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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 updates Vaio lines of high-def and ultra-portable lappies
Sony let fly a raft of new specs in several Vaio lines today, including beefing up the high-definition AR (pictured, left) and FZ (pictured, right) series and the TZ and SZ subnotebooks. The flagship desktop-replacement AR790U gets a T9300 Intel Core 2 Duo bump and sports a 17-inch display, 4GB RAM, 400GB HD, 512MB nVidia GPU, Blu-ray burner and HDMI for $3300. The FZ485U now packs a T8100 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo, 15.4-inch screen, 4GB RAM, 300GB HD, 256MB nVidia graphics, Blu-ray burner and HDMI out for $2200. In the subnote department we've got the Vaio SZ791 now sporting a T9300 Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 250GB HD, and 13.3-inch display for $2500, with the TZ298 packing a U7700 Core 2 Duo, 64GB SSD plus 250GB HDD storage space, and an 11.1-inch screen in a light 2.7 pound frame for a cool $3600. All of these will be available for pre-order starting January 7 which, for the calendarically challenged, is tomorrow.
Sony spills more info and pics on upcoming laptops
We got some more info today from a friendly tipster about Sony's upcoming and not-so-secretive summer laptop lineup. The FZ info we had for the most part, but it's nice to get a bit of confirmation that Sony is actually going with 2GB of RAM and Santa Rosa across the board for the Vista laptops, along with Blu-ray in the FZ11Z. The other goodness we've got here are the first pics of the 11.1-inch TZ series (shown above), some downright sexy ultraportables that are replacing the comparatively frumpy TX laptops. Sony is touting up to 9 hours of battery life, with 1GB of RAM and a 80GB hard drive in the TZ11MN/M, and 2GB / 100GB in the TZ11XN/B. Both laptops feature integrated cameras and microphones, just like the FZ series, and are running Vista Business on Core 2 Duo U7500 processors. Still no word on price, but the info we have has these hitting at least the UK in July.%Gallery-2895%
Sony's summer laptop lineup leaked, including Santa Rosa FZ series
There isn't quite an abundance of info about these up-and-comers from Sony, but it's better than nothing. Sony is prepping the 15.4-inch FZ series, 13.3-inch SZ5, 11.1-inch TZ11, 13.3-inch CZ and 14-inch CR for a summer launch, and is apparently having a hard time keeping the info under wraps. We've got a few shady specs on screen resolution and whatnot for a few models, but the fact that the 11-inchers on up to the 15-incher are sporting WXGA resolutions seems to cast a bit of doubt on the proceedings. Luckily, we've got the skinny on the FZ19 (pictured above), which includes the new Santa Rosa chipset from Intel, along with integrated X3100 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 120GB HDD. Most of the laptops, including the FZ series, include built-in webcams and heaping helpings of RAM. The TZ series is a refresh to the TX line of ultraportables, and seems to be making some good strides, including a purported business-friendly redesign and an SSD option due for a later revision. Not too many specifics on launch dates, but July seems to be the general word, at least for the CZ and CR series. Hit up the read link for more detailed specs.
