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IN BRIEF: An excellent screen on a stylish, feature packed ultraportable
The Sony Vaio C1-series was one of the company's most instantly recognisable ranges, appealing to those looking for a lightweight and compact laptop. The TR1 series has been designed to replace the C1. Along with JVC's Mini Note laptop, the PCG-TR1MP is one of the few machines on the market that has such a small form factor. The PCG-TR1MP (£1802 inc. VAT) measures just 271 x 188 x 39mm, weighs 1.5kg, and is easily small enough to store away in any briefcase.
Its appearance is immediately striking. The matt silver plastic chassis and the white keyboard have a fresh and modern look, while the unusual typeface used on the keys lends a futuristic sci-fi appeal, although it won't be to everyone's taste. The keyboard itself is surprisingly easy to type on for such a small machine. We found it comfortable to use and well-made.
The TR1MP is the first machine we have reviewed to use what Sony calls the ONYX Black panel, but better known as In-Plane Switching (IPS), and is made up of a three-panel, rather than the older four-panel, technology. The placement of the panels means that a greater amount of light is sent to the eye, creating a better image. We found the 10.6-inch, 1280 x 768-pixel screen the best we've seen on a laptop to date. The glassy finish produces clear, crisp and vivid images that will make you reluctant to ever return to the old Active Matrix TFT panels. On the downside, the screen does highlight smudges and streaks, so is best left untouched.
Users will certainly have to take time getting to know their way around the chassis, since the TR1MP comes with a wide array of buttons and lights. Along the front of the machine are six LEDS of varying colours for power, battery warning, battery charging, Bluetooth and Wireless LAN status. An on/off switch for the Bluetooth and Wireless LAN functions is also located along the front. A 640 x 480-pixel Motion Eye camera is situated at the top of the screen, along with the machine's speakers. Next to the screen are four buttons for operating the camera. We found the camera - and the supplied Network Smart Capture software - easy to use, with image quality of a high enough standard for emailing and video conferencing.
The TR1MP has been designed for a life on the road, and its limited expansion options reflect this. Along the left side of the chassis is an external monitor port, and a Memory Stick slot. Concealed behind a rubber stopper is a USB port and an iLink mini-FireWire port, along with an external power socket. The right side houses Ethernet and modem sockets, a Type II PC Card slot, a further USB port and microphone and headphone sockets.
We were impressed with the inclusion of a DVD/CD-RW drive on such a small machine. DVD playback was very smooth and picture quality was excellent, with the SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio sound card providing impressive sound quality for a laptop. It's ideal for anyone wanting to watch movies while travelling.
The TR1MP is a Centrino machine and, as such, uses Intel's Pentium M processor running at 900MHz. This is backed up by 256MB memory and a 30GB hard drive. In terms of performance, the TR1MP's test results were far from impressive. Despite this, we had no complaints when we were using the machine and found it more than capable of running a number of applications at once. With a 3DMark score of 1739, this machine is not suited to demanding 3D graphics games, but mobile users will be pleased with the 212 minutes of battery life.
The Sony TR1MP is packed with features: great multimedia options, a comprehensive software package, and excellent screen - all in an extremely compact and portable chassis. It's not a cheap laptop, but the cutting-edge features and exceptional build quality, make it a compelling and appealing machine.
PRICE: £1534/£1802 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR: INTEL PENTIUM M 900MHZ (ULV)
MEMORY: 256MB SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: 30GB
SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE: 10.6-INCH IPS
DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 1280 X 768 PIXELS
GRAPHICS CARD: INTEL 855GM
DIMENSIONS (W X H X D): 271 X 188 X 39MM
WEIGHT: 1.5KG
PC CARDS (TYPE II/III): 1/0
WIRELESS LAN: YES
ETHERNET: YES
MODEM: YES
USB PORTS: 2
FIREWIRE: 1
STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 YR
WARRANTY UPGRADE: £159/£187 (EX/INC. VAT)
08705 424424 WWW.SONY.CO.UK
RATINGS AND TEST RESULTS
BATTERY LIFE: 212 MINS
MOBILEMARK 2002: 90
3DMARK 2001: 1739
VALUE FOR MONEY: 8
PERFORMANCE: 6
BUILD QUALITY: 10
OVERALL: 8
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