Sony VAIO SB Series

We hate to break it to you, dear readers, but we’re in the throes of back to school season. In a few short weeks, lots of wide-eyed freshmen will be setting up their dorm rooms and begging off name games during orientation, which means they (and their generous parents) are stocking up on gear now. We’ve been testing a bunch of budget and mid-range laptops aimed at young folk and pretty much any other mainstream consumer who’d happily forgo some bells and whistles in exchange for a lower price. So why not start with a review of one of the best? Sony’s VAIO SB series is the 13-inch laptop for the kindele who can’t afford the VAIO Z, or even the slimmed-down SA series. It offers good specs for the money, a bright, matte display, a solid keyboard, long battery life and a (mostly) well-built design. And while we try not to spoil our reviews, we’ll say this: it’s one of our favorite mid-range Windows laptops, period. How much do we like the SB? Join us as we count the ways.

In general, we tread carefully when someone asks us, “What laptop should I buy?” People have different budgets and performance needs, and there’s also no accounting for taste. There’s no absolute answer, and that’s why we’re thankful there are so many models to choose from.

But the VAIO SB is a rare laptop that we’ve been recommending left and right. The price is right for so many people, as is the performance, design and long battery life. This notebook is going to please a lot of people — not just students, but many a mainstream user as well. Simply put, this is one of our favorite 13-inchers with an optical drive. We do think that those who can live without DVDs might prefer the MacBook Air, as it’s thinner, lighter and has a faster solid-state drive (albeit, with fewer gigabytes to spare). Other than that caveat, though, there’s no reason why the SB shouldn’t be on your shortlist if all you’re after is the elusive laptop that performs well, weighs very little and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.