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Sony's Latest VAIO Looks Like Barf
luigi writes "Sony offers sneek peek at completely new designed Notebooks - VAIO QR. No technical data, prices, release dates available yet." i4u is a sort of a rumor mill: the sony pics are a little bit down, but you can check out links to to sony's japan site. Basically the cool little purple boxes have been replaced with a black and white thing that looks like it was designed by school children. Sorry: Not candy coating this one, it looks dumb.
I don't understand why so many people think these
things are all that "ugly."
Is it the white keyboard? Or the tubular frame
around the monitor? Or the trademark? Sounds to
me like Taco said it's ugly and people seem to
agree. The handle looks interesting, doubly so
if it happens to be where the aux battery is.
The keyboard may take some getting used to, and it
may be wonderful, who knows? Also, the keyboard in the unit for the US market could very well be
different from the Japanese prototype you're seeing in the photos.
I don't understand why people are saying these things are "ugly" as compared to the average thinkpad or powerbook. If the spec's and compatability are like they should be for a vaio,
and if it's really lightweight, then fabulous.
I want to know two things about it:
1. Can it, on the standard battery charge, play
240 minutes of DVD with the volume turned up to say, 70%. Haven't seen a notebook yet that can
do pull that off.
2. What is the median S/N ratio for the analog audio input of the soundchip? (SP/DIF I/O would be nice too). I'd like to record live music, with minimal noise, thank you.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
They could be purple and yellow.
--
When a new Vaio breaks, we can say "Out of order? Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!"
You're a suburbanite.
I just can't wait to see some really detailed specs.
--
Daniel Zeaiter
daniel@academytiles.com.au
http://www.academytiles.com.au
ICQ: 16889511
Dear Hello Kitty Institute of Industrial Design,
.Net initiative.
Please ignore the rude American post by Commander Taco. Our military people have a bad habit of offending people, and he seems to have forgotten that Sony is a Japanese company bent on world domination.
Please also give my thanks to Pinky for his wondrous insight which caused him to contribute his artistic talent to the tooth paste accident which resulted in this cutting edge design.
Also, enclosed please find my drawings for the new brain to put in George W. Bush - I'm afraid the last model we ordered, while it is very good at acting, sadly has major malfunctions in the computation department. Feel free to give it to Bill Gates for use in designing his next add-on product for the
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Looks swell to me. Very 1982.
As for losing their corporate market, I'm shocked to hear Sony ever had one. No real docking stations, crappy port replicators, structurally weak cases, little plastic doors that break off if you breathe on them, and hardware so fussy that the things lock up more than a Packard Bell.
We bought a few a year ago. One by one, they've died, broken, or become nearly unbootable. They look slick. The light ones are certainly light and seemingly inexpensive. VAIOs have some nifty features (FireWire, f'rinstance), but they don't belong on an IT department's equipment list in my experience.
If IBM made Thinkpads that looked like these new VAIOs, I'd be thrilled. Seen the new Thinkpads? There's design. Rigid construction and reinforced, rubberized hinges throughout, pass-through everything to the port replicator/dock, bright screens, and they're about as stable as a good desktop. Sure, they're black rectangles that look like every other Thinkpad of the last 5 years, but they paid attention to quality. They're also not cheap, but even if they cost twice as much as a VAIO, they're worth every penny.
If you're in charge of your company/organization's purchasing and someone wants a VAIO, either tell them to buy it for themselves, or buy two so you can have a loaner on hand when the first one breaks.
It looks like a black and white iBook! It's got a handle! What were they thinking?
a) The Vaio's were and are really slick looking magnesium-encased computers. This black and white thing looks like the Panasonic Tough-book - a really blocky, non-slick looking box.
b) It's got a handle! You can't carry a computer like that by it's handle. It will get scratched, it is not protected, and if you drop it, it is lost! I do not let anyone of my clients carry a computer more than two feet with out putting it in a case. Believe me, you do not want to see what a laptop looks like after a two foot drop to a floor. Yes, even a carpeted floor! A handle is cute, but without a case, it is asking for trouble!
Sony, if you are listening, you are making a huge mistake!
~Patrick
"Lazyness is the first step towards efficiency." -Patrick Bennett