SONY VAIO SVS13A12FXS Notebook Intel Core i5 3210M(2.50GHz) 13.3" 6GB Memory 640GB HDD 7200rpm Slot Loading CD/DVD Player / Burner NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE

Pros: Thin, light, back-lit keyboard, gorgeous Gunmetal finish -Enough with the aesthetics Boots up within a 10 seconds great display good battery life Recommended to anyone who wants something light with some muscle behind it

Cons: As you may have noticed in other reviews yes the laptops VAIO logo is easily scratched not something to lose an egg over but theres that...

Other Thoughts: 5-7 hours of moderate use (word processing web browsing etc)
2-3 hours gaming

Pros: -Dedicated video
-High res screen (1600x900)
-size is awesome (about the same as a 13 inch macbook pro)
-good feel to it (feels sturdy, in general)
-light
-easy access to ram and hard drive, and battery. (switched out for SSD and 8gb ram chip for 250gb/12gb)

Cons: -the touchpad stinks. I am constantly misclicking, moving the cursor where I don't want it, and hitting it with my right hand while typing.
-the screen actually sucks despite being 1600x900. I've had 1280x720 laptop screens look better than this.
-the keyboard has a lot of "bend" which I was shocked by.
-bloatware

Other Thoughts: I am begrudgingly keeping this laptop and honestly really disappointed in NewEgg's return policy and pretty shocked by Sony's lack of quality. I have never ordered a laptop from here before, only parts. Come to find out you can't return a laptop for a refund if it's been opened at all. This is my third laptop since 12-01-12 from them (an Acer came twice DOA and they gave me store credit back) so I got this even though it was not my first choice, it was the best option available on NewEgg. Unfortunately for NewEgg, I will from now on be ordering products from other websites with better return policies or locally because this shopping experience really just turned me off to this company.

Pros: Hardware wise, its very fast. More than enough RAM to remain snappy with a few programs running. CPU is plenty, i5 is more than enough for this system. Nvidia optimums is a blessing, allows 6 hour battery life on the intel hardware and rather powerful graphics on the Nvidia card. Screen is freaking amazing.

Physical design: Its small, it weighs just enough to give it a strong feel, but still not a burden. Carbon fiber build is wonderful. Very tight build, its the primary reason I chose this laptop. It just feels good.

Usability; Screen is awesome, resolution is very good and colors are true. Touch pad is on the massive side, but I like it that way. Keyboard is responsive and well spaced, and the back light is very good. Fingerprint scanner is out of the way and WORKS, amazingly. I use it exclusively. Battery life is exceptional. Normal use with low back brightness. will render something like 6 hours.

Cons: One major con is that the laptop lid is VERY prone to scratches and scuffs. Mine is covered in scuff marks from putting it in my backpack with out a sleeve. Its really annoying, but completely avoidable. Get a sleeve.

Also the screen frame feels a little weak, but so long as you don't abuse it, it should be fine. It is very light weight so for how weak it feels, its not holding up much.

Touchpad is huge to a point of getting in the way. I had to adjust the way my hands sit on the keyboard to avoid hitting it while I type. Not the end of the world, but its annoying.

Other Thoughts: All in all I am very happy with this laptop. Its sufficient to be a mobile workstation. It is durable, which was a huge deal to me. All in all, good buy.

Plays games reasonably well, I can just skate by playing Borderlands 2 and it handles League of Legends with no issue what so ever.

Pros: For the price, it is one of the fastest laptops. Although it has no SSD the 7200rpm 640 GB is fast enough for your ave. user. I get 5.5 hours of batt. Graphics card is good for Light to Mid Gaming and Light to Mid HD rendering. Fantastic for Photoshop, websurfing, video and music streaming. Very light and sleek looking. Controllable Backlit keyboards (although you cannot adjust the brightness level of it).

Cons: Speakers are just terrible that is all.

Sony's worst screen to date and it is my major disappointment, especially for the price range. Although the resolution is great, the screen itself has a terrible output. Colors are dull, blacks are washed out, whites have pixel grids and looks dirty, angle view is bad.

For the same price other laptops have a MUCH better screen.

Those that are coming from lower end laptops might not be bothered with this. I am use to sony's top of the line Z series screens.

Other Thoughts: All in all i would recommend this laptop if the screen doesn't other you, because it has the best specs for its price. It competes directly with the macbook pro with its Price, Specs, and Portability. Unfortunately it is not as good as screen as the macbook or any other laptop for its price range. It is a real let down about the screen and speakers. 5 Eggs for specs for its price but it looses 2 eggs for the screen i get.

Pros: First off, I must mention that I ordered my S13 directly from Sony with a bit different configuration than this laptop here. Mine has a smaller HDD and the 2GB GT640m.

-Gunmetal finish looks GREAT. Very professional looking laptop that isn't an embarrassment to carry around.
-Comfortable, thin, and very light.
-Backlit keyboard is AWESOME.
-Great display, 1600x900 resolution creates a beautifully crisp picture on a 13" screen. Viewing angles and brightness are pretty good.

Plenty of power hardware wise. The i5 burns through CPU heavy programs well, and the GT 640m LE takes handles games with ease.

Games:
Skyrim (no mods)- High settings, 40-50fps, 65C GPU 70C CPU
Dota 2- Maxed, 60fps, 65C GPU/CPU
Psychonauts- Maxed, 60fps

Battery life:
Speed mode, gaming: ~2.5 hours
Speed mode, browsing/movies: ~3.5-4 hours
Stamina mode, browsing/movies" ~4.5+ hours

Overall, this is just a great laptop for anyone after a small form factor laptop with a lot of power AND great bat

Cons: -Touch pad is HUGE and has no physical buttons. The pad itself clicks well and is plenty sensitive, but it is easy to bump with a palm while typing and moves the cursor.
-Screen is very thin, resulting in a lot of flex. The strong screen hinge sort of counters this though, because when open, the screen feels really solid aside from the flex.
-Gets a little hot on the right palm rest when gaming, but this is a small issue when using a separate mouse.
-For a $1200 laptop, dual band wifi would be nice.
-Gunmetal finish is a fingerprint magnet.

Although I can nitpick and find a lot of little issues with it, the S13 is still a FANTASTIC computer, and none of the things I don't love about it are worth knocking off an egg.

Other Thoughts: I ordered mine through Sony and got in on the free 160GB PS3 deal for students. My specs were as follows:
500GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 2GB GT640M LE, 1600x900 res

Newegg doesn't mention which version of the GT650m LE this comes with, but it is only available on these Vaios in 1GB or 2GB models, and the 1GB model should be more than enough to run most games on high settings.

When my laptop shipped, I ordered an 8GB stick of Gskill RAM to add, and it now has 12GB of system ram and runs GREAT.

It is also possible to swap the optical drive with a small HDD caddy to add a second HDD.

When unistalling the bloatware, DO NOT REMOVE VAIO CONTROL CENTER! It is needed for the speed/stamina settings. Be sure to set Vaio CC to ventilation priority mode if you are gaming!