We're expecting the official launch of Sony's hot little
VAIO X ultraportable later today, but
Boy Genius Report claims to have some leaked specs and pricing to think over while we wait -- and if they're accurate, you'll be staring down the wrong end of a $1,499 price tag when all is said and done. Yeah, it's not unexpected, but still, ouch. For your trouble, you'll be getting what Sony's calling the "world's lightest notebook," weighing in a just 1.5 pounds of carbon-fiber with an 11.6-inch LED display, SSD, multitouch trackpad, and a 3.5-hour standard battery life that can be pushed to 14 hours using a "super-extended" battery. Okay, not bad, but what's running this show? Well, we've got some potentially bad news to report -- we've been told that the VAIO X will have a 2.0GHz Atom Z550 inside, just
like the prototypes. Yep, that's another
$1,499 Sony Atom laptop -- we'll wait for the official announcement to confirm before we start wringing our hands, but we're open to your lamentations in comments.
posted Oct 7th 2009 1:26PM
Wow. 1,500$ for Atom. Um... Nah... Im good.
BUT IT'S ASPIRATIONAL!!!!!!! :-P
Screw the specs, I wanna know if it comes in tons of colors and MLB logos!
But seriously, too expensive for my tastes. And this comes from a macbook owner...
wow, sony has 3 netbooks now.
@commenter
Ya three OVERPRICED netbooks....intended for suckers.
Apparently, Sony's stupidity is not limited to the gaming industry.
on the japanese sites they say 11.1"
how did you guys turn it into a 11.6"???? it's completely different
11.1" is classic! 11.6" is mere bullcrap! come on!!
It's not overpriced it's just expensive, unless you can find a similar product (same materials and specs) which is cheaper? Also the X-Series is built in Japan for quality control, not by 14 year olds in China, can you say that about your laptop? This also adds to the price.
You are paying for the carbon fibre not the atom
I will never ever ever buy a Sony laptop again. My AR-290G is a piece of junk. I am now down to 1 USB port and the battery no longer charges. It's not the battery, it's a motherboard problem. I don't travel with it, it just sits on my desk. My eMachines laptop has held up better than this "Top of the line" POS.
Why buy a laptop that sits at your desk 100% of the time?
Well....his battery no longer charges so I guess that that probably has something to do with it.
It's kind of hard to travel with it if the battery doesn't work. :P I'm guessing he means he never takes it on trips. I wouldn't say I travel with my laptop, but I do take it into various places in and around the house.
Because when I first got it, I thought I was going to be bringing it to the shoots (photographer). It did go from the laptop to my bag for a few shoots but in all it's spent 97% of it's time on my desk.
I'll agree to that!!! I own a VGN-N385E (ok it wasnt The best Sony VAIO but still)
I had to get the keyboard replaced for $210 UNDER warranty...yaaa (thank god the credit card company payed for it!) and my disk drive died 2 months after I got it, then 5 months after the first one got replaced.
The battery lasts for 13minutes (counted myself) and I bought this a year and a couple months...bullshittttt
As well I leave it on the desk, I have a Lenovo T500 (for school) and damn when this crap dies im getting Lenovo for myself!
PS. Has your track pad been peeling (idk how to describe it :P)
/Sony VAIO rant
You couldn't travel around with that 17" behemoth anyways. Buy a more compact notebook the next time around.
I agree, I have never owned a Sony that wasn't a pile of junk. Constant motherboard failures.
The track pad hasn't started peeling yet. I really wanted the 1920 x 1280 screen for editing photos and there weren't a lot of options.
I bought 3 laptops, a Lenovo, MBP, and Sony Z, in that sequence. I have to say MBP is THE worst! Battery died, sluggish performance. The lenovo's been the best so far Z I bought about a year ago so can't really compare but so far it's doing fine. It all depends on how much you take care of your stuff and use it. I've had a couple of Sonys before, their only problem is the battery life.
I am definitely on the gentle side with all of my electronics. My eMachines laptop (built by gateway) is still 100% functional and it's 3 years older than my sony. The only issue I had with that was the hinge cracks and they replaced them at no cost. Battery still charges and lasts about 15 mins. Hey it's old in laptop years. This laptop was also 1/3 the cost of the sony. At that price I shouldn't have any issues with motherboard quality.
I too had a Sony Laptop, FGN series, just your run of the mill $2200 15" (bought it 3 to 4 years ago). I had several motherboard issues and dvd drive issues and while they were annoying, I have to say Sony covered all the replacement and repairs with no questions asked.
When it came to buying a new laptop last April I opted for a Dell, because of price/performance mostly. I would buy another Sony product but not another Sony computer, because even though they were spot on with repairs, the fact that there were frequent repairs puts me off.
It's got carbon fuck fiber.
Carbon fiber is the best for laptops, but yea not for $1,500 with an atom.
you just made coffee come out of my nose
Oh Sony, I kinda feel bad for you. You used to roll with tiny $3,500 laptops, and then the EEE came along and chopped one of your zeroes off. This laptop looks like you're trying to push it back in the crazy expensive direction, but $1,500 for Atom? Come on.
Even if it were a 3.0 GHz...
Sony makes Apple look like an angel.
Oh Sony, you sooo crazy.
Sony prices this stuff like it thinks it's Apple. The problem is, it isn't. And these days, neither is Apple.
This is a huge low. Not even apple I think will pull some shit like his. Atom! O RLY? Like SRSLY Sony?
I want the benchmarks on that thing ASAP!
Where do you get off thinking that Apple can be the only company to overcharge for nice designs and a brand name? Love it or hate it, Sony's got some awesome designs and they're allowed to charge whatever they want for it. People must be buying it or they wouldn't be making anymore.
75 cents a megahertz is a good deal! Really guys...
do you want to buy my old p4 CPUs? plenty of mega herts there for cheap, just for you, my friend.
Can I haz 4 megahertz please?
This is probably the best laptop of all time. I love the sex factor.
Alright, note to self never ask to borrow Bob's Sony laptop. Also don't leave any electronic device out for fear of having it sodomized.
hope Dell Adomo XPS has the same price range...
Sōnyara.
That's an awfully expensive netbook.....
is it the same strategy like psp go? when people see this laptop, they know they cant afford it, so they would buy some cheaper sony product instead?
Like a PSP GO?
I think I'll stick with a MacBook Air.
I must say very impressive but will the average consumer go for that price tag.
I don't think they're aiming for the average consumer... market differentiation.
My guess is that within 2-3 months of release there with be a CTO version that will offer something other than an Atom.
Nope.
No Dice...Ill wait till the price comes down.
As an owner of a Sony VAIO P (1.6ghz atom/2gb/Win 7) I have no reservation with stating that ...
As brilliant as the design/engineering of these 'ultra portable' SONYs are, their processing power is greatly lacking.
Atom processors are all good and well for netbooks costing in the 200.00 to 400.00 dollar range, but the prices SONY charges for these things is seriously disproportionate with what one actually gets for the money.
SONY X + Intel Atom = Huge Fail!
Sony got balls.
If Sony had just put CULV in it would be an instabuy for so many people, that and make the super batter standard.
Sorry no. With a ULV and given the beautiful design, it might have been a possibility. But an Atom, even a next gen one, at this price? No thanks.