Sony VPCEB4L1E/WI 15.5" Laptop (Intel Core i3-380M 2.53GHz Processor,4GB RAM,500GB HDD,DVD SuperMulti Drive,Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit)-Silver Lid & White inside

Due to a VERY unfortunate accident, I was forced to buy a new laptop to replace my much loved one....Subconsciously, I think I wanted a new one but not quite this soon.....Hmm, was it really an accident? It came very quickly, 2 days after I place the order, even using super saver delivery.

I suppose my old laptop was on a par with current net books. I was hoping to be able to purchase a similar SCREEN sized laptop since I already had the accessories for it, but I found that there weren't many laptops on the market in between net books and 15.5 inches. They were a little more highly priced, so in the end opted for what seems to be the regular size of 15.5. I really missed not having a numeric keypad, previously, so this also helped my decision. Having a larger screen made a real difference in the way movies etc appeared, it was so much better quality, too, which I hadn't really thought about in a new model.

I found that this laptop is in fact LIGHTER than my previous one, which was marketed as being 2.3kg, but turned out to feel heavier than this one even with the battery inserted (marketed as being 2.7kg).

There is a huge difference in what WINDOWS 7 can do, I'm still learning, but it looks so nice and is customise-able, too, so I've been enjoying playing with its look! Of course there are options in slightly different places, so its taking some getting used to. Also, I wanted to be able to connect to my work REMOTE DESKTOP, but after some research, I've found that with Home Premium, this isn't an option....If this ever changes, or if there is a way, I'd appreciate any feedback!

With a much improved PROCESSOR, I thought that everything will load more quickly than my previous model(I really dislike slow loading machines....as commonly found at work!). I didn't want anything less than an i3 since technology moves so fast. Even now an i5 is almost the minimum to have. It starts up very quickly and does everything in between very well. The only downside I've really found is that when I play movies etc from my external HDD (so far I haven't been playing them directly from the laptop), media player sometimes stalls. I'm not quite sure what the issue is there, though.

I also do not like clogging up my laptop with SOFTWARE that is unnecessary but I am not tech savvy enough to figure out what I can get rid of - but I suppose after a few months I'll know what I use and don't use. At least there are STARTER EDITIONS of Word and Excel 2010, that basically have ads on the right hand side, which you can't remove...unless you get the full package, but does all I need. Just need Powerpoint! One previous reviewer has mentioned that the BBCIplayer app did not work for them, but I haven't had any problems with it so far and I am a google chrome fan so was happy it came pre-installed.

I tend to use WIFI connections instead of wired and I get more signal than with my previous model. I like that there are 3 USB ports (as opposed to 2 on my old model) and it has BLUETOOTH, which easily connected to my phone to transfer photos & I've found can act as a remote controller! I'm thinking of getting a bluetooth mouse to reduce the number of wires I have. The touchpad has a nice feel to it but I find it sensitive so that pages I am looking at on occasion re-size, although, I've heard that changing its settings will help manage it better, I have yet to do this.

The SOUND from the laptop speakers is not so good, but better than my previous one - very tinny! So I am well equipped for it, with travel speakers and at home I connect it to my hifi.

There was so much to consider when buying this, since I primarily use this as an entertainment centre - watching movies, using itunes, the internet to check email, shop, social networking, skype (v happy with the camera & microphone), store photos - as well as for 'office' stuff but I wanted to have an all singing all dancing laptop in case I needed it and with the ever evolving world of technology, I hope that this will be a lasting purchase since I decided to go with a high quality brand with rather high quality specs for what I use it for!

There are alternatives to this laptop with similar specs (and more cost effective by about £100, although amazon's price has been the best for this model) but after looking at a few in the high street I much preferred the Sony brand, I trust it, it has an extremely good build and it is very aesthetically pleasing!

Amazon's service was very good and actually nearly caused a problem by delivering a day earlier than originally indicated!

The laptop is an attractive looking and generally a very good package. My only concern is that the battery is not going to live up to the advertised life. Right now it gives just under two hours.

I bought this laptop as i was looking for a replacement to my desktop pc. I use it for manily internet browsing, listening to music, making documents such as word etc. The spec i was looking for was an i3 processor, 4gb ram, and a 500gb hard drive, this had all 3 and as its a sony vaio it looks awesome too, silver on the top, and when you open it... all white, just what i was looking for, another thing i was looking for was the keys to be nicely spaced out.

So this laptop is exactly what i wanted, it had the spec, and the looks.

I dont really have any bad points, other then i would have liked a bigger screen. But then i would have gone over my budget.