The Y series weighs only 3.8 pounds making it easy to handle and carry around. With that, the screen size is substantially smaller, only a 13 inch screen size, but it is a backlit LED screen, making it bright and crystal clear. The keyboard has the usual Vaio keys on it, with spacing in between which makes typing a bit easier. It also have an oversize touch-pad, which is extremely useful and convenient. Because of its size, the Y series doesn’t have a DVD drive. It has USB ports on the sides of the laptop, along with an Ethernet port and SD card slots, which is also convenient. There is a webcam in the front which takes high quality images and video, useful for Skype or other video messaging programs.

The performance on this laptop is exceptional. The Y series brings along a dual core processor and 4 GB of RAM memory, giving Windows and running programs a boost. The dual core processor and 4 GB allows users maximum productivity while using this laptop. A 320 GB hard drive is also featured in the Y series. A 320 GB offers tremendous space for programs, files, music, and videos; most users won’t run out of room. The Y series holds its own compared to other models in the same category when graphics is compared. For the price, the Y series gives exceedingly good graphics at 26 frames per second at 1024 by 720 resolution. One area lacking is battery life, where is can last up to around six hours, which falls short of some of the other models, such as the HP dm3, which lasts around nine hours.

Overall, the Sony Y series offers many great features in a portable, small laptop. The battery life is the only feature that lacks on this model but with a price tag of $799, many users will live with the shorter battery life.

From the start, Sony has prided itself on the integration of data and multimedia in a package that brings them together in a cohesive, and elegant, whole. The new Sony Vaio EB series laptop appears to carry the banner forward. It’s sleek form factor of 14 X 9 X 1 houses an Intel Core i3 standard with an i5 (up to 3.3 GHz) as an option, up to 8Gb of DDR3 SDRAM, a 640Gb SATA hard disk drive, and a BlueRay/ DVD-RW/ CD-RW drive standard, all for under 6 lbs. with battery.

The first thing the user will notice are the graphics. While that may be obvious, not all computer displays are that notable, particularly on laptops. The Vaio EB, however, offers a full 1080P HD backlit LCD display with both VGA and HDMI outputs that take full advantage of up to 1GB of dedicated video memory. These features alone would qualify it as a robust home media system, but Sony ups the ante with an ATI Mobility Radeon graphics package, a BlueRay/ DVD-RW/ CD-RW drive and a feature called “Playstation Anywhere” that allows you to connect remotely to Sony’s ubiquitous gaming console. Throw high def audio and Sony’s own Motion Eye web cam in and you may start wondering why you still have all those stand alone components gathering dust on the shelf under the big-screen.

Battery life for such a powerhouse media machine was somewhat better than expected at two and a half hours under DVD load, and more than three in standard operation.

The Vaio EB also provided more than enough ports and plugs to keep anyone connected and happy with three USB 2.2 slots, one USB/eSATA combo slot, HDMI and VGA outputs, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and an SD and MemoryStick slot.

Needless to say, the Sony Vaio EB Series is going on the list – in all six available colors (including pink!).

The two laptops have a lot in common. They both run on the Windows 7 operating system, boast a 14″ screen with Intel HD Graphics, LED back light technology and a 1366×768 native resolution. They are ready for you to insert your favorite HD movie and enjoy the vivid imagery on a large screen and enjoy the sounds with Intel HD Audio with Dolby Home Theater Technology.

The processor is an Intel Core i3-380m, coming from Intel’s newest line of processors.

Both have slots for SD memory cards, MagicGate functionality and an Express Card media slot so you can upload and save your pictures from your digital camera. To store your pictures, these laptops offer a large amount of memory, 500GB.

If you are looking to webcam with friends and family across the country, both laptops include a built in Motion Eye Camera with microphone and Face Tracking Technology, so you’ll always be in focus.

The size of the two laptops are almost the same. The lower end is 13.62″w x 1.08h x 9.40″d and the higher end is 13.60w x 1.07h x 9.39, and both weigh 5.2 lbs. We expected the battery life to be almost on par with each other, but we found that on the higher end model, you sacrifice battery life. At default brightness, the lower end model gets 5 hours of life, and at maximum brightness it lasts for 4.5 hours. Compare that to the higher end where you only get 3.5 hours of life on default brightness, and 3 hours of life on maximum brightness. If you want to spend a little more money, though, you can buy a large capacity battery for the higher end.

I would definitely recommend this series for the average computer user.

1. Know Your Budget

Even if you may have a range of prices that will work for you, you should know your maximum allowable price. This will help you avoid becoming caught up in computers with fancy or frivolous features that you don’t need and can’t afford.

2. Know Your Minimum Requirements

Take a moment to really ask yourself what you’ll be using your laptop for most of the time. Once you know the answer to that question, you’ll be able to pin point specific features you want in a laptop as well as the minimum requirements that will meet your needs. For instance, when I bought my last laptop, I knew I could spend up to a certain amount, but I was able to find a laptop that met my needs for about $250 less than my maximum budget amount. With that extra money, I was able to get a huge widescreen monitor. Yay!

3. Do Your Research

Once you have narrowed down a few options, do your homework by reading online reviews of each laptop. Be sure to be a little wary, though, because the reviews on some sites, if you pay attention, are obviously not legit. Only trust reviews from reputable sites.

Following these tips can help you find the best laptop to fit your needs without going over your budget.