Digital Trends

Sony PCG-X505/SP

January 6th, 2004 | by Ian Bell

It should be safe to say that Sony set out to design a notebook computer that is thinner and lighter in size than anything currently available. We'd love to know the story behind the decision to go with carbon fiber. Perhaps a few engineers were sitting around the break room table and asked what would happen if you made a system out of carbon fiber material. We don't know how they came up with the idea, but we do know that Sony has successfully developed a system that is not only the thinnest and lightest available, but which cools the internal components while hardly making any discernable noise. Because of the physical dimensions of the X505, Sony really had to come up with some innovative ideas to make the system functional.

There are two choices available when purchasing the PCG-X505 and they are in the way of the notebook casing; Nickel Carbon and Carbon Fiber. Commonly used in the biking world, Carbon Fiber provides an incredibly strong body at a fraction the weight of other metals; the only catch is the cost. This price difference is reflected in both the X505/P and X505/SP models as the fully Carbon Fiber X505/SP model weighs slightly less then the X505/P model but costs more.

Both of these systems feature a 1 GHz Pentium M processor, 512MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, a 10.4” XGA screen, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a dialup modem, FireWire, USB and WiFi specifications. On the left side of the system is where you will find the USB, FireWire, mini-VGA and DC output and on the right hand side is where the PC card slot is located. There is no integrated WiFi on this system, but Sony does give you an 802.11b/g combo PC card which you can use. Sony has chosen to go with a different chipset on the X505 than what you may have expected. The Intel 855GM chip set features AGP 4X support and 64MB of VRAM (video memory) instead of the smaller 16MB of VRAM normally associated with notebooks of this class. There is also no integrated CD or DVD drive on this system so you will want to purchase an external drive such as the Pioneer SK-12D which we reviewed earlier this year. Do not be put off by the lack of an internal drive, most if not all laptops in this class (notice we do not say size) do not have an internal drive.

There are a few things out of the ordinary that Sony has chosen to do with the X505. First of all they decided to include an optical laptop mouse with the system. Not only does the mouse match the aesthetic design of the notebook, but there is a memory stick reader embedded into an opening at the base of it.

Sony also includes an ethernet/VGA out adapter in the form of an external dongle instead of having the ethernet jack in the computer itself. So in all, there is an external mouse, ethernet/modem dongle, and WiFi PC Card that comes with this system. By having as many external peripherals as possible, it not only helps give the main unit a slimmer design, but it also cuts down on the amount of heat the system produces.

We'd be remiss if we didn't touch on the presentation of this system as a whole package. We always praise Apple for creating a thorough presentation for their products in the way of packaging, and Sony has chosen to go this route as well. Without even opening the box, you can tell this system is something special.

The outside box is dressed in a dull black with a dusty grey Sony Vaio logo. This same theme carries throughout the rest of the packaging. There are two black nylon cases, one in which you store the system and the other in which you store the peripherals. Sony has taken exhaustive measures to make sure this system is protected by the carrying case and the package wrapping. We saw similar measures with the JVC 7310 Interlink system in the way of a leather carrying case.