It's official, Vaio's been sold

VAIO was purchased by investors who will look to make as much money as they can by stamping the VAIO brand name on anything. The Z series never made any money, it was just a flagship product that said to the rest of the industry "beat that!", just like Concorde and the Bugatti Veyron, which both incurred massive huge losses, but are still recognised as the best at what they do.

I'd love to think they will produce a new 'Z' flagship, but there is no market for such a machine. The crappy Pro 13 was the best Sony could manage. If they thought they could sell a machine that costs $1000 more than the Pro 13 then they would have produced one. The fact is that the industry has changed. If you want the ultimate 13" notebook for 2014 then I suggest the Retina MacBook Pro. That's the current top pick and nothing else comes close. It's also available at a very reasonable price, which again tells you that if even Apple can't sell a $2500-$3000 machine in any serious volume, then no one can.

 

exactly my sentiments. if there was ever a competitive notebook from those clowns, i'm unaware of it. I'm amazed they got any cash for the brand.

yawner.... good riddance:hi2:

 

You do realize, the new VAIO's market will focus solely on Asia, namely the Japanese market. US and elsewhere will be merely an afterthought for them. This new VAIO will be head-butting against established brands in Japan like Panasonic, Fujitsu, Mouse Computer, etc. Also, it's not like the former Sony brand is that well thought of in Japan, considering they could get superior quality from the likes of Panasonic. Anyways, this chnage of ownership will be beneficial for everyone. Vaio will now have to produce quality to match the Japanese titans, instead of shoddy worksmanship with a semi-popular label...

 

Does it come with user swappable battery for longer uptime? Is having a spare battery or two important to you? If it is, then I recommend the Fujitsu T904. They're both ultrabooks, and they both come with "retina" 2K displays, though I hear Apple is planning to switch from Retina to IGZO, which can have a higher pixel density and consume less power, which also comes with the Fujitsu T904...

Of course, if you rather sacrifice battery time for higher resolution still, there is the Fujitsu U904 ultrabook, which comes with a fixed battery, but with much higher 3K resolution IGZO and dual digitizer!

 

I only hope the new owner of Vaio will not bankrupt as fast as Vaio's "Designer" power jack hinge tend to brake



Who cares anyways

 

That Fujitsu T904 is very nice. I don't see this brand in the U.S. Does anyone know where I can take a look at one up close? I'm still highly considering the last Sony Vaio refresh.

 

T904 won't be out until March... There are various T904 review videos on Youtube though...

 

That's suicidal. Sony were poor at driver support at the best of times, but those last Vaio's will be lucky to receive any updates at all.

 

It depends how important updates are to you. I haven't had an update for my VPC-Z13 for years - I've never had any problems with it, and it's still running Win7 perfectly fine.

 

agreed. most of the updates are only fractional improvements. if there is a real critical update, it will be up on sony's website even 2-3 years from now.

 

It is more like "had been" -- Vaio's old high-end ultraportable and desktop-replacement were great, and they really should have focused on that niche. Instead, they decided to shift their resource toward downmarket, mass-production models. Remember how S series were pretty nice upper-middle models, which were then replaced by subpar Fit models, while at the same time Z series was withered to death? During the same time, everyone else (including Asus, Lenovo, and god forbid, Acer) was trying to move upmarket, and Apple and Panasonic's PC divisions were making healthy profits from their high-end niches. They tried to turn around recently, but it was too little and too late. Sony made huge strategic mistake with Vaio, and is paying price now.

And of course, another reason is that B-to-C is a horrible market to be in, unless you are Apple or Chine manufacturers with access to huge market and cheap labor -- this is the same reason why Google sold Motorola, after stripping off all its valuable IPs.

 

I was hoping this final refresh of laptops is a redesign. But after reading through the forum, I guess it's more of a wireless ac improvement.

 

yeah i don't think they have ever did a redesign on a refresh, usually like small spec bumps. i'd be happy with the wireless AC improvement. as the second pro I have now, that is the only problem i'm experiencing.

 

Interesting post for me as I consider getting a Pro 11 April refresh (AC improvement) before Sony closes down its VAIO business for good. Your post is extra interesting because you mention that your only problem is the AC: Does that mean that there is no longer fan noise (or other noise) under moderate load?

 

Now I understand why I got such a great deal for my Sony Vaio last year, maybe they had insider information that the company would be sold soon. I purchased the Sony Vaio S at a discount and on top of it I got a bunch of expensive accesories all for free (port replicator, backpack, bag, mouse, wireless keyboard. keyboard protector and privacy filter screen).

 

Sony selling the Vaio line is probably a good thing, their drivers were junk and their higher end models weren't very competitive with ASUS, Lenovo, and Samsung while their lower end ones weren't even competitive with HP (with it's much better drivers and BIOS). Hopefully now the drivers will be improved and prices reduced.

 

I've been a proud Vaio owner since 2007, and I don't expect to be replacing it anytime soon.

 

Also I have enjoyed my VAIO TZ the last 6-7 years, but now the good old TZ shows signs of old age, naturally. I will hope to have a good and light replacement machine with 11.6" screen (16:9) during 2014. Hope that it will be a VAIO. Samsung, Asus and other brands seem to present only machines with 13.3" or bigger screens, so perhaps Lenovo or Dell can be of help? But generally I dislike the design, or they are too heavy.

 

And here I was just looking at Vaio Pro 11. Hmm. Maybe I still will, hopefully find one at a discount soon.

 

I would be more concerned about obtaining spare parts and how long you will be able to do so. Since i have owned my Sony TT i have had to replace the usb board and fingerprint reader board. I wanted to buy a spare part recently, just cosmetic and i bought a few things also just in case that i have needed before. I don't know how long Sony usually stock spare parts before they are discontinued. The last models of my notebook were sold late in 2010, with some parts being discontinued now. I was told that part was discontinued yesterday through a computer store that couldn't order that part for me. It seems like some prices of parts could be jumping up now as well.

A lot has changed in the last five years. There has been a big change in the ultraportable market and more manufacturers became more competitive in the premium market place. The economy also has impacted on things. Sony of course has the facts and figures about what has been selling, it would be interesting to read that. We can guess though where things may have gone very wrong. I think it is a big shame how this has all worked out.

edited to add:
I just went to have a look at an old order and the price difference is not as much as i thought. This part A1599660A used to retail at 82 dollars through Sony a couple of years ago and it is now retailing for 98 dollars today and now showing currently no longer in stock. Several things might be the reason for the price increase.

 

It's been a while since I last logged in.
And a big hello to you Rachel, still trucking away here in the forums I see~

It is indeed a pity to see the Vaio range being discontinued. Well, under Sony's umbrella at least.

Having owned my Vaio VGN-Z for nearly 6 years now, Sony's (high-end) offering have always pushed engineering and standard laptop paradigms to extreme, yet interesting limits. Heck, my Z is still going strong and will give i3, and some i5 ULV processor-based machines of today a good run for their money.

The Vaio range has had its ups and downs over the years. Some may argue more downs and ups (my employment at the moment involving working with electronics, oftentimes laptops on the hardware and software side of things, I've dealt with quite a few Flip13 and Pro13 issues which apparently are widespread across the world). Maybe it was Sony's quality control, which we all have to admit isn't the best out there. Maybe their after-sales service, again, not too well regarded overall across the planet... And lets not forget driver support for their flagships **cough-hybrid-graphics-drivers-cough**

At the end of the day. Sony were better known for their niche-machines like the Z. And unfortuately, consumers these days are pulled by cheaper alternatives. The Vaio Z as we all know commanded premiums which to most will make their eyes water. And it's because of this I think we never saw the Z ressurected; not enough people could justify splashing out the price-tags which Sony machines like the Z demanded. Granted some always will, but there was just not enough people for Sony to justify it. And with Vaio machines being all about innovation (and at least in the good old days, hefty price-tags alongside), without such machines Sony's PC lineup just didn't stand a chance to manufacturers in a much better financial situation. Cough-Samsung-cough doing Notes, Tabs, Ativs etc etc in price-ranges that makes the Z look like a tonne of unaffordable gold (which it was financially, AS WELL AS in terms of raw specs mind you which no-one else really does no more now).

Heck, some of the long-term dwellers here may recall that piece of news back in 2011 where Sony spun-off the lower-end Vaio design / manufacture to third parties; I kinda knew by then the writing for the Vaio lineup was on the wall.

Yeah. My two cents worth.

I've worked with Sony systems the past few months, from computers to mobile phones to cameras to TVs. They do make good hardware. But given Sony's doing recently well with their gaming and mobile segments, you can't blame them for putting their available resources to those sectors and shedding away the under-performers. Cruel to us fans (and promoters like myself) yes, but a logical business choice nonetheless.

Will be looking forward to read what JIP does with their new Vaio portfolio. Hopefully the engineers keep their jobs and continue the engineering innovation that Sony reluctantly had to sign away.

 

When I see a Chinese made Sony computer , I do this:

When I see a Japanese made Sony computer , I do this:

 

That really stinks because that Vaio Pro 11 looks very tasty. If it dropped to under $700 I'd buy it in a heartbeat as long as it worked out of the box. But with risk of not being able to get replacement parts even to buy myself, that is troubling. I'm just tired of the poor performance of my Acer with AMD. I don't expect it to do much, but sometimes it's just too slow and I get impatient. Plus I like the added battery life, high res screen, and super light weight design.

 

What about the MacBook Air 11"?

 

Thanks so much for this very interesting suggestion/idea. I have considered the MacBook Air 11. The two things that have hold me back are my unfamiliarity with the Mac-world and the sub-optimal screen quality (although I really like the format 16:9).

 

For those who were wondering and discussing about Sony's retail stores:
Sony Closing 20 Retail Stores, Cutting 1,000 Jobs In US - Forbes

6 out of 37 have been closed if you check Sony Store. 20 of the remaining 31 will be closed soon.

 

Dell XPS 11? QHD IPS display, 2.5 lbs. Only oddity is the touch-style keyboard (keys don't physically travel; it's like the "touch cover" on the Surface Pro): New XPS 11 2-in-1 Ultrabook

Speaking of Surface Pro, that could be an option too--with either the touch cover or the more traditional type cover. It's a 10" screen, not 11", but it's definitely thin and light and has a good-quality FHD IPS display.

 

The keyboard is the reason why not Dell XPS 11 can be an option for me. However, for me the the size of the PC is of paramount importance, and the maximum size is 20x30 centimetres, and that excludes all the 13.3" models, which have about 22x32 or a little more as their size. This means that I am more interested in a machine with a smaller than 11.6" size than a 13.3" size. However, I would like to have a machine with about 12.5" screen size (16:9) and small bezel, and the machine still being smaller than 20x30 cm.

I have looked around for quite some time, but have yet seen any. Hope that there will come some new models during 2014.

 

The Lenovo Yoga 11S fits those dimensions, and while its screen is 1366x768, it is an IPS display if I recall correctly. Might be worth a look.

 

Yes! You're right! I hadn't seen this before, and this is certainly one that I will consider. Thanks a lot for this idea!

 

This was exactly what I was concerned about on a post I wrote a couple pages back. With PC's being their main centerpiece in their stores, rhetorically, what would Sony fill in place of their computers? This was very sad to read coming from someone who has been a Sony fanatic. I've collected almost every style USB flash drive Sony made since the first flash drives were launched, aside from an XBR TV, and a couple digital cameras. I had everything Sony.

 

New VAIO owner can't make them any worse than Sony did. Actually I expect them to be better.

 

Sony is here to stay, only Vaio is dead meat. Sony Playstation, Sony Bravia Televisions, Cameras, Watches, Sony Xperia Phones etc...

 

But at the same time that VAIO was sold, the Bravia division was spun off and is now a separate company, unconnected with the Sony that makes Playstations, Xperias, and cameras. The one Sony store Oregon has is primarily a computer-and-TV store; I can understand why they're closing their retail stores after the sale of VAIO and the spinning off of Bravia.

 

So I guess Sony only had 30 stores to begin with and now 20 of them are closing? That's...a good chunk right there. Of course, I did read that the Palo Alto one will remain open, so good news for me.

I love Sony cameras so I will continue to like to look at them at the store. But to be honest, I never really bought anything at the Sony Store--it was just a place where I could view products and then try and find them cheaper elsewhere.

VAIO was the one brand that I wanted to like more than all the others (mainly because of the sleek design of their laptops), but it just never quite had what I wanted. Sad to see them go, though

 

If you like the 11S, check Best Buy. They have an 11S with a Haswell i5 on sale now for $749.

Good luck, Jim

 

Oh my did I wait too long? Will there be no more CTO for the pro series?

 

The US Sony Store has not had CTO options for the Pro for some three weeks now.

 

any news about canadian stores closing?

 

According to this press release the new company will be called VAIO Corporation and it will start on July 1, 2014. Sure hope they continue the tradition of innovative, compact, light weight designs. I still use an eight year old SZ.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/sony-japan-industrial-partners-special-100000921.html