Sony VAIO W netbook now official in US, coming August for $499

Not so much of a surprise now, but Sony's bringing its 10.1-inch VAIO W stateside as well, and yes, according to the Sony reps we talked to, this time they really do mean to call it a netbook, unlike its VAIO P brethren. Likewise, with that nomenclature comes none too surprising specs, including a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Windows XP, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, VGA out, two USB ports, Ethernet, webcam, and MemoryStick / SD card readers. The three cell battery should last an estimated three hours, and like usual there's also an option for six cell. That isolated (read: chiclet) keyboard is said to be 86% the size of a normal typing surface, and the aforementioned bundled VAIO Media plus software enables content streaming across DLNA-enabled devices like the PC or PlayStation 3.



Now for what's missing: the reps stressed this an "in-home" product for them, and as such there's no talk of 3G or GPS, nor should hold your breath for an optical drive or SSD option. The company stressed the hardware's build quality here, and while we'll have to wait until we get our hands on to validate, like we said before, the pics aren't exactly flattering when you look at what the competition is producing. All that's left to discuss for now is the release date, pricing, and color options, so in order: just around the $500 mark, mid-August, and berry pink, sugar white and cocoa brown. Welcome to the bottom, guys

Source: Engadget

Sony VAIO voted best for business travellers

Praises for another exclusive product from the house of Sony

MORE plaudits for the Sony VAIO Z-series laptop (already praised here), which has been voted the best business-technology gadget in the Heathrow Travel Product Awards. Some 23,000 voters registered their opinions on the microsite, as part of a celebration of the gadgets on sale at Heathrow, a shopping centre with an airport attached.

As the spiel has it:

When it comes to supreme performance on the go, the Z Series manages to pack the power of a desktop into an ultra-slim, lightweight 13.1in chassis. Featuring 16:9 widescreen, high-power graphics card, up to six hours' battery life and built-in mobile broadband, it's the ultimate choice for working on the move – perfect for catching up on a long-haul flight.



You won't be too surprised to learn than one of Apple's iPods, the Touch 32GB, was named top travel gadget overall (by 49% of respondents), and Samsonite's Freeminder Flex was decreed the most innovative luggage.

But before we take these awards too seriously let us note that Paddington Bear was voted “Britain’s best souvenir”—not one imagines, a very competitive field.

Source: Economist

Sony Vaio W series netbook

Sony does not like use the term netbook so it has named its latest entrant in the market, the W series, Internet book. We got hold of the sugar white Sony VAIO W series Internet book and were disappointed on a couple of fronts namely bad overall design, poor battery life, an 87% keyboard and average sound quality. Keep in mind that at Rs 29,990 this was one of higher priced machines in our shootout.

For starters, the VAIO W has a 10.1-inch display like your average netbook. Where it scores is in the fact that it has a very high display resolution of 1,366 x 768. On such a small screen, however, that meant that the fonts were too small to read comfortably and we had to set XP's font size to 125%. The rest of the spec is your usual Intel Atom N280, 945GSE chipset, 1 GB of memory and a 160 GB hard drive.

Although it was a middling performer in the CrystalMark benchmark, the Sony VAIO W did not fare well in the battery test with the lowest battery life of 107 minutes in the Battery Eater Pro test.

It took us a while to get used to the keys that are nicely spaced out and sturdy enough to handle heavy typing. However, the keyboard tray left plenty of room for multimedia control keys, which were missing. Moreover, the right hand shift key was way too small and many-a-times we missed it while typing.

It took us a while to figure out the power button which is located on the front panel as against the usual top of the keyboard.

The sound quality of this device wasn't what we would have expected from a Sony. The output was tinny and it suffered from distortion at higher levels.

Source: Express Computers

Sony launches a sleek, easy-to-carry netbook – the VAIO W series

Sony's VAIO lineup of notebooks has a new addition - this time round a netbook, the VAIO W series! The sturdily-built, fast-performing 10-inch netbook possesses the key characteristics of the Sony VAIO notebook, but in a much smaller, easy-to-carry package!

The elegantly-designed VAIO W series netbook is just perfect for sending emails and instant messages, as well as browsing the Internet. In addition, the netbook is equipped with a built-in VAIO Multimedia Suite, which is a handy amalgamation of video and photo editing tools to enable users create their own high-quality home movies and slideshows - anywhere, anytime.

Pre-installed with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system and Atom N280 1.66 Ghz processor, the VAIO W series netbook boasts an LED-backlit display that support a 16:9 aspect ratio; and a sleek 1366 x 768-resolution screen.

The other features of the newly-launched, Rs. 29,990-priced, netbook include a 160GB hard drive; 1 GB DDR2 RAM; two convenient USB ports; incorporated Bluetooth technology; a built-in webcam and microphone; and a 3-cell lithium ion battery.

The VAIO W netbook also features a built-in Wi-Fi, which not only facilitates a high-speed connection to Internet, but also keeps the users plugged into their favorite media.

In addition, the VAIO 'Media plus' feature enables the streaming of photos, music and videos from the VAIO W, to be enjoyed on a compatible TV via a DLNA-compliant device!

Source: StockWatch

Sony Vaio add-on W series netbook to its listing

Sony Vaio is well known for it's stylish, attractive and features loaded netbook.

This time Sony Vaio comes with W series laptop which is with the same aim to make their netbook smarter than others due to its placement of the features.

When we talk about this netbook then this is small in size but is cool in its features and looks.

Sony Vaio W is packed with an Intel Atom processor 1.66GZ, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB hard drive, 10.1 inches screen size, fully metallic color theme, touch pad, satin chrome keyboard, SD card readers, Front power control, Sony's proprietary memory stick PRO reader, two USB ports, VGA camera, audio jack, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

The netbook measures 270X30X18mm in size and weight about 1.15KG.

These all features and design make it some what different from other netbooks.

Source: Samay Live

Sony's Netbook entry

Finally, Sony has unveiled its own entry into the ultra small, notebook category that the industry is calling the NetBook.

The way it has evolved, this form factor usually comes with 7 inch to 10 inch displays -- and being powered mostly, by Intel's Atom chip, it would be underpowered as a full fledged laptop PC. Yet by ditching the optical drive -- that is, the DVD writer/ player -- most manufacturers have gone beyond last year's tentative models and are able to offer at least a full PC OS like Windows XP and also throw in a reasonably sized hard disk drive rather than palm off a teeny weeny Flash based storage module.

Sony's offering that is available in India this week, is the Vaio W Series, powered by the 1.66 GHZ Atom N 280; with 1 GB RAM; a 160 GB hard disk drive; integrated graphics and a 10 inch screen.

The keyboard is generously spaced for this class of portable PC and so is the touch pad -- a typical Sony value addition, where it is difficult to distinguish one make from another, because of very similar basic specs.

There is a built-in 640 by 380 pixel camera -- almost standard in Net books other than the entry level, because Skype-type video calls is a basic application dermanded by customers.

Another way Sony has tried to go beyond the processor and size- imposed limitations, is to beef up the display to 1366 by 768 which when compared with the 1024 by 600 resolution commonly sported by Netbooks, makes for a far better picture quality. The 16: 9 aspect ratio shows , Sony has the movie-mad user in mind.

As far as we could see, this is the main plus point that Sony has offered, to justify what we think is, the somewhat stiff asking price of Rs 29,990 for the Vaio W. We are of course comparing the basic specs ( and the modest battery time of 2.5 hours) with what the branded competition will offer in India.

But we do realise that the Sony Vaio series to the company's loyal customers, is somewhat similar the Mac is to Apple fans: a symbol and a statement for which they are prepared to pay a premium. Maybe we should also mention that the software they throw in -- including their own Media Plus utility - is something that most NetBook makers would not provide in their less pricier models.

However in a no-compromise offering like the Vaio, we are suprised to find the defaulty RAM memory is just 1 GB: To get the value out of the near- HD screen by playing media rich content or games, one would almost certainly have to upgrade to 2 GB at least, from Day One. We would have expected Sony to have done this in the default package. We would also have expected that for a model loaded with Windows XP just 3 months before the next edition, Windows 7, is due, Sony might have built in an attractive upgrade option for the buyer.

In summary: not an aggressvely competitive Net Book; but it will not disappoint those already sold on Sony's distinctive Vaio brand.

Video Review of VAIO W Netbook

Yet another video that wow-wows the features of the all new VAIO W series Netbooks. And after you have seen the video, just go through the comments. That's called an enthusiasm.