Sony VAIO VGN-T250/L

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed by:
  Stephanie Bruzzese
• Edited by:
  Michelle Thatcher
• Reviewed on: 05/13/2005
• Updated on: 11/06/2009

If you're a frequent business traveler, then you're a prime candidate for the ultraportable Sony VAIO T250/L. The VAIO T250/L's tiny case and extended battery life help you get your job done while you're away from the office.

Measuring 10.5 inches wide, 8 inches deep, and 1.2 inches thick and weighing 3.1 pounds, the VAIO T250/L consumes as much bag space as a hardcover book. It's stockier than the Dell Latitude X1, which lacks an integrated optical drive, and a bit slimmer than the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010D. Even with its demure 0.72-pound AC adapter, the VAIO T250/L won't be an undue burden when standing in airport security lines.

While no ultraportable laptop's keyboard is spacious enough for long typing stints, the VAIO T250/L's is particularly small, though you can compose e-mail and surf the Web for a while without cramping your hands. The touch pad is surprisingly large for an ultraportable, though the mouse buttons are on the small side. A useful wireless on/off switch sits on the laptop's front edge, next to volume up, down, and mute buttons. The rounded screen hinge contains five additional buttons for controlling playback from the integrated DVD drive. The DVD buttons are accessible even while the lid is closed, letting you manipulate DVD play when the VAIO T250/L is hooked up to an external monitor. We wish you could connect the laptop to a TV as well, but the notebook lacks the requisite S-Video-out port. It does, however, offer a sufficient connector selection. You get FireWire, VGA, and two USB 2.0 ports; headphone, microphone, 56Kbps modem, and 10/100 Ethernet jacks; one Type II PC Card slot; and a flash memory card slot that unfortunately supports only Sony's Memory Sticks.

Sony sells the VAIO T250/L in preconfigured versions only. You can pick one up on the Sony Web site, at dozens of online resellers, and at local computer stores. CNET's VAIO T250 series review lists the particulars of the different available configurations. Sony also sells a version of the T250 with integrated cellular connectivity; read CNET's review of the VAIO T350P for more information.

Our midnight-blue VAIO T250/L test unit cost $2,199.99 (as of May 2005)--a high price to pay for several average components. The unit included an ultra-low-voltage, 1.2GHz Intel Pentium M 753 processor; 512MB of middling 333MHz memory; a cost-cutting Intel 855 GME chipset with an integrated graphics subsystem that borrows up to 64MB of VRAM from main memory; a small, 10.6-inch display with a fairly fine 1,280x768 native resolution; a midsize, 60GB hard drive spinning at a sluggish 4,200rpm; and a standard Intel 802.11b/g Wi-Fi card. This generally average lot does include a few standout components, such as integrated Bluetooth and a built-in, multiformat DVD burner.

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Recent user reviews

• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 7 reviews
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• Showing 3 of 7 user reviews

• 4.5 stars

  "Solid Product"

  by jmarianu on May 27, 2007

• 4.5 stars

  1 out of 1 people found this helpful

  "Anything smaller than this is too small"

  by max-9 on October 3, 2005

• 1.0 stars

  "Very fragile lid and LCD"

  by edwardbok on September 13, 2005

• See all 7 user reviews Write review