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Battery Life
SONY SVT-1111M1E/S Laptop Battery, SVT-1111M1E/S batteries fast shipping to UK, Europe and World.
BatteryEater did not have an easy job in draining the VGP-BPS30 battery. The laptop lasted for 8 hours and 35 minutes in Reader's mode, comprised of minimum screen brightness and disabled communication modules. The T11 ran for a still good 5 hours and 25 minutes in our automated internet test, where a new web page is loaded every 40 seconds and the screen's brightness is set to medium (approx. 150 cd/m2). It was still nearly 3 hours (169 minutes) in BatteryEater's Classic test with maximum brightness and load. Thus, all time values have improved slightly compared with the pre-series model.
Our T11 easily surpassed Acer's Aspire S3-391 (4 hours) in the presumably more significant Wi-Fi test. However, Toshiba's Portégé Z830-10N excelled in comparison with our T11 with 6 hours in the Wi-Fi test.
Case
Generally, the case looks like a hybrid of Sony's S and Z range, which is in no way a drawback. They feature a nice design and an accurate build. Unlike the S range, the T11 model is no longer partly blocked by the air outlet when opening the lid.
The surface of the T11's base unit is made of one piece of aluminum and has a very nice feel to it. The same is true for the display lid's exterior, although the screen's bezel is made of a magnesium alloy. The screen's stiffness is basically agreeable considering the low thickness of merely 5 mm. We did not observe any real flaws in terms of stability otherwise. The lid can be dented marginally in the center, but it is impossible to build an armored tank with a total thickness of 5 mm - especially since the LED backlight needs a bit of room for a homogeneous illumination.
Although Sony's T11 is not quite as thin as some other ultrabooks, our measurements reveal it to be a design trick of the contenders. With 18 mm, it is just as thin as other ultrabooks, including much more expensive models, where the height could be reduced to 17 mm at most. Anyway, slimness is not the only important thing for mobility. When dough is rolled out, it gets thinner but that does not reduce its volume or weight.
We find one of the most likely price-related cutbacks in Sony's T11 model when looking at the weight. With 1.42 kg, it weighs more than Asus' 13-inch Zenbooks (1.35 kg). Even the 14-inch ThinkPad X1 Carbon is lighter with 1.36 kg. Toshiba and Gigabyte have announced 11-inch models weighing less than one kilogram. Sony's Z range manages less than 1.2 kg despite a larger 13.3-inch screen, owing to a carbon fiber construction. Sony's T13 13-inch sister model weighs 1.52 kg and is thus not much lighter than the considerably better equipped Vaio S13A model (1.65 kg). Apple's MacBook Air 11 is much lighter at 1.08 kg, but it is also a lot more expensive than our T11 model. It is ultimately a personal decision how much such weight differences should cost.
The screen's wide bezel makes the impression that the laptop must be unusually big for 11.6-inch. However, with a dimension of 297 x 215 mm it undercuts Acer's similarly low-priced Aspire S3 model (323 x 219 mm). Even the more expensive Samsung 900X1B (297 x 198 mm) or Asus' UX21 (297 x 196 mm) have a depth of two centimeters less. It is particularly Sony's protruding hinge construction that causes the larger size. It also regrettably feels like chromed plastic and we deem it to be the only flaw Sony makes with the casing's build.
The hinge is pulled too tight for opening the laptop with only one hand. Nevertheless, the screen rocks enough to possibly make using the laptop in a moving car or train difficult.
The casing's bottom is made of a magnesium alloy. A large recess for the battery is at the front and creates a part of the bottom. The battery can be removed via three special screws. This is also conveniently possible with a coin should a screwdriver not be at hand and why it does not work as well with a normal screwdriver. The laptop can be used without the battery. (ASUS C41-UX50 batteries)
Connectivity
Since Sony does not use any tricks to let the ultrabook look thinner, the T11 has lots of room for ports on its sides. This however only results in a slightly improved interface diversity compared with other ultrabooks - a lot of room has been left unused. Particularly, a third USB port will be wanted when an external drive using two USB ports is connected and you are suddenly forced to unplug your mouse. That makes some three year-old netbooks look good.
The power socket is located at the left's very back and one USB 2.0 as well as a powered USB 3.0 port is just before it. Powered USB can, for example, recharge a phone even when the laptop is off. Starting at the right front, we find in a logical order a microphone/headphone combo jack, an SD card/memory card combo reader, an HDMI socket, a VGA socket and an RJ45 Ethernet socket at the very back. We would have preferred a mini DisplayPort socket rather than the VGA socket, but many conference rooms likely still have old projectors. But that is not really an excuse as there are VGA adapter cables for DisplayPort interfaces.
A recurrent controversial subject is the interface placement. It is often criticized to be unhandy when the ports are placed on the rear because many users have to get up or turn the laptop in order to connect a cable.
However, we should bear in mind that it only takes a few seconds to connect a cable. When the interfaces are placed on the sides, you have to live with an unsightly and obstructing cable mess at both sides of the laptop where you might prefer to place your work utensils during all your work hours. In this case, Sony's T11 loses against Acer's S3 where merely the headphone/microphone jack and the card reader are placed on the sides and thus ensures elbow room at both sides of the laptop and a tidy desk.
Keyboard
The chiclet keyboard is good despite its short drop. The pressure point is perceived early and is accurate. You are never uncertain whether or not you hit a key when typing fast. Moreover, the keyboard has a relatively firm fit. In contrast to some other laptops, it can only be depressed in the center with a bit of force and does not move when typing on it. The keyboard only clatters a bit when typing more vigorously.
Regrettably, the keyboard does not feature a backlight for working in darker surroundings. The layout mostly corresponds to the standard and should not cause any problems during the familiarization period. The key size of 15 x 14 mm is roughly the same as on a desktop keyboard. However, the key gap of 3 mm is much smaller.
Touchpad
The Synaptics touchpad is a ClickPad on which both lower corners serve as keys. It has a size of 100 x 56 mm and has been integrated cleanly. There are neither protruding corners nor uneven gaps on the T11. The surface is lightly textured so that even moist fingers do not stick. Although there are no marks, light pressure in the lower left and right areas is enough to trigger mouse key functions with a clearly palpable and audible click. There is no scroll field on the side, but there is an even simpler to use two-finger scroll gesture that can be performed anywhere on the touchpad. In addition to that, other multi-touch gestures are supported, such as pinch-to-zoom, rotate or modifiable three and four finger flicks that enable moving to the next picture or application. We have no complaints concerning the pad's responsiveness. Nevertheless, many modifications can be made in the Synaptics driver when required. The ClickPad can be disabled via Fn + F1, but it prevents unintentional palm entries while typing on its own. Thus, deactivating it will usually be unnecessary.(HSTNN-LA13 adapters)
Display
Probably the most important ergonomic area is the screen. The resolution of 1366x768 pixels is appropriate for screens ranging from 10.1-inch to 12.5-inch and offers a good balance of focus and size of displayed application elements like icons, buttons and text. Naturally, Asus' UX21 featuring a Full HD resolution of 1920x1080 is available for users with good eyesight.
The average brightness in this case is unfortunately only 194 cd/m2. The MacBook Air 11 accomplishes 318 cd/m2 and some ultrabooks from Asus and Samsung even manage considerably higher rates. The black value of 1.0 cd/m2 could also be better and ultimately results in a rather weak contrast of 194:1. The MacBook Air 11 achieves approx. 634:1 here. This weakness is also visible despite the screen's glossy surface. Pictures look a bit pale and lack saturated black. The illumination of 90% is very homogeneous in contrast to the Air 11 (76%). Thus, no irregular light spots are seen even on a black screen.
You will hardly recognize anything on a high-gloss screen featuring only 194 cd/m2 in direct sunlight. Even when the screen is turned away from the sun, it is simply too dark and reflective to work with it.
Also, you can only recognize something for a short time when you look at the screen with narrowed eyes. The reflections that are barely noticed indoors are simply too intense here to work on the screen for a longer time or to watch a video. If you want to work in the train, you should not choose a seat on the sunny side. Although the T11 is portable, it is designed for indoor use.
Detailed picture editing is unfortunately impossible already due to the very tight vertical viewing angle. A homogeneous color representation is not possible even from an angle of 90 degrees. Monochrome surfaces are brighter at the small screen's upper edge and darker at the lower edge. It is too bad that the vertical viewing angles are so inferior to the horizontal ones, which always suffice to watch a movie with family or friends. (VGP-BPS27/Q batteries)
The VGA port supplies a focused picture without discoloration or artifacts. We could not test a setup of three screens due to the lack of one monitor. However, this was never a problem for similarly equipped laptops until now.
Speakers
Two speakers are built-in above the keyboard's right and left. Depending on the music genre and as long as you do not expect any bass and do not turn up the volume to max, the sound is quite differentiated and clear. However, a subtle clattery sound sneaks in the closer you get to the maximum volume. Speech sounds very high-pitched, but it is at least well-intelligible even in low volume.
We have heard better and particularly louder sound from very small speakers, but many laptops are also much inferior. In comparison, Sony's sound system is satisfactory. The sound via good headphones or external speakers is clear and free of interference signals.
Verdict
Sony's Vaio T11 is a successful bundle in virtually all areas. Regrettably, just about the most important ergonomic aspects, the screen and the keyboard, did not turn out to be quite as good. However, it is difficult to find anything better without having to invest considerably more money. A better ultrabook keyboard might be found in Samsung's Series 9 or Lenovo's X1 Carbon. In both cases, you would have to spend almost twice as much for a completely different laptop category.
Sony's engineers successfully managed the compromise. We can recommend Sony's T11 in this price range if you do not do professional picture editing and are not planning to work outdoors with it very often. We would finally also again generally recommend investing 50 Euros (~$64) for the upgrade to the i5-3317U.
If the design appeals to you but you would like more interfaces and performance, you might look at Sony's S13A series. It is a very compact laptop featuring a dedicated graphics card, a WWAN (UMTS) option, a superior 1600x900 13-inch screen and even an integrated optical drive. The price for it is a bit higher and there is a little increase in weight: 1.65 kg compared to our T11 model's 1.42 kg.
If you do want a lighter weight and are willing to spend more, you could look at Toshiba's Portégé Z830-10N or Z930-119 (1.11 kg) or Asus' Zenbook UX21E (1.1 kg) or even wait for Gigabyte's X11 (0.97 kg).
More info: laptop-batteries.com.au , laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu
