News 

Some of the budget Vaios we've seen before have had creaky chassis. The NR32Z generally feels sturdy and rigid, although there was some flexing around the lid. The lid and palm rests have a grainy texture which feels pleasingly different. The NR32Z/S model has a silver coloured chassis, while the pictured NR32Z/T variant is finished in an unusual chocolate brown colour.

We were pleased to find the NR32Z is fitted with 3GB of RAM. It's enough for memory intensive tasks such as image editing or working in multiple programs simultaneously, but you don't need

ADVERTISEMENT

64-bit Windows and 64-bit optimised software to get the best from it. We didn't run our benchmarks as the pre-production model we saw had a Core 2 Duo T5450 processor, instead of the T5550 to be used in the final units.

Many cheap laptops use integrated graphics chips. These utilise system memory, leaving less for Windows and your applications. The NR32Z has a dedicated graphics chip, the 128MB GeForce 8400M GS. It won't play the latest 3D games smoothly, but older titles will run fine.

The large keyboard is comfortable to type upon, although the keys don't feel quite as responsive as those found on Dell's latest XPS range of laptops. The large touch pad is accurate though and the accompanying buttons feel just right.

The NR32Z weighs a hefty 2.8kg which isn't especially portable, but is respectable for a laptop with a 15.4in widescreen display. Although the 250GB hard disk isn't the largest we've seen in a laptop at this price, it's still spacious enough for a decent media library.

We were impressed by the Vaio NR32Z and we'll be bringing you a full review shortly. The NR32Z is now available from www.sonystyle.co.uk.