Sony VAIO Spring 2010 Launch Event Coverage

Sony launches its VAIO notebooks and VAIO software upgrades for Spring 2010 last week. It was held at the Black Box Theatre at Fort Canning Centre, Cox Terrace. In this launch, Sony introduces the Z, E, F and S Series. And Sony also announces some refreshed models and software updates.

Mr. Takeo Kobayashi, MD of Sony Singapore, started the event with an opening speech.

Following that, Ms Hiroko Okada from Product Communication Group, VAIO Business Group, Sony Corporation, provided a very in-depth presentation on the Z and E Series.

The Z series is truly amazing, in terms of specs and design. We were shown a short video on how fast Sony SSD copy a 1GB large file as compared to a normal hard disk. It took a mere 4.05 seconds to complete for the SSD while it took about 24 seconds for the normal hard disk.

It is interesting how Sony design their product. Now, switching the graphics system on the Z-series is so easy. Sony has dedicated a switch for it.

And for Sony’s latest high end range, it seems that all will come with Full HD screen resolution.

Ms Okada continued to touch on the design factor of this Z series. For example, frame for the keyboard is made of one-piece milled aluminum for its light weight and robustness. I will show it later (during my tour on these products). BTW, the Z-series comes with Intel Core i7 or i5.

Next, she continued with the E-series. The E-series has a nice gradation design on the trackpad and palm rest area.

Specifically, she also mentioned that the word VAIO on the cover has a 3D effect that is using some special method to make. Plus, the keyboard has the numeric keypad. A rare for a laptop. I will show you later.

Next presentator is Ms Janice Yang, Senior Executive, VAIO Product Marketing, VAIO Business Division of Sony Singapore.

She covered the rest of the new series, F and S series, plus some refreshes on older models (CW series and etc) and some software updates.

She talks about Sony design like the one shown below and also on the performance of these notebooks using Intel latest Core series and Nvidia/ATI Radeon graphics chip. One of the software that was introduced is the PMB VAIO Edition. This software allows you to easily edit pictures, make videos and etc

Finally, the presentation ended. We were taken to another area where all the VAIO notebooks mentioned were on display. The first stop was to look at the eco friendly laptop bag that comes with some of the model. Also, there is a display of a new mouse from Sony.

Here is the latest mouse from Sony. It comes in a variety of colors. BTW, if you see the picture below, you can see that the mouse has a slider cover to turn it on or off (just like Sony point and shoot cameras). It has also an interchangeable panel with many colors to choose from.

Here is a close up of the mouse.

And here is the back of the mouse.

Next, I proceed to CW series. It is a refreshed model that comes with 64-bt Windows 7 and Intel Core i5 processor.

Here are the features.

Next, the S-series. You will notice that Sony has put hardware buttons. The one-push VAIO button activates the Media Gallery while the ASSIST button offers instant access to VAIO Care.

Here are the features of the S-series.

Next, the W-series. It has WWAN module incorporated. That means you can have 3.5G connectivity on the go.

There is a extended battery for it. In my opinion, it looks ugly on it.

FYI, the VAIO W series’ top cover, palm rest and bottom cover contains approximately 20% reprocessed plastic from DVD and CD waste.

Finally, I reached the Z-series. So far, this is the series that really brighten my eyes.

Here are some pics on the one-piece milled aluminum.

Close up.

Now, I headed to the F-series. It is very interesting. The specifications indicated that it has a battery life of up to 1 hour! Only 1 hour and with extended battery, it can last up to 2 hours. Obviously, this F-series is not meant for mobility. It is more like a desktop replacement but yet still easily portable. The specs looks great but I still hope to have more juice on it.