Sony EE34: Sony Makes Budget AMD Laptops?
by Dustin Sklavos on February 22, 2011 4:43 PM ESTConclusion: A Sound Budget Purchase
I'll come clean and say I'm not a big fan of budget notebooks, at least not in the grand scheme of things. They do serve a purpose and periodically one comes along (like this one) that actually feels like a solid bargain, but historically I prefer to recommend to people I actually like to save money and invest in a good machine that will last for some time. Most people will buy a cheap computer and beat it like [insert offensive euphemism here], get upset when it doesn't work very well anymore, and complain about it for three years until they finally tightwad up, go back to the store, and buy another cheap computer to abuse and gripe about.
I've been paid to fix those computers. I don't like doing it anymore. There are bargains, and then there's getting what you pay for. When my dad's girlfriend complains because the illegal immigrant she paid a paltry eight bucks an hour to take care of her front yard didn't do a very good job, she sounds dense. And that's what consumers who buy cheap PCs sound like when they complain that their computer isn't fast.
Now, with that said, there are also college students in the world and other people who have silly things to pay for like rent and food and who can't afford the kind of computer we might want for them, and in those instances a good bargain can go a long way. I think the Sony Vaio EE34 is one of those bargains. Where a lot of extreme budget notebooks shut off pretty much as soon as you pull the plug, the EE34 gets some pretty strong battery life. The processor is enough to get the job done, and the integrated graphics will let you play Left 4 Dead 2 and StarCraft II in a pinch. That's not too bad. People looking to get in on the Blu-ray ground floor (now that HDTVs have gotten pretty cheap) can kill two birds with one stone by buying a notebook like this one, too.
A local store had the EE34 on sale for just $499, and at that point it's such a strong value proposition that it would be fine for people who just want something "good enough" and don't expect the world. NewEgg currently has it for $629 ($579 after coupon), and at that point it does get a little bit dicey. I think I could probably still recommend it at that price given the good build quality, design, and battery life, but anywhere north of it and there are better deals to be had on Intel-based machines from other manufacturers. If you want cheap Blu-ray, though, you're not going to be able to do better than the Sony Vaio EE34.
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Martin Schou - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
When I browse Sony's Danish website, I find 2 E-model laptops with AMD CPUs displayed: http://www.sony.dk/lang/de/product/vn-e-seriesThey're not hidden away or anything.
I suspect the reason they are hidden on the US website, is that their web designer is on LSD or some other mind altering substance, that makes him think we don't want to know what products they have.
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
It's more likely that intel got to him than he is on LSD.HangFire - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
The purpose of this laptop is obvious- to put pressure on Intel and show that Sony can make an AMD laptop if they want to.By opting out of the mobility driver program, Sony has assured it won't sell many, nor are they trying to.
Give it a real keyboard and support it with the AMD's mobility driver program, and I would be interested. As it is, I wouldn't even consider it at half price.
nitrousoxide - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
I've been using a Vaio EA200C for six months, the keyboard is great, almost as good as a desktop mechanical keyboard.The driver is of course the matter of concern here. I'm forced to use the crappy OEM driver provided by Sony, and they simply never update it after releasing the product. The dfriver itself is poorly built, many problems occur with H.264 decoding, Flash acceleration and OpenCL feature does not work properly.
Anybody who intend to buy a laptop should be aware of this: if you are a Stream/OpenCL/CUDA developer, or you really need these features in Adobe's CS5 package or other GPU accelerated softwares, skip Sony and consider other manufacturers who offer official driver.
futurepastnow - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
I just bought a similar machine, an HP G42-303DX ($429 at Best Buy with the Turion II P540). It'll be delivered on Monday; having played with similar machines my only real concern is with the screen quality and battery life.So why not wait for Llano? Because it's been repeatedly delayed and I wanted something now. I figure the performance of AMD's old platform will be "good enough". If it turns out to be a mistake, well, it's a very cheap laptop.
Thanks for the review of something so similar, though. There are a dearth of reviews of AMD's current platform as it seems almost everyone is waiting for Sandy Bridge and Llano notebooks.
futurepastnow - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
Incidentally, does this platform support DDR3-1333? Would faster memory impact the integrated graphics performance?strikeback03 - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
Nice to see a logical keyboard layout. Why does it seem so many laptop makers are allergic to having the arrow keys drop below the rest of the bottom row and instead do wacky things like have the up and down keys half-sized?Otherwise I think this is OK but would make a lot more sense with no Blu-Ray and $100 cheaper
jonyah - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
These AMD sony's are everywhere. the model you tested has been going for as low as 499 at places like frys, walmart, best buy etc. They have the new AMD fusion netbook/notebook that looks really cool.oh and i love my brand new z.
Etern205 - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - link
Saw a AMD based Vaio for around $500 at BJs around 2-3 weeks ago.Mr Perfect - Thursday, February 24, 2011 - link
This was looking like a nice machine, right up until Sony opted out of the AMD Radeon driver package. I just stopped reading at that point. I'm sure we've all been frustrated by this sort of vendor driver crap in the past, I'm not wasting time on it anymore. Nicely done article though!