When I first saw this perched on the display shelf I knew I had to have it. My first impression of the Sony Vaio NS20EP was that it’s VERY pink, you can’t deny the fact that it’s solely aimed for the younger teenage girl. But the more I inspected the Vaio, the more I was impressed. Yes, it was pink, but not in a tacky way, actually it was pretty cute. The sleek and subtle metallic pink finish was impressive and unusual, nothing I’ve ever seen before.
But as we know it’s not all about apperance. So let me go through the specs with you.
15.4 in TFT active matrix 1280 x 800 - is very neat and bright, even when you let the machine run on battery the brightness does not waver, which surprised me a great deal. I have owned 3 laptops before this and I have found in those that when ran on battery mode the screen dims to save power, but this machine stays on the same screen brightness as if it was plugged in on the mains.
250GB – Hard Drive
3gb of RAM – more than enough for daily use.
Intel© Pentium© Dual-Core Processor – copes perfectly well with large intensive applications. I have had no problems running multiple programs such as Photoshop CS4, Dreamweaver, Illustrator all at the same time.
Integrated 1.3 megapixel camera - which to be honest I’m not too impressed with, but then again maybe I was used to my previous laptop camera which was about 2 megapixel. But don’t let that put you off, the Vaio I bought came with the ArcSoft Magic-i Visual effects which proved a big hit with the kiddies or adults. I don’t know whether this comes as standard with all Vaio NS20E but it’s certainly a plus.
4 USB ports – great for connecting all your gizmos. Ipod, digital camera, memory stick etc.
DVD Rewriter Drive – which obviously lets you burn information and media on a wide variety of DVD disks.
WiFi enabled- this means that you can connect your Vaio to the internet within range of a wireless network. Personally, I find that as soon as the Vaio is turned on it connects very quickly on my network and have not had any issues with connectivity.
Firewire port - offers you high-speed transfers, mainly used for transfering large amounts of data usually videos. You will need a firewire cable for this.
Energy Star Certified – products that carry the Energy Star Label are more energy efficient.
Battery Life – is excellent! I have a seen a few reviews that complained about poor battery life, but I found that it lasts for more than 2 and a half hours whilst running different programs (this usually drains the power). As I have mentioned before, even when unplugged from the mains it does not compromise the brightness of the screen either.
Sony Vaio NS20EP
Keyboard & Front
Front
Metallic Pink Texture
There are also a few cons that I wish to point out with the Sony NS20EP, firstly, there is no volume control apart from the one on the desktop. Back up disks are not included to I would suggest that you burn your own once you have your laptop set up. It would have been nice if it came with a 19′ screen. I would have also liked it if it had Bluetooth but hey we can’t have it all can we?!
So there you are, I think that the Sony Vaio NS20EP is a great buy, not only that it’s ideal for a first computer, but anyone that wants a reliable, stylish, user-friendly laptop. Just what I expected from Sony, and for £458.00 you can’t really go wrong. It’s not just for teenage girls… suitable for grown ups too!
I’m not a great lover of soap operas, but last night I found myself parked on the sofa watching Eastenders. For you guys who are not familiar with the soap, I shall give you a quick run down on what it’s all about. Basically, it’s a place in the East End of London where life is mundane, depicting morose lives of characters that spend most of existence in the pub, club or ‘The Cafe”. It’s supposed to represent realistic situations but lately had just become a constant stream of unrelenting misery.
I haven’ t tuned in for months, and last nights episode seem to have people talking. Some say that they too had become involved and felt emotional about the whole story line, even crying in front of their televisions.
I can never understand why people can get so into their soaps, like it’s another extension of their daily life.
I used to work in a place where the main topic in the staff room used to be the lives of the characters in these soaps. One time I walked in and they were discussing about someones illicit affair, a woman who is having an affair with her sisters’ boyfriend, while she too is also carrying on with another guy, and to top that, her sister is actually her daughter. While I listened engrossed in this unconventional drama, I started to think that my life seems a little dull compared to this woman. She seems to have all things going on, and god knows how she’s going to get out of this pickle. I then asked the woman next to me…
“Do you know what’s shes going to do?” she casually said “Well, we’ll just have to find out at 7.30 on Thursday night to see what happens!”. Then the penny dropped.
But what amazed me was the enthusiasm in their story telling, that made me believe that they were in fact talking about someone that they know. Maybe I’m a little naive, or just a soap opera snob, but it’s interesting how women (especially) can relate to these characters.
Do you think that soap operas are common in women who need some sort of escapism? Does it help them forget about the real drama in their life? The teduim of chores and childcare are livened up by looking forward to the outrageous story lines during the week? Whatever the reason, these half an hour installments seems to satisfy many of them, and it brings them joy even if the plots are just a little too far fetched.
