Like the idea of kicking back on the sofa with your notebook and watching Hulu, family videos, or photo slideshows on your TV--no cables required? Meet the 13-inch Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S. Sold exclusively through Best Buy’s Blue Label program for $1,049, the S Series is the lightest of three laptops the retailer offers with Intel’s Wireless Display technology inside. All you really need to do to start streaming is plug the bundled Netgear adapter into your TV and push a button on the VAIO. In addition to WiDi, you get a streamlined design with a comfortable keyboard and a fast Intel Core i5 processor and comfortable keyboard. But how does the VAIO S Series stack up against Best Buy’s other Blue Label notebooks and all other 13-inch systems in its price range?

Design

The VAIO S Series has a matte silver lid and chassis and a contrasting black island style keyboard. The palm rest has a finely textured checked pattern, which extends onto the (smooth) trackpad. Depending on your perspective, the overall look is either minimalist or bland. However, the glowing green power button built into the hinge, backlit keyboard, and the thin, 1.2-inch thick design add some panache. Our only complaint is that the lid picked up some scuff marks during just a few days of testing (which included a few short trips in a bag). At 4.2 pounds, The VAIO S Series is lighter than the 13-inch MacBook (4.7 pounds) and MacBook Pro (4.5 pounds), and is fairly easy to tote.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The S series’ chiclet-style keys have a soft finish, and the entire panel felt sturdy as we typed. At first, the keys felt heavy and stuck, but once we adjusted we were able to pound out e-mails, Facebook messages, and Web searches without errors. As for speed, in the online Ten Thumbs Typing test, we scored 77 words per minute, which is decent, but below our high (88 wpm).

The big 3.3 x 1.8-inch trackpad has a smooth, low-friction surface and an effective scroll strip (we used one finger to scroll in our browser). The twin touch buttons are also plenty large and easy to press.

Heat

The S series remained cooler than many other notebooks after we played a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes. We measured 90 degrees on the touchpad, 95 in the center of the keyboard, and 98 on the underside of the laptop. Many other systems reach well over 100 degrees.

Ports and Webcam

The Vaio S series’ selection of ports include three USB, HDMI and VGA out, Firewire, an Ethernet jack, and headphone and mic ports. The only thing missing, some nitpickers might argue, is a dual USB/eSATA port for faster backups. By comparison, the $899 Toshiba Satellite E205, also a Blue Label notebook, has eSATA, a slot-loading (as opposed to a tray-loading) DVD burner, and a USB port that charges gadgets even while the notebook is sleeping. The S series has dual memory card slots (for SD Cards and Memory Sticks), as well as an ExpressCard/34 slot on the right.

The webcam’s 1.3-megapixel photos and VGA video both showed bland, muted colors and not very sharp image quality. The sound was loud and accurate, though, and the audio and video were in sync with one another.

Display and Sound

The bright 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) glossy display on the VAIO S delivered good image quality when we watched a Saturday Night Live clip from Hulu. And despite having a glossy finish, we enjoyed decent viewing angles from the sides and reflections were bearable. However, we needed to tilt the display back a bit to get the best picture.

The speaker strip located above the keyboard produced loud enough sound, but the quality, on everything from Queen’s “Under Pressure” to the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” sounded tinny. Music lovers might want to plug in external speakers.

Quick Specs :

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
CPU: 2.26-GHz Intel Core i5 i5-430M
RAM/Expandable to: 4GB/8GB
Hard Drive Size/Speed: 500GB/5,400 rpm
Display Size/Resolution: 13.3 inches/1366 x 768
Optical Drive: 8X DVD±RW