When you think of a notebook that costs more than $4,000, what comes to mind? A premium gaming rig? A multimedia dynamo desktop replacement? Sony looks to shake up your expectations of high-end systems by packing a Centrino 2 processor, recordable Blu-ray drive, an incredible 256GB of solid state storage, and mobile broadband into a sturdy and attractive ultraportable only slightly larger than a mini-notebook. Priced at a jaw-dropping $4,344, the Sony VAIO VGN-TT198UBX is the furthest thing from cheap—it’s nearly the cost of 11 Acer Aspire ones—and watching Blu-ray movies on a 11.1-inch display isn't very enticing (although you can output video to your HDTV). Nevertheless, if you want snappy performance and more than 6 hours of battery life, the TT is a tempting machine for first-class flyers.
Design
At first glance, the 2.8-pound TT could pass for the mother of all mini-notebooks due to its compact 11.0 x 7.9 x 0.9-inch footprint that isn’t much larger than the ASUS Eee PC 1000. It sports an all-black, carbon-fiber chassis (also available in Champagne Gold and Crimson Red) that’s highlighted by metal trim and a funky neon green power indicator built into the hinge. As with other VAIO notebooks, the TT features flat, MacBook–like keys, but in this case the isolated keyboard offers just enough room for comfortable touch-typing. Situated below the keyboard is a small but serviceable touchpad, two mushy mouse buttons, and a fingerprint reader for keeping sensitive data away from prying eyes. Volumes keys are embedded into the front bezel of the machine’s base (for raising, lowering, or muting audio) as well as a user-definable shortcut key.
Despite its small size, the TT crams in numerous ports for connecting accessories and peripherals including two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI (hidden behind a pop-out panel on the left side of the system), FireWire, VGA, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone. To transfer data quickly, the TT offers an SD Card slot and 2-in-1 memory card reader that supports Sony’s MagicGate copy-protection, as well as an ExpressCard/34 slot. Our only beef is that the pop-out panel on the left side feels a bit fragile.
Screen and Webcam
Typically, you wouldn’t find a Blu-ray drive in a notebook with an 11.1-inch, 1366 x 768 display, but Sony includes one for the multimedia hounds. When we popped in the high-definition version of Iron Man into the 2X recordable drive, we were treated to crisp, colorful images courtesy of Sony’s Xbrite-DuraView technology. We were pleasantly surprised at the richness of blacks, the detailed flesh tones, and wide viewing angles. Audio was clear and loud throughout the movie, but afterwards, when we fired up The Posies’ “I Guess You’re Right,” we noticed the weak bottom end. We had no problems engaging in video chats with friends using Meebo and the integrated 1.3-megapixel Motion Eye camera that served up decent visuals in low-light situations.
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