First Look of the The NEW 2012 SB series (S13?)

The new 2012 SB series, June release, available in black/white/silver/pink. New SA (S13A?) will look the same except with gold color logo, available in black and gold. slot loading optical drive.

 

I really want to see what types of internals the new SA series will have. I'm hoping for updated IB processors and some new AMD graphics. The looks are sleek as hell.

 

If it's the same, that means it's still going to have the same flaws as the 2011 models & the same noisy fans trying to cool the machine down. Rather disappointing...

 

Yes I expected an improved cooling system :/
The ports looks like the current machines with the exception of an extra USB 3.0 port, guess it's too much to expect that one of them is also a Light peak port...
Hopefully the screen and touchpad are improved.

 

yup looks like same cooling as the current model, too bad.

 

I am guessing it might get the Intel Core i7 3612QM + AMD 7670M option , like the E14P ????

 

I hope so, would be a go for me if so.

Looking forward to seeing the new SA tbh.

 

The T series will be called the SVT, so perhaps the new S will be SVSB and SVSA, probably not.

I'd personally give up the graphics card for a better quality screen any day.

 

and slot-loading ODD means no secondary HDD, right? (well, it will look ridiculous!)

 

OP where did you get this information from, link?

 

You must not have been following eddieaus, he's got connections at Sony, he is the source and there is no link

 

any news regarding the specs?

 

Touchpad looks like it'd go too far to the right, might hit the right palm? Otherwise, good-looking machine.

 

From what I could find online, 15 and 13 inch versions, with some pricing, but that pricing could change of course.

Sony VAIO SVS1511S9E Core i5 Blu-Ray Windows 7 Pro Laptop SVS1511S9E - Laptops Direct

Sony VAIO SVS13A1X9E Core i7 Blu-Ray Windows 7 Pro Laptop SVS13A1X9E - Laptops Direct

Sony VAIO SVS13A1S9E Core i7 Blu-Ray Windows 7 Pro Laptop SVS13A1S9E - Laptops Direct

Sony VAIO SVS1311N9E Core i5 Windows 7 Pro Laptop SVS1311N9E - Laptops Direct

Sony VAIO SVS1511S9E Core i5 Blu-Ray Windows 7 Pro Laptop SVS1511S9E - Laptops Direct

Sony VAIO SVS1311F3E Core i5 Laptop SVS1311F3E - Laptops Direct

 

That doesn't really give any news regarding the specs. Under 'Tech Specs' the only thing that comes up is the hard drive size. Maybe I'm missing something

 

of course there are no full specs, some are there like BR or no BR and ssd vs hdd.

 

Have to join Jonnyinter. I see no specs whatsoever on those pages except HDD size. I click the "More info..." link, I click the "Tech spec" tab, nothing except Hard drive size.

Tried FF, IE and Chrome.

 

Sorry meant to write no full specs, just prelim specs typo

 

Can anyone summarize the flaws in the S?
I've heard the screen sucks (even the 900p) and the fan is noisy.
Anything else? The bezel looks too thick to me.

 

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. But keep in mind that until we know for sure we can't judge the new S series laptops based on the current one's flaws. Even though the chassis looks relatively the same, internally it could be significantly different.

 

Cooling appears to still be near the screen since there are no vents on the sides, so any cooling issues are still present.

 

Yeah, I'd agree those pics seem to suggest the shell will be the exact same and maybe they'll switch in a different motherboard or just the CPU. Seems unlikely a different fan will have much impact? Drat. I hate it when manufacturers know there's an issue and don't bother to reengineer. So how bad is the cooling, is it just the fan is always on or does it overheat and shutdown?
Any other issues with the current version?
Thanks.

 

Haven't had any shutdowns and the fan isn't loud just browsing around and/or doing light tasks. It's quite noisy when gaming or doing processor intensive tasks.
To give one example of low load noise I heard my SSD over the fan when installing Windows, the SSD have no moving parts...

I'm hoping the screen gets wider view angles and a bit better colors, contrast and brightness is already good (YMMV).

The touchpad is the biggest problem on the SA in my opinion, even with tweaked drivers and customized settings it still gets in the way too often. The new machine have a different touchpad however I guess it still could be a bad one.

 

they look more and more like macbooks over time...

 

In that they both have screens and keyboards?
Can't say I at least can see any real similarities between the S-series and Macbooks.

 

Thanks for the info. Sound like you have a noisy SSD , I don't think I've heard anything from mine. I don't plan on gaming, but what about playing a bluray, would that kick it into high gear?
I guess I could live with a limited viewing angle. I probably won't be sharing too much anyway.
You'd think after 15+ years manufacturers would know how to make a decent touchpad, but every other notebook has a defective one. Hope they fix it.

 

Agreed. If you got it in black, you wouldn't think that for a second. Besides apple ripped off sony long ago. I find the macbook/macair designs have not aged well over time. Doesn't help that every hipster doofus at starbucks has one either.

 

Umm, the MacBook Air is the best designed laptop currently available. The construction and build quality is near perfect. I'm not sure why you think the Air hasn't aged well considering the current design is 2 years old & everyone is still trying and failing to imitate it.

And yes, Apple borrowed ideas from Sony but it really doesn't matter.

As for the MacBook Pro's, yes, they are a little dated in that the design is nearly 4 years old, but no other manfacturer has come close to building something of that quality.

I love my VAIO Z and technically it's vastly more powerful than my MacBook Air, but the Z doesn't have a unibody design and it made from dozens of different components which is why it's 'plasticky' and not as robust as a MacBook.

 

Right, but Ivy Bridge might not produce as much heat as current processor models. If they choose to include a discrete GPU again, it might be the same scenario.

Yes, the current model has cooling issues and the new one might have them too, but until it's released there's no way of knowing.

 

Just wondering, would there be a ivy bridge refresh of SE series also?

 

Ok, I'm not saying the macair is a terrible machine by any means. I find the bezels are too thick for my tastes (same with the S and Z), and I'm not an osx fan. If it came in black I might recant. I'd argue right now the Samsung Series 9 is superior, it is nearly perfect. And the XPS 13 is nice, but needs a higher res screen. Of course, it's not fair to compare against last year's apple, so we'll see what the refresh looks like in june. Agreed, it doesn't matter who ripped off who as long as the consumer benefits. But to say Sony is copying Apple's style is backwards. Yes, unibody is better.

 

The cooling system can be improved even if it's generally like the current one, just making the air outlet bigger (there's room) and redesign the hinge mechanism a bit would help a bit.

 

I guess we have to wait for larger images with more detail or some actual hands-on experience. I doubt they would use the exact same setup if the redesign the model for a new launch. I'm confident it's either a different fan, a small tweak to the air inlet/outlet or even both

 

Here's hoping. And I'd just as soon they got rid of discrete and added the i7 3612QM, of course the later would not help on heat. I read desktop IVB actually runs hotter though, granted that was the top of the line QC, hopefully they cooled off the mobiles.

 

oh, no. there's no point in getting rid of the dGPU on the SA/SB. you could find other brands without a dGPU, with better screen, no ODD, better touchpad, ... (an ultrabook is what i'm talking about) for cheaper. why stick to SONY then? the whole point of the SA line (at least for me) is the (semi-)strong dGPU included in the package. a slight redesign of the hinge, though, would be very much appreciated.

also, desktop Ivy Bridge generates lower heat compared th Sandy Bridge, unless overclocked.

 

I'd get it for the optical drive since I don't really game. But I'm considering ditching it for an ultrabook as you say (Samsung Sereis 9?). But I need a little more RAM and like I said, a bluray is nice to have sometimes. Not sure how well the HD 4000 graphics in ivy bridge would do compared to discrete, probably a little worse, not sure what radeon they're going to use here? But Intel has made good strides, I think by Haswell the performance will be good enough for most users on the small laptops. Never fear though, those images show the toggle's still there so I don't think integrated is going anywhere. Hopefully I was mistaken about that benchmark, I can't remember where I read that.
What's wrong with the hinge, too stiff?

 

the hinge blocks the hot air exhaust vent when you open the laptop screen (i guess that's how everybody use their laptops!). pretty stupid design, imo. i have to admit, though, that i have never had any overheating problems with my SA even with an overclocked 6630m running Battlefield 3. however, the design could definitely be improved.

 

Yep. The cooling system still is quite capable but one pays for that with noise :/ At ~25% CPU load it starts to get noticable and anything over that starts to get irritating without headphones & music IMHO

 

Really? Oh man that's lame. I hope they fix it, otherwise I'll have to get something else.

 

When is more news on this going to be released?

 

end of may announcement, S13, S13A, S15 and bunch of low end stuff (E series 14"/15"/17").

and of course the new Z series, with nothing changed design wise.

S13A Gold:



5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25 5/25

 

It looks like that they did redesign the hinge !?

 

If it's the same gold, and same metallic dark red interior, as in the Z2, I'd buy it just for the coffee table.

 

Well I consider myself very sensitive to noise... YMMV

 

There are 3 things that I want on this revision:

1) better chassis, which is doubtful
2) better gpu
3) better battery life

Unicorn wishes:
@) better keyboard
#) better touchpad
%) better screen, same res
&) Thunderbolt

 

^ well, the touchpad is different (see the first post). so let's hope it's different AND improved...

 

sincerely, its only unicorn because I want it to be on the same level as the one in my mbp. that is something thats not going to happen.

 

Why not? It isn't like Apple have a monopoly, they don't even make the touchpad controller chip they are using.

 

I'm not a fan either.

 

they dont, and thats the good thing, however the terrible thing is that even without that nagging issue, pcs have been having quite a hard time to even come close to what it is. And sincerely they havent, nor I have hope that they will in this year, and probably not the next one

This is my first mac, and in a few months Im going to part with it, due to the terrible support, which is another thing that makes me doubt that I will buy another sony.

I liked the SA last year, the complaints that I had were the ones that I posted, it made me return the machine, I had similar complaints with the Z2 as well, making me return it again, now Im going to see what the thinkpad edge s430, the thinkpad t430u and the folio 9470m bring to the table, so I can sell my mbp and get a much better support

btw this mbp is not even a year old. but for what I paid, Im expecting to have a good CS, and thats not what has been delivered to me.