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Sony cuts the VAIO SA's starting price to $1,000, starts shipping the 15-inch VAIO SE
Lots of PC news flowing out of Sony Electronics' US headquarters this fine Sunday morning. First, the company slashed the starting price of the 13-inch VAIO SA laptop from $1,250 to $1,000, while the lower-end SB series now starts at $780 (it had been going for $800 after instant savings). We asked Sony's PR team what that means for folks who recently purchased either of these through Sony's online store, and still haven't gotten a response, but the company was quick to remind us that it's up to retailers such as Best Buy to set their own price protection policies. (Thanks, Sony!) Moving along, that 15.5-inch VAIO SE series we reviewed a month ago is at last up for sale, beautiful 1080p display and all. You can find her on Sony's site starting at a thousand bucks with a Core i5-2430M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB 5,400RPM hard drive, DVD burner and, of course, that 1920 x 1080 panel. So, is all that worth a flaky trackpad and poor battery life (sans $150 slice)? That, friends, is a decision you'll have to make for yourself. Finally, in more granular news, the 14-inch C and E series are getting expanded Sandy Bridge processor options, while the 16-inch F series and L series all-in-ones will come with Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum, Sound Forge Audio Studio and ACID Music Studio pre-installed. In addition, the SA, L, F and E series are all getting speed bumps, as are pre-configured SB and Z series laptops. Oh, and the SB is now available in red. Got it? Good. Lots of up to date specs at the source link.
Sony updates Vaio C series with subtler shades, E models go Sandy Bridge
Sony's mainstream E and C series of laptops are getting a bit of an update with some new color options and updated processors in the case of E series. The 14-, 15.5-, and 17.3-inch Vaio E models are finally joining the Sandy Bridge brigade with second-gen Core i3 and i5s, while also adding an AMD Fusion option on the 15.5-inch version for all you Sunnyvale fans out there. The smaller members of the E family will be available in four colors (blue, pink, white, and black) while their big brother is limited to white and black. The C series is staying the same, but adding Neon Red and Thunder Blue to your selection of hues. The updated PCs will be available for pre-order on June 19th but, if you really have your heart set on that red Vaio C, you'll have to head to select retailers like Fry's, ABT, B&H, J&R, MicroCenter, or (wait for it...) Nebraska Furniture Mart -- while you're there, pick up a bright red sofa to match your new lappy. All the PR you can handle awaits, just after the break. %Gallery-126476%
Sony to recall half a million 'too hot to handle' VAIO laptops
Well, this isn't good. Sony's issued a warning that about half a million of its VAIO laptops are at risk of seriously overheating, and could even cause burns. The company says that the heat-monitoring chips of its VAIO F and C series laptops (which were launched in January) could be defective, causing them to overheat and physically warp. Sony says it's received about 40 total complaints about the issue, and that affected customers will be able to download a software fix or contact the company directly to have the laptop picked up for a repair.
Sony finally admits NVIDIA chips are borking its laptops, offers free repair
Last summer, while Dell and HP were busy pinpointing and replacing faulty NVIDIA chips in their notebooks, Sony was adamant that its superior products were unaffected by the dreaded faulty GPU packaging. Well, after extensive support forum chatter about its laptops blanking out, distorting images and showing random characters, the Japanese company has finally relented and admitted that "a small percentage" of its VAIO range is indeed afflicted by the issue. That small percentage comes from the FZ, AR, C, LM and LT model lines, and Sony is offering to repair yours for free within four years of the purchase date, irrespective of warranty status. Kudos go to Sony for (eventually) addressing the problem, but if you're NVIDIA, don't you have to stop calling this a "small distraction" when it keeps tarnishing your reputation a full year after it emerged? [Thanks, Jonas]
Sony shows that 'C' stands for Crocodile with skinned VAIO Type C
Shattering misconceptions that crocodiles only come in various shades of dark, menacing green, Sony has managed to genetically engineer crocs in girly pink, luscious red, and chocolaty brown colors exclusively for the sake of wrapping its CS series VAIO notebooks in organic texture. Mind you, textures are all those crocs sacrificed, as like the company's earlier Crocodile-themed machines these lappys are still made entirely of plastic and bits of silicon -- just grooved and pigmented to look like prehistoric, genetically modified reptiles (check out the detail pic after the break). The crocette devices, which are otherwise identical internally to those sporting myriad of other hues, hit Japan on the 18th for ¥104,800 (just over $1,000), and while Sony hasn't announced any plans for an international release, we're thinking if you head on down to Florida you could find yourself a good 'ol boy who could whip up one of these in no time and make a rib-stickin' stew with the remains.[Via Sony Insider]
Sony bumps the specs of VAIO F- and C-series laptops
Not much to tell, but Sony just confirmed the updated specs we've already seen on their 15.4-inch VAIO F-series of laptops with Core 2 Duo T7250 processor, Blu-ray disk drive, and HDMI (a bit too early still for DisplayPort). They've also updated their VAIO C-series (pictured) for the ladies with options for a new T7250 processor and Radeon X2300 graphics. Yup, just seasonal updates to keep 'em fresh and in the news. [Via Akihabara News] Read -- VAIO F-series Read -- VAIO C-series
Sony's Vaio C series of 13.3-inchers
Sony just released their 15.4-inch Vaio N series of fashion computers for the home, now they're gunning for your personal style with the release of the Vaio C series. As such, the press release is more focused on the colors on offer -- seashell white, blush pink, spring green, espresso black and urban gray -- than the product itself. In fact, in Europe the names change to karma white, free spirit pink, natural green, timeless black, and nomad grey. Uh, Sony, less time in market research and more time on battery fabrication please. Thanks. Nevertheless, don't be fooled by those girlie looks 'cause these Core 2 Duo offerings bring plenty of power in that Vista Premium ready chassis. Starting with a 13.3-inch XBRITE-ECO wide screen display, Sony delivers 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7400 graphics, 120GB SATA disk, up to 2GB memory, a dual-layer DVD burner, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, ExpressCard and multi-format memory card slot, and the usual array of Firewire and USB 2.0 ports all in a 5-pound slab. Expect 'em to start posing hard in your favorite coffee shop come October when they drop for $1,350 (starting price) or a bit later depending upon your color persuasion. More shots in blush pink and spring green after the break -- come on sissy, you know you want to look.[Via Laptoping]
