Sony launches Vaio TT, CS and AW laptops
SINGAPORE--Known for its stylish portables which charge a hefty premium, Sony made a statement when it launched the Vaio CR series last year for under S$2,000 (US$1,606.94). The latest iteration, the Vaio CS series, continue the trend and now it costs just S$1,499 (US$1,204.40) to have a Sony laptop in your bag. Though the Japanese maker still refuse to join the Netbook rampage, at this price point it can even compete with the likes of Dell and Acer for the budget market.
But for those with a bigger pocket, the Vaio AW and Vaio TT go for the professional designer and business traveler crowds, respectively. The former is decked out with an amazing screen and Blu-ray capability, while the latter combines a carbon-fiber body and optical drive capability to provide exceptional portability and functionality. Let's take a closer look at the new Vaio machines.
It starts off by foregoing cheap plastic in favor of carbon fiber which is lighter yet stronger than magnesium alloy. Then, despite its petite size, Sony somehow manages to slip an optical drive under the hood. The Core 2 Duo chip, though of the low-powered variant, is superior to the Atom chipset as the former has a larger L2 cache as well as two processing cores. Top it off with exceptional battery life, and those with a larger expense account will find the Vaio TT a no-brainer purchase, especially for the business traveler.
The high-end model even sports two 128GB SSDs as well as a Blu-ray writer, both firsts for the ultraportable segment. The only thing we didn't like was its price. Starting at S$2,999 (US$2,409.61), you can get three or four Netbooks for the same cost, though minus the feature set.
But for those with a bigger pocket, the Vaio AW and Vaio TT go for the professional designer and business traveler crowds, respectively. The former is decked out with an amazing screen and Blu-ray capability, while the latter combines a carbon-fiber body and optical drive capability to provide exceptional portability and functionality. Let's take a closer look at the new Vaio machines.
Vaio TT series
Before the era of Netbooks, extreme portability was epitomized by the Fujitsu LifeBook P and Sony Vaio T portables. Now that cheap sub-notebooks are available like the Eee PC 1000, Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and MSI Wind, how does the new Vaio TT hope to compete?It starts off by foregoing cheap plastic in favor of carbon fiber which is lighter yet stronger than magnesium alloy. Then, despite its petite size, Sony somehow manages to slip an optical drive under the hood. The Core 2 Duo chip, though of the low-powered variant, is superior to the Atom chipset as the former has a larger L2 cache as well as two processing cores. Top it off with exceptional battery life, and those with a larger expense account will find the Vaio TT a no-brainer purchase, especially for the business traveler.
The high-end model even sports two 128GB SSDs as well as a Blu-ray writer, both firsts for the ultraportable segment. The only thing we didn't like was its price. Starting at S$2,999 (US$2,409.61), you can get three or four Netbooks for the same cost, though minus the feature set.
Vaio CS series
Despite not joining the Netbook market, buying a Sony Vaio laptop no longer costs an arm and a leg. The latest Vaio CS models have brought Sony's price point to new lows. For merely S$1,499 (US$1,204.40), you can get a stylish thin-and-light VGN-CS13 notebook in a choice of three colors--black, pink and white.The next step up (VGN-CS16) adds S$500 (US$401.74) to the tab, but in return you get more color schemes (black, brown, red, pink and white), a faster processor and a discrete graphics processor under the hood. Granted the Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS is hardly gaming grade, but for older titles and normal computing tasks, it will more than suffice. The top-of-the-line S$2,199 (US$1,766.83) VGN-CS18 comes in a unique matt-black finish and, besides an upgraded processor and more RAM, it also includes a fingerprint sensor.
Vaio AW desktop replacement
Sony's flagship model comes in the form of the Vaio VGN-AW17. Using the new full-HD 18.4-inch, 16:9 display, it is the first laptop equipped with the same 3LED technology found in high-end Bravia LCD TVs. According to Sony, this allows the Vaio to display the full range of Adobe RGB Color Space, which is a boon for professional photographers and creative artists. A high-speed CompactFlash card slot is even provided to download your images from a dSLR quickly.But it's not all work and no play. The powerful Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card allows for gaming, while the Blu-ray drive can be used for HD movie viewing. Our main gripe? Besides the high S$6,999 (US$5,623.49) price, this Vaio has only three miserable USB ports, no eSATA and a small ExpressCard/34 slot (instead of a full-size ExpressCard/54).
With the exception of the Vaio TT model, which will be available later this month, the other Sony laptops are already in stores.
New products
| Model name | In a nutshell |
Sony Vaio VGN-AW17GU/Q Click for more details |
Wow factor: This massive 18.4-inch widescreen has a 16:9 aspect ratio, full-HD resolution and the same 3LED technology used in high-end Bravia LCD TVs.
Expected: Available now Price: S$6,999 (US$5,623.49) |
 Sony Vaio CS series Click for more details |
Wow factor: The most affordable Vaio in town, the entry-level CS series starts at a pocket-friendly S$1,499 (US$1,204.40) if you do not care for the discrete graphics processor in the higher-end siblings.
Expected:Available now Price: From S$1,499 (US$1,204.40) to S$2,199 (US$1,766.83) |
 Sony Vaio TT series Click for more details |
Wow factor: Still one of the most desirable ultraportables equipped with an internal optical drive, the high-end Vaio TT even comes with a Blu-ray writer and dual 128GB SSD storage.
Expected: November 2008 Price: Starts at S$2,999 (US$2,409.61) |
About the author
Tracking laptop and PC trends since 2005, Darius Chang may have been knee deep in bits and bytes but is certainly not a binary person. Under that big and soft exterior holds a marshmallow core which dotes on his god-daughters and nephew. Suspected of ADD, his interests span disparate fields such as sustainability studies, diving, sports, politics, etc. A true jack of all trades, but master of one (maybe two).
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