Sony VAIO CW announced

in old CS times, there were some basic models and one model, that had better CPU and blu-ray, usually it was red/black model.

maybe same will be with CW

 

tru say tru say, i keep forgetting its part of the C/CR/CS line and not one of Sony's higher flagship models, such as SR/Z/FW/AW that are up for customizing. so i guess your point could be right. To tell you the truth i was never fond of the C series, so i cant say much about them, im not sure if they were ever up with customizable options or not, if not maybe the might keep up the same tradition as the have with the CW or they might change it up this time around.
Sony whats your next move

 

FYI, was just at my local Best Buy yesterday and this is already on display. They can't sell them until the Windows 7 launch, but they have them up and running to play with. They currently have it listed for $849 with 500GB hard drive. My store only had the white model, but I assume others will probably be available shortly.

 

So, did you get to play with the CW? Any thoughts.

I was looking in UK stores today, no sign of the CW at all......although I was pretty impressed with the Vaio NW as a well priced 15 inch laptop with blu-ray. Seemed good value to me.

I'm pretty much sold on Vaio so am deciding between NW, FW and the new CW.

 

Sony laptop come out on display a bit late sometimes in UK. Most of the time pc world or currys get them 1st. That's what I have noticed

 

I did play with it a bit. It's basically a redesigned CS. My daughter has a CS and this was essentially the same. Keyboard and display felt and looked the same. CW felt a little heavier but couldn't tell for certain as they had it connected to one of those anti-theft contraptions so that definitely added to the weight. For all intensive purposes I would say it's probably identical except for upgraded video card. Couldn't really test the performance of the card there in the store. I would say if you like the CS then you would definitely like the CW.

The current deal at Best Buy is actually pretty good. Was able to look at it again this afternoon and it's actually priced at $829. For that you get:

Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium
T6600 2.2 GHz processor
4 GB Ram
500 GB Hard Drive.
Blue-Ray drive included!

Again, definitely not bad. I paid $799 for my daughter's in Feb and that has T3200 I believe and only 250 HD and no blue-ray. For the small bump this definitely seems like a good deal.

 

im having 2nd thoughts after reading your comment.....see, the CS always look unattractive to me, maybe i like stuff a bit more sleek and professional, lik Z, SZ, SR, FW, TZ. CS always struck me as childish looking

 

Thans for the feedback. Spec wise vs price seems like a good package.

However, I've read plenty of critical comments about the CS range (especially fan related issues) so if it's effectively a CS upgrade that would concern me a wee bit. Hopefully they have improved as well as upgraded before releasing the CW.

 

yeah, im really hoping its not just a CS with fixed issues, but a whole redesign of the whole laptop. what i meant by childish looking is that when you look at the CS series it stuck me as bubbly, and yes vibrant. looking at the above models ive listed, such as SZ, SR, Z, TZ, FW, AW,(im not talking about size) but the whole look of them looks sleek, classy, something that has that wow factor. looking at the CW im really impressed and if(lets pray its not THAT thick) then it looks really professional looking too. Mind you, im not a business person or anything like that, just a teenager that just started college. but to me CS = VW Beetle, no offense. i just wanna get a hands on of the CW already!! hopefully they will have them instores on thursday.....(waiting impatiently)

 

I saw the white version at Best Buy as well. Honestly I thought it looked much better (and thinner) in person than in the pictures. I don't understand how it looks childish though. I thought it looked very clean and polished (in a good way). The one at my store was 799 with bluray, a t6600 and 500g HD. I'm pretty much sold on this model, though I think I'll be ordering it online as I don't care about bluray and want the 230 over the 210. I was also set on black but the white looked really nice too.

Edit: Corrected the available processor. Also, any other outlets except Sony and Bestbuythat I might consider for buying the laptop?

 

i think you mis-understood me , i said the CS series seemed childish, not the upcoming CW, hope i got that sorted out . Cheers!
Edit: i configed a CW and SR to close specs and the differnce came to $70
but i guess that included the 512MB graphics, intel wifi card, and 7200RPM HDD over the CW, hopefully they will add on a 7200RPM HDD choice for the CW soon since ive planned to get my laptop in late December

 

Could anyone confirm if the CW uses DDR3 1066 ram or DDR2 800. There's conflicting information on the Sony style website. The specs in the preconfigured models state DDR3 1066, while the custom config dialogue states DDR2 800. Not sure if this makes a huge difference on performance bit I'd like to know. I also have a call into Sony. Thx.

 

Haha. Nice. I did misread you. Can't wait for this badboy. Should have it on Thursday if Frys stocks the right model on shelf or in a couple of weeks if I have to order via Sony.

 

Is there any case to be produced with 1600*900 display?
I would like also mobile broadband, but i don't think it will be available.

 

The CW looks pretty nice (and I love the color choice!).
Just got the notification from Sony that they're up for ordering on the site, and the CW can be customized, thankfully.
I'm curious to see it in person (particularly the color I'm looking at) before buying, but this one may just be my next laptop~

 

wow, i thought i was the only one with this issue, there was a site that i checked out and it said that the CW has DDR3 1066 memory, and everyone else says it has DDR2, and i noticed that on the Sony site as well,
for those who are in the UK, i went to my local microanvika store(i have 2) and i asked them they said ask tomorrow around 4-5PM and we will be able toconfirm the exact instore display date, and shippment date from the warehouse, one of them said that we are aware, and the other store manager has no knowledge of the CW until he searched for like 10mins and told me the exact models he said we usally get shippment on friday so he said check in on thursday otherwise check in on saturday. and i went to the Sony Store and they said that it will vary when they will get it in, from 1week to 1month. hopefully by december then i will find out user issues and experiences to help me decide

 

The Sonystyle UK website has the CW up and with DDR3 RAM. Also has the ability to configure and price it up. Start at £579, up to £899 - looks pretty good I have to say.

https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/CW-Series-14

 

How about display and hdd customazation?
I'm intrested for 1600*900 and ssd drive

 

On the UK website there are no options to customise the screen. Only one screen on offer (1366 x 768 WXGA but it does have 16/9 for movie watching). On a 14 inch screen I personally think that would be fine.

The hard drive choices are both standard drives (5400 rpm) but you can choose either 320GB or 500GB. No SSD option.

Other customisable choices via sonystyle UK :-

- several Intel Core Duo processors (from T4300 with 2Ghz up to P8700 with 2.53GHz)
- either 3GB or 4GB of DDR3 RAM
- some optical drive choices (standard DVD, blu-ray read only, blu-ray read/write),
- colours (of course)
- 2 graphics card choics - NVidia G210M (256MB) or Nvidia G230M (512MB)

As a mainstream laptop for family multimedia usage, I reckon it's a pretty good choice.

 

I think higher resolution could be a choice, with extra cost. Also the ssd drive, its not somethink that couldn't be installed.WWA mobile broadband would be perfect. I know that i want many thinks, but i don't find a reason that couldn't be real.

 

Personally I'm not sure if higher resolution on a 14 inch screen is worth the extra cost. On a 16 inch and above screen, perhaps so.

Surely mobile broadband is possible via a USB device?

 

anyone know why the 2.8ghz model is available in the US but not the UK?

 

No but good question, noticed that one myself.......seems a tad strange, if I go for this laptop I'd likely want the most powerful processor possible.

 

Are you able to customize your Vaio on the sony UK website? Everytime i click that button I get

"
An application error occurred
Back

"

If it turns out you really can't get 2.8Ghz in the UK, is it possible to order using the US website from the UK?

 

Hi - yes you can configure, try this link it worked fine for me - you are correct though there is another route via the Sony web site that doesn't work

https://www.sonystyle-europe.com/SonyStyle/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/CW-Series-14

Not sure about ordering via USA.

 

try using a different browser, and see if it opens up or use the link inter bear has given. about ordering from US site, its not possible to order UK products, and they dont do international shipping. a couple months back i called SONY US from here(UK) and i said do you offer international shipping and he asked me where i said UK he said we dont offer or ship to UK and he refused to offer me any assistance at all for even US sony vaio's saying a bunch of crap about sorry you 're in uk and i cant offer you any help with any product. anyways

I just got back from Micro Ankiva and i was told only limited MA have the CW on display and i got lucky so i checked it out and my thoughts are that its really really sturdy, i checked the palmrest and sides and i felt no flex at all. speakers are okay for its size. and it had been on all day and i felt the bottom and the whole bottom chassis was really really cool, no heat it wasn't even warm and it had the 230 512MB graphics card. Red and black colour was really nice, i checked out the glossy palmrest and lid, and im a person who has sweaty palms often and i checked it out, its was bareable for me, it wasnt AS bad as i thought it would be. i couldnt really check the weight since the battery was off and kesington lock on. but it didnt seem as thick as i thought it was when i 1st looking at the pictures. since its on a slant its not really that fat. i liked the display off button as it turned off the backlit not the whole screen it self, but it must save alot on battery life. Win7 was really fast and running quite smoothly on it. Sound was really nice compared to SR its comparably the same or just a bit better in my opinion, i can imagine it being okay for me on a day to day basis. im certain im getting the CW now. but I will be buying it from the US and have it sent along with my dad. Thankfully this has International warranty so if something goes wrong i guess im covered If anyone has questions ill be glad to answer them. and i guess thats it for my 1st impressions

 

Good to get your first impressions, sounds positive

Did you get a chance to compare the screen alongside a FW? I'm pondering both and am in a purchasing dilemma!

 

Just checked my local BB and I gotta say, the CW looks really good. I played around with it for a few minutes, and was approached by 3 different salespeople.

- The build quality was top-notch
- The Icy-White model is sexy
- I loved the keyboard and touchpad
- Felt very light, but that was without the battery in of course

I am having a hard time deciding between this and the Asus UL80 but after today I am leaning towards the CW.

 

The CW I ordered from Best Buy just arrived.

First Impressions :

Build Quality is Good
Very little flex on the chasis - battery fits snug and doesn't move
Keyboard is very "maclike" and responsive
It also seems thinner than I expected - overall it is a nice sized machine.

I will post more when I have had chance to play with it some more.

 

sounds good.
the large capacity battery sticks out the back right? like 9 cell batterys on dell laptops?

 

Sounds good - how would you rate the performance /speed and screen quality?

 

thanks well i forgot to compare it to FW it was 1 laptop away i was comparing it more to the SR ill go back in next few days and let you guys know ...Since CW is officially released and we got our 1st owner shouldnt we make an Official CW Owner's Thread?

 

I'm all for that. I will probably be joining the owner's thread once I figure out about the battery life and heat output of this thing.

 

ok im making it right now

 

HI abaddon4180, its any review of the laptop... maybe some pics or video be our hero... ja i only waiting for some comments to buy a CW.. help

 

I too bought this machine (posted in the owners thread). Only difference is that I got a different model at Microcenter (Black, p7450 instead of t6600, 230m instead of 210m, no bluray and +100). I've never really benchedmarked a machine but I hope to get the 3dmark06 score posted within the hour.

 

You mean like...in your lap? That short of a distance?

I have an HP HDX dragon with the awesome 8800M GTS card and a 20.1" screen - wonderful gaming rig -- but it's also huge and heavy. Many times I like to just veg out in my recliner and play some games (usually more laid back games) -- and I also like to read email and surf as well. A 14" screen is perfect, but until recently it was hard to find a 14" laptop w/a decent graphics card. Now there are several.

The Sony CW has the style and quality I want. I've played a lot of games on my older Acer 14" notebook and found it great fun. Up close, literally in my lap, as you say. So it works for me!