We hate to break it to you, dear readers, but we’re in the throes of back to school season. In a few short weeks, lots of wide-eyed freshmen will be setting up their dorm rooms and begging off name games during orientation, which means they (and their generous parents) are stocking up on gear now. We’ve been testing a bunch of budget and mid-range laptops aimed at young folk and pretty much any other mainstream consumer who’d happily forgo some bells and whistles in exchange for a lower price. So why not start with a review of one of the best? Sony’s VAIO SB series is the 13-inch laptop for the kindele who can’t afford the VAIO Z , or even the slimmed-down SA series . It offers good specs for the money, a bright, matte display, a solid keyboard, long battery life and a (mostly) well-built design. And while we try not to spoil our reviews, we’ll say this: it’s one of our favorite mid-range Windows laptops, period. How much do we like the SB? Join us as we count the ways. Gallery: Sony VAIO SB Series review Continue reading Sony VAIO SB Series review Sony VAIO SB Series review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink