The Sony VGN-FE18GP is the latest in the Vaio series of notebooks. It differentiates itself from the competition by oozing class, and $2,800 buys a lot of class and quite a few fringe benefits, in the form of some excellent bundled software and a few extra hardware features.

There is a smorgasbord of customized software in the Vaio. Sony set the standard for third party software when it launched the Vaio range, and although the competition is catching up, the Vaio still has the upper hand in this regard. There are a lot of Vaio specific settings and programs littered throughout the OS, from power settings under the control panel to custom media functionality brought to life through proprietary software.

In what seems like Sony’s reaction to Apple's iLife suite, toolbars and programs will bring you Sony themed interfaces for browsing through pictures, music, video and DVDs. Think Windows Media Centre strapped to the Windows 98 channel bar for the launcher, with a full screen interactive menu when you select something. This is dubbed the Viao Zone and it’s all very arty, and comes with the bonus of adding new media automatically when it loads after searching the drive for changes.

If you don't find these software additions enough to interest you, Sony's stand alone Click to DVD utility may. It is a simple Firewire to DVD burner link with optional and rudimentary editing facilities. If you need a bigger multimedia carrot dangled in front of you, the Vaio comes bundled with a copy of Adobe Premiere standard for when you feel the need for more editing muscle.

Although the bundled software puts it ahead of offerings from Dell, Acer and HP, some of the hardware is a bit lackluster, albeit with some highlights. Storage space is ample, with the Vaio sporting a 100GB SATA HDD and dual layer DVD burner. S-Video out and VGA are supported. PC Card, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Firewire mini, and 3 USB2 ports are all present. It lacks gigabit networking though.

The 1280 x 800, 16:10 aspect ratio screen is beautifully bright and vibrant, provided you don't mind reflections from stray lights in the room and a relatively narrow viewing angle. It is powered by a mediocre Geforce Go 7400 graphics card, which steals RAM from the system when necessary. If you plan to play 3D games, take the system RAM to a gigabyte by installing an extra 512MB in the extra available SO-DIMM slot.

The hardware is complimented by some inspired design features and a bothersome design fault. We liked the camera mounted in the bezel of the monitor which makes videoconferencing easy. We did not like the screen latch mounted in reverse, latching into the screen instead of into the chassis. It’s spring loaded and pops up when you'd least expect if you nudge it when using the Vaio on the road.

Having used it for a week, we can safely say it isn't going to be adopted as a road warrior laptop. Its battery life is good but not outstanding at only 3 hours and it feels dainty. These criticisms aside, this is a competent machine providing above average performance for anyone who wants a desktop replacement that looks good and can hit the road when needed.