Sony VAIO PCG-C1VFK review

On first meeting the C1VFK, you can't help wanting to touch it.

It's one of the smallest notebooks to pass through our Labs, measuring just 259x209x32mm, and weighing 1kg. The ultimate travelling companion.

And let's be honest - along with saving your shoulders from aches and pains, the Sony's enviable looks will turn your fellow mobile workers green. It'll probably set any mugger's sonar pinging too, so if you're tempted to buy one, a call to your insurance broker is advisable.

Beyond the notebook's noteworthy dimensions and shape, which we'll discuss in more detail later, the Sony also supports Bluetooth. This isn't something you get from eating too much ice cream, but a technology that allows computers to talk to other systems and peripherals without the need for wires. Instead of troublesome cables, the Sony can exchange data with other Bluetooth devices using a radio link.

To test the system, we used the C1VFK with another Sony Vaio. It all worked with impressive ease. As long as the Bluetooth devices are within 10m of each other, they can all form a 'personal area network'. They detect each other, making chirpy submarine sonar pings as they search.

Passing files is a dream. Thanks to some snazzy Sony software, all you have to do is drag and drop. A brief cacophony of sci-fi sound effects, and the job is done.

To test it, I copied a 576K file from one notebook to the other using Bluetooth. The process took just over three minutes - reasonably quick. Passing big files with Bluetooth would be a nuisance, but for small chunks of data like e-mails, it works a treat.

At the heart of the little Sony is a 667MHz Transmeta Crusoe chip. Transmeta isn't a chip manufacturer as familiar as AMD or Intel. But don't for a minute think that you're looking at a system with a third-division processor. On the contrary, the Transmeta is both modern and sophisticated.

Intel and AMD chip design teams are tethered to their respective pasts because they need to be able to run old software. This makes it hard for them to be overly innovative. With its Crusoe chip, Transmeta dispensed with technical tradition and concentrated on making a chip as modern and efficient as possible. The Crusoe uses less power and runs cooler than its competition. These two advances also benefit a notebook's all-important battery life.

To get round the problems of compatibility, the chip has a highly efficient software interpreter built in. This converts the program code of Windows software into something the processor can handle quickly and efficiently.

Two things strike you when you first open the Sony. First the small, beady Motion Eye camera that gazes out at you from above the screen. We'll chat about it in a moment. Second there's the screen, which is rather small and squat. It measures just 9in and runs at a resolution of 1,024x480, as opposed to the more normal 1,024x768. While the picture is faultlessly crisp, its small size makes it hard to read. If you have the eyes of a hawk or a taxman, you'll get along fine. But if your mince pies have more in common with Mr Magoo, you'll struggle with this screen.

The keyboard is also wee, and this sometimes bodes badly as sub-notebooks can be horrors to type on. However, Sony must have invested a great deal of time in this keyboard and to an extent, it works. In places it's rather cramped, and I'd rather not type a dissertation on it, but it's fine for penning the odd letter.

The small camera is intended for video conferencing when your notebook's hooked up to either a local area network or to the Internet. Of course, if you don't have any need for videoconferencing, the Sony makes a great digital shaving mirror. And if you want toys, the PCG-C1VFK will not disappoint. Nestling on the side, you'll find a Memory Stick slot and a jog wheel.