SONY VAIO SR unboxed, lots of photos!

SR unboxed photos from Japan:

 

benchies plz!!!

 

*drools*

 

Does it come with Japanese or English version of Windows? The keyboard looks like English but does it have the same US Keyboard layout?

 

I like the black one a lot.

 

The OS would be Japanese but in Japan when you order the CTO version of these laptops, you can choose either a Japanese keyboard or English keyboard for a little extra, identical to the American keyboard style. I guess they had a lot of demand from importers to put that option.

 

this is really pretty.. i wish i could get this but the fw fulfills my needs

 

What the hell? I think the US version of the SR is better. The space bar on that one is tiny. the us one also does not have a weird looking enter key either.

USA keyboard= Better.

 

I do agree that the space bar is tiny.
But the enter key is a standard like that throughout the rest of the world (at least Europe)
And I say its better like that
I don't think there is a better or worse to that, because its all preference (except if keys are missing)

 

its tiny because of the extra keys needed for Japanese, particularly for kana switching. You can get used to the spacebar and the enter key. on the other hand What I never got used to was the totally different placing of punctuation marks.

 

wonder if anyone from US purchased from newegg, since they say it is in stock... though you will loose the warrenty....

 

Nice looking lappy.

 

looks amazing.

 

What is that little screen to the left of the laptop near the bottom pictures?

 

You do NOT lose your warranty buying from Newegg.com. That is an urban myth that has been debunked decisively on this forum.

 

Urban myth? A couple Sony reps I talked to said you do not get sony warranty if you don't buy from unauthorized dealers.

NEWEGG IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO SELL VAIO PRODUCTS.

1. The sony representatives said so.

2. The foolio on newegg support said that they are authorized. I told him show me where it says they are. He said I'll have it emailed to you. I said no, show me now it shouldn't be that difficult to prove your authorized. Anyway, I gave him my email and he said i'd get a response in 2 days proving they are authorized or what not. That was monday and I have yet to get a response.

If you buy from newegg, you better at least buy their warranty. Also, I think the model for sell on there is either old from testing periods or something. new SR for USA have yet to be configured and customized for consumer use yet or else we'd ****ing have them by now don't you think?

Also, the sony rep told me no such model for the newegg SR exists in the US database.

 

I personally would not believe a sales rep on commission about these kind of questions.

It's easy to prove he already lied once: SR129E/B exists in Sony US database:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/select-system.pl?PRODTYPE=24

I believe he also lied about the warranty of Newegg.

 

ok what an *******.

but, he did say "perhaps its a retail model that hasnt been included in our database yet"

anyway...

why would he lie about the newegg thing for commission? he said "call bestbuy, fry's, circuit city and see if they have it in their catalogs. it would be better to buy from there since they are authorized sellers"

he wouldnt get commission. he was actually trying to help me find out about the damn model, I was on the phone with him for at least 20 minutes.

also.. i thought somebody said they bought it from newegg? isnt 3 day shipping mean they should have gotten it by now or at least commented saying "omg my SR is shipping!"

meh... just look at the price...seems too good. 1,400 for the ATI card, 320 GB hdd, 2 GB ram?

 

Portable one also has the sr 129 model around the same price

http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/mer...&Product_Code=VGNSR129EB&Category_Code=SONYSR

 

It's normal that prices in other webshops are lower than on Sonystyle.

If you'd want to maybe you could still cancel your order at Sony.

I do believe that Sony Us products will be covered by normal warranty. I don't know the laws in US but here in Europe it would be illegal if Sony would not cover it's product by warranty.

Look at the seller's rating of Newegg: Average rating 4.8 / 5 Based on 26,892 reviews
http://www.google.com/products/reviews?fq=SR129E/B&cid=e881073b2dee0931&sort=1

 

well, for certain, newegg is not the authorized online dealer,
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...ogId=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=authorized_dealers

however, about void warranty though, unless the 'unauthorized' dealer altered or obliterated the serial number, otherwise it didnt say that purchase made from unauthorized dealer would void sony's product warranty.

 

Right.

The fact that they are not authorized can also mean that they are not allowed to repair it or replace parts, like Portable one is.

 

wow that thing looks sweet.. and BIG!

i love the new keyboard

 

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...ogId=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=authorized_dealers

If it ain't on there, I'm not getting it from there. You guys may do as you wish, but who knows where non authorized retailers got their VAIOs from. Not from Sony that's for sure (hence UNAUTHORIZED)... and if they did, they aren't authorized to re-sell it!

Also, how could portable one offer a Vaio warranty plan if they arent even authorized?

 

Duke did you also read "Why buy from an authorized dealer?" it tells what the differences are.

 

yes i have and i love what's written in bold. i'll stick to my sonystyle or it's authorized dealers.

also, i laughed when I read the last bullet point. it has a ? on it..like sony is unsure about it, lmao.

 

They're spreading a lot of FUD about their competitors and it seems it's working.

 

i dont understand. maybe because i have yet to be educated in economics, but why would there even be a competitor with the company that actually makes the product that the competitor is selling????

so why would Sony sell laptops to its competitors knowing they will sell cheaper??

somethings fishy and there ain't no ocean or lady with a friendly visitor in sight.

 

If i have a problem with my laptop i will go direct through Sony support to deal with it. Being an authorised or non authorised dealer shouldn't really come into it as long as you can prove when you bought your laptop Sony should honour your warranty.
Most resellers will tell you to contact Sony anyway after 28 days if you have a problem.

 

The new proposed law (UK) that is on it's way (due to EU directive) gives more rights to consumers. For e.g., if you buy a Samsung monitor from Ebuyer, ebuyer will have to sort things out for you. It is implicit that you'll be entitled for a more 'just' service. So if ebuyer tells you that no they can't sort out the problem and ask you to go to the manufacturer then they'll be trouble.

And, if the manufacturer (Samsung) says that the retailer (ebuyer) acquired those goods which are not 'full goods' then it'll be either the mnfc or the retailer who'll have to compensate the consumer.

I wouldn't worry about that thing (. What I would worry about is that Sony don't provide international warranty, at least from USA (chatted with sales rep tow days ago), which I find very annoying. However, if this goes through then Sony will have to change its policy. Probably this give them another chance to hike their already relatively over-priced products further!

 

So is PortableOne respected? If so, man, I can get one heck of a deal.

 

PortableOne is an extremely respected laptop dealer, around here at least. Take a look at their consumer ratings from resellerratings.com:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Portable_One_Inc

Compare their 9.64/10 rating to other stores, and you'll be amazed. Read a few reviews, and you won't want to buy from anyone else.

Portable One - 9.64 / 10
Sony Style - 3.11 / 10
Best Buy - 1.99 / 10
Circuit City - 2.65 / 10
Fry's Electronics - 5.88 / 10

In addition to Portable One offering the laptops at very competitive prices, you also get a free neoprene laptop and charger case and free bloatware removal. And their customer service is supposed to be excellent - what other notebook dealer will check for dead pixels for you before shipping?

 

Oh yay! I would just love people fondling with my new laptop. I would NEVER trust an unauthorized dealer opening the factory Sony sealed laptop, regardless if its "checking for dead pixels"

No thanks.

 

First of all, Portable One is an authorized Sony reseller:

Now if it's a question of trust, check out the reviews. You may change your mind.

But regarding checking for dead pixels, it's something they'll do only if you ask them AFAIK, so don't make it sound like a bad thing.

 

I'm liking Portable One.

 

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...ogId=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=authorized_dealers

 

The only time I've ever had a Vaio with dead pixels was when I ordered a pre-configured model directly from SonyStyle. I've used Newegg several times for different models without incident. Every box came sealed with (Sony branded) tamper-proof tape.

You sound like you're a jaded victim of buying a refurbished or returned unit. Just because your experience was bad doesn't mean others will suffer as well - particularly the ones that read before placing the order.

 

SoundsGood: I just posted a question on the Portable One forums here at notebookreview.com about whether or not they're an "authorized dealer", so we should have an answer soon to why they don't appear on that list at Sony.

Either way though, you can't deny their flawless reputation. I've heard nothing but good things about Portable One (on the other hand, I've heard a lot of "horror stories" about Sony Style, Best Buy, etc.)

 

I've never been a victim of that. I buy pc parts from newegg, but not computers.

Lol, I just realized I probably am coming off like that though. I just express my opinion strongly.

I just find it hilarious yet disturbing why companies claim to be authorized and can't back **** up. THEY LIE. WHY? I DON'T ****ING KNOW. I asked newegg to link me to any page saying they are authorized to sell VAIO laptops, the rep said he couldn't and he would have it emailed to me in 2 days or less. Well, it's been 5 days and no email yet.

 

There is nothing wrong with Portable One. Remember the clean install disks they had for the SZ? Everyone was happy with those.

 

Here's how I see it (no offense Duke):
He's a victim of Sonys marketing. He has been told by a Sony salesrep that you do not get warranty if you buy at an unauthorized dealer. Which is a lie. He ordered at Sonytyle and paid more than the price at Newegg. So now he is justifying his own decision to pay more money at Sonystyle.

I personally believe Newegg and Portable One deliver better service than Sonystyle. But I have no numbers of how Sonystyle is rated.

Edit: I do have the numbers: 2.50 / 10
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Sony_Style

 

If you order Sony notebook from newegg and for some reason you don't like it, you are stucked! They don't accept return at all. If you order from sonystyle, if you don't like it, you can return it for full refund and I did.

 

Okay Phil maybe you caught on a teeny weenie bit

I am a little ticked that even on sony's business site they have the same laptop for cheaper than configuring it using CTO method, I am talking about the SR129E/B. What's up with that? I don't get it...

it's 1,500 on the business site but CTO its 1,650. is sony that ****ed up? *******s.

http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGN-SR129E/B

 

Respect for admitting it man.

The reality of it is that Sonystyle often charges more than other resellers. Simply because they can.

What about this idea: call Sony and tell them that you are ticked off because you can get the same laptop for less money even at authorized resellers. You are now considering cancelling your order unless they come with a better offer.

 

I would love to hear more about the screen on the SR. Other than it being Xbrite-ECO, which means absolutely nothing to me since it doesn't always equate to a poor LCD screen and quite the opposite depending on the model, and the LED backlighting which is only useful for uniform lighting, battery life, and brightness, which doesn't really affect the overall viewing experience that much to me.

So someone said prior that the SR screen blows away the regular ECO screen on the FW and that the viewing angles are good. Can anyone elaborate on this? How does it compare to the SZ, TZ, Macbook, Macbook Pro, HP DVs, or any other laptops that might be readily available for comparison? I am very concerned with viewing angles as off-center viewing or the slightest tilt of the head causing viewing contrast to turn into a milky mess is really bothersome to me.

Hope those who have seen the SR in person can oblige.

 

Duke, take a look at Dell. Their "Home" site has one price. Their "Business" site has another price. The Home site offers discounts and coupons to those consumers that know where to look. Those that don't pay full price. The Business site offers a different set of discounts and coupons to those consumers that know where to look. Those that don't pay full price. Then there's their retail channel. BestBuy has one price. Staples has another. And so on, and so on...

It's a game. You just have to know how to play.

 

The screen on the SR looks fantastic. Viewing angles are great. I was very impressed with the SR's screen -- and I was there to see the FW!

I can't say how the screen compares to the others you mentioned, since I haven't looked closely enough at them. But the bottom line is that it will not disappoint.

 

I have not seen it in real life but going by the specs and pictures I'm expecting it to be identical to the SZ LED screens. There are plenty of review available off the SZ screen.

 

Hey Phil, is this true in the US? I've done a little digging and I'm finding conflicting info.

RE: THE SCREEN - I was fortunate enough to see a couple SR's at the SonyStyle store in Vegas, and was very impressed with the screen. Compared to my wife's MacBook, I'd say that it was even better... sharper, nice and bright, and good view angles. However, I had posted this in another thread, the screen itself exhibited quite a bit of flex. I don't have unrealistic expectations... I know that a consumer level machine that doesn't have a metal screen back will flex, but the SR had more than I would have expected. I guess that's the cost of having a thin lid?

 

As far as I know you get normal warranty whether you buy at Sony or Newegg.

The flex is no problem at all. The first time I felt a TZ and SZ I was a bit surprised, but it does not matter. A keyboard protector is good to use though, but that's valid for every laptop.