Ah, Spring. The
season of vacations, beach attire and
VAIO updates. We already heard that Sony
was giving its VAIO P
netbook a dose of Windows XP and an optional 256GB SSD, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, the Type T, Type Z, Type F and Type A are all getting makeovers, so we'll do our best to break 'em down right. The
beastly A series will continue to be menacing, boasting an 18.4-inch 1080p panel, WiFi, a HDD / SSD hybrid system, 4GB of RAM, a Blu-ray drive and a GeForce 9600M GT. The
F series rolls in with a 16.4-inch display, 4GB of memory, ATI's 256MB Mobility Radeon HD 3470, WiFi, a battery good for three hours and a Core 2 Duo P8700. The other guys are seeing far lighter touchups, but you can feel free to have a look at all of these Japan-bound units in the links below.
Read - VAIO updates I
Read - VAIO updates II
posted May 26th 2009 3:59PM
Now /that/ is one ugleh laptop. (It's the blue bezel, I'm just not feelin' it)
Not like Apple users have taste anyway....
I am 12 years old and what is this?
I would not want some very bright blue laptop on my lap, even it it was from Apple. Any sort of monochrome is good.. Bland, very, very bland.
VAIO? Sony still makes those super-expensive laptops? I still don't get people who buy those, you can get a decent laptop from another manufacturer for about half the price (usually).
Can anyone explain whats so special about them?
Other than "its a Sony"
A lot bought them a while ago since they were the only ones with blu-ray drives.
They are also pretty nice laptops if you want to spend a lot. They tend to have very nice higher resolution screen it seems like in better a form factor.
Times are changing though, so it is just becoming more obvious to some consumers that the same config can get be bought for a lower price.
13.3" screen with 1600x900 resolution, only in the Vaio Z. Oh, and it weights only 1.5 kg, optical drive included.
No competition here. Only the Lenovos come close, and they are in the same price range (but less powerful and ugly imo).
@Mx2000
Agreed about specs and looks but I bet I can find a better way to spend that extra grand. Or two ;)
I should also add that the Lenovo screens are far worse than the Sony ones (aside from the T61p IPS screen not sold any more). If you try switching from a Sony Z to a Lenovo X300/301 and its 100:1 contrast ratio screen, you'll see what I mean.
Why put the ugly blue one as the picture and not the nice looking one.
Engadget hates Sony that's why.
Anything in blue looks cool, even *chokes* the iphone.
What the hell? Still the Mobility Radeon 3470 in their 16.4''? Dell stepped up the the 4570, and they should too. I much prefer the Vaio case designs but what it comes down to here is performance.
No, it always has and always will come down to money. Sony will continue to put horrible hardware into overpriced cases as long as people keep buying them.
The FW is getting a graphics update. How does a 4650 sound? Now that is better then the Dell (btw the 16.4" Dell has a 3670, so technically the new Sony will be quite a lot faster). Check out the UK site for more info http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-FW41ZJ%2FH&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+FW+Series&assetid=1218032875460
the usage of "plethora" in this posts title is grammatically incorrect. If your going to try an sound smart you should try just a little bit harder.
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/grammarian.htm
Sony, your Vaio Z series is one of your best models ever, a great step up from the previous SZ series. However, your TT is certainly the ugliest out of all the T series (TR, T, TX, TZ). What is up with making the sides and touchpad buttons chrome, looks very tacky and garish vs the previous TZ.
I hope sony updates the SR series over here with a 4570 or something similar. The crappy 3470 is the only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger :-(
The SR series is being updated with the 4570.
Look at the specs for the SR 4xx models in the UK.
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-SR41M%2FP&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+SR+Series&assetid=1218032875600
Get the Macbook Air, it has a 13.3" display and full size keyboard for the weight of the VAIO TT. Plus, Macbook Air's unibody construction is very robust, and the thickest part of the Air is still thinner than the thinnest part of the TT series!
Yeah the Air is thinner because the TT has a optical drive dvd drive with the option of Blu-ray built in. Not to mention the TT has more ports, and a gasp a better keyboard for a device that is smaller. I really like the TT and and would love to get one, but two things are holding me back. 1 it a little pricey for my taste for what it comes with standard(at the base price either SSD or blu-ray should be standard), and 2 I prefer the look of the older TZ. Oh a better GFX would be nice bonus. Sony could lower the base price if they made standard the slower, but lower cost Core 2 Solo, but then couple it with non-integrated nvidia or ati graphics to make up for some of that stuff.
Speaking of thinner I think the Lenovo U110 is the same thickness as the Macbook air, and comes with the same same specs as the last gen Air(as a note the U110 came out around the time the first gen air was released, but with more ports, a standard battery and an extended battery and a external DVD drive all standard.
There are a number of more updates than those mentioned in this post. The Z is getting 512GB SSD (2x 256 Raid 0), 8GB RAM (I'm pretty sure this one is new) and 4 new lid patterns.
Btw I'm definitely getting a Z as soon as they up the GPU in it. I'll wait any amount of years it takes, but once I can be sure that the Z can run Diablo 3 in native 1600*900 smoothly that's where all my cash goes :).
Why spend the money on a Sony? For me it's because of the unparalelled screen quality, if you ever used a vaio FW (the full HD screen), AW (both screens), or Z, any other laptop screen will look dull and boring. Best quality screens on laptops when it comes to colors and contrast. Not to mention they have the only 13" screen with decent resolution out there: 1600*900. For me Sony becomes the only choice simply because of the screen & build quality. However, I currently have a Dell XPS M1330 because it cost about half the price for the same specs back when I bought it, compared to a Z.
What I don't understand is why Sony doesn't get the ION based Nvidia GPU's. The Macbook Air gets an Nvidia 9400, which would make it very similar to the ION platform showing up in new Atom based desktops. Wouldn't this lightweight, low power and cool running GPU be great in the TT and even the Z (which currently has the 9300)? Much better then the piece of crap Intel the TT currently runs.
Aren't Vaios usually very pricey?