We were completely enamoured with Sony's last excursion into the lower end of the laptop market, the NW series – a computer which eschewed all the high-end trappings of its more expensive stablemates in the Vaio range but kept the price reasonably under control.

Now Sony is replacing the NW series with the E series (launched alongside the W series 'eco' range) a laptop range which is, again, hell-bent on bringing a feature-heavy device for those light in the pocket.

Processing power comes in the form of the Intel's latest Core i3 processor. This is a dual core which brings 2.13GHz to the table, alongside integrated graphics and 4GB pre-installed RAM.

To go alongside this, there's a ATI Mobility Radeon 5000 series on board and dedicated graphics modules with 512MB memory.

In short: the machine is not undernourished when it comes to power, meaning everyday tasks will be sorted out in a breeze.

E series

The E series we managed to get our mitts on had a black chassis and we were disappointed to find out that there's a multitude of colours to choose from. Disappointed because all we saw was plain black.

The likes of Caribbean Green, Coconut White, Iridescent Blue would have perked up what was a very drab afternoon in London.

E series

Luckily there were a number of other features on the E series that kept us happy. One of the more interesting is the inclusion of an Assist Button.

Glowing pink next to the instant-on web button (first seen on the NW series), Sony assures us this will be the go-to place for finding out just what is wrong with your laptop.

The button is a gateway to information about tune-ups, troubleshooting options and can just be used as a handy maintenance tool.

This is actually a really clever idea, as it means those scared of going through myriad menus to find out what's wrong with their computer, hopefully this will be reduced to a one-touch solution.

E series

As with many of the Vaios in the market, the E series also comes with a MotionEye webcam, has a DVD/CD writer on-board (and even Blu-ray if you feel like an upgrade) and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Couple this with a 500GB hard drive, speedy eSATA/USB port and HDMI port, and what you have is a very desirable machine.

e series

The Sony Vaio E series is ready for pre-order from SonyStyle.co.uk now. Its official UK release date is sometime in March, with pricing still to be announced.

Go to SonyStyle.co.uk for more details.