Sony VAIO Y Review Discussion

The VAIO Y is a 13.3" ultraportable CULV-powered notebook from Sony, acting as the affordable-brother to the high-end VAIO Z. This model includes Intel GMA HD integrated graphics, an Intel Pentium CULV processor (New models feature Intel Core i3 and i5 ULV processors), 4GB of DDR3 memory and a WXGA resolution display. In this review we see how well this model stacks up against other ultraportable systems and if it should be added to your back-to-school notebook buying list.

Read the full content of this Article: Sony VAIO Y Review

Related Articles:

• Sony VAIO Z Review

 

Forgot the 'u'.

 

Prices start at $769 at SonyStyle.com for these Y-series laptops, that's significantly less than the VAIO Z and based on the review this could be a great "poor man's" option for those that can't afford or justify $5,000 for the signature edition VAIO Z.

The 6h battery life is impressive and weight is under 4lbs so certainly would be a good option for students.

 

Positive: Good to see solid build quality and a decent screen in this class.

Negative: Price/performance is poor compared to the prior generation Asus UL30vt, which is:

-slightly faster given built in over-clocking(wPrime 45 sec vs 50)
-far superior graphics (switchable 310m gives 3DMark06 of 3400 vs 1200)
-Far superior battery life (beyond 10 hrs on integrated graphics, bigger battery)
-Same size
-Slightly price ($750 )
-2 year warranty (vs 1 yr)
-1 yr accidental warranty (vs none)

IMO new models should not have inferior performance to old models when you are looking at the same price point. I assume the uupgrade i-5um/ATI-4550 model will perform better, but at closer to $1000. And I guess you pay a premium for the Vaio name.

 

I guess my bigger question is about the merit of the new CULV (i-3 and i-5) platform. The older generation were able to offer tremendous battery life (8-12 hrs) and adequate performance when over-clocked.

But the new CULV machines like the Vaio Y do not seem to give any better performance- at the cost of much worse battery life. In fact, the regular mobile i-3 and i-5 machines seem to give nearly the same battery life without any compromise in performance.

For example, the Acer 3820t (timeline-X) gets you a full powered processor along with the same size and battery life- so why compromise and go with the slower Vaio Y? It is not like the previous generation CULV machines where you got double the battery life as an enticement to sacrifice performance.

And if Acer would ever bring over their full powered 3820tg (i-520m with ATI 5650) then it would be lights out. Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820TG (Core i5 520M Processor 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM) Review - Notebooks - CNET Asia

 

as long as we're comparing...
The new Toshiba Portege R705 13" is $799, weighs 3.25 lbs vs the Y's 3.8, has a regular Core i3 but similar battery life, a DVD instead of Expresscard, and eSATA instead of Firewire. Screen may be a bit lower quality but all else the same.

 

Wow, that Toshiba looks like a great option. Add a switchable graphics option and it would be a Vaio Z killer.

BTW, I still have my old Toshiba Libretto 70 from 1998. Now that was an ultra-portable at 850 gm (6" VGA screen.) and all day battery life. It was my primary computer for 4 years...

 

No optical drive! Isn't that a netbook?

 

I guess it was a MID before there were MID's or Netbooks. I think I used it 95% of the time hooked up to my 15:" tube monitor. Connecting a 1 pound laptop to a 50 pound monitor probably defeated the purpose- no?

 

I like how you well examined the solid build of Vaio Y. I've recently replaced my ThinkPad with this product, and I can say I'm more than satisfied with its build quality. The keyboard and trackpad are also well designed that I have no regret from switching from ThinkPad.

I just ran 3D Mark on this thing with Core i3 and ATI 4550. It came out 3438.

Just throwing it out for the better comparison.

 

Good point, it's been getting strong reviews Toshiba Portege R705 review -- Engadget

Though I don't particularly see a need for an optical drive in this class, it's impressive Toshiba shoe-horned it in there and I believe there are a number of mainstream buyers out there that still want to see that.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but Sony disables virtualization in their laptops, so IMHO there is no sense buying them, even if you don't know what is virtualization. Why? Because eventually either you would like to use it at some time, or you would like to sell it -- in such case, not only it will be older laptop at that point but also broken (by design).

 

95% of people will never use virtualization anyway.

 

I don't know where you heard that from. Virtualization can be enabled on BIOS setup. See page 90 of this manual

 

You do realize that the particular model they reviewed _is_ a previous generation Pentium U5400, right? They didn't actually review an ULV i-core.

 

Um, the U5400 is a 32nm Arrandale processor. It basically is a Core i3-330UM without hyper-threading and Virtualization. Not sure what Kevin is talking about since the U5400 is a current gen processor.

 

It`s a sweet cpu for the money IMO - 18 watt tdp is nice.

I wonder how much the on-die GPU affects the power requirement compared to the old Core 2 Duo derived ULV value CPUs that were 10 watt tdp but needed a northbridge (unknown tdp).

 

Ah, is it? Kevin calling it a Pentium and saying that new models (by extension making this an "old" model) threw me.

 

@Visiom88,

One of the articles about Sony "security":
Sony kills virtualization on Vaio notebooks | ZDNet

@abaddon4180

Very true, but when I am buying something for quite sum of money I would like to have all (at least standard) features. Because:
a) just in case
b) I am paying for this

no matter if I use this at the moment or not.

 

This review got 5:46 in a test of continuous web surfing over wifi. Laptop Mag got 6:22 in a similar test with the old Y, albeit in Power Saver mode instead of Balanced. I've been reading about other CULV laptops which have made the transition to the Arrandale line (Acer, Asus, HP tm2) and they all seem to have lost some battery life.

So, you believe the ZDNet article over Sony's owner's manual?

The ZDNet article is inaccurate on two counts. First, Sony does give you the feature, it's just ships disabled. Just press F2 on power-up, select Advanced, enable it, and you're good to go. Second, processor VT support is not required for XP Mode. You can find that in the VirtualPC FAQ on Microsoft's site.

 

Interesting article.
Obviously Sony has fixed the problem after all. Wiki

 

Basically, there used to be a huge difference between the battery life of a previous generation CULV machine and a comparable T series core 2 processor. It seemed like a fair trade-off between battery life and performance.

But the reviews I've read make it seem like the regular i-3m processor gets battery life that is not much worse than the new CULV i-3um, and even a greater difference in performance. So the balance seems to have shifted towards a thin and light with a full powered processor.

For example the full powered R705 gives you much better performance and comparable battery life to the CULV Sony Y. All the Y does better is stay cool.

 

Thanks for that. A review for the Asus UL30VT w/ SU7300 cpu and Nvidia 210M claimed a 3dMark score of 3434. I have a Sony Z and was going to recommend the Y for a friend, but now I'm not so sure. The Asus is pretty solid.

 

Any word of this coming out in Asia?

 

So, what would be the reasons to buy a Vaio Y over a Toshiba R700?

 

Dedicated graphics option, magnesium alloy frame (compared to magnesium "finish" on R700), better keyboard quality, better thermal design, and better screen.

 

visiom88: What kind of battery life are you getting with the i3 and ATI graphics?

 

After a clean install, which probably got rid of some unnecessary CPU usages from the bloatwares, I'm getting a little longer than 5 hours of web surfing on Balanced power scheme with 50% brightness.

 

I bought a R700, after waiting a long time for it once I saw the specs... once I received I was quite disappointed: very hot/loud, battery life of only 4h, bad quality matte display. The only think I liked was that it was light and fast, but all the issues above made me decide to return it.

 

Hey everyone, I'm an incoming freshman at UC Davis, and was looking for a laptop. I've come down to two laptops. The HP dm4 and the Sony Vaio Y. Right now, I am stuck at which to get. Pros of the HP are that it comes with a faster processor, an i5 (not a ULV, so the Ghz is faster), cheaper(a lot), and has a fingerprint scanner. It is also relatively light, 4.4lbs. Cons for the HP are that the touchpad is very faulty, and might become too annoying for me to use. Also, it is an HP, so it comes with a 25 percent product malfunction after 3 years. For the Sony, the pros are that the build quality is excellent, and that it is a very light, sturdy laptop. Keyboard and touchpad are great too. However, the cons are that it is a pretty slow laptop, if i get it with the i3 since it is an ULV. (Even though it is an ULV, it gets around the same battery life as the HP dm4, which isn't) Also, this laptop is very very pricy, and considering all of the other stuff I still need to buy for college, I don't know if it is worth it to make this investment.

Please reply with your opinions on what laptop I should get.
I move-in September 18th, so I should try to get my laptop soon. (Since I can only order the Sony online, because I've checked every tech store around where I live, and I can't find the Sony Y)

Thanks again

 

@visiom88 :

Hi,

I just ordered a vaio y with i5 and ati radeon.

can you give use more precise facts about the radeon GPU ?
In Europe it is reffered to as "AMD M93" which seems to be a mobility radeon 540v.
Yours is a 4550 right ? what are the working frequences for core and memory ?
can you switch on the IGP, and if yes is it imroving the battery life ?

Thanks for your answers.

 

@jtmonk
It would depend on your needs. Would you run applications that would require a lot of CPU power such as encoding and photo-editing softwares, or would you use it for general computing -- web surfing, writing papers, or light gaming? Is the HP's poor build quality worth for the little better specifications over the Sony?

@fracasse
540v is the new name of HD 4550. They're exactly the same cards. You can NOT switch to integrated graphics, but I'm still satisfied since I get roughly about 6 hours of battery life with medium screen brightness when fully charged.

 

Ok, thanks

6 hours is nice indeed!

 

Personally, I do not like the rough surface Sony has spent trackpads line later VAIO find it interesting to watch and boring under my fingers. That said, when I switched between the other VAIO notebooks, I quickly found that the texturing process has provided a more receptive surface than smooth surfaces are used in sony.

 

How is the battery for that configuration? with teh standard battery option?

Also, are the graphics switchable?