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…)

First look: Sony VAIO SR-Series

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

To create a fully featured sub-1.5kg laptop takes a fair dollop of money: the lowest-specced Z-Series costs £1,404 exc VAT. But Sony wanted to have a sub-£1,000 offering that also weighed less than 2kg – which is where the SR-Series fits in.

Two models will be available in the UK, the SR19XN and the SR19VN, and they cost a very reasonable £849 and £999 respectively (more…)

First look: Sony VAIO FW-Series

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

While three out of the four VAIO ranges announced by Sony yesterday are squarely aimed at businesses, the FW-Series has one mission in life: to entertain.

The chief sign of this is its 16.4in screen, with 1,600 x 900 pixels to help make high-definition movies look great (it’s also enough to view two programs side by side with ease).

And, from my brief encounter with the Blu-ray version of Spider-Man 3, they do (more…)

First look: Sony VAIO Z-Series

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

The Z-Series sits near the top of Sony’s VAIO range, aiming to attract executives who want to cut a dash in the boardroom.

And it certainly does make for a fine figure of a laptop. Weighing just under 1.5kg – thanks in part to a carbon fibre chassis – it measures a mere 33mm tall.

The screen is more interesting than most too. (more…)

First look: Sony VAIO BZ-Series

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

Aimed at mainstream and, dare we say it, slightly conservative business users, the BZ-Series – which replaces the BX-Series -  doesn’t come with some of the features boasted by the rest of the new VAIO range.

(more…)

What’s in a name?

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Abbreviations are great, aren’t they? BBC, DVD, HSBC, DVLA, GCSE. Why use normal words when you can take almost as long to recite them as letters instead?

Of course, some conveniently shorten into a series of letters that can actually be said as a single, new word. Think acronyms like NASA, SCUBA, laser. Think VAIO.

Today I read of Sony’s redefinition of the famous VAIO brand, and it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea what it had stood for since its creation.

Very Attractive If Overpriced, perhaps? (more…)