Sony Vaio TT Ultralight Notebook - Design and layout
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This machine really does scream "quality." In many ways the PC world’s nearest equivalent to Apple, Sony has built its reputation around innovation and good design, and the TT represents not just a continuation of this trend but in many ways an evolutionary step towards emulating its rival.
The rounded and elegant casing, less than 1” thick when closed, is beautifully structured to maximize the limited available space. As a result, the keyboard, for example, feels spacious and comfortable, even allowing room for the small spaces between the keys that were becoming something of a Sony trademark until Apple borrowed the idea for the MacBook series. Metal highlights on the casing offer the notebook a little extra protection, as well as enhancing its classy appearance.
The various ports and slots are sensibly if unremarkably arranged around the edge, with the most noticeable feature being the distinctive cylindrical screen hinge which provides room for the power jack at one end and the on/off button at the other. We were glad to see that Sony has used reasonably wide mouse buttons below the trackpad, as some of the company’s lower-end notebooks appear to have been designed for people with double-jointed thumbs.
All of which pales in comparison with the screen. Remarkably thin, it delivers 1,366x 768 sharp and vivid pixels at a true 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, and while those may not sound like the most impressive specs, the 11.1” screen and high resolution combine to create a markedly superior image than on most equivalent laptops.
We were also pleased to see the TT screen’s matte finish. Glossy screens create an illusion of quality, but can’t compare with matte for all-round performance in a wide range of lighting conditions. The screen doesn’t achieve true High Definition status (1080p), but the built-in HDMI port at least keeps this option covered.
Less visible but equally important to the TT’s overall concept is its extensive range of storage options. Solid state drive support, in particular, elevates the machine above most of the competition, almost to the point where choosing a standard hard drive model would seem to be self-defeating.
The key advantages of solid state are its extreme quietness in use, speed and durability. The constant vibration and movement makes regular hard drives highly vulnerable in mobile machines, whereas SSD is virtually immune to physical damage unless your laptop catches fire or goes for a swim.
Both Sony and Toshiba clearly see SSD as the way forward for portable storage, and other manufacturers are sure to follow as prices continue to fall. The inclusion of hardware RAID in twin-drive configurations is also a welcome feature, which will maximize the performance and redundancy benefits offered by this setup.
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