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

When is the release?

 

Hmmm.... good points. I never put much thought into how they got their numbers, lol.



^^^^@Slaughterhouse: I'd guess at least after June, when the dual core Ivy Bridge chips are to launch (though, IMO, and just guessing, the 15" could be up sooner, since it has an already launched quad core unit).

 

Agree, I would imagine June..or basically when the dual-core cpus are properly announced.

I have been interested in buying a laptop now but I think I will wait until Windows 8 comes out and the minor refreshes to models that will probably come with it. (as well as outright new models..might end up grabbing one of those hybrid tablets and desktop PC)

Honestly I'm not too pleased with the upcoming lineup in terms of my needs, S13/S13A models are overpriced and hamstrung in features (along with dissapointing battery life), S15 is jut too big and poor battery life, E14 Premium is a bit big (mainly in thickness), although price and specs are much better then S Series (battery life matches most of the S13 models despite a quad core processor and larger display..), Z Series is way too expensive for me and T Series isn't a good suit for my needs.

If they had a model above the top-grade E14 premium they are selling out here, I'd be very interested (or atleast a grade of S13A with a quad-core i7 but the price for that would be in Z series category).

 

I'm in the same boat as you. Just wishing a manufacturer would make something without at least 3 fatal flaws. Maybe the NEC LaVie? Probably have a 720p screen like everyone else.

 

Considering an Alienware M14x tbh, seems to match up with my needs very very well..but I'm a bit of a Sony fanboy haha.

EDIT: And although it's much better value then any of the Sony offerings, it is admittedly quite heavy in comparison :-/

 

^ Not to mention, did you guys/gals see the Anandtech review of the ASUS UX21 replacement from ASUS? It's an ultrabook, but it has an 11.6", 1920x1080, IPS panel!!! Same with the 13"! In that sense, it should beat out even the Vaio Z.

 

^Better in some aspects, but two totally different products.

Z weighs less, has full voltage CPU, VGA port, sheet battery, PMD.

Just depends what your needs are.

 

Now if only someone would manufacture a 13.3" 1600x900~1920x1080 IPS panel with LVDS interface...

 

Do our laptops use LVDS still? I thought there was some flak some time ago about Windows Media Center's DRM not supporting eDP displays on our Sonys? Or was that only for certain models?


EDIT: and the ASUSbooks (or whatever they are called) have VGA ports, abheit with bundled adaptors.

 

And they have ~60% adobeRGB while the Z has ~100%, still quite a big difference for some

 

The current S-series use LVDS but it's possible that the new models use eDP.

 

What content are you trying to view? My HP laptop uses eDP and will not play cablecard content on the display. However, if I connect the displayport output to my tv, the content seems to play fine. Not sure if this is because of the panel not being hdcp compliant or the eDP spec? Also don't know whether LVDS works/does not for cablecard. I recall hearing someone with a Z1 had similar issues though. Not many people do this sort of thing, so there's little info available. Really wish they would fix it, so I can use my laptop as a portable tv around the house.

 

I know it was a Microsoft issue. That's really all. I've looked into it further, and it was the Z2, with a new eDP display connector, that was affected.

 

I don't think this was posted yet, but I just came across this review of the new S13. Looks like it was written a couple days ago and seems to contain a good summary of the changes:

Sony VAIO S 13 (2012) product preview - Laptop - Trusted Reviews

 

Wow, I can't believe we missed that! Thanks for posting it. It even says that the GPU is keppler! If that's true then this is going to be my new laptop for sure.

Update: Just read their update and it's still not confirmed whether the GPU is keppler or fermi...

 

Cool!

I am wondering about;

1) heat
2) price
3) performance
4) battery


Let's hope this is turning out to be a good laptop. But since it's all Aluminium I could imagine it being more expensive?

 

basically they looked at the laptop and repeated the press release, good dog!

 

My impression is that they will use the same materials as the current S, magnesium bottom, aluminium palmrest and magnesium or carbon composite screen lid. Aluminium is a cheap material compared to both magnesium and carbon fiber composite so it shouldn't change the price.

 

what is this ?? S or T ??
Review Sony Vaio SVT1311M1ES Ultrabook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Viewing angles look decent in that review! Fingers crossed!

 

SVT 11 or 13 is T series
SVS 13 or 15 is S series
SVZ 13 is Z series

SV standy in my opinion for Sony Vaio!


The review about the new S ist very positive and the screen is named at very decent. When the S will be so much superior over the SA I think the Z series will be cancelled soon....

 

Yeah, but some good pics at least. Nice find.

 

It's definitely not the Vaio S.

 

eDP offers decent power savings over lvds, so you should expect everything to be moving in that direction.

 

Write some about s15, when i read specs i think - GREAT, but suddenly i bring to my memory se15 and red issue, noisy and weak battery life... Now we have quad processor from ib which is quite warm...

 

Is it warmer on laptops? I thought the whole issue was only on desktops? Laptops got no IHS at all?

 

^ good point on the IHS. with a decent thermal paste between the CPU core and the IHS, Ivy Bridge desktop processors tend to run as cool as Sandy Bridge ones. so no IHS on mobile chips?

 

It hasn't had an IHS on the previous few generations, so I'm rooting for it not existing this time around, too

 

Apologies if this has been answered but any idea if the 640M LE in the SVS15 is 28nm or 40nm based?

 

Not sure, yet. Blame nVidia for their naming mess. There are 40 and 28nm GT640m LE, based on either Fermi or Kepler.

 

Display in s15 will be the same which is in se2?
I mean red/range issue?

 

Yeah, it is a mess. I sure hope it is Kepler! I mean, look at the vents - Kepler does considerable less heat right?

 

^ that's true, but remember we're talking about SONY here, a company which designs killer machines then messes up one tiny but damn important part of it

 

Bingo. This is what has defined Sony for so long, now. I don't really expect it to change anytime soon.

 

I'm debating between getting one of the new 15" S-series or a Lenovo T430...

Most important things to me are performance (doing virtualization and Photoshop-type work), reliability, and battery life (5+ hrs without a sheet battery)

Do you guys think the S-series would be better than a Thinkpad for my needs?

 

wow... gt640 in 13 laptop... im drooling. any idea how thick is this machine? and how much will it cost? quoting from the website:

"VAIO S 13in is looking like one of the most flexible ultraportable laptops around for business users and power-hungry consumers, not to mention gamers – if you can afford it."

it's a bit scary...

 

Heat, Battery, Price... and performance of that underclocked card. if it is fermi then it is indeed ed. 20% underclocked 640 is basically a 620 or 630.

so this might not be worth it. as the others have said sony have amazing engineers but they always manage to screw up one thing in their products. Its why their TVs are failing, why playstation is failing. It's not even half of what is was a decade ago.

Its a shame because Vaio are the only Mac alternative on PC. I don't know why they bother making cheap plastic vaios like HP and Dell. they should just stick to their near perfect high value machine and make vaio = hardcore quality.


Asus are coming up with a Zenbook ultrabook with full HD display, backlit keyboard and a 630m. I am waiting to see the performance and price on that one against the Sony. I hope for the Sony because I like Sony, but if it has some major design flaw or cost more than it is worth then, no. Anandtech predicted in their review of the Clevo gaming ultraportable, that there would be more ultraportable + kepler coming due to Keplers advancement with less heat and optimus. Lets hope for that, if these machines fail big time.

 

The SVS15 have a better (IPS) full HD screen, more graphics power (if I understand the T430 specs right) and about the same weight. Battery life is harder to compare but the T430 specs claims 2.8Ah for the 9 cell battery while Sony claims 4.4Ah for their 6 cell battery. How anyone can get such low values on a 9 cell battery I can't say - best to take it with a bit of salt.

 

Thanks for that, yeah battery life is going to be key for me but I like the overall design of the Sony better than the Lenovo (and the screen)

Do you think the new SVS15 will have heat issues with that size? I'm coming from a Dell XPS M1330 which is notorious for overheating on Nvidia graphics (I've gone through two motherboards and 3 heatsink/fan combos) so I'm looking to avoid repeats of that.

I'll also be a in some remote areas where support will be non-existent so I'm hoping I won't have any issues with a laptop like this.

 

The M1330 is a special case due to defects in the nVidia graphics chip. IIRC the chip actually developed cracks in the solder connections.

The current SA I'm typing this on have never overheated yet so that shouldn't be a problem with the new model. Expect it to be noisy when stressed though.

 

But was that on full load

 

(the motherboard on my m1330 melted from the GPU problem)

I'm looking at possibly buying the SA4 which has a very nice coupon right now until Friday (or else I'm waiting to get a Macbook Air or Pro later this summer). Seeing as I don't really care about CPU speed or GPU, is there any point in waiting for the new Vaios and possibly not being able to get such a good price again? I saw the SA4 at the store today and I'm mostly concerned about the hinge and overheating with most of the vents under but it seems like the design is mostly the same?

 

did m1330 had the dreaded 8400m/8600m card?

mine zepto had that card.. it was a stupid expensive laptop. It was such crap how there was no refund on such a product. none of the reviews i read mentioned the over heating. it sucked so bad. a gaming machine ruined by design.

heat is super important in a laptop.

 

Yup it had the 8400m. The heat is the reason why I'm looking at the Lenovo.

I'm not inspired by the reviews on the current gen Sony S 15 in regards to build quality, heat and performance either...such a shame since it is a nice looking laptop

 

the problem with the 8000m series was that it was plagued with a solder problem. Heat is a concern in computers, but sincerely, if its not throttling its alright.

Usual laptops temps are in the 90c range, that would surely cause a lot of concern if it were in a desktop, however this isnt.

 

if you don't care much about the CPU and GPU speeds, then go ahead with the SA4. the build quality is very good; i've been using mine since August 2011 everyday and have been gaming on it almost every night for about two hours, and it's been working flawlessly without overheating. it definitely gets warm when gaming, and the fan goes crazy, but it does its job of coolin the laptop. of course, the LCD display is not the best (but it's above average if you ask me), so if you want a very good display, you should look elsewhere, and if you're okay with an average display, then SA4's will look fine to you. the vents you see on the bottom are cool air intake vents, not exhaust vents. the latter is behind the hinge.

 

Any idea when the new S will be hitting north america for CTO?

 

Thank you! No I don't really need the most awesome display ever... mostly school work/research/internet and very light photo editing which is mostly red eyes and image cropping. Resolution is more important to me.

 

Full load when stress testing (something I always do on new computers) and near full load while gaming.

 

New pictures posted of the E-series yesterday: New Vaio E notebooks pictures and hands-on