Samsung X-Series: First Look

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The first two days of the IFA trade show in Berlin saw a couple of laptop-related surprises: first, Sony unveiled one of the most alluring machines we’ve ever seen in the form of its 14mm, 640g X-Series, before Samsung unleashed its very own X-Series notebooks the very next day.

Samsung’s trio of new laptops may not be quite as slim as Sony’s latest crowd-pleaser, but they still have some pretty enticing vital statistics: the 15in X520, for instance, is 24mm thick and weighs 2.09kg. And even though that’s more than three times as heavy as the Sony, it still feels incredibly light for a 15in notebook. The X120 is even more lightweight at 1.36kg.

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Can companies be trusted over green promises?

Friday, September 4th, 2009

I’ve just come out of an “Eco” briefing with Sony at IFA, and it should be no surprise at all that they’re banging their own eco drum pretty fiercely. But, in that, they’re absolutely no different from all the other manufacturers at this show.

Sharp, I’m told, declared themselves “world eco champions”, and Toshiba dedicated a number of slides in their press conference about the fact they were aiming to “improve our eco-efficiency by ten times” by 2050.

And there’s another thing all these companies have in common too. They not only want you to replace existing products, they want you to actually own more electronic products. Can these two competing demands ever live with each other?

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First look: Sony VAIO X-Series

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

We got our hands on an early sample of the all-new Sony VAIO X-Series at Sony’s pre-IFA show, and to say it looks an impressive feat of engineering completely understates matters.

Let’s get the facts out of the way first. This is the world’s lightest ever laptop, weighing less even than the Sony VAIO P-Series – and that weighed in at 640g.

Hold the X-Series in your hands and it feels breathtakingly light. Once you pick it up, you don’t want to put it down. (more…)

First look: Sony’s VAIO netbook, the Mini W Series

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

The long wait is over: finally, we have in our hands a Sony VAIO netbook. The Mini W Series is here, and we got our chance to try it out at a briefing in central London this afternoon.

Note: click here to read our full review of the Sony VAIO Mini W Series netbook

Its big selling point is undoubtedly the screen, with 1,366 x 768 pixels on show. It’s bright, and on first inspection it also looks sharp. Although at 10.1in it feels cramped compared to a full-size laptop, we’d be happy to work with this screen all day.

Sony has also made plenty of effort to give this netbook an element of luxury. It’s available in “berry pink, sugar white and cocoa brown”, and the model we had to hand was the sugar white version (white to everyone else in the world).

It won’t take your breath away with its style, but there’s no doubt the bold VAIO logo on the lid gives this netbook some immediate kudos. The chassis itself is plastic, but Sony gives it an element of styling with a mottled finish. (more…)

The PC Pro Father’s Day gift guide

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Father’s Day is this Sunday and, as the big day looms ever closer, there’s now little time left to go out and hunt for the ideal gift. Just turn to the PC Pro A List, then, for the perfect presents that you can rush out and buy before it’s too late.

Those with photographic fathers are spoilt for choice: there are superb choices available no matter what you’re looking for, whether it’s a compact, DLSR or video camera.

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First look: the 370g nettop PC

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Almost a year ago I blogged about a tiny PC, the Space Cube, which had landed in the PC Pro Labs and got quite a bit of attention – but, while that machine was undeniably impressive, its usefulness was limited to those who happened to own space shuttles and were familiar with its obscure version of Red Hat.

The latest miniscule computer to turn up, though, is far more practical for those who don’t engage in interstellar travel. The Anders Fit-PC2 may only be 27mm tall and weigh just 370g, but it’s a fully-fledged nettop with an Intel Atom processor lurking inside its tiny frame.

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First look: four brand new Sony Ericsson phones

Friday, May 29th, 2009

At a lavish event last night at London’s Sketch Bar, Sony Ericsson unveiled four new phones, all with the focus squarely on entertainment, gaming and multimedia.

While they may have unusual names – only one of the four new products has the traditionally impenetrable code – Sony Ericsson see this is a positive move, replacing the older names with more memorable phrases.

We’ve been hands-on with the quartet of new phones to find out if they’re up to the job – or if they’re all mouth and no trousers.

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First look: Sony Walkman X-series

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Sony has taken the wrapping off its most obvious iPod Touch competitor yet – the OLED-equipped X-series Walkman.

We’ve been hands-on with Sony’s latest addition to the Walkman family at the London launch and, while it’ll have to go some way to beat the all-conquering iPod Touch and iPhone duopoly, we’ve come away impressed.

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Where next for the TFT market?

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

For a while now I’ve been blathering on to anyone who’ll listen (and plenty who’d rather not – Ed) about falling TFT prices, while marvelling at the bargains that can currently be had. Large-format TFTs have gone from expensive luxuries to affordable commodities in a remarkably short period of time, so I wasn’t surprised to read today that the head of LG Display, Kwon Young-soo Kwon, believes the industry has “hit the bottom.”

I’ve just finished writing a TFTs Labs for next month’s issue so I know first-hand just how crazy the market has become. We had one 22in TFT for £80 plus VAT, a 24in model for £140 plus VAT and even a monstrous 28in for a little over £200 plus VAT. If I remember correctly, some of these prices are cheaper than 17in and 19in TFTs reviewed just months previously.

It can’t be healthy for a whole industry to plummet so quickly in order to chase declining sales, and the remarks from Kwon at LG back this up. (more…)

Hands on: Sony VAIO P Series

Friday, January 9th, 2009

The VAIO P Series is a fascinating notebook. And Sony is going to tremendous pains to make it clear that it’s no netbook – even though I heard a couple of its employees making the Freudian slip of calling it a netbook, before quickly correcting themselves.

What immediately sets it apart is its size. The P Series can literally slip into a jacket pocket – I know because I’ve done it. It’s also incredibly light, just 638g. Even the lightest netbooks tend to tip the scales over 1kg. (more…)