Sony Updates VAIO Y Series With 11.6" Display Discussion

Sony has introduced a new Japan-only VAIO Y-series notebook with an 11.6-inch display.

Read the full content of this Article: Sony Updates VAIO Y Series With 11.6" Display

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• Sony VAIO Y Review

 

I'm hoping that with this YA series that they will offer more CPU options and offer at least a i5 ULV processor. They did this with the 13.3 Y series and also offered the option for a dedicated GPU. This i3 CPU in passmark is lower than the U9600.

It's a more budget conscious line compared to the likes of the Sony TT but i hope the display is good. Weight wise it could have ideally been a bit lighter also. This is rumored to replace the 13.3 Y series in the US in the coming weeks.

Still, it's nice to see Sony enter this market again.

 

Does anyone know whether the display is glossy?

 

Wow why is it japan only? it seems like such a sweet ultraportable to me. I've wanted to buy the current 13" Y but it costs 750-800€ here, with only the u5400 c2duo, not even core i cpu's.
If the 11 inch would come out in Belgium and cost 600-700€ i'd probably get it in a hearbeat.

 

The U5400 is an Arrandale Core i CPU going under Pentium product name.

I like the Y 11.6" but it's heavier and thicker than Acer 1830T.

 

Won't that thickness and heaviness reflect itself in a sturdier and more durable construction? I like things to be heavy, it makes them seem more qualitative.

I just checked pictures on the web from the acer which seems to have a wierd silver coating like the one you find on cheap xmas toys to hang in your xmas tree, and that doesn't seem esthetic or qualitative at all.

edit: here's a link from a belgian webstore, showing some pics: http://www.laptopshop.be/product-gallery/115701/category-56498-laptops/58030

 

In my opinion the silver looks quite good. I have one myself: picture

If you want other colors check Geizhals.eu. Better CPUs too.

Build quality is ok. Can't compare to my MBA 11.6" though.

 

Very nice website, those acers cost 200€ less than the ones I found in Belgium. I'm not sure how the black ones look like, but for 500€ they do seem like a bargain.
I think the new sony vaio Y, if it should ever come to the European market, would cost at least 200€ more. While offering 2 hours less of battery life, which is a big and important difference (Battery life is why the MBA you mentioned is not an option to me, 4 hours for an 11 inch is unaccaptable, while the vaio's is also a bare minimum).

I can't really figure out why top brands like Apple and Sony can't keep up with acers battery life (ok the MBA is very thin, but still, its meant to be portable).

 

Apple uses a very small battery. Which helps keeping the weight 300 grams lower than Acer.

By the way, battery life on the Acer is about 6 hours. The Macbook Air 11.6" is very similar.

PS. If you order from Germany it will come with QWERTZ keyboard. US keyboards costs ~$10 on Ebay,

 

If this came with an ATI gpu and i5 cpu options I'd take the hit on the lack of an internal optical drive and poorer build quality for the better internals(then some how see if I can swap screen and get the 8bit matte screen of my TT on there).

 

Why would someone choose this 11.6" model over, say, something produced by Asus, MSI, HP or another company? What makes it "different"?

 

Well at least for me the advantage of Sony vs the other(except for Apple) is the better support I got. I remember when I had an HP notebook I got someone who was outsourced, while with Sony I got someone closer to me in Florida. Plus, with Sony you get an actual store to get tech support if you live in a larger city/metro area. I am lucky here so I was able to to go to the local Sony Store to have my comp looked and then sent in to get fixed. They are pretty much the only other company besides apple to have retail stores(at least that I know of). That a nice advantage in my book.

The other stuff are a bit more subjective like the possibility of a better screen, and build quality(depending on which brand you are comparing it to).

 

Only 1/2 lb lighter than the 13.3". Thats all ???

 

The websites I saw list it at 1.45 kg which is heavier as the Sony Z.

No wonder, the Y series uses magnesium while the Z uses carbon fiber.

 

Shall I wait for this one or get the 13.3" Y now?

 

If this doesn't come with the optional ATI gpu, and you prefer something with a better gpu than the intel HD, I would go with the 13in now.

 

I wasn't aware of this model but walking past a shop display today in Bangkok it caught my eye. One very sleek laptop.

I've previously looked at the Acer 8172 11.6" i380UM (W7 Pro) @24,600bt and the Lenovo X201i 12.1" i330M (DOS) @29,000bt, both small laptops slightly bigger than netbook size but this is easily the best looking. Had a brief play with it in the shop and I liked it a lot, felt good to me but I'm no laptop guru.

Some specs from the brochure:

Core i3-380UM 1.33GHz
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 320 GB
Intel HD Graphics
11.6" WXGA
1366x768
VAIO Display + LED Backlight
Battery Life: UP to 4 Hrs...
Weight: 1.46 Kg

Model YA17GH W7 Pro @ 25,900 baht
Model YA15FH W7 HP @ 23, 900 baht

The Sony is about 100g heavier @1.46 Kg but it comes with an optical drive unlike the others. The matt finish all round will always be a plus in my book as I dislike fingerprint magnets. I've always been a IBM/Lenovo fan but seriously looking at getting this. Can't find more detailed specs, not even listed on the Sony Thai portal. I suspect the true battery life will not be great but as long as I can get 3 hours then I can live with that.

 

No it doesn't.

 

Maybe it's a typo but I have in front of me the brochure from Sony ????????? for the VAIO Y Series. In the column for optical drive for both the YA17GH & YA15FH it states: DVD RW/R DL/RAM Drive

There's an e-mail address on the brochure so I'll try that and see if I get a response.

 

Im sure if it came with an optical drive blu-ray would also be an option like it was on the 11.1in Vaio TT. And there is really models with optical drive, I might have to really switch if I like the screen size(specially if there is also a model with ati gpu).

 

Looking at a brochure that compares all the Sony laptops available in Thailand and the smallest one with a Blu-ray Disc ROM drive is the 13.1" Z139GG: i7-640M, 4xRAID 64 GB SSD, 1.43 Kg, 109,000 baht... (USD 3,600).

I got an auto e-mail reply from Sony...

Maybe I'll try calling later but getting product info from IT companies here is usually unproductive in my experience.

 

Hi this looks physically very similar to my TT190 (which developed vertical white lines on the screen, so looking to replace it).

I'm wondering how the performance will compare. I get 3.2 overall from the windows experience index with this spec:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U9400 @ 1.40GHz 4.2
Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB 4.9
Graphics Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family 3.2
Gaming graphics 1695 MB Total available graphics memory 3.2
Primary hard disk (Samsung 64GB SSD) 5.9

Can anyone explain if it will feel faster/ perform better? I know in theory 8GB should be good but depends on what kind of RAM of course.

I understand Core Ii3 380Um 1.33GHz gets an index score of 5 5. I don't know what the HM55 Express Chipset would rate, but in any case these figures are of course often not the whole story.

According to the .co.jp website, there's also an option for AMD Dual-Core Processor E-350 (1.6GHz) + AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics...

I do need some of the features which invalidate most of the competition:
-No bigger than the TT: 11/11.6" display,
-HD video
-SSD
- HDMI (apple what were you thinking for air 11!?)
- Gigabit Ethernet port "
- SD card slot

Any thoughts welcome.

I'm caught at the moment between one of these from Conics / Dynamism or a Lenovo IdeaPad U160 (The spec look to be similar to the Y).#, or an Acer 1830T with core i5, but have never gone down the acer route before...

 

Well they both can do HD video fine, but in my searched the intel cpu will be faster than the AMD model, but the gpu wouldn't be as good(but it will be better than HD gpu our devices have).

 

On notebookreviews sister website a forum member got 4.8 for the WEI score for the 380UM.
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/198384-post16.html
HD might be a bit smoother with the i3 processor. Flash HD is still quite heavily dependent on the cpu. For example some TT owners with a U9300 have complained that some HD playback is not smooth but with my U9600 i don't have that issue. You might not notice a difference.

An improved integrated gpu can be a positive especially with gpu accelerated flash.

Someone who used to own a TT recently purchased a Fujistu Lifebook
T580 and seems very happy with it. The T580 is a 10.1 tablet but may be take a look at it

 

Odd that you say that about the SU9300. I my TT has the same cpu and have yet to face any flash HD issues at all even 1080p videos on 10.0. Odd.

 

It's not exactly me saying it and i can't say that's the first time me reading this about such specs on this board.
See this post here. I do know that people can have different expectations about what is smooth or not.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6968897-post1853.html

Btw, is Buck Bunny in 1080p Youtube full screen completely stutter free for you right to the end?

 

Yes, it is stutter free.

 

^
That's good to read and what i did previously expect.

I tried it in Google Chrome as well and no such problem for me.

I did ask another TT owner with a U9300 about 1080p playback and they informed me that AVC 1080p using Media Player Classic and FFDShow decoder at times shows significant slow downs for them but currently 720p does not. However, with more time in the future they will post their own more comprehensive findings with more testing etc.

 

Yeah I am on Chrome version 10 or something. If the YA had TT like screen, or the ATI gpu of the 13.3in Y, I think I would have upgraded my TT to it. I don't remember, but was there a SB announcement for the YA, or was it just the YB that was announced in this size?

 

There will be a YA/YB model.
Specs for the YB can be found on the Sony.ie website.
It features an AMD processor and Radeon HD 6310 graphics.
VPCYB1S1E/S (VPCYB1S1E/S) : Technical Specifications : VAIO and Computing : Sony

YA
http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/specifications/index.aspx?m=VPCYA1V9E_B&l=en_GB

 

I know the specs of the YB I was asking if the YA got a Sandy Bridge upgrade at ces, or was it just the YB they announced for that size?

 

YA has Arrandale, reviews show the i3-380UM.

 

I think what the person is asking if the YA was update with SB or if it will get SB.

 

The YA/YB has just been released in some countries in the EU. The YA still uses Arrandale as the specification that i linked to shows. Much of the focus recently has been on the YB and i've read nothing about a SB YA.
I think it could be some while before Sony adopts that also.