The Sony VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S ($999 direct) is a latest desktop deputy laptop to come out of Sony, and it ticks all a boxes on a list of favorite features, like a slim chassis, rapid Core i5 processor, 1080p display, and backlit keyboard. A few facilities are unexpected, like a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) for a confidence conscious, and a life-extending outmost battery slice. With such a underline set a Sony VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S will infer to be a tantalizing choice to a Editors’ Choice Dell XPS 15z (Microsoft) ($999 direct, 4 stars), even if a opening isn’t utterly as quick as that of a peers.

Design
The VPC-SE23FX/S facilities a same full-flat pattern seen in final Sony VAIO VPC-SE16FX/S ($1,249.99 direct, 4 stars), with no tilted in a keyboard and even density from front to behind when closed. The S tacked onto a finish of a indication series indicates a gold china tone seen here on a aluminum lid and palmrest as good as a cosmetic covering a rest of a chassis. The VAIO VPC-SE23FX is also accessible in black.

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The VPC-SE23FX/S is underneath one in. thick, measuring 0.97 by 14.97 by 10.08 inches (HWD), and weighs usually 4.4 pounds. It also comes with an outmost battery slice, that extends a battery life considerably, though also bumps adult a sum weight to 5.7 pounds. By comparison, a HP Envy 15 (2012) ($1,249.99 direct, 4 stars) weighs 5.7 pounds with no hardware.

The VPC-SE23FX/S’s 15.6-inch widescreen offers an eye-popping 1,920-by-1,080 fortitude display, a same fortitude seen on a HP Envy 15 (2012). It’s ideal for enjoying cinema in full HD, solely that you’ll need to find those cinema somewhere other than a Blu-ray disc, since a VPC-SE23FX/S is versed with a DVD drive. The drop-hinge pattern used on a VPC-SE23FX/S provides a apparition that a shade is indeed apart from a rest of a laptop, that is a flattering cold effect. Accompanying a arrangement is Dolby Home Theater v.4 unnatural approximate sound, that constructed transparent sound and decent drum when tested with some streaming song (some David Bowie and M83). For tangible approximate sound you’ll need a apart set of speakers.

The keyboard is full-sized, with an concomitant numeric pad, with chiclet-style keys and a intense backlight. It also comes with a silicon keyboard cover, that covers a cosmetic keys with a silicone surface that we indeed elite to a customary keyboard. The concomitant multitouch touchpad is manageable and smooth, and a right and left buttons clicked smoothly, if loudly.

Features
The VPC-SE23FX/S places all of a ports along a right palm side of a chassis, with a DVD visual expostulate on a left side. Two USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 pier are assimilated by an HDMI-out port, a VGA ensure connection, and Gigabit Ethernet. There are dual media label slots, one for SD and SDHC cards, and another for Sony’s exclusive Memory Stick cards (MS/Duo/Pro). On a front of a laptop is a earthy switch to spin off all wireless connections, that includes 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and WiDi 2.0—Intel’s wireless HD media streaming record (which requires an adapter, such as a $99 Netgear Push2TV.)

Also inside you’ll find a 640GB 5,400rpm tough drive, that offers space adequate for programs, photos, song and movies, though isn’t as vast and quick as a 750GB, 7200rpm expostulate found in a Samsung Series 7 (NP700Z5A-S03) ($1,299 list, 4 stars). It is, however, stable by Sony’s G-Sensor startle insurance to ensure opposite tough expostulate repairs from shakes and bumps. The VPC-SE23FX/S also comes with extended confidence in a form of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and Symantec’s Validation and ID Protection use (VIP).

You will be theme to some bloatware, though zero to gross or formidable to remove. On a desktop are dual website links for eBay and special offers from Sprint. The VPC-SE23FX/S also comes with Evernote, Skype, Microsoft Office Starter 2010, and a 30-day hearing of Norton Internet Security. Sony includes several VAIO branded utilities, such as VAIO Care and VAIO Messenger. Sony also covers a laptop with a one-year warranty.

Performance

Sony has given a VPC-SE23FX/S with a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-2450M processor and 4GB of RAM, identical to a Core i5-2430M seen in a HP Envy 15 and a Core i5-2410M seen in a Dell XPS 15z (Microsoft). In PCMark 7 opening tests, a VPC-SE23FX/S scored 2,049 points, forward of a Dell XPS 15z (2,012) though behind a Envy 15 (2,218 points). In CineBench R11.5 digest tests, a VPC-SE23FX/S scored 2.78 points, forward of both a HP Envy 15 and a Dell XPS 15z, though descending behind quad-core CPU versed competitors like a Toshiba Satellite P755-S5269 ($979.99 list, 4 stars). The VPC-SE23FX/S fell behind in multimedia tests, though still finished Handbrake and Photoshop CS5 tests with adequate speed (Handbrake 1:50, Photoshop 4:36) that it will prove a user who spasmodic edits a shave for YouTube or touches adult a photo.

The VPC-SE23FX/S offers both dissimilar and integrated graphics, with an AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor for high opening graphics and Intel’s integrated graphics accessible for improved energy efficiency. Switching between a dual involves manually flipping a switch that resides usually above a keyboard. Using a Radeon GPU, a VAIO had playable gaming opening during reduce resolution. In Crysis, a VPC-SE23FX/S constructed 62.9 frames per second (fps), while during full 1920 by 1080 fortitude and aloft fact settings, it managed usually 7.2 fps. Similar opening was seen in Lost Planet 2, where a VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S pumped out 51 fps during middle settings, and 17.3 fps during local resolution. Compare this to a heading scores of a HP Envy 15 (Crysis 62.7fps during middle settings) and a Samsung Series 7 (Lost Planet 2 64.3fps during middle settings) and you’ll see that a Sony VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S binds a possess sincerely well.

The VPC-SE23FX/S has a hermetic in battery, preventing us from last a battery’s accurate distance or watt-hour rating, though in a MobileMark 2007 battery life test, it lasted 6 hours 6 minutes, longer than both a HP Envy 15 (4:01) and Toshiba P755-S5269 (5:07), though descending behind a Samsung Series 7 (6:41) and a Dell XPS 15z (7:13). Nonetheless, it’s a important length of time, and Sony bolsters it with an outmost battery slice. Sony estimates that a extended battery will supplement adult to 6 hours of battery-life, stretching it to scarcely 12 hours total.

The Sony VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S targets a customer who wants a slim build and rapid opening offering by heading laptops, like a Editors’ Choice Dell XPS 15z, and wants to keep their losses underneath $1000. While a VPC-SE23FX/S doesn’t have a opening to disintegrate those tip performers, it’s really value looking at, with a long-lasting battery, decent Core i5 processing, and additional facilities like WiDi 2.0, TPM and VIP security, and a good looking design.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

Check out a exam scores for a Sony VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare a Sony VAIO VPC-SE23FX/S with several other laptops side by side.

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