New Sony VAIO X Series Announced

Hello,

Sorry if there is already a post on this but I didn't see it yet. Does anyone have any tech specs on the new x series?

http://gizmodo.com/5350891/sony-x+s...-macbook-air-and-dell-adamo-feel-like-fatties

I hate it when they post these things without the processor speed, internal optical?, drive type, video memory etc.

Thanks

 

OMG it looks amazing. Finally, the X505 has to give up that little space in my heart.

Engadget link too:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/02/sony-announces-vaio-x-ultraportable/

And some Crunchgear pix:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/02/hands-on-with-the-sony-vaio-x-2/

 

"Weighs less 700grams, 11.1-inch screen, 14-mm thick, WWAN, and carbon-fibre casing, aluminum keyboard panel. The battery lasts "all day and well into the night and will set the new standard for battery stamina."

* And apparently has an Atom processor... but "is far from decided"
* 11.1" LED screen, 1,366 x 768
* Built-in 3G support
* Windows 7 (probably Pro)
* Google Chrome browser preinstalled
* 2GB RAM
* SD Slot, Mem stick slot
* 2X USB, fold down LAN port, VGA out, Kensignton lock, power in, 3.5mm headphone jack
* SIM slot underneath removable 31 Watt.hour battery
* Will have either a 128GB or 256GB SSD

Video hands-on:
http://www.netbooknews.com/834/viao-series-x-at-sony-press-confernece-ifa-2009/

 

Looks like this is the successor to the X505 series released back in 2003. The similarities are glaringly obvious.



The current Vaio P is the successor to the C1 Picturebook which came out in 1998.





Looks like Sony is bringing back some of their previous designs.

But this has an Atom and that immediately turns me off this machine, at least put in a Core 2 Solo please. You already have the P and W series with Atom.

 

Tech Specs will be announced in October!

Source: engadget.com

 

From Engadget: "the choice of an Atom processor is far from decided" there's hope yet...

 

Sony surprised me with that i must admit. I would have thought that they would have taken a bit longer in a releasing another ultraportable.

I wonder how much it will cost? With the carbon fibre casing i don't expect it to be exactly cheap. It can't be priced too high though in this current market.

Yes, i would like to see Sony go for a core 2 solo processor.

This is not exactly a direct replacement for the TT series but i guess in the current market today it is.

All day battery sounds fantastic.

 

they've said that it won't cost more then 2000 $

 

Doesn't take much imagination to assume this has Pine Trail in it.

 

Great news! Is really nice and how thin it is!
Let's hope for a CULV and SSD. I don't think it will have optical drive anyone knows? I think that this is the direct replacement of the TZ/TT with the actual financial sitiuation and the market of course with all these netbooks coming out. Clever move from Sony. Pine Trail is coming 2010, and this is coming in October so no Pine Trail. Probably the netbooks W and P series will have the new platform later on.

 

Oops I meant Pineview. I did not know they are different technologies.

Pineview is scheduled for Q4 2009.

 

Definitely no optical drive, which I think is great. Frankly 1 year with my Z series and I've only used the optical drive about 5 times (including OS install).

 

Same, I would much rather prefer an additional HDD other an optical drive. I hope this can utilize a 2.5" HDD rather than 1.8" but it looks unlikely.

 

Would you put it to the netbook market? Because I don't think it will cost less than the P. Depends of course if is Atom-based or not...

 

This is Sony's Apple Air killer, at least they target to do so. Some rumors are even, that it will have 13.3" screen.

Definetly no optical drive, and it will change the TT line, TT will no longer be, very soon.

I think that Atom + SSD will be fast enough for tasks this baby will be for. No HDMI for sure, so no need to fast cpu. For "normal day usage", Atom is fine. And it will be the Z540 Atom, so quite a decent little fellow.

I doubt about the battery....since it will be very light - 700grams (same as vaio P), i doubt battery will be big, because a decent battery for TT, weights 300 grams, so that is almost half of this laptop weight..I doubt...I think its original battery will last around 3h, and this is where sony will gain on the weight. I do hope there will be some "monster" battery available for some 10+ usage.

 

I'm loving this. It has amazed me how so many people wrote Sony off as a laptop manufacturer due to their astonishing financial losses. And those that gloated the most were from the Apple crowd. Well sorry guys, I love my 2 MBP's (2007 matte, not that glued in battery glossy crap) but the fact is nobody but nobody does ultraportable like Sony. Apple just cannot understand the needs of the majority of the road warrior community IMO. They made the MBA a 13" and made a direct attack on Sony's TZ saying depth was everything that made an ultraportable, missing the ports, weight, footprint, connectivity arguments from everyone else. Now Sony make one even thinner, likely with everything else as well and half the weight. Apple you are truly owned.

This thing may have an Atom today for engineering purposes but it has CULV written all over it in the future. Pineview then Pinetrail when Intel is ready to go with both. Early adopters should be prepared to get hit with new models within 6 months.

I just hope it can at least match the TT on battery life. If not its not for me. Also, VGA D-Sub has a very similar physical profile to HDMI so their is real hope and a likelihood the chassis is a very well thought out scalable design (unsurprisingly those Apple cultists on Engadgets commenting can't figure that out). The little feet on the back of the laptop to angle the keyboard for better typing (major thing for me) are such a simple design alteration but it is Sony who are doing it. Just hope they are sturdy. Also want twin SSD's but I'm just greedy.

Congrats Sony, well done and a nice surprise. Kudos. Can't wait for this and the Vaio P Mark 2.

P.S: Yeah I know my sig is from the Apple forums, I'm just not a fanboy drone.

 

Calling it an "Air killer" is way too much respect to the Air imo.

This thing ways half of an Air.

I don't see Sony using 13" in this. It will be 11.1 like mentioned I expect. But who knows, I'm just speculating.

 

Well spoken Jurispudence, I agree. I am waiting too the Vaio P mark 2!

Now that I am looking better the pics, did you notice that the footprint is quite big? Is bugger than the TZ/TT, maybe really the screen is going to be 13.3":

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/02/the-lum-tec-c3/image-page/6/

 

About terminology, Pineview is the CPU(including northbridge/GPU) and Pine Trail is the name of the whole platform(Tiger Point is the southbridge).
I seriously doubt that this Sony will have a CULV inside. Pine Trail sounds reasonable imo.

 

At 700 grams it's only 100 grams heavier than the P series. That's why I also think Pineview.

 

http://stuff.tv/blogs/cool/archive/...e-sony-vaio-x-series-macbook-air-fighter.aspx

stuff tv says:

128gb SSD
or
256gb SSD

6cell battery = 5 hours
18cell battery = 20 hours !!!

 

Wow!
640g! But it's a Sony so it will be very much beyond my budget

 

Holy , 20+ hours...yea baby. I can already see the titles on the advertising and people going wooot.

Remember the AD that sony.au had when they introduced P serie "sony will change the way you look at laptops"..well..they were a bit too soon, IMO, this should be used now!

 

It would be good if they could have an option for 2GB or 4GB of what i presume will be soldered ram.
In Windows i find 2GB a little limiting.


It would be nice if they could have different colour options as well.

I'm not that keen on notebooks with no optical drives but i'm interested in this.

The max that i would be prepared to pay is £1,400.

The processor i'm just hoping that it is not an atom.

I would have liked a hdmi port though.

 

The Atom n4x0 series won't be that bad.

 

This would be the perfect platform to introduce an 11" OLED screen panel on. It would help justify the premium price as well. HDMI would be nice but I can live without it. I really like the fact that they went back to a keyboard design which includes the second Fn key next to the arrow group again.

 

Apples reaction to the announcement of the Sony X caught on camera

 

WOW, do like. And it will not have Pinetrail, at least not until after Intel announces it at CES. For now it has to have a current Atom.

Also, if they put a culv processor in here, all it would be is a new TT, and the price would get jacked up again and it would not sell, then it would be canceled.

 

I'm glad to see Sony finally come up with an X505 successor, but the styling does nothing for me. It's just my humble opinion of course. I thought the X505 has a certain elegance that the new X lacks... it looks rather plain really, except it's really thin.

 

If this is using either a dual core Atom, Core 2 Solo, Pineview, with a gpu better than the 4500hd, I may trade my TT in for one.

BTW, will pineview that this may come with be better than the SU9x00 line of CPU and intel 4500hd gpu or will it be equal or less than what the TT has?

 

This laptop does sound like it will be amazing, expensive but amazing. I have never been a fan of the Macbook Air. The idea for it was right but Apple once again failed to put enough ports on it, just like all their other notebooks.

 

Pineview power consumption

I think the next gen processors/platform for ultraportables (i.e CULV) is meant to be around 18W? Correct me if i am wrong.

I would like this to be speced around the same as other CULV ultraportables especially when you figure in that some sell for under $500. I guess though that is the price that you pay for thinness.

 

Well even at $830 i'd take a look at it because of the weight, thinness, and Sony quality, pending it has CULV, that not a Celeron and hopefully a Dual Core based cpu.

Will the 18w pineview be better Intel SL line or even SU9x00 line cpu? What about the gpu, will that also be better?

 

Is it just me who care about this?! Now also the X series!!! I feel frustrated, and perhaps not many others care about this: The location of the arrow keys and right shift key on the keyboard layout for the new X series is just the same, hopeless, bad as on the W and P series. Why cannot Sony keep up with the same good solution as they have for the T series, with more grouped together arrow keys and a big enough right shift key, located NOT in between the other keys??!!

I know, however, that I am not ALL alone with regard to the importance of the point of view. It's just so frustrating to see that also another new series from Sony is made with such a "keyboard from hell", in this particular aspect, that is.

 

I think this one has a Japanese keyboard and it's always crowded on a Japanese keyboard with extra conversion keys. There is still hope yet, although I actually like the existence and placement of right FN key.

 

Pineview is not going to be 18w. That is for the next gen architecture for ultraportable CULV notebooks.
ULV 18W(10W+8W)
640UM:1.2-2.26
620UM: 1.06-2.13
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5201736&postcount=1

What i posted suggestd that Pineview will be 7w. Which seems low to me but possible i guess.

Edited to add:
Also, current CLUV notebooks processors are 45nm. The next gen will be 32nm. They will be more power efficient.

 

A Timeline SU9400 is $799; your $830 mark is beyond fantasy.

 

Cheers Jack. When I clicked on that link my 1st thought was 'bloody cameraman and his elongated perspective shot' and then I realised it wasn't elongated at all. That palm rest could be used to land a cessna. Not a deal breaker of itself but if it creates a larger footprint than the TZ or TT it will be difficult for me to deal with. Its definitely an 11.1" panel, likely the same as the TT's. Have to wait and see I guess. I really hope they haven't just done that to differentiate it size wise from the P Mark 2. However, you started me on a big comparison trip between this and the TT (nobody flame me please I know its a replacement for the 505 not the T series) as I'm saddened at its demise.

So what do you lose over the TT.
1) 1 USB (or optical drive) depending on config.
2) HDMI + VGA outs (has VGA and maybe later HDMI but not together like the TT).
3) No expresscard 34 slot. No biggie for some, killer for others.
4) No 1394 firewire. TT/TZ only had 4-pin but thats 4 more than this and coming from macland where I have 5 1394 external HDD's in daisy chain this sucks for me.
5) Capability for 3 drive (2 SSD + 1 HDD) config so there goes Raid 0 or 1 for performance or fault tolerance. I can't imagine there is any room for more than 1 1.8" SSD in this chassis.
6) Fingerprint reader. Could be on other models but from this pre-production unit shown its absent.
7) Media buttons on front. I like dedicated volume controls rather than using FN+stretching broken finger-combo.
8) No mic socket. Don't care personally but some might.
9) Old-style keyboard with spaced arrow keys and full-size right shift which many seem to prefer. Have heard a lot of angry remarks over the new P + W layouts which now appears to be on the X series. This could be a killer or some (thats for you mandersen, don't feel alone).
10) Possibly larger footprint on the X. Remains to be determined. Anyone got shots of a TT resting on a uni-body MBP to compare with Engadgets front shot here

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/02/hands-on-sony-x-series-slimster/


Gains over TT (add your own)
1) Weight. Almost half the weight. Remains to be seen how much the 18-cell battery weighs. Could it be used as a murder weapon? Please advertise that Sony. I'll buy 4. I wonder what its like to bludgeon someone teeth gritted while shouting 'its.like.no.other'. Ok tablet time .
2) Battery life. Obviously related to above but 20 hours, if its real, will be astounding. Sony have a rep for exaggerating these figures as we all know just like other manufacturers. Prove me wrong Sony.
3) Depth, thinness, anorexia call it what you will. I've seen more fat on a vegan on hunger strike than this thing. (Note to Sony marketing dept, don't do it).

I'm not gonna comment on lesser CPU as its not set by Sony what the X will have.

Anything I missed apart from psychiatric help. ?

P.S: I'm not bashing the X, just comparing one to the other, like ex's. Old wagon, new wagon, that sort of thing.

 

Pineview/Pinetrail is the next generation Atom. So far the only know processor is the N450, which is basically an N280 with the gpu moved onto the cpu die. It will be 64-bit, allow passive cooling (aka fanless netbooks), and support DDR2-667 memory. It is still single core, and not better than an SL or SU processor.

 

Ouch that doesn't sound too positive to me. Will there be a dual core model at least like how we have the Atom 330? But, since it suppports 64bit os I take it, max ram will be 4gb?

 

Intel already announced dual cores for desktops, but has not yet announced any for netbooks. Also, the N450 is so far the only netbook Pinetrail processor, so there could be faster ones announced at CES. For example, there is already a Z550 2GHz Atom, so maybe there will be a Pinetrail version of it.

 

What will the GPU to Pinetrail be? gma500, 4500 line or some other gpu? Well if this can at least do flash hd with out cpu usage being 100% and its not running a single core atom, or celeron(even a dual core celeron id be iffy on). Is the Z550 the same one we see on the Japanese Vaio P?

 

Pinetrail's gpu is rumored to be the same GMA 500 found in current Z series powered netbooks, yet it will be faster clocked.

 

Shame they can't like bring out a GMA500HD or something better called the GMA600 which has better HD support and is better at games that don't demand much.

 

nice. i hope the processor wont using the Atom series, and perhaps CULV like other said.
the design wise, still prefer the X505 though, but need more clear photos to conclude! i just realized that the Z is like bigger size version of X505, maybe the silver rollcage at the back i guess

 

am surprised a replacement for TT so soon, which has been on the market for only about a year.

Looks like a Z replacement isn't too far off.

 

I think the Z should last longer compared to the TT.

I'm assuming that one of the reason why Sony replaced the TT so soon was because the competing factor (attractiveness) of TT is fading. TT doesn't offer much differences from the previous TZ and the other competitor is also closing-in with nearly similar product at a lower price (i.e. acer timeline 1400 and 1800), if they want to keep up with the market they need to make a breakthrough. as for the Z, I think the Z is still in the lead and have received a better response compared to the TT.

but if the X series is going to sport an SU processor or CULV, I'm in on the wagon, but if its an atom, i would really be disappointed in Sony, My Previous TX and TZ was a marvel of mobile computing and i hope they keep it up with their next series.

cheers

 

Wait, keyboard from hell??? hmm? <- 17cm wide. Since they were mentioned above the picturebooks actually had great keyboards on them. (I have one)

This is pretty exciting that they are re-releasing the X, I loved that thing and it sure did have quite a lot of innovations.

 

This seems to be a passive design so no CULV. Consider it to be a Netbook 2.0(which is not a bad thing per se). No heat, no noise, long battery life, enough power. A well balanced design with a much too high price tag, though.

 

why would you call this a netbook 2.0 ?

Isnt netbook just a name for "laptops that are pretty much useless"? Since this is going to be 11", like TT, and we dont call TT a netbook.