. It's score of 1,689 on our 3DMark06 test (at 1366-by-768) was only a few points higher than that of the Dell 14R-1296PBL, which also uses an integrated GPU. In comparison, the Asus U41JF-A1, equipped with a switchable Nvidia GeForce 425M graphics card, scored an impressive 6,931 on the same test.
The Sony VPC-EA46FM/V's battery life is good but not great. The 54WH battery lasted 5 hours 8 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 battery test. That's nearly a full hour longer than the Dell 14R-1296PBL (4:10) but almost an hour and a half shy of the Samsung QX410-J01 (6:27). The Asus U41JF-A1 outlasted them all with a battery life of 8:19.
If you're e looking for a mainstream laptop that doesn't look like every other mainstreeam laptop, the Sony VAIO VPC-EA46FM/V is for you. Whether its bright violet design is a plus or a minus is strictly a matter of taste, but there's no denying its solid performance and robust feature set. A more powerful graphics solution would be a welcome upgrade, though. If a mainstream laptop with some graphics chops is what you're after, the Asus U41JF-A1 is a better choice.