Best Buy exclusive: VAIO SC with Blu-ray and Push2TV for $950

This is nuts, awesome deal from Best Buy, VAIO SC - i5 2410/ 4G/ 500G Hybrid drive/ blu-ray combo/ push2tv (WIDI adaptor)/ WiMax radio, all for just $949.99!

May 1 release, pre-order at best buy starts from today.



Best Buy slaps Blue Label on Sony and Toshiba laptops, packed to the exhaust vents with extras -- Engadget

 

Interesting. So the VAIO SC series is a BestBuy exclusive!?!?!

 

no, the deal is exclusive, SC is available in Canada as well. best buy's SC comes with Push2TV and 2 year warranty, that's not available anywhere else.

 

How awesome is the deal really? Basically you just get the push and kaspersky for free.

 

Interesting....
How do you put something up for pre-order, and it doesn't even tell you what CPU model, screen resolution. or ports? Do Best Buy customers not care about those things? The Vaio looks like VGA, HDMI 1 USB 3 and 2 USB 2 - no eSata.

----
update - I found some of the specs clicking back to the model pages through the cart - Vaio 2410 CPU I assume 768 res since not mentioned.

 

No. Think about it. A lot of people that go into Best Buy stores don't know anything about computers- that's why there's Geek Squad there. I told one of my friends to check out the Vaio SB at the Sonystyle store and he goes to Bestbuy and buys the only Sony model in stock- a last gen F. He was then telling me about how he got $50 off Geek Squad service etc etc. People like him are the typical Best Buy customers. They want a new computer so they go to the store and buy one there. There's no searching around the net for the best deal, no reading up on the models on forums such as these, basically "blind" purchasers that are at the whim of the salesperson or some tech savvy friend.

 

You also get a Blue ray reader and a hybrid HDD. Those two features alone are worth a few hundred dollars. If only WiDi let you play the Blue ray...


Looks like a great value. It also has a hybrid HDD, which is a good fit for this mid-level laptop/price.

It lacks a fingerprint reader (no big deal.) It has lesser graphics (6470) which is a big bummer. The 6630 is much better than the 6470. It also does not list the graphics as switchable. If not switchable you would lose out on the HD graphics better battery life and rapid video encoding.

 

Is the hybrid HDD in use in that VAIO SC series the Seagate Momentus XT HDD?

 

I wouldnt bet my money on the hybrid drive, there was a ready to ship model that came with it, when no one received it, they simply removed the hybrid mention

 

How do they figure the price on these sort of laptops? $100 per pound?

 

What do you mean? In theory, WiDi supports 1080p and protected content like BluRay with the Sandy Bridge CPU's like this Vaio has, and the (coming soon?) HD NetGear Push2TV they are bundling supports 1080. Now performance is another matter...

This idea that everything under the sun can be connected wirelessly at the touch of a button at high bitrates and seamless transfer speeds is a bit half baked. There are too many interfering Wi-Fi gadgets in the unlicensed spectrum bands and no QoS controls are possible. Quite a few bad reviews of the PTV1000 about choppy performance. Buy a cheap long HDMI cable from monoprice, end of problem.

Still I would like to know better, does WiDi support two different resolution ie, if internal LCD is only 768, can it output pure 1080 to the NetGear box?

 

It is my understanding that WiDi current blocks "protected content." It is not a technology issue but a copyright/legal reason.

While WHDI does not come with the built in block of protected content and also does not have the lag. WHDI seems like a superior technology overall.

 

Yea I'm puzzled I found Intel site where it says they support BD then on a separate page the protected content warning... because everyone is burning their old Super 8 home movies to BD for WiDi playback: -/

 

if you look at the photo of SC, you will see the "speed/stamina" switch.

 

The PTV Model shipping with this bundle is the Netgear PTV2000 which doesn't seem to be in the retail channels, as yet. The availability of the add on is probably the reason for the 5/1 ship date of the Blue Label bundle.

In theory, the PTV2000 along with "sandy bridge" processor supports 1080p streaming and HDCP for playing protected content on commercial DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs.

 

Any idea how cool/quiet this laptop will run?? Everything else looks great, but I'm scared it will run hot/fans too loud, etc....

 

How does this stack up with the SB model of the vaio?

 

SB and SC are basicly the same thing, the only real difference is on the case the SB as a inclined cut keyboard type style, while the SC has a more mac look cut style

 

Thanks for the clarification. makes a lot of difference for my needs.

 

we also dont know the materials used in the SC, I do hope its not all plastic

 

from the Best Buy page, it said it has aluminum chassis.

 

good catch. I also think you need to have the Intel HD graphic card to support WIDI 2.0.

so most likely it's switchable graphic.

 

looking at the canadian sony website shows some picture of the vaio SC
VPCSC1AFDS | NEW VAIO S Series Laptop | Sony Canada

 

One more small thing I noticed was the Canadian C specs list a 6490 vs Best Buy listing a 6470. Now these cards are almost identical, with the 6490 being a higher clocked 6470 (with optional ddr5), but even a small bump in performance from the 6470 would be appreciated. I wish they could have just charged another $50 and upped it to a 6630 so that this laptop would have reasonable gaming graphics.

Looking at benchmarks ( AMD Radeon HD 6490M - Notebookcheck.net Tech ) it looks like yu can barely get by with the 6490 with a lot of games in the 30 fps range. While the 6470 is 5-20% slower.

 

You know that's exactly what I thought originally, but Intel's wording gave me pause to question if that's the correct conclusion. It would be pretty foolish to market something as a BluRay with streaming Wi-Di capablility bundled with the HD Wi-Di receiver, and then have it not work for movies

 

So I went to Best Buy on Saturday and bought SC. The price is really good considering what you are getting. The biggest difference with SB I saw in the Sony Style store is that the lid and palm-rest are plastic and not magnesium/aluminum in SC. The was a bummer when i first opened the box. There is a little more flex in the lit, but not terrible. The palm-rest texture feel really nice. The screen is not as good as my old Z, but bright and looks ok. The WiFI card that came with it is 6520. Only G is enabled by default, but you can go in the settings and enabled both. I tested both and it works great. The WiDi works great even in 1080p, you can extend your desktop to it and watch videos on your tv while using your laptop at the same time. This thing is not perfect, but I can't imagine anything better for $949.

 

<form name="LogoffForm" action="Logoff" method="post"> </form> <form name="MyAccountForm" action="SYAccountLandingView" method="post"> </form> This, linked a few posts down, has to be the most outright deceptive ad/offer to sell I've ever seen on a manufacturer's web site. I'm just blown away that Sony would do this. See what you think.

Here's the link that Kosmonoko posted a few posts earlier about the sale of the SC in Canada: VPCSC1AFDS | NEW VAIO S Series Laptop | Sony Canada

Here's some direct excerpts from where that link takes you; except as shown in bold red text, everything you read is pasted directly, not edited, from the SonyStyle site.

SONY Make.Believe
[this ^ is from the web site itself - scary ironic as you'll see below!]

CANADA

NEW VAIO® S Series Laptop


Model number: VPCSC1AFDS

Rated out of 5 Stars
Features: Intel® Core™ i5-2410M (2.30 / 2.90GHz) Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 13.3" LED backlit display, 4GB RAM, 500GB SATA Hybrid, Blu-ray Disc™ ROM Drive, AMD graphics (512MB VRAM), HDMI™ out.

$ 1199 .99
Redeem 119,999 Sony Points

In Stock
Estimated ship date: 05/04/2011
Free yourself from the cord

Leveraging the latest innovations in lithium polymer technology, the S Series battery is built into the PC and conforms to every contour of the chassis offering a thinner battery profile while still supplying up to 7.5 hours of battery life⁷.

(...and yada, yada, yada, skipping all past the detail on other features...now see below) :

Exceptional LED backlit display

Developed by the same people you trust to engineer amazing flat-panel HDTVs, the VAIO® S Series laptop features exceptional picture quality. The 13.3” (1600 x 900) widescreen display [yes, they said that!] includes an LED backlight that helps ensure a bright display while conserving battery power. Plus, with 100% color saturation you’ll enjoy a wider spectrum of color [they say this too, but I don't even know what it means, just that it does NOT pertain to this SC for sale!] for more true-to-life images.

Now, let's flip to the next tab, entitled "Specifications"

VPCSC1AFDS | NEW VAIO S Series Laptop | Sony Canada

Display

• Screen Size : 13.3"
• Resolution : 1366 x 768
• Back Light Technology : LED

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Now back to my post, no more need for colors to distinguish my comments from the Sony web site. Personally, I'm blown away by this. Clearly, the screen on this promo, and the similar one through Best Buy, has a standard, low rent, 1366 x 768 screen; they are not selling an $1,100 (Cdn) or $950 (US) VPC-SC with a 1600 x 900 wide color gamut (by any strange way of describing it!) - if indeed they even yet have such a 13" screen in any of their new products, it's still only "vaporware," yet to be seen on a spec sheet of a "real" product, much less one that's for sale. But if and when they do offer a hi res 13" screen - on the SA, the next "Z," whatever it's called, it certainly will not cost $1,100 and it will not be offered on an SC.

Now, "misprints" happen all the time, but Sony is clearly playing "Where's Waldo?" with their high end ultraportable new lines, and it's just a little hard to believe that they just happened to have "goofed" on this particular product, just happened to have put in ad copy meant for a screen they have not yet offered on any product in their current line on this loss leader model, no doubt linked to many, many web ads in Canada. By the way, you can bet some 1/3 to 1/2 of Canadians seeing the site will indeed hit "add to cart" and who knows if/when they will discover the data that induced them to buy was, er, a mistake, and they really have a very crappy, low res, low everything (except black level ) screen with their, actually, otherwise good value computer.

I shortened this post ("whah??" you say! well, maybe not shorter, but more to the point) and made it less goofy because Beaups made a remark about it and I realized that it would serve to make my style of presenting this the focus instead of the misleading sales practice and, honestly, Sony's increasingly seedy feeling approach to this market. I mean, I'm new to Sony computers and, as much as I love my used Z, I feel like you buy a Sony Vaio and you pray it never breaks because if it does, don't expect Sony to help you on the phone, honor even their most expensive warranties or make you feel in any way as if you have a "premium" product and a "classy" vendor.

I'm a grown up and I know big businesses are not like nice people, but frankly, companies like Apple, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba, a few others whose names don't come right to me, don't make you feel so badly that you bought their product and mostly want to get what's wrong made right and have you buy from them again. Why do I get the feeling that Sony feels they can get by on their broader name recognition, and thus can lie to customers, confuse the market and offer god-awful support yet still keep a reasonably stable market share at sometimes obscene margins?

Hope this says it clearer for you, Beaups.

 

^Man, that's the longest post ever. I couldn't find the patience to finish reading it but I hope you figure out whatever it was you needed there

 

Actually, about 2/3 of it was just a paste of a blatantly deceptive, misleading SonyStyle Canada Web site selling the SC as if it has a 1600 X 900 screen when actually it has a 1366 x 768 screen, though you have to hit the "Specifications" tab and read pretty fine print to see the contradiction, and many/most people would buy without ever hitting that tab. The fundamental issue: Sony really doesn't want to supply a high res screen on any laptop selling for less than $2,000, but they seem to want people to think they do. In this case, it's not an "implication," just an outright fabrication, and it exceeded my tolerance for this kind of BS.

The rest was me ranting about why these companies feel they have to suck people in with deceptive information rather than just making good products and admitting what features you get for what price.

I've dealt with a lot of consumer and business PC/Notebook lines in recent years, but I'm new to Sony. Other than the performance of my used Z - which is superb - everything else I see, read, hear about the company, its practices, it's customer care (not), warranty support, etc, is just a flaming red "STAY AWAY!" This way of misrepresenting the SC on the Sony Canada site - a link someone posted here today - was just one of those "last straws" that makes you want to scream - or am I the only one?

That's all it was, Beaups. I'm sure you could have figured it out if you read it. I tried to make it really easy to see how deceiving it is. I'm willing to bet that at least 1/3 of the people who see that Sony web offering will jump on it, thinking it's a great promotion. Pathetic. Shame. Check it out; please tell me what I'm missing.

 

^OK I read it now. Looks to me like they just screwed up the specs? It happens.

 

Totally agree, it happens. But why so often with Sony? Why so much cat/mouse about new products? Why such awful customer support (reputation, not personal experience)?

Why do I feel like I'm [still] buying from HP or Dell, just paying more?

 

This Blue Label laptop from Sony that we are discussing at Best Buy...

Would this classify as a gaming machine at all? How does that particular ATI card match up against some of the games? Any idea?

I like the media features of the laptop, but I may also want to throw some games at it (Unreal Tournament, Crysis, Left for Dead). I realize I may not be able to play in high settings, but medium settings possible?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

The 6470 isn't the greatest. It's only slightly better than the HD3000 Integrated Graphics card.

 

played with this today at my local best buy. I must say that this thing is light. The screen lid is so thin that its actually sharp running your finger across it, similar to the edges of the macbook pros..

As for performance its insanely fast opening programs and os performance. Couldnt find a backlight toggle or figure out how to use it. Either way its a real nice small laptop, better and cheaper than the macbook plus u get that widi adapter for ya tv.

Not a bad deal imo, but i want a slightly bigger 14" laptop.

 

In looking at alternatives for my wife, I've come to conclude that this BB Blue Label SC offers the best value in the market at this size class.

(Wish they had a model for $150-$200 more with a 900p screen, but all mfrs except Apple - ycch! - don't get it about what we want and what we will pay for. It was pretty much the same with back lit keyboards a few years ago: consumers loved em, they only added $30 or so to the price, yet very, very few made them standard or optional. There's still a way to go, but now it seems mfrs have begun to catch on. Also, they may not be failing to listen to the market, but rather trying to jack profits by making you have to trade up to the Z and pay $1,000 more when all you want is a decent screen for the $1,000 model.)

Back to the SC bundle, if the screen is at least average it makes this a true bargain and the model to beat (and, for now, to buy!) Getting this to try out for my wife's new computer; stores sold out but shipment from BB.com is on its way. I will do a mini-review when I get it, tomorrow or Monday.

 

bestbuy website now displaying price of $979.99.

i wonder if they fixed some reported shortcomings like the screen hinges?

 

I picked one of these up on Sunday. Yes, the price did go up to $979, however they gave me the $949 price.

They only had the "Best Buy Optimized" version left and that was a $99 premium. Since I am a tech, I had no interest in paying for this service. After arguing, etc... They finally agreed to give it to me for $30 extra. Fine, so we are back up to the $979.

Anyway... So far, I am very impressed with this computer. Fast, responsive, light, WiDi works as advertised, and yes, this thing can even game. No, not Crysis at max settings, but most recent games at mid level settings, and most older games at high settings (UT, Burnout, etc).


The fan... It is loud at times. But mainly when playing a game or something. Under normal use, it is pretty quiet.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the device.

 

Is the case made of plastic or metal or both or neither?

 

The top of the lid appears to be metal. The screen surround is plastic. The palm rest/keyboard tray appears to be metal. The bottom appears to be plastic.

 

Does yours have multitouch fingerpad capabilities? Or at least scroll tech? The one I am putsing with right now doesn't have it working in Best Buy. Also the palmrest is plastic, lcd bezel is plastic, and lower part is plastic.

 

My friend got one of these last week for college and I saw it today. He doesn't baby the computer, but he's not rough with it either. The plastic panel on the lid was already separating from the bezel at the corner! I pointed it out to him and it bummed him for the rest of the day. (I have a tendency to do this with all my friends' new computers- I find some imperfection and point it out to them and it bugs them) Also, the corner of the palmrest is already losing some paint, the silver rubbed off and it's white underneath. I think it's probably due to his sleeve's zipper hitting it when he closes it, but if it looks like this after a week, I don't want to see it a few months down the road. I hope other people have better results than my friend.

 

Looks like metal, but feels like plastic.

 

Thats a funny question.... Mine did not have scroll capabilities, however as I mentioned, mine was "optimized" by the geez squad. They actually deleted the ALPS touchpad driver from the system during their optimization.

Once I went to the driver page, I was able to locate the correct driver, install it, and now it works great!

 

The palm rest feels cold, like metal does, as in it conducts heat away from your fingers quickly like metal would. The bottom is definitely plastic, though.

And yes, the multitouch does work.

 

After seeing the difference between the Best Buy exclusive Toshiba R835 vs the ones available at other outlets, I have a feeling that they may have used cheaper parts for the SC as well.

FYI, they used a aluminum heat sink instead of a copper heat sink for the Best Buy exclusive R835.

 

They just jacked the price up $30 on bestbuy.com from $950 to $980.

 

The Blue Labels are always worse in terms of build quality. The Vaio S from Blue Label 2.0 had peeling problems, quality control problems as well. You have 30 days. If you're unhappy with something on your Blue Label then return it and get one from Sony. The sony's have a full magnesium casing with an aluminum palmrest/keyboard area. They will likely be built in the USA or Japan, so it's going to be a better bet. Also, I have a black vaio S from 2008 that is still in mint condition, so buy from Sony direct and you'll be happy. Most complaints of the Vaio's from BestBuy are just that...cause they're best buy Vaio's.

Think about it: you get a hybrid harddrive, bluray, Widi reciever, etc. There's always a price to pay for cutting that many corners. 2 year warranty, etc. Buy a Vaio with an amex on sony and you'll also get 2 year warranty.

 

Anyone having excessive fan noise with this model? When I play some games (COD, FarCry, etc), I think the thing is going to blow up is is whining so hard. Is this OK? Will this shorten the life of the unit?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

Anyone have problem with their battery after the bios update? I read one of the comments in this thread about the new bios will reduce the fan noise, so I decided to update the bios.

Everything went fine, I shut down the computer when it asked me to. And here is where the trouble begins... I cannot turn the machine back on !!!
What pissed me off was I followed all the instructions and updated thru the Vaio update software, didn't let my computer go to sleep, closed all other programs and it still bricked.

Just when I thought it's dead, my last attempt was to take the battery out, press the power button to drain any charge left in the capacitors, plugged in the power cord and guess what, the machine turned back on !!!

So now my machine will not turn on if I leave the battery in, even though the power cord is still plugged in. When I do put in the battery, the battery light keeps blinking constantly, which indicate something went wrong with the battery.

However, I do recall that the battery light did blink constantly before the bios update; I didn't pay attention because everything works fine. So maybe the battery is defective before, but it doesn't work well with the new bios.

Anyway, I will try to bring it back to Best Buy and see if they let me exchange or return without charging restocking fee. I believe their return policy is 14 days for laptops, but since it's defective, I'll try to talk my way out.

Besides the battery problem, I love everything about this laptop. For $950 (+ tax), you get a nice little laptop with many features. The built quality is very good, the chassis and the palm rest are metal for sure, since it feels cold when it's cool down. Very little flex on the keyboard, you have to really press it hard to see little flex. The screen is not perfect; the vertically viewing angle needs some improvement. The fan noise is another problem; it gets really loud under load. The bios update does help a little, but it is still pretty loud under heavy load. Push TV works nicely. It's one of the reasons I bought this. There is a slight delay between the laptop screen and the TV screen, so you can't play video games with this. But if you just want to watch a movie and photo, it's perfectly acceptable.

Anyway, if anyone has any clue about the battery problem, I'll appreciate your comments. Thanks in advance.

 

Fan noise:

Is the fan only under speed mode that loud?
I would mostly use stamina mode. But as I work most of the time in the library the Laptop should stay quiet for up to 10 hours in stamina mode. I only do the usual things (word, internet, maybe music)...

Thanks in advance for an answer!