Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

Sometime never or around 2nd June only worryis the screen is being listed as display plus same as sb just higher res so not total solution

 

In my post (#2330), the following is what the retailers said:

This guy mentioned they might not launch it at all, but I believe that's unlikely, seeing as CFRP S series prototypes do exist and were sent for certification.

So, put simply, there's no official word from Sony other than that production is slow, but retailers do believe the SA is going to go on sale soon (within the next two months).

 

Does anyone know if the Best Buy Blue Label Model supports the "Sheet Battery"?

 

Seeing as it's essentially the SC model, looking at Sony Canada's website, where the model is listed, the sheet battery is listed as a compatible accessory, so yes.

 

Is there any "form factor" difference between the SB and SC?

 

^There's a slight difference in the shape of the palmrest and keyboard recess. On the SB and SA, keyboard recess slopes down from the edges of the laptop and the top of the touchpad. On the SC, the recess is only slightly larger than the surface the keyboard covers and is shaped like that of the Macbook Pro.

Compare: SB gallery here, SC pictures here

 

So are we getting 1600x900 on the S series or no?

 

The SA should be available with a 1600x900 option.

 

Okay. So that's for sure for sure? Because this could very well be my next notebook. Battery slice is over a pound, so no go there.

 

Here's a listing on the SA on Amazon UK: 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

1600x900 screen res. Although that price is insanely high! I hope that's just because everything cost more in Europe/UK...

 

Actually it's cheap. Comparing to the SB which with the same specs would be just a bit bellow so its just because everything is cheaper there (and this will also probably be)

 

That's a good price over here. The good old Z13V with 128 GB SSD instead of HDD started at about that price! You guys are so lucky all your tech over there is so much cheaper! I was considering importing a Z, but then I remembered US keyboards annoy the hell out of me

I'm waiting for the more expensive SA1Z9E - I need that extra SSD space and RAM

 

i wouldn't recommend you to buy with the 8Gb Ram and the RAID0 SSDs.. you are better off buying an additional 4Gb RAM once you have the notebook and an 256Gb SSD from whichever brand you like the most.. you'll get more quality and for a better price.

the only exception that would justify getting the RAID0 SSDs from Sony is the extra port, but then again RAID0 has more issues than a simple double sized SSD... your choice but think about it.

 

That SC model at Best Buys for $949 will be available for sale in-store on May 1st if anyone is interested.

 

I'm tempted to wait it out and get the last SA model before its discontinued. I did this with my SZ7. I wonder how many refreshes this will go through (what these refreshes will bring) before it's discontinued. Gone are the days of the SZ1-SZ7 that spanned about 2 years.

Because this notebook is so late it's making waiting for Ivy Bridge seem more and more appealing.

I think if the premium display is not offered at the start CTO we can't really expect to see it later on.

As i mentioned before Amazon pricing is currently at full rrp. Other sites have that model listed at about £1,540.
If we discount the lower end SA with the HD it seems that the new Z some models are going to be priced around the same as the SA which makes things interesting.
There are certainly though some very expesive SB models out there.

 

It depends if I decide to CTO or not. If I go for the SA1Z9E, as is likely, as long as I can get it for less than £2300, I won't have the choice, otherwise I'd do as I've done up until now and upgrade the RAM afterwards.

Also, I really cannot be bothered to clone the hard drive, and I won't have the time either. Plus I don't want to screw up the cloning process (I do try to experiment less on my own machines. That's why I've got an older computer in my room on which I put Windows RC versions and Linux and do whatever the hell I want.)

Only if the preconfig is very expensive will I look into buying a base model and upgrading to a 256 GB SSD. I'm not too confident about the cloning process, but surely the MBR will be kept as it was previously and the BIOS will recognise the recovery partition and will still be able to boot to the fast web partition, right?

@beaups, do you have any recent news on pricing for the SA, specifically in Europe?

 

by refresh you mean some changes will be made right?

 

Beaups, with both Ivy Bridge and TSMC's 28nm process (which is currently gating the GPU upgrade schedule) slated for 2012 do you know what sort of upgrades might be included in that September SA refresh?

 

are there any other computers that have a similar weight and performance as the SA?

aka, is there anythign else I should be looking at?

 

Thinkpad X1: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 confirmed, faster-charging integrated battery detailed -- Engadget

Current gen or next gen Vaio Z?

Vaio SB?

 

If you don't care about a discrete GPU, the Lenovo Thinkpad X220, Samsung Series 9 (expensive) or Toshiba Portege R830. If you don't care for Sony or Lenovo quality, or an optical drive, but want an even better GPU the Acer TimelineX 3830tg. There's also the business-orientated HP Probook, and Dell Vostro 3350. However none of these will have a screen resolution close to the 1600x900 res of the SA's screen. If you don't do CPU-intensive stuff, or don't mind not having a Sandy Bridge CPU, then you could try the Z series.

IMO the SA has the best balance of CPU, GPU, components, weight and battery life out of all of these. However, many people don't need the graphics power - the Sandy Bridge integrated GPU has enough power for HD video and some older games. If you want, review your needs and post them.

 

Okay, that price basically means the laptop is de facto unavailable. It's 1700 pounds. Even assuming you did a ridiculous currency conversion at 1 to 1, it's still $1700. I was thinking this would be a poor man's Z. Looks like it's just a heavier, expensive Z.

Jesus, will anyone make a 4lb notebook with 1600x900 at under $1000? I want to choke the necks of these CEOs.

 

There is no difference in terms of performance between SA's cpu an Z's cpu as the Sandy i7 2620M is about same in performance as i7 640M of the Z.
However there is a difference in Gpu performances.

 

So the slightly lower clock frequency cancels out any processing efficiency gains? I've read it's a little faster.

Because it's the only laptop of this size with these features (1.49 kg weight, Blu-ray drive offered, AMD 6630M, 1600x900 screen res), it's normal to expect it to be more expensive than competing laptops. The Z series was and still is the only laptop of its kind. The closest you can get is the Macbook Air 13" with its 1440x900 display, but that's around £1100. Not going to happen, with all these cheap 1366x768 screens around, until 1600x900 becomes a common res at this size, as it won't be as cheap to produce.

 

Hello guys, glad I found this thread!

I was really looking for a laptop 14" or smaller, with a 1440x900 or higher resolution, and hybrid graphics. The Sony Vaio S-series pretty much had everything I wanted, but the display is disappointing with only 1366x768.

The Vaio SA series looks very good, but is just not within my budget, even with the 7% student discount.

Do you guys think the Vaio SB series will get the 1600x900 display option in CTO when the SA is available? The configuration I'm after is the following: i5-2410M, 500GB 5400RPM disk, 8GB RAM, standard DVD, Radeon 6630M, no 'security features' (don't need fingerprint reader/TPM), and the extended battery, of course coupled with the 1600x900 display. The only difference really is the slightly slower processor and the lack of an SSD drive. What do you guys think?

Thanks
- Ambroos

 

Wait where is this 7% student discount you speak of?

And if you have a budget, the SA series probably won't do you very well lol.

 

Coupon code EDU375UH on all European Sony Style websites, only if you're a registered student. (7% on computers, 10% on everything else)

Well I don't want the SSD, which is the major price increase. I just want the SB with a 1600x900 display

 

Im in US, darn =/

And I think the SA will have an SSD standard and 900p screen standard, but will be expensive. SB won't have 900p screen, only 768p, but it will also not come standard with SSD, making it cheaper. Ur kinda at a dilemma lol.

Why not just get the SSD? those things are amazing. If this is supposed to be a college laptop, im guessing you don't need it until like august, so just wait come june for the SA and/or Z to come out and view your optiosn more factually, cuz everything now is rumor, although its a "probably true" rumor.

 

You should be able to get an SA without the SSD which will be a lot cheaper as you said

 

How do you get your account registered as a student? What kind of confirmation does one have to supply them with? Just a Student ID card, or some as extreme as a letter from the Uni?

 

Well, it turns out 'officially', it's only for The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, though I've confirmed the code EDU375UH works on the .co.uk site too. There don't appear to be any conditions, they just say that you have to be a student/staff member of an educational institution, and that they reserve the right to cancel your order should you not meet their conditions. They don't ask for anything special during the order, it just works as a 7% reduction promo code.

I think it's worth a try as long as you have a student card! Don't really expect them to check all the orders with a voucher anyway!

 

YAY! I just tested it and it works on the UK site . Will be using this when I buy my SA. Neither Sony nor Sony Centres ever offer student discounts in the UK, so is this code taken from another EU offer, and where can I find other Sony discount codes? Seems they were originally going to offer discounts on the new S series, since there was a section on the SB's 'Performance' page on the UK Vaio site with a link to a non-working educational discounts page, but then they removed it... damn *expletive referencing a number of people*

 

In the U.S all you need is to create your account using your .edu e-mail address. That's it.

 

Doesn't come from a discounts page, Sony Style Belgium/France/... just has a little 'education' webpage, nothing special. Haven't found any other vouchers either.

Europe doesn't have a .edu equivalent. If your university's website is www.kuleuven.be then your email adress is @student.kuleuven.be. So that system wouldn't work.

 

there is student discount in the US? how?

 

From my experience if I bought from the Sony Style store locally, all they want is a student id from my college.

FWIW, the Z had/has a 5% discount for students.

 

If you clone all the HDD to the SSD yes you will have the recovery partition and well everything. you really can't screw it up.

don't you sleep? i think everybody does, just leave the SB cloning the drives when you go to sleep or something, how much bothersome is that? oh i think you like to throw your money away mate xP
plus the quality of an SSD you buy and the one Sony gets you for double the price can't really be compared. i mean 30% faster or more,more reliable controllers, more efficient warranty etcetc...

and fyi the SA is £1700 with an 128Gb SSD so the SB should be way bellow the £2300 with 256Gb SSD imo...

 

hello im new here and been following the threads about the sony SB/SA
just wanted to share something interesting i found on the japanese sony site, if im seeing this correctly in japan they are offering a 1T SSD with their SBs lol is that even possible? ?????? VAIO S?SB?????VPCSB1AHJ?VPCSB1AGJ?VPCSB1AFJ????? | ???????????? ?VAIO?

 

Wow looks like it. A mere £1300 upgrade :d. Still, if you have the money that pretty nice.

 

Yeah the Z14 in Japan had a 1.3k(USD) upgrade option to go to a 1TB SSD in RAID0 (which means 4x256GB drives)

 

The "Education store" on US website is listed on bottom under "Specialty Stores":
https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wc..._page&catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1
You should be able to find all info there.

Unfortunately for me, there is no student discount in Austria... would have been sweet.

 

The UK has the .ac.uk suffix, so uni emails addresses are easily identifiable over here and can be used as confirmation (such as for the MS Office Ultimate Steal offer).

Are VAIOs' stock SSDs really that bad, because if so I will definitely be swapping their one out for my own. Do you know which models people tend to put in their SBs and Zs - I want to get the fastest SSD for the best price, and I need around 250 GB of space.

I just don't want to void my warranty/screw up the procedure (though the old drive will preserve its data, I know). From what I've seen, the hard drive on the SA/SB is as easily swappable as the RAM or the battery. What software do you use/recommend for cloning, as there's a lot of options out there and I'm not sure what to go for? Clonezilla?

Yes, I do sleep btw (a bit too much sometimes ), though I do have final exams around when the SA should come out - what I meant by not having time, nvm.

Have you tried the discount code EDU375UH? Works on the UK site and Sony offers no student discounts here either

 

So in the US, you only get 10% off with an extended service plan?

 

you have like 6 or 4 screws and its done. that's how hard it is to swap the drive... the same goes for the ram and battery but with less 2 screws xD

well it's not like the Samsung470 that Sony uses is that bad, it's just the Intel 510 or the Crucial M4 or the OCZ Vertex3 are that much better.

now RAID0 on the other hand is bad.

if you want to, go check out anantech.com and take a look at 120Gb Vertex3,Intel 510 250Gb,etc reviews,you'll get the differences.

Note that on Crucial.com you can get the M4 256Gb for £100 less than the Intel's and OCZ's counterparts, plus i would stay away of the Vertex3 since you can expect some people will have some problems that were on the Vertex2, like a lot of hang ups... (amazon.co.uk is also selling the M4 128Gb with a £90 off, don't ask me why... but since i'm about to buy an SSD, Crucial's prices are looking a lot tempting..)


oh don't mention the Ex** word around me please =x i get depressed just thinking of thinking about them...

 

I have an old Intel 80G2 ssd in it and that it's very quick. I am also getting a 7,6 Windows score and boot up time is around 45sec. Boot up is mostly the Vaio logo and login. Windows logo is on for just a couple of seconds.

I have a caddy in it now with the 500gb drive i got in the sony first. The ssd is in the original drive bay.
I am noticing that the harddrive stays a lot cooler in the odd bay and doesn't spin up that much. I usually only use it when listening to music or accessing files i dont have on my ssd.

 

nice nutral, but with a more advanced SSD (or more tweaking) you can actually get the boot time down around 20 seconds..

 

Anybody knows what will the display's contrast ratio and brightness be like?

 

You can find info on the display here:
Review Sony Vaio VPC-SB1Z9EB Subnotebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Well, i tried the code I found on the german site (EDU356XK), and it didn't work.
I just tried the one you mentioned, but negative ("Diese Kampagne ist für keine der Positionen im Einkaufskorb gültig")

 

I saw that, but that's SB. I hope SA has a better screen, it's unlikely though...