Sony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF reviews: Laptop computer

Score 8.2/10 Read 65
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+ This laptop has no outstanding positive points. - It scores poorly on battery life.

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Sony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF with Dual Core Processor, 4GB of Memory and on Windows 7 Home Premium. Blu-ray Drive, 4.33 hours of battery See full product description

Battery life	6.3
Design	8.7
Size and weight	8.1
Performance	8.6
Value for money	8.1
Overall rating	8.2

Some customer reviews of Sony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF

Most helpful reviews

Confirmed purchaser General home user

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: Reviewer left no comment
Bad points:: Could be lighter.
Screen too reflective.

Battery life	10.0
Design	10.0
Size and weight	8.0
Performance	10.0
Value for money	10.0
Overall rating	9.0

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Confirmed purchase: 26 Mar 2010

John, Brittany France General home user

Score 7.0/10

Good points:: feels good to use, the matt black finish gives feel of quality to touch & keypad positive works as it should doesnt get to hot,
Bad points:: Its not the model you ask about Its a VGN-NW26M the viewing angle is not the best iv'e encounterd , sideways, if you look down on it etc, which for a sony surprised me a little but overal lgood to use & doesnt stress me .

Battery life	5.0
Design	9.0
Size and weight	7.0
Performance	7.0
Value for money	6.0
Overall rating	7.0

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Confirmed purchase: 22 Jun 2011

OLUWOLE, LONDON Music, gaming or video fan

Score 10.0/10

Good points:: Well since i've had it
its been working fine

this the first labtop that i've not fix going 2 years now
casue of this my next laptop still going be SONY because i am happy with the performance with this one
Bad points:: Battery life, that only problem i've with this laptop
seem they knowingly made sure it only works for one year so you can buy another,
and they cost 2 much to buy

Battery life	6.0
Design	9.0
Size and weight	9.0
Performance	10.0
Value for money	10.0
Overall rating	10.0

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Confirmed purchase: 14 Jun 2011

Liz, Wales Geeky, gaming, design student

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: This laptop is a nice little machine that is currently being used for study on a multimedia digital design course, and so far it is holding up very well when using Adobe CS5 software, especially when it comes to video editing and rendering, it does it quick and without crashing.

The laptop itself is also a nice sleek design and is nice and portable, the customisation for battery life profiles is also a nice touch thanks to the VAIO control centre. There was a lot of software already on the laptop upon first boot up, some of which have come in really handy.

What has been the most surprising about this laptop though has been the way in which it has replaced my old workstation. (The workstation cannot support Win7 64Bit, this laptop came with it ready installed.) As I now find myself using the laptop at home with a mouse, speakers, graphics tablet, and a printer/scanner nearby and occasionally plugged into my TV for duel screen, making it a nice 'desktop' then to get it on the go I'm packed up with power lead and mouse and off I go.

It is also nice to have a Blu-Ray Drive as well, it is not used often but has come in handy on the rare occasion I have used it to watch a film when I have not had access to my PS3 and TV. The internal 500GB hard drive also comes in handy for the reason as well, as I have had plenty of room to store all my music, photo's and videos along with all my work past and present so far.

I have also tried playing some games on it, however most of my PC collection is fairly old, and due to the high spec of the laptop there has been a learning curve to try and get some titles to work, as one in particular played so quickly due to the nice high spec of the laptop, and it took a while to learn the tricks to slow it down in that case.
Bad points:: The few bad things I have come across is the amount of software that does come with it, while some of it has proved useful I did have to go through and disable un-install a few things before I got the laptops true performance.

I am also slightly disappointed with the battery life, it will last on average 2 hours if not doing intensive software work and is set to a low power usage mode. Although extra life batteries available I would have liked it to have one already, but with the amount of power sockets available in Uni and coffee shops these days it has rarely caused a problem, just makes you more aware of finding power sources.

I was also sad to find out that the next model up had the Bravia Sync with it and this model the VGN-NW21ZF doesn't and can't have it installed. It is only a minor gripe, but still it would have been nice seeing as the PS3, Xperia X10 and the Bravia TV all have it in my house, the laptop is a little left out, but there are ways around it running over servers and homegroups and such.

Battery life	6.0
Design	10.0
Size and weight	8.0
Performance	10.0
Value for money	10.0
Overall rating	9.0

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Confirmed purchase: 14 Dec 2010

Laura, General home user

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: Reviewer left no comment
Bad points:: Within 1 year 11 keys on the keyboard stopped working.

Battery life	6.0
Design	9.0
Size and weight	7.0
Performance	9.0
Value for money	9.0
Overall rating	9.0

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Confirmed purchase: 11 May 2011

Nikhil, London Often on the move

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: Its perfect! It looks outstanding, sleek and very well built! Light efficient and very fast. Overall a great product. Screen is very clear, keyboard layout is good for fast typers like myself and the trackpad is very efficient
Bad points:: The battery life is a downside as it only lasts about 4 hours if your using it full on eg.. streaming a video while doing work and having the volume on full blast while the screen brightness is max.. however if you were to limit the factors such as volume and brightness you could probably get a good 6 7 hours of work and play

Battery life	7.0
Design	10.0
Size and weight	10.0
Performance	10.0
Value for money	10.0
Overall rating	9.0

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Confirmed purchase: 07 Apr 2010

Fabian, Hamburg/Germany Music, gaming or video fan

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: Well transportable & lightweight, very nice CPU and RAM, Windows 7: performance index 5.0, all games&apps running fluently. Examples:
1. Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 (up to 1280x720 video dimensions)
2. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (runs @ 28 to 40 fps most of the time)

WEB key, nice design, separate keyboard keys, overall sufficient monitor resolution(1366x768). Blu-Ray drive.
Bad points:: no sound card stereo mix input. no CF card input.

Battery life	8.0
Design	9.0
Size and weight	9.0
Performance	10.0
Value for money	10.0
Overall rating	9.0

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Confirmed purchase: 06 Mar 2010

Read all 65 customer reviews

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Product Features

Screen size (Inches)	15.5
Screen size is measured diagonally from corner to corner.
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium
Software on which the device runs
RAM in GB	4

Number of Cores	Dual
Computer processors are made up of 1 or more cores. Having multiple cores allows the computer to run two or more processes at once, improving multi-tasking and speeding things up.
Hard disk capacity (Gigabytes)	500
Hard Disk capacity is measured in GBs which stands for Gigabytes. A gigabyte is 1000 MB or megabytes. The more GB you have the more info like photos and music you can store.
Screen Resolution (pixels)	1366x768 (WXGA)
The number of pixels the screen has. The more you have, the more detail the screen can display, given a high quality source. A breakdown of resolutions can be found on Wikipedia here
Processor Brand	Intel
There are 2 main manufacturers of computer processors. They are Intel and AMD.
Processor	Core 2 Duo
This is the processor model range. Different types of processor have different types of functionality. For example Centrino processors are specifically designed to increase battery life in laptops.
Processor Number	P7450
This is the specific processor number in the processor range.
Processor Speed in MHz	2130
The processor is the driving force of your personal computer. The higher the number in Megahertz or Mhz the faster your computer will run. Don’t forget that other factors such as the number of cores will have an effect on speed.
USB port	3
Socket for connecting devices such as a computers and other components.
Integrated Webcam	Yes
A webcam is a small, in-built camera that allows you to record video to upload to popular sites like Youtube or have video chats with friends on Instant Messaging services.
WiFi	Yes
Wifi allows you to connect your device to wireless routers or modems which allows you to connect to broadband internet.
Bluetooth	Yes
Bluetooth is a technology for the wireless transfer of data such as contacts, photos and music between mobile phones, computers and a host of other Bluetooth enabled devices. Read more about Bluetooth on Wikipedia
3G	No
3G allows mobile phones and mobile dongles to achieve broadband speeds similar to that of home broadband. This allows users to browse the internet, email and download files and video whilst on the move.
Fingerprint Access	No
Fingerprint access offers you an extra layer of security on your computer and is essential for any budding secret agent.
Remote control	No
DVD Writer	Yes
DVD Writers can be used to copy data, music, documents or films from your laptop, netbook or desktop computer, onto a blank DVD. DVD writers can also copy info onto blank CDs but CDs have a lower storage capacity. Normal DVD discs can store up to 4.7GB of info. DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc.
DVD Drive	Yes
CD Rom	Yes
Blu-ray Drive	Yes
VGA Port	Yes
VGA stands for Video Graphics Array. The VGA socket is used for connecting a monitor or TV to your computer. If you want to use an external monitor, TV or projector on your laptop make sure it has a VGA or DVI socket. VGA is also sometimes referred to as D-sub.
DVI Port	No
DVI stands for Digital Visual Interface. Like VGA, DVI is used to connect laptops, desktops and other devices to HD TVs or monitors. You can buy a small adaptor to convert your digital DVI socket to an analogue VGA socket for use with older monitors if needed.
Card Reader	Yes
A memory card reader allows you to connect various types of card such as SD Cards, MMC Cards or Compact Flash Cards to your laptop or desktop computer. Memory Card Readers are extremely useful for photographers as it allows you to quickly transfer your snaps from camera to machine meaning you can have them uploaded to your favourite website or printed out in a matter of minutes.
Battery Life in Hours	4.33
Battery life is important if you travel a lot. Long train journeys can be a pain if you don’t get more than 3 hours of life out of your laptop. It’s worth remembering that a lot of trains offer power sockets now so don’t be put off by a low battery life unless your lifestyle demands ultra portability.
Weight (kg)	2.7

Brand of Graphic Chip	ATI
Graphics cards in desktop computers and graphics chips in laptops are manufactured by 3 main companies: Intel, ATI and nVidia. If you want to play modern games aim for an ATI or nVidia card or chip. Intel cards and chips work perfectly for general laptop use, video playback and older computer games.
Graphic Card or Chip	Mobility Radeon HD 4570
This is the range and model number of the graphics card or chip in your desktop or laptop computer
Graphics Memory (MB)	512

Firewire	Yes
TV Output	Yes
Series	Vaio
The name the manufacturer has given to this model’s range.
Aspect Ratio	16:9
Video Editing Card	No
Hard Drive Type	Hard Disk Drive

TV Card	No
Release date	40114
The date the product was originally made available for purchase.

Also known as: SONY VGN-NW21ZF/S, SONY VGN-NW21ZF/T

Laptop Buyers Guide

Manufacturer's Description

A pleasure to carry and use

With a slim rounded profile and one of the most compact chassis in its class, VAIO NW notebooks are easy to hold and carry around.

Soft curves

Soft curves and textured surfaces feel natural in the hand and smooth to the touch. An undulating wavelike pattern runs from the keyboard to the palm rest, providing comfortable wrist support while typing.

Panoramic pictures

View two web pages side-by-side and watch movies in their original format without side bars on a real-wide 15.5 screen with 16:9 aspect ratio. X-black technology ensures pictures are sharp, bright and natural looking with vibrant colour and depth.

Discover High Definition

Sit back and enjoy the breathtaking intensity of High Definition*. Models with a Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive can play back Blu-ray movies, as well as play back and record all CD and DVD formats.

Get Connected

Watch Blu-ray Disc movies*, high definition home videos and HD photo slideshows on your large screen HDTV. Linking up is easy with one HDMI cable** connection* and optimised screen resolution via the resolution utility.

Precise typing

The carefully designed keyboard provides comfort and control with precisely spaced keys for smooth typing and a convenient stick pointer.

Surf in seconds

Press the WEB button on the front of the notebook and be online in seconds. Accessing the Internet without a full PC boot-up saves time and battery power ideal when on the go. It’s perfect for quickly updating your Facebook profile, skyping with friends or finding a postcode for your sat-nav before leaving home.

Instant screen off

When you want to listen to music or just turn your screen off, press the DISPLAY OFF button on the front of the notebook. No need for menus or multiple key combinations.

Saves power

With latest Energy Star Version 5.0 compliance, VAIO NW notebooks offer powerful home entertainment while minimising energy consumption. That’s good for the environment and your electricity bills.

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