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Sony’s new laptops aim to look as good as they perform, and not cost the Earth. Matt Warman examines their chances in a cut-throat market.
Sony has had a torrid time of late, but with a new range of laptops joining impressive mobile phones and the PlayStation Vita console, it may finally be turning the corner.
The new E, S and T Series computers included, with the T, Sony’s first official 'ultrabook’ laptop, allowing it to join the club currently dominated by Asus, Dell and HP, of ultraslim, ultralight laptops that combine long battery lives with top performance.
Nonetheless, under new chief executive Kaz Hirai, the Japanese electronics manufacturer announced its fourth straight year of losses and said in 2011 alone it lost more than £3.5billion.
Hirai added, however, that he anticipated a return to profitability in this financial year, and crucial to that will be the new laptops, phones and top video games, as well as movies and music from the firm’s entertainment divisions.
So these new laptops mark a conscious return to Sony’s heritage: they are solid and elegant, with a sense of style that makes them identifiably Sony in a way which consumers have long found attractive. It’s a testament to the power of the brand that in surveys more Britons think the company is a sponsor of the London Olympics than rival companies that actually are.
The new devices, however, take a different approach to the ultrabook idea: where companies such as Asus and Apple have adopted very slim, tapering wedge shapes for their products, Sony’s £750 T adopts a much more rectangular design that is rather more functional. That allows it to pack in more ports, such as VGA and HDMI, so connectivity is considerably better than its rivals. Its aluminium and magnesium chassis makes it feel robust, too, while the battery runs for nine hours on some models thanks in part to the low voltage processors. The T also adds the handy option to charge gadgets via USB even when the laptop is not turned on.
The S series, meanwhile, adopts a similar approach but adds the sorely-missed optical drive, while the E adopts a stylish wraparound design for its casing and aims at the student or family market. Sony also envisages more use of docks and wireless keyboards so that laptops can be connected to multiple screens.
At the top of the range, for now, is Sony’s Vaio Z series, whose price can go up to £3,000. When Windows 8 launches later in the year, it will be replaced with an equally thin, premium product. For now, however, Sony’s latest laptops demonstrate that while companies such as Apple dominate in certain markets, there is room for neatly designed products with plenty of ports. That mass market focus means Sony is set to be around for a good while yet.
Specifications:
Specifications:
(Basic models; available from June; prices vary by reseller)
S Series
Processor
Intel Core i7-3612QM Processor
Memory
8GB DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM
Drive
1000GB HDD 5400rpm
Screen
39.5cm (15.5”) LCD (1920x1080) with wide (16:9) aspect ratio
Graphics
Hybrid NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE GPU + Intel® HD Graphics 4000
Optical drive
None
Dimensions (DxHxW)
Approx. 255.4 x 23.9 x 380mm
Weight
Approx. 2kg (with standard supplied battery)
E Series
Processor
Intel Core™ i5-2450M Processor
Memory
6GB DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM
Drive
750GB HDD 5400rpm
Screen
39.5cm (15.5”) VAIO Display (1366x768) with wide (16:9) aspect ratio
Graphics
AMD Radeon™ HD 7650M (1GB VRAM)
Optical drive
DVD±RW/±R DL/RAM
Dimensions (DxHxW)
Approx. 253.5 x 25.3-35.1 x 371.9 mm
Weight
Approx. 2.7kg (with standard supplied battery)
T Series
Processor
Intel Core™ i3-2367M Processor
Memory
4GB DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM
Storage
Hybrid storage 320GB HDD 5400rpm + 32GB SSD (The SSD module is dedicated for system responsiveness and not available for file storage)
Screen
33.7cm (13.3”) VAIO Display (1366x768) with wide (16:9) aspect ratio
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Optical drive
None
Dimensions (DxHxW)
Approx. 226 x 17.8 x 323 mm
Weight
Approx. 1.6kg (with standard supplied battery)
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