Sony VGN-AW11Z review

When it comes to design, Sony doesn’t have the same rep as a company like Apple. Which is a shame, as the Sony VAIO VGN-AW11Z manages to do the same multimedia tasks as a MacBook, look just as pretentious when pulled out in Starbucks and let you frag in between sips of your frappuccino.

Pros
For a middling price, you get a middling gaming laptop (4 gigs of DDR2 RAM), but a couple of nice perks thrown in. Perhaps surprisingly for a Sony product, the VGN-AW11 is hands down the most stylish model we tested. The black casing is unobtrusive and the chiclet keyboard a la the new MacBooks rocks, even if it doesn’t make a difference to your game. Blu-ray, HDMI and a gorgeous 1080p cinema widescreen are welcome additions too.

Cons
Like the other 18 incher on test, the AW11Z doesn’t pack a top end graphics card. It comes with a decent enough NVIDIA 9600M GT but if you trade down to the AW11M/H model, you’ll save money but you won’t get far trying to play Far Cry 2 on a 9300M card.

In summary then…
The Sony VGN-AW11Z is a great gaming option for those who fancy getting a bit of work done in between rounds. It’s not for hardcore gamers, but if you fancy a quick deathmatch at lunch you can do happily, before jumping back into video/photo editing mode, where the AW range excels. It’s also a great option if you ever fancy using it as a laptop and taking it out the house – it’s easily the most portable 18 inch model we’ve ever come across, and that’s saying something. The AW11Z may not play every game you want at the highest possible settings, but it will let you play them wherever.

Speed

Graphics

Build

Features

Value

Overall

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