Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

Hows the screen quality on the SA?

I was extremely disappointed with the screen on the SB, and will be returning it soon.

I was about to go back to my regular buying habits (of NOT buying anything Sony)
till I saw this come out today.

I dislike how large the bezel is on the screen of the S series (thus making the laptop
itself larger than it has to be), but if the screen is an upgrade from the SB's, I'm willing
to give the Vaio another try.

 

I'm confused, isn't SA supposed to be made of carbon fiber ? The price is still very good at 1350 considering 1600x900 screen, bluray drive, exmore hd webcam and AMD 6630 are all standard but I will be disappointed if it is not any lighter than SB like we were told before.

 

You sir are one pile of contradictions. You hate that this thread is 250 pages because of people asking the same questions over and over yet you're faulting people for not reading every page - the thing you claim to hate and are complaining about like a little b|tch.

You hate it and so does everyone else. Its not patience, some people with lives don't have the time that losers like you do.

Fact is, I'd rather post my question here, walk away and get an email with someone answering my question than sift through 250 pages.

 

On a side note, I just purchased the SA today which set me back over $3200.

specs: i7 3.7 ghz, 8 gigs of ram, 256 SSD, and all the other trimmings...

this better be a dream machine for the price I paid....

ill have it in hand by june 10-11th

 

Im going to say that you overpaid, and you overpaid quite hugely.

Get the SSD aftermarket, its going to be MUCH cheaper.

Get 4g of ram, its 40 bucks on any retailer that you find.

and well... thats it. those are the only things that you mentioned

 

random question..i saw pics of a gold/black version of the SA...where on earth can you order that color?? lol

 

Congrats Amassiac!

It appears that there are two SA chasis...the "signature" collection and the standard SA, which has a similair chasis color to the SB. They are both listed as about one ounce lighter and 1/32" thinner and the SB.

I'm glad there are two choices, because the orangish-brown bezel and palmrest doesn't really appeal to me. The standard SA looks great. If the screen lives up to expectations it should be a fantastic laptop. It's also clear from the pictures that there is one USB 3.0 port, like the SB has.

 

glad that you could see it, I hardly can navigate in the sony site anymore, the designer should be hanged!

 

Good catch! Another thing is battery life estimate seems worse on SA compared to SB. 6.5hrs and 7.5hrs. That is kind of weird.

 

Could you expand on this a little bit....Sony is charging about a $650 per 256 gigs of SSD memory. Most SSD's I see are running about about $500 per 256gigs. When you take into account the hassle, for the average person, of reinstalling everything after switching hard drives, is this price really a huge overpayment? I realize some people are going to do a clean install anyway, so for them it's definitely worth it...for everyone else, I think there is reasonable value in getting the SSD's from Sony.

The RAM I will agree with, the sony installed extra 4 gigs are about double or triple the price of putting it in yourself, and that's a quick install.

 

The only thing that appeals to me on this one is the 6630. The difference in the CPU vs the current one in the Z is minimal.

I would like to find out just how much better thee 6630 is vs the 330m. I obviously know there will be a difference, but how much at the cost of weight and design.

 

Before plunking down the cash for SSD from Sony, make sure its not completely proprietary like those found in the Z. This is coming from a guy that has a Z with their 512 option. I think that little fiasco will have more seasoned Sony buyers looking at the standard HDD version just to avoid this possible issue out of the gate.

 

That signature collection looks to appeal to another part of the world. I have a feeling it will be a dog here in the states.

 

Sorry if this has been asked..but whats the main difference between Vaio SA vs. upcoming Z series?

I know the SA has a built in gfx card (which is what I want) where the Z has a dock??? What else is different?

 

We don't have any officially confirmed specs of the Z, so there's no point in comparing the two right now.

 

They appear to have different batteries according to their sonystyle pages, not a huge capacity change, but certainly different.

SA
Supplied Accessories : Internal Lithium Polymer Battery (4400mAh), AC Adapter, Power Cord

SB
Standard Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery (4540mAh), AC Adapter, Power Cord

 

Perhaps thats where the .15 lb difference is. 3.8 vs 3.65

 

If they compromised battery life by 1hr to reduce overall weight by .15 lb, then that is plain stupid. Where is all that carbon fiber they were hyping about ?

 

A smaller battery implies a smaller case. Perhaps the SA does have the reported CF body and it is slightly thinner/ lighter despite specs saying otherwise....

 

That's a weird decision. NBD though

 

Sorry but may I know how do you know there is an upcoming Z? TIA

 

The price for SA model in Canada is quite higher than in US...This also applies to accessories. Also, the slice battery is priced at USD99 in the US but USD200 in Canada...:-( Not to mention that we have to pay to get Bluray disc...

Normally, does the Canadian price come down to match the US price? Or...is there a good way to order SA from the US and save some money?

Thanks!

 

Ok, great news, it does seem to be a premium screen like the VAIO Z:

LED-BACKLIT DISPLAY.The ultra-bright LED-backlit 13.3" widescreen display makes everything shine. Movies, websites and photos pop with 100% color saturation even spreadsheets look amazing. Better yet, the LED backlight helps conserve battery life.

VAIO S Series PC | Sony | Sony Store USA

 

could you guys help me? i need a laptop within the next few months, i have been looking at the AW m14x because it looks nice and i can do some gaming on it. but due to the recent problems with it i decided ill wait till they release a m14xr2 or r3 b4 getting one.

I found the vaio S series laptop look rather nice and eligant and has enough graphic power for my light gaming. The SA is the newer/better version right? does it have screen like the the Z? because the other thread where the SB is compare to the Z, the screen seem pretty bad... Also on the canadian sony website, it just says vaio s series and "new vaio s series" which is which????

 

That doesn't mean anything. Also, this is a description for whole S series (SA and SB), and we all know how SB's display turned out to be. If you check CTO for SA and SB they both say the same thing, which is:

So if we can rely on Sony's info, which I think we can't, SA has the same unimpressive display as SB. I'm waiting for Notebookcheck's tests.

 

Did the SA popup in any european country yet?

 

Just phoned Sony Netherlands. They said there isn't going to be any new S series arriving here for a couple of months because they just released the SB. But he doesn't sound convincing though... think he's afraid of people sending back their SB's

 

Sounds like he has no clue. It is no new S series anyway. It is the business variant of the new S series.

 

this makes no sense the canadian dollar is at par, slightly higher than par with the USD so the prices should be the same or at least very close.

I'm sure there are websites where you can order the SA from the states but you will be hit with duty fees.

 

sony SA...BOTTOMLINE..better cpu/graphics same crap everything else non 1080 screen

no two part crap

 

So here is the official information about the new SA Serie

Link to Engagdet

 

The SA series is on the way to Denmark, I see this model number:

SONY VPCSA1Z9E/ XI/ Ci7 256GB 13.3"

ETA: 07-06-2011

 

lol..I don't for sure..it just seems like people talk about it as if it's going to be released this year. I assumed it was... =P

 

I see, thanks!

 

Hmmmm I was hoping SA would be < 1.4kg but everything else looks great!

 

this is a promotion...

 

I´m very happy with the SA information found today! The only question is the position of the cooling vent. Is it right that it is between the case and the display cover?

 

, many people here were waiting because it's been anunced as 1.46kg, not 1.65kg

now everything changes... not funny

 

also, have you guys noticed that the canadian one it able to CTO without bluray whether the USA don't? I'm from brazil. is it possible to buy from canada do delived in USA without paying any taxes?

 

Yes, this, and will it fit a 2.5" drive?

 

The BPS24 is a 4400mAh 11.1v 49whr battery and this is used for SB models and it appears that SA models will also use this battery.
Specifications can be incorrect.
The lower res may give slightly better battery life.
It's intersting that the specs don't explicitly state that the SA models are using CFRP.
VGP-BPS24 (VGPBPS24, VGPBPS24.CE7) : Technical Specifications : VAIO & computing : Sony

 

hey rachel, didn't you get disapointed with the weight?

 

do you guys believe that the default Blu-ray Disc™ player that comes with the USA version of SA290 is also a DVD burner?

 

What are the odds of someone learning how to install an SA screen on an SB? What are the odds of being able to find the screen on the market in the future?

 

Actually Rachel the pre-configured models of the SB sold in Spain (for example) claim to have the 4520 battery on the Sony site.. so more mixed information around since on other site's it's shown the 4400 instead.. and CTO info on the battery is not clear since it only states 4/7h duration....

this is the most confusing regional and unexplained changes i have ever seen on a single product...

where are you seing this? can you link please?

 

so the CRFP and better screen (besides resolution) compared to the SB are probably not true? shouldve waited a little longer instead of preordering, smh

 

This is from US CTO page for both HDD and SSD version:

I think it will have vents on the bottom like SB: YouTube - ‪Sony VAIO SB Series Laptop Unboxing Review‬&rlm;

 

Yes, you are right on the bluray but the starting price of the SA model in Canada is higher at CAD1399 but the one in the US is USD1349 with bluray...

Also the price of the slice battery in the US is USD100 vs USD200 in CND...

 

3.2lbs would have been great but 3.65lbs is not a deal breaker for me. My SZ is 3.95lbs and i find that ok weight wise. I also tend to use light laptop bags. I used to use the more traditional types and they just used to really weigh my shoulders down, it makes a big difference.

When it comes to mobility form factor is the most important thing to me. I used to use my SZ for my graduate studies. The form factor was a bit too big to use in class so i bought an 11.1 Sony TX. This was perfect in terms of portability.
Now this is not a factor for me i don't have this issue and the weight is not a problem. It's also not my sole notebook.

I've travelled with a 4.3lbs Sony M1330 and had no issues with it.
A 15.4 5 odd pounds MBP i did have issues with it, the form factor was the biggest issue, very uncomfortable it was carting that around.

I own an 11.1 ultraportable TT currently and at some point the SA could become my only notebook but i'm not planning on that just yet. It will be used as primarily as a desktop notebook with some occasional travelling. I could though manage to use it as sole notebook.

I prefer the SA to the Z because i prefer having an all in one unit.


About the batteries, yes it's odd. The BPS24 is again listed on the Sony.ES website

http://www.sony.es/product/batteries/vgp-bps24

 

Is there any information on the specs of the 256GB and 512GB SSDs?