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Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX Notebook Review
Tons of battery life and performance here
Sep 7 2010, 1:00pm CDT | by Shane McGlaun
When it comes to a notebook computer most of us want the same things - performance and long battery life. Those two things rarely come together in one notebook, but they have in the machine I am looking at today. Today I am checking out the Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX ultraportable and if you are in the market for a new computer, read on for all of the details.
Specifications
The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX has an Intel Core i5-520M CPU running at 2.4GHz. The machine has 4GB of RAM and a 13.3-inch screen with a resolution of 1600 x 900. The notebook has a 256GB SSD for storage and NVIDIA GT 330M GPU along with Intel HD graphics. The little machine weighs 3.04 pounds and is aimed at the business user. The machine is available online for about $2100.
Benchmarks
To test the Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX I used Battery Eater Pro for battery life along with my iTunes encoding test and movie encoding test. For my iTunes encoding test I take the Stone Temple Pilots Core CD and encode it from MP3 to AAC and time the process with a stopwatch. The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX took 1 minute and 35 seconds to encode the album putting it in the top five of all PCs I have tested.
The next test up was the movie encoding test where I take the Magic of Flight HD video and encode it to 1080p XviD with Lame MP3 sound. The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX was able to encode the video in 224 seconds. That puts the notebook in sixth place out of all notebooks tested so far. The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX performs very well for an ultraportable; the only machines beating it in raw performance so far are gaming notebooks.
The final benchmark is Battery Eater Pro. The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX lasted about nine hours on a single charge in power savings mode. That is a huge win and the only machine I have ever tested that was able to post battery life like that was the Viewsonic ViewBook Pro that had two batteries. This machine has fantastic battery life and fantastic performance.
In Use
After the tests were done, I used the Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX for some normal work to see how it fared. The machine has a glossy screen that has some glare, but the screen has less glare than many notebooks I test this side of matte finish screens.
The keyboard is often a place where good notebooks fail. The keyboard on the Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX is very good with keys that are well spaced, sized correctly, and offer good typing feel. The keys could be larger considering the amount of space between them, but overall the keyboard is very good.
The track pad sits right below the keyboard and offers good accuracy and sensitiv8ity. The buttons are placed well and are easy to click. Between the two buttons is a fingerprint reader for logging in. The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX has HDMI out along with WiFi and a memory card reader.
You might not expect a notebook aimed at the business user to be such a good multimedia machine, but the Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX is excellent for this use. One of the things that helps the Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX get such fantastic battery life is the hybrid graphics system. The discrete GPU can be turned off when it's not needed to save power letting the internal GPU run things.
When the work day is done and you are ready to watch com streaming video or movies, the NVIDIA GT 330M GPU kicks in and can handle the demands of streaming video with ease. The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX also has an optical drive, which you don’t always find on small notebooks, allowing you to watch DVDs on the road. Streaming video from Hulu was smooth and silky with no stuttering or any other issues. Colors are deep and realistic and the machine is great for media duties.
Verdict
Pros
- Awesome battery life
- Lightweight
- Great performance
Cons
- Expensive
Conclusion
The Sony Vaio VPCZ125GX is one of the best notebooks I have ever tested. The machine has phenomenal battery life and tons of power making it very appealing for notebook shoppers that have the budget.
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Shane McGlaun
Leading our review center, Shane knows technology inside out. His
extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer
electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at shane@i4u.com.
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