Skinny Sony stunner carries price premium

FROM JUST ABOUT any angle the G11 is possibly the most impressive notebook Sony has made to date managing to marry style, substance and usability.

The G11 is Sony's ultra-portable series designed to appeal to road warriors. Its main rival will be Lenovo's very recently updated X60s. Producing thin and light notebooks is all about trade-offs usually between features, battery life and weight however it's very hard to see what you're losing with the G11.

Available in two configurations, the more impressive of which is only available through the Sonystyle outlet. The top of the line G11VN/TC, reviewed here, does away with the traditional black on black styling, opting for dark brown panelling on top of the 4mm thick LED backlit screen. It also comes with a brown leather "wrap", allowing you to carry the notebook like a Filofax.

The angular lines seem to be taken from the X Series but whereas those notebooks are noted for their titanium hinges and magnesium alloy body, the G11 does merry with another exotic material, carbon fibre.

Of course the Core Solo U1500 (1.33GHz) processor isn't going to win any performance contests but then again this machine isn't going to be used to play Quake. The paltry processor is more than adequate for handling the typical business workload of word processing, email, Web browsing and perusing YouTube all at once.

While the processor may not float your boat, the 2Gb of RAM included as standard is impressive and the 100Gb hard disc is more than enough storage when on the move. Up to 224Mb of the 2Gb RAM is up for grabs by the Intel GMA 950 graphics unit. Most impressive of all is the fact that the G11, a 1.13kg notebook is actually a two-spindle device. The built in DVD?RW drive removes the need of a "slice".

The 12.1-inch screen is so thin that most size zero models would be envious. The thickness, or lack of, is due to it using LEDs for backlighting. In fact it's so thin that you can perceptibly bend the screen lengthways. Despite featuring new backlight technology, it sticks to the trusty 1024x768 resolution having respectable viewing angles and brightness. The screen isn't finished in Sony's X-Black coating which isn't a bad thing, especially when working outdoors.

Rare for an ultra portable, the G11 features a pretty decent sized trackpad. The problem is this space has come at the cost of the keyboard which seems a little squashed. There's no real problem on the width of the keys, but those who have slightly longer fingers will incur a few problems.

The G11's trump card is its battery life. Sony quote nine hours which as with most of these things should be taken with a pinch of salt. When at full on battery saving performance scrimping mode it manages well into eight hours. Enabling wireless connectivity does bring it down further but still it hovers around the seven hour mark. During a working day you can safely take this notebook around with you without having to worry about running out of juice.

Sony drops a bit of a clanger with the warranty providing only a single year's cover. This doesn't compare favourably to Lenovo's standard three year cover. While you have the option to extend the warranty on the G11 to three years, that'll set you back a further £210.

It is then you start to notice that the G11 is quite an expensive proposition. While Lenovo's X60 can be found for around £1000 the base G11 costs £1360 with the all singing model we tested costing a further £100 more. Though the Lenovo machine has a better processor and warranty; the Sony has more RAM, hard disk space, an optical drive, is lighter and has far superior battery life. It all depends on how much you value your portability.

Sony does take its ultra portables seriously and the G11 is a very desirable unit. It's stylish, has good performance, is very portable and the battery life is impressive. Most corporates will stick to their X series primarily because of the brand name and warranty. If you're willing to spend extra on the extended warranty or just ignore it altogether then the Sony Vaio G11 is a stunning bit of kit. ?

Pros
- Extremely light
- Superb real-world battery life
- Built in DVD writer
- Good amount of RAM and disk space as standard
- Thin and bright screen

Cons
- No Core Duo
- 1 year warranty

Barman's Verdict