Sony VAIO EC Series Desktop Replacement Monster

"Sony's always had a knack for making some of the best multimedia laptops around, and the VAIO EC Series is all about continuing the trend. The desk-dominating 17.3-inch laptop is a monster of a machine, and has the internal guns to match – it's got a Core i3 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics card, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage and a Blu-ray drive."

Sony's VAIO EC Series desktop replacement multimedia laptops are the next in a long series of "almost good enough to really be a desktop replacement" laptops. A robust processor and graphics, a very good display, coupled wth a 4x Blu-ray drive start things off well. But then comes the disappointment of mediocre speakers, no standalone multimedia buttons, lots of shiny surface, and an off-center trackpad with some reported quirks.

As with nearly all systems with this much power, battery life suffers, with 2.5 - 3.0 hours of use being all that one can expect. This is not a light machine at 7.3 pounds, so one could reasonably expect that it'd remain in one place (as a desktop replacement) and not rely on the battery. Bottom line is that this is a good, but unexceptional multimedia laptop for the price, and that Sony still commands and gets a premium for its products.