- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- Sony VAIO S Series
- HP Pavilion dv7
- HP ProBook 4530s
- Gateway ID Series ID47H
- ASUS A53 Series A53E
- 17.3"
- Core i5 2.4 GHz Quad core
- 4 GB DDR3-1333
- 640 GB HDD
Released October, 2011
Rated 80% by by Saif-Rizvi (Aug, 2010)aside from that the laptop is easy to use and seems to have it all, with a decent hard drive, a good processor, and great ergonomics.
- 11.6"
- Core i5 1.67 GHz Dual core
- 4 GB
- 128 GB SSD
Released July, 2011
Rated 100% by by Monchichi (Dec, 2011)It is very very thin, light and easy to carry in my backpack so that I can take it to school everyday without any burden on my shoulders.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Sony VAIO E Series compared to the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
GHz2.4
Intel Core i5 2430M
Rated 100% by by James-Greulich (Sep, 2012)The great UB performance is all here, as is the light weight, so if it acts and feels like an UB, it must be an UB;) If I unerstand correctly, Sony has a special 32-GB partition of this 500GB HDD that acts as a small SSD.
1.67 GHz
Intel Core i5 2467M
Rated 80% by by Nancy-J.-Bookfan (Jan, 2012)It fits conveniently in a large purse, is wonderfully lightweight, and is "grab'n'go" in a way that even the 13" is not.
screen size
17.3"
11.6"
VAIO E Series by Elizabeth-Kapatos (Apr, 2012)It doesn't feel huge because it's so light but the screen size is amazing for the price.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by K.-D.-Hess (Sep, 2011)Although small, the screen is clear and bright, and the full-size keyboard is as good as one from a bigger computer.
screen resolution
VAIO E Series by Michael-Choi--cmikerunit (Jun, 2010)The screen is 15.5" and while its not 1440x900 resolution like on my previous macbook pro, I don't feel deprived of the extra pixel detail.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Chris (Jan, 2012)I was originally concerned about the smaller screen size, however the pixel density is so tight that it's the same resolution as usually found on a 13" laptop.
cpu speed
| 0 GHz | 2.4 GHz | 3 GHz |
VAIO E Series by Parker-Hallam (Oct, 2012)I wanted the latest and decided on intel core i5 3210M processor with 2.5 GHz and 6 GB DRAM.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)I purchased the MBA 11" with standard 1.6 gHz Core i5 and am happy with this.
processor
VAIO E Series by Brian_ChargersFan (Jun, 2012)Don't be fooled, I was surprised at how fast and snappy the Pentium dual core processor is in this system.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by J.-McWhirter (Apr, 2012)I know it sounds nuts, but the new i7 Dual Core MBA with 4 GB of RAM seems to be as fast as my 27" i7 Quad Core iMac with 16 GB of RAM, when it comes to managing RAW photos in Lightroom, and editing RAW photos in Photoshop...I kid you not!
memory
| 0 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Nancy-J.-Bookfan (Jan, 2012)When it comes down to a choice between quicker processor or more RAM, I've been advised to always go with more RAM, and I find this to be good advice.
Performance Real world tests of Sony VAIO E Series vs Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
3DMark06 CPU
VAIO E Series by LaptopMag (Jun, 2012)The notebook notched a score of 5,964 on the synthetic 3DMark06 benchmark.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by GatorowlI don't run benchmarks, and the benchmarks I've seen so far show that this computer is much, much faster than my nearly 4-year-old MBP, which is my most important performance requirement.
battery life
5.15 hour
5 hour
VAIO E Series by APH (Sep, 2012)> wake cycle is really fast, and I am happy with the battery life (~3 hours if I don't do anything crazy with it).
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)I am indeed able to use my 11" for about 6 hours with light usage, which is much better than Apple's claimed 5 hours.
cinebench r10 32Bit (Aggregate)
VAIO E Series by TrustedReviews (May, 2011)While the spec of the Sony is broadly similar to that of the Samsung, the E Series benefits from a 64-bit OS and this is reflected in the seven per cent advantage in the overall PCMark Vantage result.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-Chapman (Aug, 2011)I haven't read any benchmarks on the performance over time with the new MBA.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
| Much bigger screen | 17.3" | vs | 11.6" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 50% bigger screen | |||
| Has a Blu-Ray reader | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; watch high-definition movies on Blu-Ray discs | |||
| Much more storage capacity | 640 GB | vs | 128 GB |
| 5x more storage capacity | |||
| Has a memory card reader | MMC, SDSC | vs | None |
| Read and write data from a camera or phone memory card | |||
| Much faster turbo speed | 3 GHz (Intel Core i5 2430M) | vs | 2.3 GHz (Intel Core i5 2467M) |
| More than 30% faster turbo speed; gain a temporary speed boost for computation-intensive applications | |||
| More cores | Quad core | vs | Dual core |
| Twice as many cores; run more applications at once | |||
| Significantly faster processor | 2.4 GHz | vs | 1.67 GHz |
| Around 45% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| Higher resolution screen | 1600 x 900 | vs | 1366 x 768 |
| More than 35% higher resolution screen | |||
| Better CPU benchmark score | 31.48 | vs | 23.27 |
| More than 35% better benchmark score; the CPU performs better in various benchmark tests and will likely perform better in real-world applications | |||
| Marginally newer | Oct, 2011 | vs | Jul, 2011 |
| Release date 2 months later | |||
| Better cinebench r10 32Bit (Aggregate) | 8,280 (Intel Core i5 2430M) | vs | 5,891 (Intel Core i5 2467M) |
| More than 40% better cinebench r10 32Bit (Aggregate) | |||
| Better 3DMark06 CPU | 3,183 (Intel Core i5 2430M) | vs | 2,421.2 (Intel Core i5 2467M) |
| More than 30% better 3DMark06 CPU | |||
Advantages compared to the Sony VAIO E Series
| Has a light sensor | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Automatically adjust screen brightness for environmental factors | |||
| Much faster internal storage | 0.1 ms (SSD) | vs | 10 ms (HDD) |
| 100x faster random access time; faster boot times and shorter application load times | |||
| Significantly lighter | 1,080 g | vs | 3,107 g |
| 2.9x lighter | |||
| Significantly sharper screen | 135 ppi | vs | 106 ppi |
| More than 25% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Thinner | 17 mm | vs | 33 mm |
| Around 50% thinner | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Sony VAIO E Series | Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen | ||
 |   Rated by 519 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by L.B.-Kurtzer (Sep, 2010) Rated 80% by by Eaglei22--Eaglei22 (Dec, 2010) |  Rated by 391 users at amazon.com Rated 80% by by Eva--mellow1304 (Jun, 2012) Rated 100% by by volsfan--volsfan Rated 100% by by Marcelo (May, 2012) | |
|---|---|---|---|
weight
Sony VAIO E Series 17.3", 2.4 GHz, 4 GB, 640 GB HDD | Rated 70% by by c|net (Jul, 2012)Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air weighs about one pound less, and Acer's 13-inch Aspire S5 is close to that.
Competition What else you should consider
Discussions Get involved, ask your question about the Sony VAIO E Series and Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
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