Sony S CTO on Sonystyle

The S can now be configured on the sonystyle website. VPCS1390X | S Series Configure-to-Order | Sony | Sony Style USA

Something interesting is that the SSD option (256GB) is a $780 option! Typically it's $550 on the other Sony notebooks (such as F). Looks like the Blu Ray drive has a typo/error. The read and write drive is $150 and the read only drive is listed at $500. I wonder if it uses a slim drive like the Z or if it's a fat drive like the other Sony notebooks, because if it's fat it should be $150 for read and write. If it's a Z drive, it looks like they now make a read only that would be a $150 option.

 

WOW! $150 for Blu-ray read/write upgrade!!

OMG! Upgrade to SSD and the price comes close to Vaio Z prices.

 

The 256 GB SSD is more expensive because it's a 256x1 instead of a 128x2, which means its even faster than a regular one. I wish they'd offer the regular 128x2 one, though...

 

Just get the standard options and buy Vertex 2 for much cheaper to replace the internal regular HDD...

As far as I see, the HDD in VPC S can be replaced easily.

 

Yeah, it makes sense to do an SSD upgrade yourself. Is it just a standard 2.5" drive?

 

Yep, standard 2.5" drive.

 

I was looking forward it, but ... no Sandy Bridge.

 

I guess it was available in other places before it came to the US, so it's not really new.

Also, it's not available with a thumbprint reader like it shows in the picture

 

It not new the US per say either. It was on sale at Best Buy with the intel hd with two hdd models and I think different cpu speeds also. I think now we also get the nvidia model also. I for sure would have gotten the nvidia model if it had switchable gpu with a 5.5 hours of battery life(under the intel gpu of course).

 

Actually, I find Sony's move to be deceptive. According to several websites ( this one, for instance), Sony announced that their "new" S series would have Sandy Bridge. Then Sony announced on their own website that their "new" S series would launch on January 9th, which just happens to be the date when manufacturers are allowed to start selling Sandy Bridge computers.

But in fact ...

 

The new S series with Sandy Bridge is called the SA.

My guess is that the old S is now on SonyStyle because the Y is downsizing from a 13.3" to an 11.6". Previously, Sony may have been hesitant to market three different machines in the same size: Y, S, and Z - so the S was left out. With the demise of the 13.3" Y, they are now positioning the S to fill the gap. For example, they are now offering a dedicated graphics option in the S like they did in the Y and the new base price is lower than the old Best Buy model and only $100 more than the old Y.

 

Not too sure about the US, but here in Australia, the Y has been 11.6" for quite a while now, whilst the S had the dedicated 310M since it's release a year ago.

 

If by "quite a while" you mean a month, then yeah (just kidding). The 11.6" Y was announced first in Japan on Nov 10th or so and the first time I saw it in Australia was in Sydney airport just before Christmas. And the Sony Australia web site still lists mostly the info & features from the 13.3" model.

Back in the US, Sony had a fire sale on the 13.3" Y over the holidays to clear out old stock. Now it's gone from the US web site. The US hasn't seen the 11.6" Y yet because Sony is apparently bringing the AMD version to the US whereas Australia and most of the rest of the world get the Intel version.

The S wasn't marketed in the US & Canada until just now, coinciding with the discontinuation of the 13.3" Y. It wasn't mentioned on Sony's web site and you could only buy one model from one retailer with no options. But now, for the first time you can finally get the S with a full set of options in the US.

The strange/funny thing is that Sony offered the 13.3" Y with a relatively full set of options in the US, very few of which were offered in "generic" Australia model. In contrast, Australia got the full featured S but the US got a limited "generic" version only through the Best Buy chain. I'd love to talk to a Sony marketing person someday to understand what data they use to make such decisions.

 

we also dont get the white color or the option for an i7 in the us..or even the option for wwan and gps, all this is available in the uk etc.

 

The S now at BB is cheaper than what you can do CTO on Sony website. BB got the i5 processor and the 640gb hd. If you dont want delicate graphic, then get it at BB.

Can Intel graphic do overscan and underscan when you connect to a HDTV?