Review: Sony Vaio SA

I don´t believe Sony would release a "revision" or give the option for premium display as soon as now in SA. It would be very frustrating for those who have bought the first "revision" and I´ve never seen sony doing something like that. Only when the whole S line gets a refresh there´s a chance of changes in the display panel in my opinion.

 

Sony have improved on issues with different product lines. The SZ had some issues and these were rectified with later models. I believe that that they also done this more recently. By revisions i'm actually talking about a refresh.

 

The VAIO SA is *really* tempting in my opinion. It's sold at 14980 HKD in my country (~1950 USD), and it is a bargain when you compare other products in its niche! It's costs three forths of my Z but packs slightly better hardware.

If I was given a choice now, I'd pick it over the Z, but as it stands, I still treasure my Z

 

yeah but I don´t think sony consider the display quality an issue, since they choose to use that display panel. It was their decision to implement an average quality panel in SA, probably because of economics reasons. So I don´t think they have any reason to replace it. And the hinge, perhaps they don´t think it´s so defective that need a replacement. As many users have reviewed, it only has problems in an exact angle. See, I´m not saying that I don´t think SA´s deserves some fixes, I´m just saying that I don´t believe sony has that opinion.

 

I was only referring to the hinges in my post about this being rectified in a revision. If there is an issue there i would like it rectified. If i'm to buy this down the line of course i would prefer not to be dealing with this.

The display i do think at least upper end models should really have had the premium display. This is not something though that i'm actually expecting from a refresh. I do agree that doing this kind of upgrade is very unlikely. Although, i couldn't say that Sony has never introduced more display options for different models CTO but this is very unlikely to happen for the SA.

I'm travelling to the US in September so may be i might get on over there.

 

If you have the RGBLED screen on your XPS-1647, there is virtually no screen that will achieve those standards. For a 13", only the current Z comes reasonably close and nothing else is in range at all. I think you will likewise be very disappointed with the ThinkPad X1, as it is bright, but the color gamut is very weak and colors appear "washed out" according to several reviewers. At a much lower resolution (1280 x 800) the MBP 13 screen has the brightness, contrast and color representation to at least play in the field with the VPC-Z. The Dell XPS1647 RGBLED screen - now available with only slightly less phenomenal specs as the "B+RG LED FHD in the Dell XPS 15, and as the RGBLED IPS which is now sold as the Dell Premiere screen on their very expensive Precision Business line. From all I've heard of former (and present) SXPS-16XX with "that screen," you can't look at anything else and not be disappointed. But if you are selling the XPS16 you will soon find a screen like the current Z's (either screen) exceptional, not so the current top of line SA screen, from all I've heard.

 

Well, i've been asking and searching for a gameplay video on the SA for the past few weeks and have had no luck. However, I just found a video that does exactly that and I have the link below for anyone else who wants to see what gaming would be like with the screen. Two things though: I'm not sure if it is the SB or SA (but they essentially have the same screen) and it is in spanish.

Video of Gaming on the SA

 

Just found a video of a brown SA quick review (russian it seems). Shows also the battery sheet and the docking station:
YouTube - ‪????? ???????? Sony VAIO SA‬‏

 

from this review of SB:

Google Translate

I´ve got the numbers of brightness = 224 cd/cm2 and contrast = 187. Very very low values. The review site says it has something to do with it using a matte display, and the glare ones offer better contrast, brightness and color vivacy. But they also say the contrast value is ridiculous even for a matte display.

 

also in the next page they´ve got only 222 minutes of battery in idle, which is very bad.

Google Translate

 

The purpose of this post is to make a belated apology to Beaups
Here is the "dialogue" that I see upon re-reading (no, nobody complained) was inappropriate and patronizing of me. No excuses, but explanation at end. First, the context:

 

polish and spanish are very different

 

OK so did anybody check what is with the assumed SA 2 from the sony.hk site? Because I don`t want to spend 1500€ and the find out I bought something that is old and full of nonrepairable bugs...

BTW, did anybody ordered the SA from the sony.co.uk site? How long does it take to get it?

And how is sony warranty? You get 2 years of free repairs in whole europe or what?

 

the picture of the VPCSA25GG at the HK website actually looks like it has a carbon fiber lid... though i'm sure that's probably not the case in the shipped product.

VPCSA25GG - Sonystyle.com.hk

 

heres a review of the brown one, in russian.
YouTube - ‪????? ???????? Sony VAIO SA‬‏

 

yesterday I did a youtube search and saw a couple of SA´s videos including those mentioned and I´ve to say that I like the design a lot. It does feel a very classy and premium laptop. The only sad thing is that sony took the idiot decision of using a non-premium display in a premium laptop.

 

The signature brown version of the SA is a beauty I think. Thanks for the post.

 

hey beaups. Any way of software switching a VAIO (SA´s) between stamina / dedicated?

 

^No idea, last time I saw one was nearly 6 months ago!

 

ok but my question is not vaio SA only, I believe it´s the same for all vaio´s with ATI vga´s and the hard button stamina / power?

 

SB:

Appears there is a glitch on the US site since they give you back money for an i5 over an i3. Coming out to around $850 set up as this:

Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor (2.30GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Black
13.3" VAIO Display with LED backlight (1366 x 768)
AMD Radeon™ 6470M (512MB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
CD/DVD player / burner
Standard capacity battery

 

LOL epic. 10char

 

The VAIO S series order page is now inaccessible! lol they must have realized.

 

Hey guys, is it possible to replace the 'average quality' display in the vaio sa with a display from the mbp. From where I stand, they both are of the same size (13.3 inches) and seem more or less of the same width.

 

man, I´m sorry, but what sort of idea is that? Do you have any sense os aesthetics?

 

no you cant, the connectors might be different (quite common), and the apple is 16:10, while the vaio is 16:9

 

Really dumb question but it always bugs me: What does "10char" mean? Do people write it to mean something or is it an artifact of some sort, like from a cell phone? You see it all the time, and it drives me nuts, well, more nuts.

 

10char = 10 characters, referring to minimum character post limits. So for short posts like "Yes", 10char adds additional characters to the post to allow it to be posted.

 

^It's just the unofficial way to hit the minimum 10 character length post that this board requires.

Judging by the essays you like to write, i'm sure you'll NEVER need to add that to your posts teasing....

 

Because the connector and screen ratio is different it doesn't mean it's impossible. As long as screen fits perfectly and led inverter has the same voltage I don't see why not. I would assume you will take the inverter from MBP. Screen res shouldn't be the problem.

Is it worth is? Unless you get MBP screen very cheap and not afraid of messing up your Vaio board I wouldn't try it. Although I would love to see that.

 

^It cant fit perfectly because the macbook screen has totally different dimensions (16:10 x 19:9)

 

But can an SA screen be installed on an SB?
^^=====DO want.

 

What about the visible area? I'm assuming side parts of the screen will be covered by frame and then you would just change screen area dimensions directly in graphics settings. It would be a fun project for someone with skills. On the other hand if the screen is way too big you can't do anything about it other than look for another 13.3'' screen.

Honestly I'm pretty happy with my SA screen, it is very bright, after adjusting gamma colors are much better, viewing angles are messed up but it's not too bad.

BTW I think MBP screens are way overated mostly because of glossiness. I just can't work with glossy screens at all.

 

^It just wouldn't fit. Would be too tall for starters. I hear ya on the MBP screen...I have a 2011 13" and I find the screen to be pretty damn bad.

 

If the connectors fit, it could be possible, but the bezel would have to be modified and it wouldn't look good. Yeah the MBP screens are way to glossy, plus the resolution sucks. Like niebyl2002 said, the screen is much better once the settings are fiddled with, mine looks great compared to anything i've previously owned.

Who knows, maybe the new Z will have a 13.3 inch display that will play nice with the SA and SB, one can wish right?

 

it appears confirmed that new Z will be 13.1

After your configuration, do you think it is anything near the 1600x900 old Z´s display quality?

 

Well so much for that idea. I've never seen the old Z unfortunately, so I couldn't tell you. No Sony Store near me and you don't see many people walking around with Vaio's, at least I don't. Compared to a MBP though, I would say it looks pretty good, definitely not as good, but not near the quality of a budget PC that many people are sorta crying that it is. On a scale of a 1 to 10, MBP being a 10 (I know it's not), I would give my SA after optimization an eight. That's without me factoring in the resolution and matte finish.

Who confirmed the size of the new Z's display?

 

there´s a new Z thread around. Well, since you give 8 versus 10 we can say it´s 20% worse. That´s a lot in my opinion.

 

First of all Stradevarius mention that MBP shouldn't be 10. Second of all show me a laptop (price doesn't matter) which will score 10. There's just aren't perfect laptops that will fit everyones taste.

But let's follow you logic. SA is just worst by 20% when comparing to MBP. To me MBP has a totally unusable glossy screen, OSX System (I need WIN so I have to boot to Windows, hmmm), wrong keyboard setup (I need Win Keys), please agree with me most of mac's are getting hot to the point where you can't keep them on your legs (while wearing shorts). Yes I had MBA for a couple months and I sold it 'cause I couldn't stand it.

To me each point is worth 10%, so according to my calculation MBP is worse than my SA by 40%.

Did you get my point. You can't compare them that way. Someone prefers glossy screen over matte, someone else likes Window OS while others would prefer Linux.

SA/SB/SC are awesome laptops that are really worth buying. They require some tweaking but it's as easy as baking a pie. And if someone can't do that, should get MBP.

 

Yeah i've seen the thread, it seems beaups is the informant.

That 8 on the ten point scale was just considering black levels and contrast. If I took into account other display factors the MBP would be a 9 (-1 for glossy) to the SA's 10 (+2 for matte and 1600x900) IMO. Right now i'm typing outside in direct sunlight, can the MBP do that?

I completely agree. I think that people reading the "waiting for the SA" thread were subjected to too much SA criticism from certain members who were expecting it to be the next Z realized it wasn't. After this realization, the display was bashed to all hell, along with whining about a lose hinge, etc.

In the 13.3" notebook category, no other laptop is as well rounded as the SA, from hardware to build quality.

 

hit the nail in the head

 

Two nails in the head!!!

 

I played with a Vaio SA in the store yesterday and I was very impressed, and surprised.

Having read many of the threads here I was expecting a terrible screen and a rather flimsy design.

I found the opposite. The screen is fantastic - much better than the SB which I tried for a day. Those extra pixels make all the difference. I also love the flatness as I hate glossy screens, which is why I could never buy a Mac of any kind - its like staring into a mirror.

The letters on the keys are also much whiter than those on the SB which makes it easier for non touch typists like me.

Best of all, the form factor is so sleek, elegant and understated. I believe it will become a classic.

I had been deliberating over whether to get a Lenovo x220, but there is a problem with the fan throttling which doesn't seem to being going away any time soon. I was also waiting for the new Z series to be announced. But now I am seriously considering the Vaio SA because it's that good.

 

I see a lot of comparisons being made between the sa and z series. I am currently deciding between them and am wondering if the sa has the issue of marks being left on the screen from the keyboard as I really don't want to carry around a cleaning cloth or anything.
Thanks!

 

This is a nice little laptop, and seems to be pretty good value. I'm still waiting for them to show up in my country so I can go have a look at one.

Bit of a longshot, but would it be possible with the SA to squeeze in a bootable SSD somewhere, alongside a regular HDD? Having to choose between one or the other doesn't really make sense; every performance laptop should allow a small (eg 32 or 64GB) SSD for the OS and then a HDD (say 500GB) for storage. I would happily sacrifice the DVD drive for this. I use a DVD drive only ocassionally for ripping DVDs (having already ripped my entire collection to a NAS), so in my case optical drives are not necessary for my main laptop anymore.

 

We're all working on it. Check this thread - LINK

 

The SC comes with a hybrid hard drive, 4GB of NAND memory built into the drive.

 

Which is still one drive. It's just cheaper solution to SSD.