The biggest strike against the VAIO X seems to be the heat it generates. Luckily, the 6-cell battery raises the laptop off of the user's lap and helps solve the problem. But if you're going to use the 4-cell battery, better bring a heat shield for your legs.

Speaking of batteries, Sony worked some power management voodoo on this thing. According to Laptop Mag's tests, the thing runs for 9 hours and 49 minutes, way longer than the average 6-cell running time of 6 hours and 10 minutes.

Head on over to Laptop Mag to get their full impressions. [Laptop Mag via @mspoonauer]

However, the most notable feature compared to its competition —and one not necessarily new to the Vaio line—is that the PC portion of the system can be turned off, allowing you to only power the device solely as an LCD monitor (should you just want to play on your console or something). For those of us living in already tight quarters, knowing that your all-in-one can also be your TV (and not just for Sony's built-in DVR, Blu-ray player or, of course, straming Hulu) is extremely handy. [Sony via Engadget]

That's in part, because it is a trick, since it has netbook guts and Sony's asking you to pay $1300 for it. But, in your hand, it makes you question how skinny is too skinny, how much weightlessness (1.6 pounds of it, to be precise) is an asset before it approaches nothingness. (The fatty VGA port very nearly destroys the illusion, though.) The effect, still, is remarkable, at least at first touch.

Sturdiness? It borders on feeling fragile, but never quite crosses that line. When you try to bend it, you definitely feel like there's a breaking point that won't require a ton of additional force on your part.

The keyboard layout is around 90 percent of full sized which is why it feels a little cramped, but I typed better than I expected, honestly, even with its tiny ticky-tacky keys that fit the fingertips of a small child. The multitouch trackpad only supports zoom gestures—no two-finger scrolling—which are janky at best, at least inside of Internet Exploder. (Sub-question: Why can't PC makers do a decent multitouch trackpad?)

Considering it's a got 2GHz Atom chip, notching it a 2.4 Windows system rating on the one I messed with, it moved pretty decently, more nimbly than I'd have expected, even with Windows Media Center. This is mostly because of Windows 7 I suspect—with Vista it probably would've been tortuous.

Knowing that it's running Atom inside, when it's wrapped in feats of material and sensory goodness, definitely creates a sense of ambiguity, like Sony's repeating the Vaio P all over again. Like it's special effects. Except that it seems like it sorta kinda works this time, which is the actually weird part.

Coming after the HP TouchSmart's jugular, the Vaio L will have all the multimedia goods and seems to be packed with new Sony multimedia software that brings Sony TV to your PC. [Sony]

VAIO L Series Puts TV, Internet and Blu-ray Disc Movies One Touch Away

NEW YORK, Oct. 8, 2009 – Sony today unveiled its new touch-enabled, multi-media machine- the VAIO® L Touch HD PC/TV.

With the VAIO L Series' multi-touch screen easy access to your PC, HDTV, DVR- your entire entertainment hub- is readily at your fingertips.

Equipped with a 24-inch (diagonal) WUXGA (1920x1080) widescreen panel, the unit displays high-definition content in Full HD resolution.

Select models feature a Blu-ray Disc™ optical drive so you can enjoy high-definition movies. A rewritable BD drive for recording, storing and playing back personal content on high-capacity BD media is also available.

"The L Series is the ultimate multi-media hub- it's your PC, HDTV and DVR in one compact, stylish device," said Mike Abary, senior vice president of the VAIO business group at Sony. "And with cutting-edge features such as multi-touch, it's ideal for media lovers who appreciate HD performance and cutting-edge technology."

Select models feature a built-in tuner so you can connect to your digital cable TV service and Over-The-Air (ATSC) HD TV signals (antenna required) and watch television on your PC

An optional HDMI™ input is available, so in addition to the unit's built-in HD features you can connect a compatible HD cable box, satellite receiver or PLAYSTATION®3 (all sold separately) via a single cable and enjoy HD entertainment without powering on the PC.

And with built-in DVR capabilities and up to a terabyte of storage, you can create a personal entertainment library with up to 100 hours of HD television.

It comes with Windows® 7 Home Premium or Professional 64-bit operating system. Leveraging these new operating systems, the L Series is able to offer new functionalities such as a touch screen display enabling you to do anything you could do with a mouse with the touch of a finger.

Launch directly into Sony's own Media Gallery software by pushing the designated VAIO button on the keyboard and create high-quality home movies and slideshows in three simple steps. Import your photos and video, choose a theme and soundtrack, click finish and the software does the rest, generating a professional-looking movie complete with special effects- all by touching the screen.
The unit packs a powerful Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor (select models), loads of RAM, and a dedicated NVIDIA® GeForce ® series graphics for graphic-intense gaming and movies.

By utilizing built-in wireless 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi technology and your wireless router (required, sold separately), you can position the model virtually anywhere in your home and access the Internet, email or home network.

The model is ideal for anywhere space is at a premium. It has a mounting capability that allows users to attach a VESA-compatible mount (sold separately) to it and hang it on the wall of your bedroom, kitchen, office or attach to your desk.

When not mounted to the wall, the L Series features an adjustable stand to help you adjust the unit to meet your desired viewing or touch angle or simply to decrease the slant for space-saving. A wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control (select models) are included.

The VAIO L Touch HD PC/TV will start at about $1,300. It is available for pre-orders today online at www.sonystyle.com/pr/l. It will also be sold at Sony Style® stores and select retailers around the country starting next month.

While many TV makers are using polarized glasses in their 3D concepts, Sony's plans involve high-definition active shutter glasses that alternate the image for the left and right eye. Hopefully they won't make me cross-eyed like my old 3DFX Voodoo shutters did. [Sony]

Thanks to its 11.2 inch display it looks really compact and that carbon fiber outside and keyboard, oh that keyboard, make my mouth water. As for what is on the inside, we don't know much. The guys at NetbookNews say there is discussion of an Intel Atom processor (they seem to be hoping for the next generation Pineview CPU), but we won't be surprised if they go with Intel's new ULV offering. Either way it is something low powered since Sony has been touting crazy all day battery life (from the video though the battery doesn't seem to be replaceable).

Now it would be typical Sony to jack up the price on this 1.5 pound baby, but I am thinking it might not be as high as some anticipate (crossing my fingers for under $750). Don't forget Sony was saying a few months ago it wants to enter the low cost ultraportable space. Our sources tell us this sweet lappie will launch sometime in October with Windows 7. [Netbook News]

Update: Aaaand that's cause it's apparently got an Atom processor inside Engadget's been told. Didn't Sony learn anything from the Vaio P?

For those keeping score on thinness, Adamo is 0.65 inches and weighs around 4 pounds, while MacBook Air's ballooning ass is 0.76 inches and it weighs about 3 pounds, though both of them have 13-inch screens versus the X-series 11.1-inch display. But still, Atom? And god, I don't even wanna know how much it's gonna cost. [Engadget]

Vaios at risk are Nvidia-based versions of the: VGN-AR1xx, VGN-AR2xx, VGN-AR3xx, VGN-FZ1xx, VGN-FZ2xx, VGN-FZ3xx, VGN-FZ4xx, VGC-LT1xx, and VGC-LT2xx.

The problems go back to Nvidia's admission last year that some of its graphics chips (the GeForce 8400M and 8600M) were overheating due to faulty material, and the thermal designs of some laptops, or all-in-one PCs. Current GeForce 9-series chips should be fine.

As PC World points out:

Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple offered either a BIOS fix or free replacements for laptops with faulty chips. On Web sites like HP Lies, customers are still complaining about PC makers not offering free repairs for models that may be affected by the faulty chips.

So to Sony's credit, it looks to be doing what it can. Though, as you'll note below, it isn't offering refunds. If you're one of the "small percentage" affected, repairs should take about 7-10 business days. Applicable models beyond their 12 month warranty are also eligible to be fixed. [Sony Support via PC World]

In July 2008, NVIDIA announced that some notebook computers with NVIDIA graphic processors manufactured with a certain material set were failing in the field at a higher than normal rate. Since that announcement, Sony, in cooperation with NVIDIA, has been looking into any possible effect to VAIO® notebooks with NVIDIA graphic processors. Until recently we had not identified any VAIO models that were affected by this issue.

However, after closely monitoring the situation, Sony has now determined that a very small percentage of VAIO computers with the NVIDIA graphics chips may experience this issue. These PCs may exhibit distorted video, duplicate images or a blank screen due to a failure of the NVIDIA graphics chip.
Applicable Models
This issue only applies to the versions of these VAIO® computer models that came with a NVIDIA® graphics chip:
• VGN-AR1xx, VGN-AR2xx, VGN-AR3xx
• VGN-FZ1xx, VGN-FZ2xx, VGN-FZ3xx, VGN-FZ4xx
• VGC-LT1xx, VGC-LT2xx

This, even though the laptops use Intel Core 2 Duo processors with Intel's Virtual Technology (this, or AMD's equivalent are needed to run Windows XP Mode). Set to be included with Windows Pro 7 or above, many users have been looking forward to XP Mode because it allows software designed for XP to run without breaking like it might in Vista.

Over at the Windows 7 blog, Sony's Senior manager for product marketing, Xavier Lauwaert, responded that the company had:

…received very little if any requests to enable VT technology up until very recently.

In addition, our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code that could go very deep in the Operating System structure of the PC and completely disable the latter.

For these two reasons we have decided, until recently, not to enable VT. However, with the advent of XP Virtualization, there is impetus for us to relook at the situation and I can share with you that we will enable VT on select models.

Though, I fear to say that the Z series will not be part of our VT-enabling effort. Indeed, we will focus on more recent models.

Some good news: There are online guides that claim to run through re-enabling hardware virtualization on Vaio laptops that use either a Phoenix BIOS, or the Insyde H2O UEFI framework (like the Vaio Z). [The Register via Engadget]

Technically, that video display is one monitor from a pair of Myvu Crystal glasses, but one MicroPCTalk forum member connected the device to a completely portable computing rig, powered by a Sony UX380N UMPC and accessing online content (at half the speed of dial up) via a Motorola iDEN i425 cellphone.
Bluetooth fills in the gaps for various input (mouse, FrogPad keyboard and mic) and output (stereo audio), but the system is far from wireless, with most components wired directly into the UX380N.

We wouldn't call this DIY system our ideal interface for eyeglass computing and augmented reality applications, but for one dude working in the comfort of his own home, not bad! [UMPC Portal via SlashGear]

Laptop Mag points to this interview that shows that indeed, different divisions are merging and acknowledging each other's presence. VAIO is now under the PlayStation, Walkman and Reader group. VAIO notebooks are going to use PSN for movies and TV shows. Which is a step in the right direction, but turning a ship this size is like a group of ants trying to move a dumpster. [Laptop Mag]

One of Sony's Senior VPs said that the company is going to be releasing some Vaio notebooks that take advantage of touch capabilities "at the launch of Win 7," which is October 22nd.

In addition, we may see the movie and TV content that you can currently download on the PS3 coming over to Vaios as well. They're also discussing bringing games over, so you can pay for the casual games that have been converted from free online flash games for the console market, right on your laptop. How convenient! [Laptop Mag via Electronista]

We recently got a minor spec bump in the original line, making the Vaio P as fast as normal netbooks. No other details on what the new machines will have, however. [TechRadar]

And that is the selling point, almost entirely, over other netbooks. It's prettier (admittedly, it is). But that's less compelling now that it was six months ago, when netbooks were universally miserable looking machines. When I asked what distinguishes the Vaio W from the other third wave premium netbooks—notably the Asus Eee Seashell and HP's new aluminum and magnesium-clad Mini, which are just $430 and $450 respectively, Sony pointed at its "stunning" colors, like its "very stylish" brown. That would hold more weight if this lovely paint job and design (I dig the trackpad a lot) were applied to metal, so it came with a notably superior build quality too. But it's plastic.

Your only choice is which of the three colors you want. There's a single hardware configuration, and the specs are pedestrian, save for the 1366x768 10.1-inch screen: Atom N280, 160GB HDD (5400rpm), 1GB RAM, wireless N, A2DP stereo Bluetooth, and a pair of USB ports.

To their credit, Sony has learned from the Vaio P (though it has a totally different audience) and plans to make it painfully clear that users shouldn't expect an experience comparable to a regular notebook. Talk of establishing a "clear gulf" between their netbooks and "mainstream" notebooks also made it clear to me they're not interested in dabbling in netbooks that straddle the weird, blurry line between netbook and notebook in either with experiments like Ion, either.

I'll withhold final judgment until I use it, but so far Sony's first ever bona fide Vaio netbook is having the extremely odd effect of just making the Vaio P not-a-netbook look even better. (As long as it's running Windows 7.) If I'm going to pay extra scratch for design, I might as well go all the way, right?

Sony DEBUTS HOT NEW Mini Notebook IN COOL NEW COLORS

VAIO W Series Ideal for Casual Computing and Staying Connected

SAN DIEGO, July 7, 2009 – Sony today took the wraps off its chic new line of mini notebooks- the VAIO® W Series.

Featuring an ultra-portable design, the W Series is perfect for using as a secondary PC, in any room of the house, for surfing the web, checking e-mail, and social networking.

The W model comes in three vibrant colors- berry pink, sugar white and cocoa brown. A more subtle shade of the exterior hue finishes the inside of the PC while the touchpad is lined with a splash of brightness.

"The W Series lets you quickly look something up online whether searching for a recipe in the kitchen or relaxing on your recliner- there's no need to trudge upstairs to your office," said Mike Abary, senior vice president of the VAIO business group at Sony. "And it's sturdy enough for the kids to use, making it perfect for every member of the family."

The W Series incorporates a high-resolution, 1366 x 768, LED backlit 10.1-inch (measured diagonally) ultra-wide display, making it easy to view two full web pages- no side-to-side scrolling necessary.

The model features an isolated keyboard with springy and responsive keys making it comfortable and easy to use. Its carefully designed touchpad and mouse keys make the PC functional and mouse movements easy to control.

-more-

The W Series unit is ENERGY STAR® 5.0 compliant, EPEAT Gold registered and incorporates eco-conscious features such as a mercury-free LED backlit LCD. Its corrugated cardboard packaging is comprised of 95 percent recycled content. Sony will also help recycle your old PC (www.sony.com/green; recycling fees may apply).

The model comes with VAIO Media plus Multimedia Streaming software, a media sharing application that lets you wirelessly stream content across DLNA®-enabled devices throughout your home network. Stream video, music and pictures from your W Series to your compatible primary PC or PLAYSTATION®3 and vice-versa and enjoy your content anywhere in the home including on your big-screen TV.

Easily transfer data, such as photos from your digital camera or music from an MP3 player, to and from the PC with the unit's two convenient USB ports. Incorporated Bluetooth® technology enables peripherals such as a wireless mouse to be utilized without tying up the unit's ports.

A built-in webcam and microphone let you video chat with family, friends and colleagues. A third-party internet service provider is required.

A roomy 160GB hard drive has been included providing ample storage for all your photos, files and videos. It comes pre-installed with Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition operating system.

The VAIO W Series mini notebook will retail for about $500. It is available for pre-orders today online at www.sonystyle.com/pr/w. It will also be sold at Sony Style® stores and at other major retailers around the country starting next month.

[Sony Style]

We should note, in case anybody's thinking of sending Sony a fake blood-stained laptop or something, that the animal skin models are all fake. The Signature Collection covers the CS, SR, P, Z and TT Series laptops, and some of these new designs aren't actually too bad, like the Kaleidoscope Vaio TT—though that model starts at $2,750.

The Vaio P netbook gets a little spec bump with a 256GB SSD, but as the design is pretty much just glossy black, we're not sure it's worth the substantial hike in price. Our model, with a 64GB SSD, was $1,200—already extremely expensive for a netbook. The new, Signature Collection model? A solid $2,000. Congratulations, Sony. You've won the gold medal in an event nobody else wanted to enter. [Sony via Sony Insider]