VGN-C

Summary

A Vaio VGN-C1 in "Free Spirit Pink"

The multitude of designes offered with the VGN-C

The Sony Vaio VGN-C Series was released in 2005 as a mid-range Notebook. Its marketsegment slightly overlaps with the more expensive VGN-SZ due to its similar size and hardware. Though the VGN-C differentiats itself due to a cheaper plasic case and less powerful hardware.

Despite having a plastic case, the VGN-C still manages to feel like a quality device. Compared to Sonys other offerings of the time the Vaio VGN-C sports a selection of colorful cases. Such as ones with either green or orange trim, as well as the option to have the "Free Spirit Pink" Design, which gives the Laptop an almost completely bright pink paintjob, which slightly darker pink trim around the trackpad and trackpadbuttons. The black bottom of the case and keyboard form a nice contrast to the case, making the laptop quite pleasant to look at, despite its bright pink design. For those that dont like the more colorful designes, Sony also offered the VGN-C in more conservative Designs such as gray and silver.

In comparison to the VGN-SZ the VGN-C focuses more on casual instead of business/professional use. This is evidenced by missing features such as a Webcam and WWAN. But with connectivity such as two USB 2.0 ports on the left side, a DVD-RW Drive, 4-pin i.Link Firewwire, S-Video Out connector, ExpressCard™34 x 1, RJ45 Ethernet, RJ11 Modem, Headphone Jack, Microphone Jack, VGA Video-Out port and a Memory Stick Slot, its still very capable. The laptop measures at around 329.6cm x 23.5cm x 3,7cm with a weight from around 2,3 to 3kg, depending on the equipped optional hardware.

Featuring the Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 and a choice of DD2 memory up to 2GB, the Vaio VGN-C made for a decent media and office device. 3D gaming was almost impossible on devices equipped with only the Intel GMA iGPU, but the VGN-C could also be had with NVIDIA Geforce 7400 GPU, which would be capable of decent 3D gaming performance in its time.

When new, the VGN-C was able to achive decent to good battery life on the original 5200mAh battery. Getting 2 hours under maximum load and about 4 hours with casual usage (internet browsing, watching movies). This makes for a nice on-the-go experience. This is aided by its low case temperature, being between 32.5°C and 41.2°C in thermal tests. The noise emissions are also average with 35.2dB when idling and around 41dB when under full load.

Detailed Specs

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1,7GHz

Graphics: Intel GMA 950 / NVIDIA Geforce 7400

Display: 13,3" 16:10 1280x800 WXGA LCD

RAM: 2x SO-DIMM DDR2 (upgradable to 2GB)

Storage: 2,5" Serial ATA HDD

OS: Windows XP Home / Windows Vista Home Basic

Weight: 2,3 - 3 kg

Daily Use

Like many other Windows Vista era laptops, the Vaio VGN-C can still be considered very usable today. While its impossible to run any modern 3D game, even on the Geforce 7400 models, web browsing and office tasks are still very much possible. Though the upper memory limit of only 2GB hurt the overall smoothness when running modern applications and loading bigger websites.