Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

Samsung are great on mid budgets, however i'd rather grab a Bang & Olufsen or Loewe at least if i could

 

Eh, my brother had one. I mean it was definitely nice don't get me wrong, just didn't really do it for me. However, I'm looking forward to seeing their next Z though, hopefully the SA won't replace it here (which it shouldn't). Seeing their 'new' direction, I hope they will truly blow it out of the water.

 

I'm sorry I'm really confused. I see a Sony Vaio S on the American website, what's this talk about the SA and the SB and the SC? Differences? Differences comapred to the S that's on the American website?

 

The SB is the one which is available now (the SC/SD is probably the same, but they use other model names in some countries). The SA is a higher-end model, supposedly available with a resolution of 1600x900, less weight (1,46 kg) and it also contains some other materials (carbon fiber). This probably way more expensive SA isn't available yet.

 

So the SB is the one you can buy now from the US store, and the SA will come later in the united states? How much is it approximated to cost and when will it come? I can't seem to find this information.

 

The SB and SC are both available to order from sonystyle.ca (Canada).

The stock SB is $999. The SC is $1,199.

The Canadian and US dollars are currently approximately equivalent.

 

So what's the Sony Vaio S that's on the US store then?

 

^SB.

10char

 

Just a little off topic, the current generation vaio z is back in stock on sonystyle.com for those who are interested

 

I like how this thread is about the SA yet there hasn't really been $hit said about the SA model for the last 1,000 posts. Get on it!!

 

I got info from a .uk retailer that they are expecting the SA Model tomorrow or friday. happy rev?

 

As much as I would like that to be true, I call bull(cough)hit on that one.

It'll ship in late May - at earliest.

Of course, I'd like nothing more than it being for sale tomorrow in UK. I'd hope in a plane and fly to London to get myself one immediately.

 

Sony US might be updating their sight for the SA and or SC right now. Sony.com/laptops doesn't let you select any laptops right now. Seems like site work in progress

 

The SC can now be CTO on Sony Canada. Its unfortunate that there is no other options for the screen resolution(1366x768 is default).

 

Argh.. Jst SB & SC. Was nice to dream tho....

 

whats the difference from SB & SC then? On Sony.ca when I go on SC i get to configure SB and an old S! When you go on SB there is no CTO. Funny.

 

Maybe the sb are the standard configurations and the s c is the customizable one.

 

Cant be the best as they dont have rear backlight. Best value yes. SONY can still trump a Samsung if you spend enough

On a laptop related note, in this thread and others there seems to be a request for real pics of a white SB. Will post some tonight.

 

Really want to buy an SB, but the resolution is just too low. I really hope the SA comes out soon with a larger res screen.

 

Too low for what !? Have you used a higher resolution on a 13" screen?

I know so many people who returned their Z and bought an S or another model because of the high resolution making office work hard and tiring the eyes.

 

It's supposed to come with a 1600x900 resolution screen.

 

Sony removed the Hybrid HDD from the specs on the VPCSB1AGX/B.
13.3" Core i7 Laptop | VAIO® S Series Laptop | VPCSB1AGX/B | Sony USA

 

If spending $2000+ on a laptop, I think one should spend half an hour adjusting fonts and DPI too. When adjusted right, there's nothing tiring about it; rather the opposite. Each letter is the same size, but more well defined because of the higher resolution.

 

And at least you are able to put much more on your screen if you want to.

 

From what could tell after visiting the SonyStyle store in Toronto yesterday, the SC includes a Blu-ray device, and a larger/faster disk drive.

The SB includes a DVD - NOT Blu-ray.

Another difference is that the SPRING200 $200 discount is available only for the SC (bringing its net price to the exact same as the SB - $999) - good until April 30, 2011 - although there appeared to be no way to enter the coupon code via the SonyStyle.ca website when I tried yesterday.

But there was no SC to actually touch and feel - and the Sony rep. did not seem to know much about any of the new notebooks.

He did say that both versions would be available CTO, and that the website would be updated to reflect that "soon".

 

well sometimes the DPI settings just mess up everything, like some stuff not appearing in screen. I'm not very fun of it. But you can lower the resolution, don't know how bad it is to work out of native resolution tho.

 

In my experience (having owned a Vaio Z), 1600x900 is not too high of a resolution for 13" at all. In fact, I would love to get a 1080p option in a 13" (like the current Z models), where I would probably have to tweak the DPI settings. The sub-1600x900 resolutions are the only things stopping me from getting other Sandy Bridge laptops.

I would gladly go with a Thinkpad X220, had it actually gotten the rumored 1600x900 screen. But alas, Sony seems to be the only manufacturer that sells ultra-portable laptops with high-res screens. Thus, I shall wait for the SA model. If the next Z model will have a 1080p screen option, it might also be a contender (as long as it isn't released significantly later than the SA), but 900p is fine by me, as well.

 

Yeah, better to return it so it can be sold in the outlet than adjust the font settings . . . .

 

You forgot to mention that the SC also has a different deck design than the SB.

 

I don't know how you guys handle 1600x900 on a 13.1" screen.

 

Whats the disadvantage about it? There are none.. you can always increase your DPI if you think it's too small. But you'll always have more room available if you need it. People who don't need it don't buy it, but I'm sure you can imagine how it could be useful. 768 pixels vertically.. it's just like going back to 1024x768. I think 1440x900 would be perfect for 13" laptops, too bad there are none (except the MBA).

 

Increasing the DPI messes up the formatting on certain things.

EDIT: Also, some of use a large external monitor. Increasing the DPI might make things look right when using the laptop's screen, but as soon as we plug the laptop into the external monitor everything looks huge.

Sad but true.

 

Has anyone else noticed the extremely cheap upgrade prices on the CTO vaio SB in canada?

 

Hehe, $60 for an i7 and a free extended battery! Not bad! Almost makes me wish I lived in the land of the north... almost.

Oh and the 512GB SSD is ONLY $1300.. j/p lol

 

Yes, I had seen that in this thread earlier - but, as I indicated, I was unable to actually touch and feel an SC unit because the SonyStyle store I visited didn't have any in stock nor demo/display units of same.

 

Yea, I'm still not sure about the SC's deck yet (not that we in the US have a choice yet anyway) but it would be nice to check it out in person and make a decision there instead of having to go by a few marketing pictures.

 

Easy learning curve

 

The CTO SB listed right now is an INCREDIBLE value IMO. I think the recent spike in the Canadian dollar might have had something to do with this, but for $1000 you get the i5-2410M and 6630M standard unreal. It does seem like a screaming deal for this type of ultraportable Vaio. Hello, 13" MBP killer. It says it ships on April 14th. The interesting thing is that while some models have the 6470/6490 as the starting config, here, it's not even available(Though IMO this is a good thing). The color option changes are also free.

 

Yes, the canadian cto price is TONS cheaper than the US.... i feel like I am getting ripped off (i have CAD also) is it possible to order from the Canadian site and get it delivered to the US?

 

I don't feel the lest bit sorry for you ... canadians have been getting ripped off compared to the US for far to long now.. hopefully the trend is beginning to swing

 

sure have some fun in the sun, after all, you are America's hat

 

God damn it, I missed the cheap upgrade on Canada's cto configuration.

You can see they already correct most of the upgrade on their cto pages.

Update to i7 now is $250, extended battery is $150, and also on SSDs.

But we still have free update to 6630, I'm not sure if they missed it or what.

And also I'm curious about the order which placed before the correct, are they going to be reject or cancelled?

 

idk, what were the prices before?

Oh, just noticed something. For those who were looking at a Vaio Z replacement with the same sort of specs+price, on the Canadian page there is an option for a 512GB RAID 0 SSD setup. The rest is all similar with the exception of missing a carbon fibre option.

 

The SA is showing up at a few more retailers.
Sony VPCSA1X9E/XI VAIO 13.3" Notebook (Intel Core i7-2620M Processor,2.70GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB HDD,DVD SuperMulti Drive,Genuine Windows 7 Professional)Black: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

It's listed on Amazon with a release date of the 2nd of June.

I noticed though that the weight is listed as higher than what we've seen before.

I'm still hoping for a premium display as cto. Still, if it will only offer the vaio plus display i think that probably will be good enough for me. It's a big step up from my SZ7 display which i still rate as good, but probably not as good as my TT display but i could probably live with that.

 

I just pulled the trigger on the SB w. the $250 i7 upgrade, Bluray read/write ($200) and 8gb memory upgrade ($200).

The 6630 is indeed a free upgrade.

Also included is a full-blown Adobe package worth over $400 - sweet.

Unfortunately, neither the SPRING200 and SPRING200SB coupon codes apply, since the order (excluding taxes and accessories) must exceed $2000 before the discount can be applied - and it would be virtually impossible to order an SB that would qualify. (which, I suppose, would be good news).

I was also told by a seemingly knowlegable sales rep. that there will NOT be a Z-refresh, that essentially the Z-series was being discontinued.

Also, the SA model will be available in May or June. It's major distinction will be it's higher-res dispaly (1600x900) - but also costlier.

 

what the hell, if it confirm 1.6kg I will just get mad cause I´m waiting all this time for a 1.4kg beast.

 

The cheap i7 upgrade of $50 was an error. According to the sales rep. I spoke to, yoiu didn't miss out on anything. If you had tried to place the order a couple of days ago, it would not have gone through.

The 6630 is indeed a FREE upgrade.

There, I hope you feel better now.

 

I would definitely not base the weight on a random Amazon page, they always seem to have errors and lots of time go on rumors.

 

you know, I go out to the gym, to build those big muscles, but it must be 1.4kg.

 

It's possible but unlikely that because of the problems with the cfrp that this could have led to minor changes and an increase in weight.