Sony VAIO VGN-G118GN

The VAIO VGN-G118GN also comes with a truly minute power adapter--for reference purposes it's about a third the size of the Wiimote, which in notebook terms is practically invisible. For a system with an enticing design and impressive chassis, we were surprised to discover that the components underneath the VAIO VGN-G118GN's body are best described as average. Your US$3,699 investment scores you only a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1500 processor and 1GB of memory. That'll run the supplied Windows Vista Business Edition well enough, but not in a spectacular fashion, and for those thinking of adding some grunt, you're also stymied by the VAIO VGN-G118GN's top level of 1.5GB of onboard memory, thanks to a soldered 512MB memory module and a single memory slot to play with. Graphics are provided by the onboard Intel Media Accelerator 950, which will snatch up to 224MB of memory from the memory pool. The display is a 12.1-inch 1,024 x 768 TFT in 4:3 aspect ratio. Networking is handled via a 10/100 Ethernet port, inbuilt 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth wireless and, oddly enough in this day and age, a 56Kbps modem. That's presumably there for the high-flying business type who finds himself inexplicably stranded in Swan Reach without broadband.

Specification code: Sony-VAIO-VGN-G118GN