Plan on buying the VPCEB1X5E, any thoughts on this spec?

Processor: Intel® CoreTM i5 520M Processor
Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Finishes: Black Black
Hard drive: 500 GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
Memory: 4 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Graphics: ATI MobilityRadeon HD5650 1GB
Display: 39.4 cm LCD, 1920x1080, webcam
Optical Drive: Blu-ray Disc(TM) player
Keyboard: English QWERTY keyboard
Battery: Battery life up to 3 hours
AC Adapter: 1 AC Adapter
Wireless LAN: Wireless LAN + Bluetooth®
HDMI(TM) output: HDMI(TM) output
Ports: Ports: 3 USB + 1 e-SATA/USB
Memory cards reader: SD and MS card slot
+2 year warranty extension​

Is there anything im missing?
I know this is a silly question but does having a Blu-Ray drive "eat up" more power than a standard drive? I figure it might do if it's actually being used to play Blu-Ray (as well as all the other components) but how about idle?

Thanks very much

EDIT: Also, is it only me that's slightly disappointed by the Vaio's 0.3 megapixel webcam? I'll probably use it a grand total of about 5 times but nowadays I was expecting a little better, maybe 1.3 or 2? Only a minor issue though

 

The only impressive spec that I can see is the video card, the processor isnt too bad. What is the price?

The Dell Studio Xps 16 isn't bad.

 

It comes to £789.01 without the extra 2 year warranty (so 3 years total) and with the warranty it's £928.01

EDIT:

Are you saying that the 5650 isn't a good card? Im not really after anything that can play everything on high, I mainly wanted a substantial upgrade over the previous card that I had in a notebook (the 8600M GT). So long as it plays things like Team Fortress 2, Command and Conquer, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Mass Effect 2 at an acceptable level then im happy

 

Probably is the case but just to confirm, the OS is 64-bits, right?

Also, I'm guessing you're not going to switch to SSD?

And if the advertised battery life is 3 hours, I think you're going to get less than that. Not sure if you need extended batteries...

 

Hey
The OS is 64 bits, it was the only option available when I switched to 4GB RAM (But I own my own copy of windows 7 anyway, just in case)
I didn't plan to switch to SSD, not until the prices drop somewhat, why do you ask? Or was that to do with the battery life?

Thanks

 

I was thinking if you're switching to SSD then there may be smaller-sized HDDs (hence you won't overspend). Anyway that's what I did As for battery life, I think SSDs are supposed to consume less power but I don't have a good sense of how much...

 

Hmmm
Thanks for that, a SSD might be something I consider in the future but whether it'll be in the lifetime of this Sony then we'll have to watch this space!

Right now im torn between this machine and the Dell XPS16, whilst this had a slightly better graphics card and is less expensive the XPS has a nicer screen (RGBLED) and from what i've been told, a pretty luxurious chassis.
My plan is to go into the Sony shop tomorrow and have a play with the model (if they have it)

 

So I went to the Sony Centre to look at the E Series, they didn't have my exact model but they did have one with an i3 and integrated graphics and I have to say, im pretty impressed by it, the screen is about the same as my Inspiron (viewing angles etc) and it was nice and light, which is what im looking for though im sure one with the spec im after will be a tad heavier.

One thing I didn't like though was the grill just above the keyboard and sparkly/dotty effect just below it but besides that, nice looking bit of kit

 

I have the E with full HD screen and ATI 5650 and I highly recommend this laptop. Definitely worth it's price.

 

How heavy is this thing?

5650 is pretty powerful for laptop standard. You see gaming orientated laptops such as Envy 14 and XPS use similar GPU. If I were you and this is an option, I would swap out the bluray for a SSD, and get a external bluray drive. I don't know how often do you watch bluray on the go. In case you do need to watch it, just rip the disk off to HDD and watch it from there. 1 less thing to carry plus saving some battery.

 

Do you play games much with it?
Do you find when gaming that it gets particularly hot? Some heat is expected because most of these "gaming" capable laptops can get incredibly hot but im just wondering if the heat output is stupidly high? Do you have any temperature reading software on your laptop?
Also, with the 5650 does your Vaio still weigh about 2.7KG? Or is it closer to 3 now?

If you can answer any of those then i'd be really grateful! Thanks

Right now the upgrade to the Blu-ray drive is free until Monday, hence why it's included in the specification, if I don't order by tomorrow then i'll just get the standard DVD drive. I use game discs and DVD's quite a bit so it would be very hard for me to give up an optical drive and I don't really fancy having an external one to carry around. Thanks for the suggestion though, it's questions like this that make you think and eventually (I hope) get the "right" laptop for "me"

 

It's not really a gaming laptop, but no, it doesn't get hot at all. The GPU at standard clocks (which Sony underclocks) tops out at around 62C. You can easily clock it back up to ATI's recommended clocks, in which case it still only hits 66C.

I don't think the weight changes at all with the 5650.

 

Ahhh so Sony underclock the graphics card, interesting. Is it hard to revert them back to ATI's recommended speeds?

Thanks for the info though

 

Yeah, it's clocked at 450/790, whereas ATI reccomends 450-650/800. Technically it's not underclocked, just at the lower end of ATI's suggestions. But no, it's not hard, just install AMD GPU Clock Tool and set the clocks where you want them. You have to do it manually every time you want to use the GPU's full capacity, otherwise you lose ATI's Powerplay, but it's a 5 second job.

 

It sounds slightly off-putting but I suppose thats the compromise you make for having a light, cool laptop

 

Are you finding shipping a problem? I'm also looking at the E-series but it says it'll take 5-6 weeks... Putting me right off!

 

Yeah im finding the exact same thing, when I went into the Sony store they gave me the exact same shipping estimates too

 

I know, it's a pain in the arse. It does look like a good laptop though, and I can't find a laptop for £600 that has an i5, 4Gb Ram and a 512MB HD graphics card... I also quite like that it can load linux so you can access the internet quicker than if you waited it for load W7... Even though it is a bit of a gimmick!

I've checked John Lewis, Comet, PC World, Currys and other suppliers that Sony suggest but none of them have as agood a deal as on their website. Might just take the 6 week hit...

Are Sony laptops known for their reliability and quality? I could probably get a cheaper manufacturer with similar specs...

 

Been looking at similar specs to what you posted too. Was hoping to get the order sorted while the free blu ray drive offer was on but just missed it. Its changed to free hard drive upgrade now which is still good.

Wanted to see one in real life before I committed too!

 

do u still recommend this laptop? no fan noise ? I like this laptop but I heard that there is a fan noise problem while opening Google Chrome for example!!

 

I got mine shipped today, will arrive to me the day after tomorrow. Will post my feedback as well guys.

 

I ordered mine last night to cheer me up from the days politics... But enough of that! It said my order laptop should be with me in the first week of June. So 3-4 weeks as opposed to the 5-6 originally given... I can cope with that!

 

Sony has the free blu-ray player offer again if you spend $50 and upgrade to Win7 Pro.

I can't decide on which laptop to get. The Sony E-Series off Newegg, for $850 that comes with a better graphics card, or the E Series straight from Sony, that's $200 more, but comes with worse GPU, but faster HD, blu ray player, and the color I want (white) instead of just black.

 

What's the battery life like on this laptop?Seems like a steal for this price!!

 

I would be very interested in what both of you guys have to say about your new E-Series (when you eventually get yours donaldc)

 

went to actual sonystyle store to try these laptops... the F series is way better in build quality.

compared to the Z, the E series screen is sooo bad

 

The Z is a good looking machine, I just don't have the disposable income to be able to afford a £2,000 notebook.

The F and Z were kept in a case at my Sony Store so I didn't get a hands on look at them but I can tell you the Nvidia 330M isn't as fast as the ATI 5650 in the E-Series