VGN-TX
Overview
The Sony VAIO VGN-TX is a high-end subnotebook released in 2005 by Sony. It sets its focus on portability over everything else.
The VGN-TX suprises with its quality and design, sporting a silver carbon fiber case. This results in a very sturdy and durable, yet light and comfortable laptop. With such premium materials in such a small formfactor, it's no wonder that the VGN-TX only weighs around 1.28kg.
You could have the VGN-TX in two monotone designs: silver or white. Two two-tone designs were also available: the aforementioned silver and gray design, or silver with rosegold lid.
As it's a small and portable subnotebook, the VGN-TX came only equipped with a range of single-core processors. This, in combination with the small screen and absence of a dedicated GPU, makes for a very power efficient laptop. A maximum of 2GB RAM also evidences, that the 11" laptop was not made for performance. With the included 7800mAh battery, the VGN-TX could be expected to last up to 7,5 Hours on a single charge. An optional extended battery could also be fitted, which doubles the VGN-TXs battery capacity.
The small subnotebook comes with an assortment of conneectors and ports. Included are two USB 2.0 Ports, a VGA Out, Modem and LAN ports, Head- and Microphone jacks, as well as an iLINK Port. This doesnt make the VGN-TX a master of connectivity, but thats acceptable for an 11" laptop. Despide that, it features a DVD-RW drive, which is respectable for a subnotebook.
Heat and noise are given, due to the VGN-TXs small size, but kept at a minium with the low-power CPU and the absense of a dedicated graphics card. At idle the subnotebook is barely audible, with 33dB. Under load the VGN-TX reaches a maximum of 42.3dB, as tested by NotebookCheck.
Besites Windows XP Professional as the operating system (Vista on later models), the VGN-TX came with a plethora of applications and software. These were, but not limited to, PictureGear Studio, DVgate Plus, SonicStage, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Norton Internet Security.
The VAIO VGN-TX was superceded by the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ in April of 2007
Detailed Specs
Processor: Pentium M 753 1.2GHz / 733 1.1GHz / Core Solo U1500 1.3 GHz
Graphics: Intel GMA 900
Display: 11.1" 16:9 1366x768 WXGA TFT
RAM: 2x SO-DIMM (upgradable to 2GB)
OS: Windows XP Professional / Windows Vista Business
Weight: 1.3kg
Daily Usage Today
When combined with a lightweight operating system, such as Lubuntu, the VGN-TX is still usable for some modern tasks, such as light webbrowsing and textediting. Gaming, be it 2D or 3D, is not going to be a good experience, due to the low-power hardware.
Resources
Downloads
Follow our guides to download and install drivers.
Sources
NotebookCheck2, Wikipedia, PCWorld and Sony
Pictures: NotebookCheck, PCWorld