Sony VAIO Fit SVF14A16CXS Overview

Sony VAIO Fit SVF14A16CXS

The recently announced Sony VAIO Fit notebook series has arrived on store shelves. One of the first available configurations is the Sony VAIO Fit SVF14A16CXS, sporting a 14-inch display and all advanced features that come with the new series.

When you look at the specs sheet, the first thing that catches attention is the screen. It’s not only touch enabled, but additionally has unusually high screen resolution for a 14-incher. And one of the characteristics of the Vaio Fit line are high-resolution displays on all models. The SVF14A16CXS has a 1600×900 pixel count, up from usual 1366×768. The former resolution is common on 17.3-inch laptops, but seeing it on a 14″ panel is a real refreshment for the market.

Sony has also paid great attention to design of the SVF14A16CXS. As opposed to the budget-friendly VAIO Fit 14E with chassis wholly made of plastics, the Fit 14 has a polished aluminum lid, garnished with a diamond cut VAIO logo, as well as aluminum palmrests. Furthermore, the stylish-looking chiclet isle-style keyboard has backlight, enabling effortless typing in a darkened room.

Keyboard

SVF14A16CXS Aluminum Lid

Hidden inside the 0.87″ thin chassis of the 4.8-pound SVF14A16CXS is the Intel Core i7-3537U dual-core power-saving processor, 8GB of RAM memory, and a 750GB hard drive.

The i7-3537U is a high-end chip usually found in ultrabooks. It runs at 2GHz by default, but has an upper limit of 3.1GHz, used if a computing task requires it. As you can see in the comparison chart below, the processor gives a massive performance boost over the comparable i5 ultra-low voltage (with “U” suffix), but is almost identically fast as the full-voltage i5. This means you will be able to do some heavy work like video and photo editing on the laptop effortlessly, besides usual web surfing, office work, and such.

Intel Core i7-3537U Tested

Sony has announced that the Fit series will be available with the Nvidia GeForce dedicated graphics, but this particular model relies on the Intel HD 4000 built into the i7-3537U, bad news for gamers.

As for RAM, 8GB is probably an overkill for most of apps. It’s interesting that the laptop has 4GB soldered onto the motherboard, while additional 4GB is added via a classic memory slot.

The included 750GB hard drive isn’t a usual one. Besides HDD platters, it incorporates 8GB of Flash based memory for better responsiveness of OS and apps. The hybrid HDD storage is accompanied by a DVD burner.

NFC (Near Field Communication) technology for communication (file transfers and other functionalities) of compatible devices by simply touching them together is almost mandatory for higher-end smartphones, but this technology is present on only a few notebook models. Sony’s SVF14A16CXS is one of them.

Also, Intel Wi-Di tech is there, enabling you to wirelessly pair the laptop with an external monitor or HDTV with an HDMI port. A separate Wi-Di adapter is required in order to make this happen.

That’s all regarding the remarkable features of the notebook. The usual and boring ones include a 1MP web camera, stereo speakers (some 15″ VAIO Fit models have subwoofer additionally), only two USB 3.0 ports, SD card slot, and HDMI.

For power autonomy, the machine relies on a 3650mAh battery, which delivers a run time of “up to 4 hours and 15 minutes” on a single charge, according to Sony’s test results.

On the software side, it’s interesting that Sony has provided free of charge Imagination Studio VAIO Edition suite for audio and video creation. It includes Movie Studio Platinum, ACID Music Studio, Sound Forge Audio Studio, and DVD Architect.

The Sony VAIO Fit SVF14A16CXS is priced at $1,000. That’s expensive if you consider that you can buy a full-size touchscreen laptop (you can check out some of the models here) for as low as around $600, but all the listed highlights – high-res screen, Core i7, aluminum lid, keyboard backlight, 8GB RAM, and hybrid HDD justify the price of this notebook.

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