Sony Intros 15.5" NW Series Notebooks

Sony Intros 15.5" NW Series Notebooks

Sony today introduced its latest consumer notebook, the NW series. The NW series will have a 15.5-inch screen and start at $800; models equipped with Blu-ray disc drives start at $880.

The design is a selling point of the NW series; it will be available in three colors: walnut brown, birch white, and rattan silver. Other design features include a wavy textured finish and an isolated chiclet-style keyboard.

Specifications include an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics card. The NW has ExpressCard, 3x USB, HDMI, and a media card reader for port selection. The NW's weight starts at 6 pounds and battery life is claimed to be four hours with the standard battery and 5.5 with the optional extended.
The NW series is slated to go on sale later this month.

Sony Press Release
NW Series Site

 

Not impressed by the style as much as I should be I guess. Glad to see Sony isnt so high on its own designs that they can charge less than a thousand for a decent machine though.

 

Lid looks like a pillow...which might be dangerous if you leave it on a couch or a bed and someone's looking to lie down.

 

For $880, this machine has nice specs . . . C2D, Blu-ray, HD 4570. Nothing exactly high-end, but very reasonable for the money. The design has its merits as well. I'll wait to see this machine in person before passing any further judgment.

 

Sony actually did something in 2009?! My god!

Wow i thought at this stage they wouldnt announce anything till next year looks good at the specs though. Would love to see an optional 4650 option though.

 

15, 5" display, eh? Who makes the panels or is there a typo and its 15,6"?

 

now that you mention it.................then again this is Sony they always are doing crazy things like this

 

I wonder what res the screen will come in?
For it to have BluRay a 1080p screen is a must to take full advantage of it..
But overall not to bad of a value considering it does have BluRay, which is very surprising coming from Sony.

 

I agree, it is an odd number. According to the press release, it is indeed a 15.5" screen; there is no information on what resolution. Definitely 16:9, so either 1366x768, 1600x900, or best case scenario, 1920x1080. I place my bet on 1366x768, since this is an $800-880 notebook after all. It's a genuine shame since that resolution is so pathetic and next to worthless from a productivity standpoint (better than a netbook though).

 

I read somewhere that it will be 1366x768 for the screen res, and I just have to beg, why the low res? If they offered one with 1600x900 for $100 i'd buy this over the 14z!

 

I'm guessing they're making it be a 16:9.5 screen

 

Well, I have seen a number of nice Sony Vaio FW's for $800 that have a 1600x900 screen and an ATI Radeon 3650, which is rare on a notebook of that price point.

In any case, it's good to see that Sony, which in the past rarely made notebooks that sell for less than $1000, is making more budget-friendly, but still elegant laptops.

 

Will it have HDMI out? On their CS series targeted towards students, they give it a Blu-Ray drive option but yet only a 1280x800 screen and no HDMI out. WTH?

 

I wonder if there was a nuclear accident somewhere that caused the screen manufacturing people to have their eyes separated further than usual.
16:9 is already pathetic enough, now 15.5''??

 

If you haven't noticed, almost all new notebooks coming out have 16:9 screen. If you don't like it, that's tough luck, and most likely you would have to stick with an older machine.

 

Oh yes I do notice.
Now if you haven't noticed, the new business-class notebook models are still equipped with 16:10 screens, something I only care for.
So not really a tough luck.

 

Yes, like alot of the HP's business are still using the 16:10 i just want to see some company say "hey maybe we can give you a 15" 16:10 notebook or a 15.4" 16:9 on the same model....choices.

 

It's a tough thing to accept but finding a 16:10 notebook is soon going to be like trying to find a 4:3 notebook today; I am as against the 16:9 transition as much as you are. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is going towards 16:9. I talked to Alienware about their M17x and mentioned that it was interesting that they used a 16:10 screen instead of a 16:9; they said they could have gone with a 16:9 and it would have been a lot cheaper, but knew that their customers didn't want it. They said unfortunately they can only pressure the panel makers into producing 16:10 screens for so long. This generation of 16:10 notebooks is most likely going to be the last.

 

Well, supplies & demands.
I'm sure if all the notebook manufactures press for 16:10, the screen manufacturers will keep it.

 

I don't mind the wider screen, for me it's easier to have mutliple documents up at the same time. I like it that way. However, it only works really well when there's a high enough screen res....

 

Check it out!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117909
NW with 1600x900. There's another one on NewEgg at the same price with 1366x768.

 

No Blu-Ray on that one but I too am amazed to see Sony not charging $1200 for this laptop just because they are Sony.

 

I think I might be ordering that laptop. That looks like an excellent piece of machinery. I had my eye on the asus U8v but 1600x900... wooohaaa

 

Very nice smooth and thin design. I also really like the blu-ray drive.
I just hope the screen isn't too glossy. And I hope there's also an option for a more powerful processor

 

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 on this laptop..
is ddr2 right?

 

Not sure, but the Vaio SR update has the Gddr3 ones so i may this will too?

 

I think the resolution on NewEgg is a typo... it's just 1366 x 768

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665896685

 

.......i didnt even notice his post that's definitnely a typo, if not this is probably the best priced Vaio....EVER.(Yes that is saying something )

 

LoL
Newegg still has it listed at 1600x900, however the silver version with pictures is listed at 1366x768. If that's the only resolution option available, i'll go for something else.

 

I agree. It's a shame that so few laptop manufacturers often 900p or higher resolution. I don't understand why they think 1366x768 is an acceptable resolution for a 16-17" screen. Take a look at the HP's dv2, dv3, dv4, dv5, dv6, dv7 and Lenovo's U350, Y450, Y550, Y650, the screen resolution stays the same across the lineup. Why, why...

 

And if you want anything nicer, you have to go to Dell and buy something constructed of plastic.

It would be nice to see something like this or the 1555 built with the construction of a macbook pro.