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Sony's FJ, FE, and SZ get spec bumps
Look like Sony's giving their European laptop releases some spec bumps to fend off the summer slump. The most interesting is the FE line's new FE20, with Sony's new 2nd gen X-black display (aka XBRITE, some of the nicest laptop displays money can buy), which finally addresses its most typical complaint with an anti-reflective surface layer, and also throws in some extra brightness with a dual lamp backlight; the FJ line's new FJ3 gets a dual layer DVD burner, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, and a 100GB drive; the SZ series gets the SZ2 with the upgrades are the least exciting, and from what we can tell they'll just have a version with a 2.16GHz T2600 Core Duo chip, which is already available as an upgrade on the Sony Style configurator. Keep an eye out for these in the states sometime in the near future (with different names, of course).[Via MobileWhack]
The rest from Sony: updates to F, F-TV, H, V, S lines
Now that we've got Sony's brand spankin' new Vaios out of the way, we can move on to the rest of the 40-odd models the company announced in Japan today, most of which represent spec bumps to existing boxes. Most of the Vaio laptop lines, including the multi-hued F, F-TV and S series get Core Duo processors (or Core Solo for the lower-priced models). Most also get that coveted "Windows Vista Capable" sticker, which you can proudly display until you can actually run Vista. The F-TV model also gets a new display with improved brightness and darker blacks, along with an enhanced sound system. Meanwhile, the desktop V and H (shown above) lines get processor bumps (up to a P4 641 at 3.2GHz on one model) , analog and terrestrial digital tuners, and new LCDs with resolutions up to 1366 x 768. The 20-inch version of the LCD also includes DVI-D for HD input. So, how does this add up to over 40 new and updated models? Well, if you add up all the display and processor permutations (and, of course, the different colored cases on the F series and V displays), you'll hit a number up around there. But unless you're a Japanese retailer or hate your job so much that you'll do almost anything else to avoid it, we suggest skipping that exercise.Read - V/H SeriesRead - F/F-TV/S Series
Sony's new Vaio L series all-in-one desktop
Okay, NEC. So, you think you're so bad, now that you've managed to announce no fewer than 26 new computers in a single day. Well, all we can say is, don't mess with Sony. In addition to showing off its Blu-ray totin' RC300, the company is also dropping something like 41 other Vaio models, including upgrades to the H, V, F and S series, and a whole new line called the VGC-L series. We'll start the show with the L, an all-in-one desktop with a either a 19-inch 1680 x 1050 or 15.4-inch 1280 x 800 LCD display. The line comes with a range of processor options, including a Core Duo T2300 at 1.66GHz or a Celeron M 420 at 1.6GHz. Sony also throws in a dual-layer burner, 200GB drive and FeliCa port (these are Japan-only models, remember). The keyboard is designed to fold up on top of the display, leaving just enough displayed to allow access to audio controls via the included remote. And although Sony's including XP Home (we would have liked MCE as at least an option), Sony is certifying these as "Vista Capable," making them among the first new boxes out of Japan to carry that shiny new sticker. Prices range from ¥160,000 (about $1,350) to ¥220,000 ($1,855), depending on configuration.
Sony's VAIO RC300 series with Blu-ray Disc get official
We already peeped Sony’s Blu-ray packin’ Vaio at the Tokyo Anime Fair last month. Now, Sony comes clean with some general specs around their new Vaio RC300 series machines. The line-up will feature Pentium D dual-core CPUs, S-ATA drives supporting RAID for mirroring that 2TB of supported storage, PCI Express x16 graphics, and advanced DDR memory. Yeah, these are positioned rightfully, as high-end Media Center Edition 2005 PCs sporting Sony's Giga Pocket and RC Digital Studio apps to view, schedule, and manage your recordings. No doubt, it’ll be a few months before these drop, but after yesterday’s Fujitsu Blu-ray Deskpower TX95 announcement, we guess Sony had to get official right quick like. [Thanks, Himanshu]
