Say Hello To The Sony Vaio EB Series

Looks like Sony has released another model to their ever going product line up. This time it is the EB series (E = Entertainment?).
It is a 2.7KG, 15.5″ entertainment machine from the looks of it, with a off center keyboard and touch pad, and options for very powerful ATI graphics cards (both the 5470 and 5650). The EB also seems to be inspired by Skittles for colours, with options for bright green, pink and blue.
The series starts at $US799 and ships somewhere in the future. Lets hope that though we get Acer pricing, we still get Sony quality.

Via [Sony]

Full Spec Vaio Z

The Vaio Z refresh has been known for a few weeks now (since the announcement at CES), but a few facts were still in the air. Sony Japan has now announced the Z officially with specs that will blow your mind.

The first thing to note is the new eye melting resolution of 1920 x 1080 (on the top end model). If you found the old z hard to read then this one will surely implode your brain.

It also features all the rumored bits and pieces; the Nvidia 330GT, the quad SSD (no hdd option anymore), back-lit keyboard (reference other article) and the 1.4 kg weight. Price is expected to be around the $US1899 but with the release date of  March you still have plenty of time to start saving those precious pennies (I recommend collecting cans).

Via [Gizmodo]

Vaio Getting Backlit (Keyboard that is)

It seems all the over hype about how amazing backlit keyboards are
have reached an ear at the Sony Vaio development team. Their upcoming
Z series refresh is rumoured to be the first Vaio to feature a backlit
keyboard (also the first to feature quad SSD drives). All you
need now is to sell a kidney to be able to afford all that creamy Vaio
goodness (2 kidneys for quad SSD).

Via [Engadget]

The Coming Year

Merry Christmas Everyone. Now that is out of my system I would like to look ahead at the year coming.

What will be the defining technology? What breakthroughs will be made? What will be the ultimate lust machine?

This is a hard one for me to answer personally. I am a laptop man, and love the all in one devices, such as smart phones and tablets. I am interested in CES in January and the release of the i3 and i5 Intel processors coming out (and hopefully a new Sony Vaio Z based on it). I am interested in the evolution of Android devices, new Blackberries and Windows Mobile 7. I am interested in emerging green energy and their evolutions.

What you say? No iPad/iTablet/iSlate?

Before you string me up for not being an Apple Fanboy, I want to explain why. Apple are not a hardware company. Sure they make laptops and other devices, but it is usually other companies tech with their own interface. Sure their interfaces are the best (I agree they are simple to use and flow better then most), but they don’t really push the technology envelope very often. The Apple Tablet will be cool to look at and do flashy things, but ultimately it will do exactly what you imagine it will do (good video player, bad E-Book reader).

As the year comes to an end, I am looking forward to seeing something game changing in the coming year.

Powerful VAIO VGN-SZ791N Gets Reviewed

Unfortunately I don’t get to do reviews here, I just can’t afford the toys. The people at PCMag aren’t as unfortunate. They have got their hands on the damn powerful VGN-SZ791N, and they really liked it. They gave it a hefty 4.5 out of 5 circles. It even earned the Editor’s Choice branding. Unfortunately, even the best can’t run Crysis, with a lousy frame-rate of 6 at 1024×768.

For the compete review, click over to PCMag.

Penryn Is Upon Us

If you aren’t familiar with Penryn, don’t worry neither am I. I had a quick look up on good ol’ Wikipedia, and they said it is basically an upgrade from the Merom of old (basically the T5000 and T7000 series of mobile processor’s). So if you haven’t worked it out, this is pretty big business for Intel. The Merom’s are freaking awesome (poor AMD never had a chance) and will be dearly missed (though they will probably be seen in notebooks for months/years to come).
You can’t pick one up in a store quite yet, but soon you will see offering from HP, Sony, Fujitsu, Acer and surely many more (Asus will release info any second now). From HP you will see the 6820s (17-incher with a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU at 2.1GHz or T8300 at 2.4GHz), Sony will have their FZ31, SZ71, CR31 and AR61, Fujitsu will have Amilo Xi 2550 and 2428 and Acer will have an array of five with the 2920, 4920, 5920, 7720 and 9920.
The new processors will use less power and run cooler, meaning thinner quieter notebooks with longer battery lifes. When the benchmarks start coming in it will be interesting to see if the new Intels can create as much of a storm as the old. I will try and keep you up to date as more companies announce more notebooks.

For more info, click over to the Gizmodo and Laptoping Websites.

Didn’t Like The N Series Vaio? Try NR Then

I was never a fan of the Macbook style N series Sony Vaio. It was cheap, but the build felt cheap to pickup and everyone could tell who they were trying to copy. Thank god Sony reconsidered and have updated the series to be the new NR series.
Inside you can expect the same old for a budget focused notebook. From the 15.4-inch WXGA display, a 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB 5,400 rpm SATA hard drive, to the onboard video card and lack of Wireless N (and Blu-ray). What would you expect to pay for a budget system of this type? How does $US750 sound? At that price point, this is the cheapest Vaio ever.
For that price you also get a sleeker designed Vaio, looking a lot classier then the N series of old (plus what looks like a fabric covered lid). If this is your piece of mud cake, then you can grab your very own sometime in October.

For more info, project yourself over to the InfoSync Website. Or click here for the press release.

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Very Good For LT Series Vaio

The great guys over at PCMag have done a review on that Sony Vaio LT series desktop replacement, the same one I wrote about a yesterday. Seems they really liked it, especially liking the idea of a PC build into a HDTV (a bit far considering it is only 22-inch).

For the whole review, run and dive into the PCMag Website.

Another Round Of Vaio

For older readers of this site (before the refresh) you will know I am a huge Vaio fanboy. Matter of fact I am writing this article on one of the first 13.3-inchers released in Australia (cost $4,000). So I am very happy to announce a few range refreshers from Sony, which include a G2 replacement, an update to the desktop replacement’s titled the L series and a big fat AR series notebook.
The G2 is an ultralight, with a 12.1-inch display and low power processor. The changes between this model and the previous are the two choices of the new Intel low power processors (U7600 and U7500), choice of 3 different SSD’s (32/48/64GB) as well as a few normal HDD’s, and lastly the choice of 3 colours. No prices as yet, but expect the SSD driven variants to be a little pricier then standard HDD. The release date is set in October for Japan only.
The L series desktop replacement is a sort of iMac competitor (better in my opinion). Previously the L series “The Panel PC” was only a 15.4-inch (in Australia anyway), but the new series includes a 15.4-inch (LJ with 1280 x 800 resolution), 19-inch (LM with 1440 x 900 resolution) and 22-inch (LT with 1680 × 1050 resolution) version. Also included in the package is a range of Intel Core 2 Duo CPU’s and a NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT video card. They will range in 3 different colours, which are silver, black and pink (very metro). Release date is set as October the 6th and the pricing will start at $US1478 for the baby, all the way up to $3218 for the big daddy.
Finally we have the sexy 17-incher from Sony. The AR600 will be the replacement for the now aging AR500 series. Upgrades include 8400M GT or 8600M GT NVIDIA video card’s, Core 2 Duo T7250 or T7500 processors and a sweet Blu-ray and CableCard mix. They are expected to be seen around October the 2nd and will range in price from $US1,700 to $US3,300.

For more info, steal a plane and fly over to Gizmodo’s Blog, Engadget’s Blog and Akihabara News Site.

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