Sony's new VAIO TX2 line of ultra-portables

Those crazies over at Sony have busted out another line of TX laptops, the TX2 series. Weighing in at 2.7 pounds and packing Double Layer DVD recording, there is a lot here to love in a quite a tiny package. What really gets our hearts all aflutter is the 11.1-inch widescreen LCD sporting an LED backlight, which manages to save battery life and brighten our lives at the same time. They claim a 7.5-hour batter life for this thing, which sounds great, though we'd love to see what this thing could do battery and performance-wise once moved beyond the Pentium M processor into Core Duo land.

[Neil Kraft @ Feb 14th 2006 5:52PM]

when is it available in US. the 80gb hard drive is great and that means i only have to have one computer and no external drive (i have a 69 gb ipod music library)

[Apollo @ Feb 23rd 2006 1:02AM]

Does anybody know why is Sony releasing the TX2 first in UK? And what is the lag time for them to release it in Asia, mainly South Korea?

[dave @ Feb 28th 2006 5:41PM]

Got my TX2 today, lovely piece of kit but its not fanless.
on the left hand side towards the front there is the vent and yes after a while you can just hear a fan start up.

[Magnus @ Mar 9th 2006 10:38AM]

Nooooo, do you really mean it has a fan? I was gonna trade my old t37 for this one, but now I'm not sure if it's worth the money... :/

[romych @ Apr 8th 2006 3:58AM]

guys,
i think its pretty funny that everyone is so excited about these 'new' machines, but its the same exact freaking tx sony has had out for 8 months, except they bumped the hard drive by 20gb.
compare for yourself:
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/view/View.action?section=Products_ITE&productcategory=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+TX+Series&productmodel=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+TX+Series%2FVGN-TX1XP&productsku=VGNTX1XP%2FB.CEK&site=ite_en_GB&page=ProductTechnicalFeatures
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/view/View.action?section=Products_ITE&productcategory=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+TX+Series&productmodel=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+TX+Series%2FVGN-TX2XP%2FB&productsku=VGNTX2XP%2FB.CEK&site=ite_en_GB&page=ProductTechnicalFeatures

I actually owned this machine ahnd it was a mircale how small and useful it was, but the 4200 RPM hard drive made me nuts. Even copying 5MP photos from my camera took too long, so eventually i returned it back to the sony daemons it came from. And the fan does make some noise, but it didn't bother me like some other folks. I would take a 5400 rpm hard driver with an extra fan!

[DT Jacobs @ Jan 17th 2006 7:57AM]

Well then, I suppose thickness of the DL drive can't be what kept it out of the MacBook Pro. Slap an Apple logo on it, put in a Core Duo, let it run OS X, and I'll take 3.

[siMac @ Jan 17th 2006 8:03AM]

NO SONY!

[Igor @ Jan 17th 2006 8:06AM]

Sony should do a TabletPC using the TX2's base.

[Mr. Tips @ Jan 17th 2006 8:13AM]

PLEEEEEEEASE Apple, make a MacBook Pro like this...

[Andy @ Jan 17th 2006 8:36AM]

THe Macbooc has a DL. Its just 4X, not 8X.

[z @ Jan 17th 2006 9:05AM]

You just add Mac OS X and this makes a really nice machine. I still prefer Apples' MacBook... ;-)

[thomas_h @ Jan 17th 2006 9:12AM]

No it doesnt Andy..



""Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD�RW/CD-RW)



* Maximum Write: 4x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW

* Maximum Read: 8x DVD-ROM (single layer); 6x DVD (double layered), DVD-9, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD

""



http://www.apple.com/no/macbookpro/whatsinside.html







For the record this laptop is HAWT!! i want one asap.

[JL @ Jan 17th 2006 9:45AM]

It's nice to know that there are other companies that make laptops besides Apple. Although these days here at engadget, i was beginning to wonder..



I still loves ya tho..

[Mr. Tips @ Jan 17th 2006 10:13AM]

Re: #9



Yeah, b/c Engadget was ignoring the 50 other Core Duo notebooks that were announced at CES...

[closetOCFan @ Jan 17th 2006 10:21AM]

#1 Don't forget the MacBook Pro uses a slot-loading drive whereas the TX2 (or at least the TX as I haven't seen the TX2 yet) uses a tray.



I do wish Apple would make a competitor to this unit, even if it's only a single core processor. I've been tempted to buy the TX and if the TX2 is even sleeker, I may end up getting one just cause it's so portable.

[Jolly Roger @ Jan 17th 2006 10:59AM]

Lets hope its better than the TX. I used to have a TR3, which I loved to death. When I got the TX as its replacement, it was like they had gone out of their way to screw up everything I loved. Sure, the screen was gorgeous, the form factor perfect. But the keyboard? Slippery "flat" keys, horrible for typing quickly. They moved the whole key grid down closer to the bottom edge, so my fingers ended up uncomfortably curled up if I had the heel of my hand on the edge. Some people complained it felt flimsy, which it did, but that seems like the tradeoff for the form factor. The external antenna was kind of annoying as well.



The kicker, however, was its power management. At both "max power savings" and "max performance", the fan would wibble on and off, every 5-10 seconds, with just enough delay that you'd be anticipating it. It was like water torture. On some of the forums people were like "what are you talking about? The fan is quiet!" Maybe if you're in a room, with music blaring, or in the store. But not in a quiet room where you're trying to get work done. I've been working on compiler code for work, head-meltingly hard stuff, and when the tool you're using is distracting you, its time for it to go. Oh yes, did I mention that I actually use these things to do work? Yes. You can do that with this form factor. The secret is to load them to the gills with memory, and turn off swapping. A full compile of the product I work on is about 2 minutes on the laptop, compared to 1 minute on a 3ghz desktop. Not too shabby.



So anywho, I ended up replacing the TX with a Fujitsu Lifebook P7120D. Same screen as the older Vaio TR3, but with a very usable keyboard, and NO FAN. NONE AT ALL. Gotta love it.



Oh, and Fujitsu sales/tech support is ADORABLE... they're based in Ottawa, and they're so freekin' friendly and accomodating its ridiculous. They're like the anti-Sony.

[Steve @ Jan 17th 2006 11:31AM]

Can anyone tell what the differences between the TX and TX2 are?

[Zeus @ Jan 17th 2006 1:09PM]

I'm writing this on my Sony S360 and I -totally- know what you mean about the fan. I had another Sony tiny(er) Sony laptop before that also had bad fan noise. It kind of sucks that they cheap out on a fan on a $2K+ laptop... Anyways, most of the time I work in a somewhat loud lab with a lot of server fan noise so the Vaio's doesn't bug me too much. Besides that I love it, I was surprised that I could actually get 3-4 hours of battery life (2-3 on dvds) with the normal battery on a laptop this small. (I added a gig of ram to 1.5GB, so that may help keep the HD from spinnin up as much.)



Anyways, my point is I love my Sony (without MacOS thx) and I can't wait for a new small one (with discreet graphics card for games). I'm not really sold on Core Duo laptops at this point, although the 256MB graphics card a lot of them have is interesting..

[David @ Jan 17th 2006 1:17PM]

Anybody else notice that Sony pays attention to everything except the ergonomics of the primary human interface, the keyboard?



Crapmed, cheap, shallow. It's as baffling as seeing a Lamborghini with go-cart wheels.

[Robert Vassar @ Jan 17th 2006 10:03PM]

Looks like Sony is coming out with a new 3 pounder every 3-6 mths, with the VGN-T350, then the TX and now the TX2 (although are these only being introduced in the UK?)

[popemello @ Jan 17th 2006 11:33PM]

When I compare the features of the TX (US) and TX2 (UK), the only difference appears to be the absence of the WLAN antenna in the UK version. The TX that I received today also is LED backlit...

[Endeavour @ Jan 18th 2006 12:35PM]

On the VAIO TX2 press release, Sony says the TX2 is fanless...

[Doug @ Jan 19th 2006 7:13AM]

All this DVD recording stuff gets pretty confusing eh?
What does 'packing Double Layer DVD recording' mean?
Do you mean Dual Layer or do you mean Double Sided or both?

[D 804 @ Jan 21st 2006 9:45PM]

I wonder how long it will take Sony to give out the release date?

[Morten Andersen @ Feb 3rd 2006 12:22PM]

The TX2 is according to the Sony Style web site to be shipped at the end of February. The HD is 80 GB. And it is to be fanless! Hope that the temperature will not be a problem.

As one commentators above remarked, the keyboard is of utmost importance in the man-machine interface, and should be given prime consideration. For example, the right shift key must not be too small and "tucked away", as it was in the TR series. Both the T and TX series have a very good right shift key, but the keyboard as a whole of the TX should have a better travel, to make fast typing more comfortable.