Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

Did anyone order the exact model: VPCSB1AGX/B?

if yes, and you got a toshiba drive... Take a screen shot and call them now! Same with the Vaio Z last year... supposed to have TPM... didnt... sony removed from their site.

 

Nah mines a VPCSB1C5E. I had seen the 7200 XT mentioned and assumed since i specd mine with 500gb and 7200rpm would mean i got that drive.

It was only a point i had seen after ordering so I bought it originally expecting a vanilla 7200rpm.

 

Try the SA/SB/SC owners' thread, some SB owners' have posted about this in that thread.
I'm looking forward to hear more info about the SA.

 

Sony Singapore one day HALF PRICE sale for SB18 (i7+8G+500G+6470M) US$793!!

Are they insane????

 

Is there any word on when the SA might become available?

 

Too late for many of us...
End of May, early June they say.

 

Yeah, that's going to be too late for me as well. Is there an equivalent that others are going to go with?

 

For me there are:
1. Lenovo X220
2. Acer Timeline X 3830TG
3. Toshiba R830

There could be also:
Macbook Pro
Lenovo Z370
the rumored slim dell
the Asus U36 replacement that is rumored
and I suppose there are more...

 

Lenovo does seem to have some really nice options in the consumer space. I've looked into the rest and, I know this doesn't matter to some people, but I'm not a big fan of the aesthetics. I'd love to do the Pro but I have a MacBook now and need a PC for grad school. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

better remove acer from your list. if youre turned off by the SBs build quality, youll be turned off by the timeline even more.

not bashing on acer. its fast no doubt. but design wise, its pretty sub-par

 

VAIO S Promotion | Laptop | Sony

Wonder why they did this promotion...why would they want to get rid of the SB so fast?

 

perhaps they trust the quality of the notebook so they want ppl to buy and generate a heat on it...

 

my white SB has really good build quality in my opinion.
Yes, it has gap on the ODD, but who really cares?

If you ever try acer, they have much worse build quality plus cheap materidal.
Sony SB are built by really appercated materals, not only the cover but aslo as the base cover

If you are really picky, mbp is the only choice, I have to say, apple has best quailty..
But MBP 13 has SUPER loud fan...................SB is almost dead silent with SSD

 

Does your white VPCSB have the same misaligned fingerprint reader? How about the ODD? Is it connected to SATA4 or to the second SATA port?

 

The two SBs I saw today in Boston's Sony Style store looked awesome. Didn't see any build quality issues at all. Extremely light, too. If the 7hr battery is anywhere near true, that's remarkable.

 

Its possible Sony could have fixed the issues with these but if they are so poor on first production round, I think I would rather Lenovo which tends to be better with technical support.

I really don't know what I'll do yet. Waiting for the comparisons and all the models to come out which they haven't and won't till at least June.

 

I went to the new Sony store today and saw the different variations of the prebuilt models. I specifically looked at the USD1499 model that was said to have the 4GB flash memory. At least according to device manager, the HDD was the same as what was listed in a previous post, not a momentus xt.

 

Went to the Sony store yesterday in Ottawa (CANADA), and they had the SB with the radeon 6470. They didn't have much to tell me about it other than what has already been discussed in this forum but the guy at the store mentioned a 14" VAIO SC, however he didn't really seem to know what he was talking about so this might not actaully exist.

Not really sure what the complaints about the screen are - sure its no ridiculously shiny macbook display which is hard on the eyes and the colors obviously aren't as vibrant. But comparing it to the other glossier sony screens the glare is far less and it is much easier to look at - the brightness also seemed to go pretty high for a matte screen. Those are my thoughts on it anyway.

 

return $1500 VPC-Z for SB?

 

14" seem as though it would be perfect for this laptop. There should definitely be room enough in the bezel for an extra inch of screen. Hopefully they do come out with one, in the same chassis too. 14" screen in the same chassis with a high def screen would be perfect!

I'm not going to wait around though, already ordered my SB and I'm sure I will be perfectly happy with it.

 

Has a SC model even been confirmed yet? Everyone seems to be only talking about the SA, but the keyboard cover I bought for my SB says it also fits the SC model. Yet I haven't heard anything about a SC model.

 

SC is just a different marketing name for different regions. There is an SD in China.

 

The SC is just a renamed SB but for different markets. Although I don't believe it has been officially announced, it's been understood that that's what it is.

 

Sony Canada just put up the SC on their website. The design looks similar to the previous S models. Its a 13.3 on Sony Canada website.

VPCSC1AFDS | VAIO SC Series Laptop | Sony Canada

 

Cosmetically I like the looks of the SC best. I kinda wish it were offered in the U.S.

 

It does look pretty nice, I like the color. The only thing different from what I can tell is the deck and keyboard which is black instead of silver. Not sure which form I like better but I definitely like the color.

 

Has anyone seen any review out for these laptops yet?

 

Wow that SC looks super nice. If that were offered in the states I would probably jump on that beast..if it were available for CTO w/ 6630.

 

So the SC is an SB with a higher screen res?

The SA is an SC with CF body that looks the exact same?

 

No, it has the same screen res, just is silver, has a different deck, black keyboard and has a bluray drive standard.

 

The Canadian website listed it at 1600X900res compared to the SB's 1366X768, unless the Canadian website is wrong. (Which I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case)

 

Huh?....I'm reading 1366x768 on Sony Canada.

 

Yeah there's an error on the site.

VPCSC1AFDS | VAIO SC Series Laptop | Sony Canada

The features page under "Exceptional LED Backlit Display" says, "The 13.3” (1600 x 900) wide...."

But then on the specs page:
VPCSC1AFDS | VAIO SC Series Laptop | Sony Canada

It says 1366X768. Your guess is as good as mine then.

 

best part of it is, the SC and SB have different webcams

SB - Camera : Built-in HD camera powered by Exmor™ and microphone

SC - Camera : Built-in MOTION EYE® camera and microphone

 

Did anyone else notice the chassis and switches look different? The design of the SB looks more streamlined with the angular switches and less obvious keyboard outline. The SC outline around the keyboard is oval and more obvious. The switches also look plain. Only the LCD and frame looks alike. No likey. Color combination isn't bad though.

 

Now that you mention it, I see how the chassis is different as well. On the SB, it tapers from the edges of the keyboard to the edge of the chassis. On the SC, the frame is flat then cuts an edge for the keyboard.

It's odd that they would make these changes on what seems to be a minute variation of another computer. Why drive up the costs for yourself for something so minor?

 

Yep, posted the differences. Basically different deck, black keyboard and blurry drive standard. It's hard to say if I like this or the sb better, the switches definitely look pretty plain like you mentioned

 

Just because they have to differentiate the product. Not that in a cost perspective it was anything close to a smart decision.

sony is still a terribly administrated company, if it wasnt big enough it would crumble

 

Yeah it doesn't make sense for them to go with another chassis on the same series. For all we know, Sony has 2 design teams that worked on the new S. Am just glad we got the SB model.

Looked again at the LCD of the SC and it looks like it has a different shaped camera outline as well.(more oval)

 

Just looked at the detailed specs of the SB and SC at sonystyle.ca.

At first glance, the SC appears to be superior with its blu-ray and slightly higher-capacity disc.

However, upon closer examination, the SC is almost double the weight of the SB (6.3 vs. 3.6 lbs.).

Also, the SC has a 15" (edit 15.5") screen vs. the 13.3" screen of the SB.

Who knew.

Unless they're typos, that rules out the SC for me.

Too bad, because apparently only the SC is eligible for the SPRING200 discount.

Now I'm undecided again between the Sony SB and the Samsung Series 9.

 

sony sb and the samsung series 9 are totally different laptops.
The sony is much faster and has a dedicated gpu. the series 9 is lighter, thinner and has a low voltage cpu. it depends on what kind of performance you want and how much you want to pay.

 

True.

But my main point is that the SC is NOT a 3-something pound, 13-something inch laptop as this discussion thread purports to be about.

Rather, it's a bigger and much heavier laptop than the SA/SB models that's really quit different than appears at first thought and doesn't belong in this thread.

 

uh what? you are mixing up laptops, SB = SC in size, the 15.5 is the CB series.

from sonystyle website, SC specs
Weight (Approx.) : 3.89 lbs. (with Standard Capacity Battery)

SB specs from site
Weight (Approx.) : 3.6 lbs. (with Standard Capacity Battery)

 

You're right. My mistake. That's great to know because that puts the SC back at the top of my hit parade.

 

True to that, this will be my first Sony laptop in a LONG time. They went downhill in terms of company direction and IMO their products, but hopefully the SB will mark a return to the "proper" Sony. I'm definitely not holding my breath, but I guess time will tell.

 

Sony used to make awesome stuff. Their TVs in particular were the best. Not so much anymore. After buying a few Sony TVs I had to break the pattern last time around and go with what is now the best TV: Samsung.

 

actually the dear Sir is taking care of some of the Sony's usual mistakes, I do really feel confident that given time it will be better. Sony in the past specially after the introduction of the mp3 players was devastated by the terrible management, there are some milking products that they can rely on, but they are getting less competitive with each release.

One of the Sir first attempts to cut down the losses, was to create the class 2 products in the vaio line, being the EE and EB a great example, people liked it, the price was competitive and they had the illusion of buying a class 1 product.

Now with the launch of the playstation 3 slim and all that the milking based on the games is not milking anymore but a part of the revenue, since now they can earn money selling the console itself instead of depending completely on the external revenue.

Now they need to revamp and pursue different designs and techs for their other product lines

 

I totally agree with the TV's, but just like the new SB, the brand new Sony HDTV's are pretty awesome and definitely competitive with Samsung now. They also look WAY better than their last gen HDTV's which were really quite ugly.

 

I agree. One of the things that actually made me once again think about getting Sony products was seeing their roadmap for the future. Engadget actually had a pretty good article talking about their attempt to return to the Sony when they were class leaders and innovators. I'll try and find that article and post up a link, it's a pretty good read.

Now talk is one thing and doing it is another, but they are definitely on their way and I'm confident that they will return to their better days.

 

I am unsure what you mean... The Sony Z was not enough innovation for you?