Help me with a dilemma: To Vaio X or not

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on getting the Vaio X for grad school. Here is the list of what I'm intended to do with it:

. Running Engineering Simulation (i.e. Chemcad, Maple, Labview...)
. Light Lightroom processing (photography is my hobby)
. MS Office data processing

What I love about the X series the long battery life of the X series + ext. battery and the weight/form factor. What I'm in doubt is the capability of the Atom CPU to handle all of the intended tasks. So I need some inputs from you guys.

I already have a decent desktop to handle all of the CPU-intensive stuff.

 

I have a Vaio X and have used some of your programs. My take is:

. Running Engineering Simulation (i.e. Chemcad, Maple, Labview...) - extremely slow, depending on how complicated the codes are
. Light Lightroom processing (photography is my hobby) - very slow
. MS Office data processing - ok

 

The Atom CPU is incredibly slow. If I were you I'd take a serious look at the Z series instead.

 

Thank you guys for very helpful and quick replies. In fact, I'm also considering the Z series. But I will wait for the SB variant.

 

Dude, for the apps you want to run, the X should not even be considered. If you want a super portable machine, I would consider the new Macbook Air. It's not that much bigger than the X and is far faster. Having said that, it's still slow for what you want to do.

 

I would, but only as a second laptop where long battery life and portability is key. As main laptop get the Z.