Sony Vaio SA deal on Microsoft Store

Thought I'd pass this along, since I haven't seen it posted anywhere here. I just snagged an SA with the 'entry-level' configuration (i5 2410, 4 GB ram, 500 GB 5400 RPM hd, 1600x900 screen, 1 GB Radeon 6630) for $1169 with a free sheet battery. That price is with a valid student .edu address. Without the student discount, the laptop is $1299 and you still get the free sheet battery. Either way, I'm pretty sure this is cheaper than what Sonystyle.com is offering.

Best of all, laptops ship pre-built from Microsoft's warehouse in Cali, so with $9.99 2nd day shipping you could order today and receive your box on Wednesday. I opted for the $16.99 Next Day Air, so the order I placed earlier this morning is arriving tomorrow

Link: Microsoft Store Online - Sony VAIO VPCSA2FGX/BI

Will update this post when I receive the machine to confirm everything's there and works.

 

no more free xbox?

 

Why is it so hard to navigate Microsoft's web store? When I go to computers and just click on Sony computers, I only get two choices: the VPC F1 and VPC F2. Where's the SA/ how did you find it on Sony's webstore?

BTW, congrats on the purchase!

 

Ah, should have specified. If you're a student, you can choose two options:

1. $1299 (the regular price), which comes with a free sheet battery AND a free XBOX 360

2. $1169 (student discount price) which comes with a free sheet battery and no free XBOX 360.

Personally, I don't need an XBOX 360, so I just went with the discounted price.

 

I included a link with the top post. But if that one doesn't work, go to Microsoft's store. Hit Laptops + Netbooks. Don't check the Sony box, for some reason that doesn't work. Instead just scroll down to the bottom of the page and you should see the SA for $1299.

If you're a student, go to the Microsoft store, hover over 'Student' on the left side menu, go to 'Computers', and scroll down to find the SA for $1169.

 

Thanks for that. I was just asking in general, because I know in the past people have linked to other various Sony computers, but checking the Sony box never netted me the ability to see them. I always had to be hot linked to it like in this instance.

 

+1 Kolumbia! This puts the SA in my budget for a new laptop for college. Looks like I'm springing for this one.

Question: On the Microsoft website, it has the Vaio SA weight listed as 4.8 lbs.

On Newegg, it has the weight as 3.7 lbs. Newegg listing ($1244)

What could the 1 lb discrepancy be? Just an error?

 

If the Microsoft store is including the additional battery in the weight then that makes sense. The SA will always weight ~3.7 lbs.

 

Yeah, the MS weight includes the sheet battery. The computer by itself is 3.7 (also functions without the sheet battery).

 

Does it come with the adobe bundle that the ones from the sony store come with. Also, does anyone know the Microsoft Stores return or warranty policy?

 

Lazybee is correct - the weight and thickness on the Microsoft store site include the sheet battery.

As for return policy: 30-day return policy, no restocking fee, they'll pay for shipping. It can be open box as long as it's in 'perfect condition'. Warranty is 1-year factory warranty. You have to talk to Sony to extend it.

Don't know about the Adobe bundle yet but I'll report back tomorrow when I receive the laptop. I hope it comes with it.

 

OK thanks for clearing that up. Does the MS store charge tax too? I'm in PA if it matters.

 

yes, it charges sales tax according to the tax rate at your shipping address.

 

Gah why would they do that? No matter, it still comes out cheaper than Newegg because of the free slice battery.

 

because they have to... although don't complain... I get charged tax at newegg... kills ALL the darn deals for me...

 

Update: got the machine. A few observations.

First, the "Microsoft Signature" thing really strips this of any bloatware. It starts up extremely clean and seems to include only the necessary VAIO utilities. This is a plus, I think.

The bad news: There is no bundled Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements. Not a big deal for me as I already have CS5, but for someone who might really want those two programs, this might be an important consideration.

Also, there is no Blu-Ray drive. It's a DVD burner. I don't really care, but some people might.

The screen's color quality is poor out of the box, but once calibrated in the Windows Control Panel > Color Management it's actually not bad! And I say this as a graphic designer and tremendous color snob. Particularly, lowering the gamma levels really helped 'un-wash out' some of the black tones.

The hinge is floppy and is mildly annoying, but y'all already knew that.

I don't know if it's supposed to be like this, but the Speed>Stamina switch no longer needs me to close out of all open programs. Granted, I've only tried this while running Chrome and a few other small programs, but I was under the impression that you have to quit out of everything.

Otherwise, this machine is basically identical to the entry level SA. I'm extremely happy with mine and I think this one's definitely a keeper.

 

the price dropped to 1199, with free xbox now

 

Link? it still shows $1299 for me.

 

That's good to hear about the screen, and the lack of the bundled software doesn't bother me.

How does the ordering process for getting the student discount work? My father's out of town and we're having a bit of trouble confirming the student discount through my college email. If you could give me a step-by-step instruction or link me to one that'd be great.

 

call in customer support, say you're having problems and say if you can scan in your college ID (if you got one). What's wrong with e-mail confirmation?

 

I don't have a college ID yet, but I do have my college email address. My father was trying to order it on my behalf, so I gave him my college email. He had to make a Windows Live ID to buy from this store, and in the process submitted my email. I then got an email to confirm: it says I'm confirming my college email for Windows Live/Hotmail and asks me to sign in with it. We don't know what to sign in with. If we just go to the normal hotmail.com and sign in with the profile he made for Windows Live, it works fine. But if we use that same login for the confirming of my college email, it says it's the incorrect address and that I have to use my college email to log-in. In case there were a password somehow associated with that email, hitting 'forgot password' and typing my college email in results in an error. Any ideas?

 

Hmm... try your college email + your hotmail password? Or is there a password on the confirmation email sent to your college email? If not, just call in and deal with a customer rep. I always find talking to them is better than these automated processes

 

When I bought mine, it redirected me to a sign in page w/ my school's logo that let me punch in my credentials directly through my school account and bam, I was confirmed. I guess my school set something up with Microsoft. But yes, I would second other peoples' advice and simply call into customer service. It's always easier that way.

 

I'm definitely grabbing this. Got a couple questions for you guys though.

Is the Xbox deal still on for students and what is the cost associated with it?

Also, does anyone know which version of Win7 this ships with? I can't seem to find it anywhere on the page. I'm guessing it's Home Premium, but inside I'm hoping for Pro.

Edit: For those who want to customize, Sony seems to have reduced the price of the SA on their online store by $100. It now starts at $1249, and the change appears to be permanent.

 

Win7 Professional. And yes the XBOX deal is on, at $1299 (w/ a free sheet battery). The $1169 price gets you sheet battery and no XBOX.

good call. if you're a student, make that $1187 after a $62 education store discount. no free sheet battery of course.

 

Actually, sonystyle is giving away free sheet battery as well. So, I find that the difference is not that much.

In fact, if you go with windows home edition, sonystyle comes out about 10 dollars cheaper with free sheet battery.

So, I think it is a trade off: if you buy from microsoft store, you get windows pro (and microsoft signature) + possibility of getting xbox at cheaper rate, but you don't get blueray burner and can't customize. Also, shipping is faster than sonystyle I guess.

if you buy from sonystyle, you get to customize laptop, and you get a blueray drive.

In both cases, you still get free sheet battery, so the choice is yours.

 

Sony says you get a free sheet battery, but for some reason when you actually try and take it through the check-out process with the education store, it only shows the sheet battery for half off. So I'm not really sure what the deal is there.

 

Yeah I got my order through after live support chat and then a phone call to order.

I certainly needed the faster shipping and didn't really care to customize from the base SA level.

Either way, I'm pumped for my laptop!

 

If you have a microsoft store around your place, you can get SA for just $1079 (with sheet battery also!)

If you visit microsoft store, you can get SA for either $1199 with free xbox, or $1079 with an extra student discount (but can't get both )

Since I did not need a free xbox, I instead opted for 10% extra student discount to grab SA for just $1079.


Can't thank enough to OP for sharing this information. What a great deal! (although you have to be lucky to have microsoft store around your place, and there are only 12 stores in the whole country!)

 

I am confused here. Do I get free xbox with this deal?
Sony VAIO VPCSA2FGX/BI - $1,169.00

Microsoft Store Online - Sony VAIO VPCSA2FGX/BI

 

I'm not seeing the free Xbox either. I don't think you can get it with this laptop from what I've seen, only the free sheet battery. Also, the base price (not student price) is $1199 it looks like, not $1299

 

Yup, the regular price has been dropped, so students only save $30. On the upside, it would seem that students can now get a free Xbox (again?) with their purchase at the $1169 price.

I called a rep today because I was having trouble verifying my .edu email online and asked for the student price. He told me that I was eligible for a free Xbox even though I told him I was interested only in getting the lowest price.

Needless to say, I placed that order right away.

I suggest anyone still interested in purchasing a preconfigured computer from Microsoft call a rep. Mine (Phil) helped me through one of the smoothest and most pleasant buying experiences I've ever had. (It constrasted sharply with the layout of the Microsoft Store website, which is unfortunately a total nightmare.)

 

Even though I ordered mine a week ago, I gave it a shot.

I used Live Chat the first time because I had trouble with getting my .edu email confirmed, so I tried that again first. Waste of time.

Then I called, and after a few minutes, I got the 360 ordered for free!

+1 to Tthursday

 

Picked up the SA for $1199 with XBOX 360. The "signature" setup is clean - fast and no bloat. However, I can't find the "create recovery discs" as per outlined in the manual (using the VAIO utility) - it just has reinstall software and applications.

I need the recovery in case I need to rebuild. Also, does anyone know if you rebuild your machine will it be placed back in the Microsoft Signature state?

 

So this laptop does not carry blu-ray drive?
how does it compared to the asus U36sd which is also listed in the Microsoft store.

 

No, it does not have a blu-ray drive. My only other complaints would be that it has a 5400 rpm hard drive, but I will be upgrading before too long to a SSD.

The free sheet battery and free xbox make it a good deal in my opinion.

 

And how does it compared to the asus.
the sony is 200 dollars more where as the asus is $1,000?

 

The asus comes with a low resolution screen, no optical drive, and an nvidia optimus graphics system ( which does not enable manual control over which graphics card is used )

 

Thanks! I ordered my SA too over the phone from MS Store.
It cost me $1169 for SA with sheet battery and free ground shipping. No tax in Oregon

Sonystyle also gives free sheet battery (you have to select it in the accessory page), and you can buy another sheet battery for $75 in the main configuration page, but then I wanted to go cheap so I opted for MS Store purchase. I can probably sell the XBOX not too hard and make my SA $1000.

I was manning up for the Z21, I had the cash all ready, but then I got cold feet. I really wanted something light, but I guess I'll have to settle with the SA for another 4-5 years.

 

Me either. I'm hoping somebody can help me with this, as I don't want to go too long before making recovery disks. But I have no clue where I can make them from since its not where they said it was...

 

I don't know about this SA, but from past experience with Sony MS Signature netbook, it was not MS Signature state after recovery.
---EDIT: press F10 while booting. It brings up the recovery environment. It'll revert everything to MS Signature state.
---


I'm just going to Ghost image the whole hdd using Hiren's boot cd before I do anything.


About the Xbox that's coming along, is there any useful thing to do with it, or is everyone just ebaying it? I wish it was a PS3 then at least I would use it as a Bluray player.