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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's Vaio LT HD PC/TV all-in-one packs Blu-ray, CableCARD support
Sony's "floating glass" all-in-one L series has been solid in the looks department for a while now, but the specs have never been much to write home about. Until now, anyways. The new LT HD PC/TV comes in standard and HD models, with the HD version scoring a Blu-ray burner. Other specs include a 22-inch WSXGA+ LCD, 1.3 megapixel camera, Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, discrete graphics and 802.11n WiFi. We're particularly stoked about the CableCARD slot for viewing HD channels, and it's always nice that the TV function of the PC can be switched on and off independently, so you don't have to wait for the unit to boot to start watching. The standard version will go for $1,900, while LT HD runs at a steep $2,900, and both should be available this October.
