Media Alert: Sony Transforms PCs into Ultimate Dream Machines

Subject: New VAIO PCs Feature Supercharged Models

Body: Sony today announced it would be shipping super-charged versions of its VAIO® PCs. Dubbed VAIO Premium, these units will empower users with lighting-fast processing speeds, massive amounts of storage, and innovative technologies to improve performance.

Fueling these dream machines will be the new Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processors— T9000 and T8000 series. Among the very first to ship with these chipsets, these PCs will provide business travelers and multimedia enthusiasts alike with unparalleled power and multi-tasking capabilities. The result: high-definition content management, fast-paced gaming and performance like never before.

High Performance High-Def

VAIO FZ485U Premium Notebook: This portable, multimedia notebook features a 15.4-inch XBRITE-HiColor™ widescreen display and is HDMI equipped to output to HDTV in Full HD 1080. Doubling as a mobile high-definition movie studio, it utilizes the latest Intel Core2 Processor T8100, 4 gigabytes of RAM, a 256 megabytes dedicated graphics card and Blu-ray Disc technology for viewing and managing HD content. The FZ notebook is priced at about $2,200.

The new colors aren't bad at all, and with names like Bloom, Clay Earth, Caribbean Water, and Spotted Life, you'll almost feel like a hippy walking around with your sweet, expensive computer.

Skeptics take notice: as part of the initiative, Sony outlines all that's already environmentally savvy with the FZ:

• Slim design for minimum use of natural resources.
• Easy-to-recycle materials for resource conservation.
• Packaging comprised primarily of recyclable materials.
• RoHS compliant components- free of hazardous materials such as lead.

Just 600 of these $2,500 special edition machines have been made. They sport a 15.4-inch screen, Blu-ray Disc optical drive, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, XBRITE-HiColor technology and NVIDIA GeForce 8400GT graphics. They should be shipping on Friday. [SonyStyle via ]

Some days it just feels like Groundhog Day. With Santa Rosa popping in more places than the Virgin Mary today, each post feels exactly like that and here's the Sony VAIO FZ to prove it. Not only it has the already-sickening brand new Intel chipset, but it was leaked at the beginning of the month.

Today it's official though, and we have prices, full specs and more photos of this widescreen 15.4-inch Core 2 Duo T7300 notebook after the jump.

The VAIO FZ is a bit of a Qosmio's nemesis: although smaller, the top of the line FZ has a Blu-ray player and burner, HDMI output and a similar multimedia control clickwheel. However, it will only give you 1,280 x 800 pixels coated in XBRITE HiColor Technology, for glosstastic color and increased brightness and contrast action.

It comes with 802.11n compatibility, built-in camera and microphone for videoconferencing and LocationFree software, which let's you see TV and movies from a compatible personal video recorder or DVD player via the Internet.

We haven't tried it yet but looking at the specifications, the Sony VAIO FZ looks like a solid, attractive computer. The only disappointing point is the promised battery life (2 to 4 hours, I wonder where the rest of the battery life that Santa Rosa promised has gone). The price is not bad either if you are looking for a Blu-ray player: the top of the line FZ is only 3.3 PlayStation 3 or $2,000. The standard model will set you back $1,400. – Jesus Diaz

Full specs

Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T7300
Speed: 2GHz
Front Side Bus Speed: 800MHz
L2 Cache: 4MB Advanced Smart Cache

Installed Memory: 2GB (1GBx2) PC2-5300
Maximum: 4GB
Speed: 667MHz

Drive units
Hard Drive: 200GB
Speed: 4200rpm
Interface: Serial ATA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD burner, Blu-ray burner on the top model

Expansion Slots
Multimedia Card Reader: One Memory Stick DuoTM
media with MagicGate® functionality
One ExpressCardTM /34 Slot
One Secure Digital Media (SD)

Audio
Sound System: Sony® Sound RealityTM - Audio Enhancer

Display
Screen Size: 15.4"
Resolution: 1280 x 800
XBRITE HiColorTM Technology
Processor: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT GPU with 256MB RAM
Video RAM: 1023MB Total Available Graphics
Interface: HDMI, VGA and S-Video Out with Smart

Inputs and Outputs
Ethernet Port: 1
Headphone Jack: 1
Memory Stick® Media Slot: 1
Modem Jack: 1
Secure Digital Slot: 1
Microphone Input: 1
S-Video Output(s): 1
USB Port(s): 3 (2.0 compliant)
VGA Output(s): 1
DC-In: 1
Express CardTM Slot: /34 x 1
i.LINK® Connection: 1 (4pin) i.LINK® connector (IEEE
1394)
HDMI Connection(s): 1

Networking/Modem
Ethernet Protocol: Fast Ethernet (RJ-45)
Ethernet Speed: 10Base-T/100Base-TX
Modem Type: Integrated V.92/V.90 Modem (RJ-11)
Wireless LAN: Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network
Connection (802.11a/b/g/n)

Power
Estimated Battery Life: 2.0-4.0 hours

Operating System: Windows VistaTM Home Premium
Limited Warranty and Onsite Service: 1 Year Limited

Sony is going for a pretty significant update of its laptops this summer. Pictured above is the 15.4-inch Vaio FZ19, which will use Intel's Santa Rosa chipset and integrated X3100 graphics card. There's also the TZ, a retread of the current TX series, which will be an ultra-portable number with 11.1-inch screen, and a refresh of the SZ4 called the SZ5.

July will see a couple more models - the CZ series, which boast a 13.3-iunch screen, and the CR, a 14-inch widescreen notebook. Both of these have unknown specs, but I guess we will know more soon. There's no picture of the TZ, which sounds like the most interesting of the lot, but its specs are after the jump.

TZ specs
integrated DVD-DL
2GB of RAM
100GB HD
WLAN A/B/G
Fingerprint scanner
Integrated WebCam

No prices either, I'm afraid. – Ad Dugdale

Sony Vaio TZ, SZ5, FZ and CZ laptops coming this summer [PC Launches]