Sony VAIO VGN-TZ195N/XC
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Review Date: 18th Jan' 08

The Sony VAIO TZ series has been home to many great ultraportable notebook PC's for quite sometime now. Though models from the TZ series bear an expensive price tag, the features they exhibit are of high value and not found easily elsewhere. For example, if you are looking for an ultraportable with SSD hard drive and LED backlight display, you won't have many choices but one from Sony VAIO TZ series.

The VAIO VGN-TZ195N/XC is currently priced at $3399. It shares the same 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low voltage (ULV) processor that is featured in Latitude D430, an ultraportable model from Dell. Fujitsu's LifeBook P7230 ultraportable laptop also comes equipped with 1.2GHz ULV processor, however that is the older Core Duo only.

Apart from the processor, VAIO VGN-TZ195N/XC also shares many of the other hardware components with the Latitude D430 model. Both are equipped with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 card and Intel 945GM chipset, sadly previous generation stuff. On the positive side, both have integrated mobile broadband for WWAN access as well as draft-N wireless connectivity. Both replace the traditional mechanical hard drives in favor of flash storage based Solid State Drives (with Latitude D430, the SSD choice is optional). The SSD capacity for TZ 195 is 48GB while that of Latitude D430 can go up to 64GB.

However, VGN-TZ195N manages to pack all of this and an 11.1" LED backlight display within a weight well under 3 pounds, 2.65 lbs to be more accurate. More remarkably, TZ195N is also equipped with an integrated dual layer DVD writer. Something not only missing in Latitude D430, but ThinkPad X61 as well that almost weighs one pound more than the Sony's ultraportable offer.

The design & built of VGN-TZ195N/XC are excellent. The hard work of Sony's design team is pretty visible in this great looking ultraportable machine that is packed with a carbon fiber casing. Owing to the tiny 11.1" form, the keyboard is quite compact and not an ideal one for long hours of typing and office work. If you plan to keep working on this machine other than your trips outside, better buy a dock with full-size keyboard facility. The touchpad is responsive and a pleasant surprise is the presence of dedicated media buttons.

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