Hands on with Sony's slimline Vaio TT
Air beater? No question
First Look Sony brought its skinny Vaio TT 11.in laptop to the UK today, and Register Hardware had the chance to try it out.
There's no question, the TT is impressively thin and light - though it doesn't have that float-away, helium-filled feel that Toshiba's new Portégé R600 does. Or - perhaps thanks to its carbon-fibre construction - a cheap, plasticky feel.
Sony said it will come with a three-year warranty, so the company's obviously confident about the 1.3kg TT's resilience.
Sony's Vaio TT: compact but fully featured
Like the R600's predecessor, the R500, the Sony machine has a flimsy-feeling screen assembly that's worryingly bendy, though Sony was at pains to point out it's not lacking in build quality. The screen - which sports an LED backlight, Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics and the unusual resolution of 1366 x 768 - is covered with a "projective coating". Only time will tell if it wards off scratches as well as Sony promises it will.
It's certainly a nice display, and you can switch it to auto-dim mode, which will adjust the brightness according to the ambient lighting conditions. That's one way Sony is able to claim a battery life of up to eight hours - the other is the use of an ultra-low voltage 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9300 processor.
Only 2.6cm thick
Maybe, but during our time with the machine, Windows Vista reported a forecast runtime of just under four hours at 91 per cent charge.
Turning off wireless systems will help. The TT comes with Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi, but some models will also integrate an Option HSDPA 3G module capable of download speeds of up to 7.2Mb/s and 2Mb/s HSUPA uploads. Sony ships these models with a T-Mobile SIM card, but the module's unlocked so you can replace this with your own SIM.
COMMENTS
Re: Neoc
@Tony Smith, Editor, Reg Hardware:
"Re. spelling.
Someone put this guy in touch with Harry Enfield, please.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Enfield"
I must be feeling thick today... even Wikipedia spells it as "richer than you" and thus (since you invoked 'the wiki') my objection still stands. ^_^
Question... Is there a version of Goodwin's Law that encompasses wikipedia instead of Hitler/Nazis? I think there should be.
Hope it's more reliable than the TX
I would be very concerned by that wafer thin screen. My TX1 has a very similar similar screen (identical possibly) and that has been nothing but trouble. To make matters worse Sony's customer care has been absolutely hopeless - complete bunch of muppets. I would be very wary about buying another VAIO - great while it works - not so great when it breaks - and it will break.
Rip off Britan
Ok prices are insane. Three YEARS ago I bought basically the same thing (Vaio TX-650) which is almost the same shell, carbon fibre, 2gb ram, 100gb dvd-rw etc etc and has about 8 hours of reall world battery life... the uk price was over 2 grand, but bought it in the states for $1200 (about 700 squid)....best buy i ever made....
paris, coz even she knows not to buy tech in the UK...
@robert
Did you buy the Japan domestic model or the international model? If you brought the domestic model, no chance to extend the warranty overseas - the clue is in the name.
If you have the international model, it should be no problem.
I agree with Joe K - I have had several vaio's over the years and absolutely no problem with the support. I had one of the TZ's (I brought mine in HK) which was being recalled due to the potential power problem. The courier picked it up on Thursday night, it was returned on Monday morning, having gone to France, been checked, cleaned and with a usb memory stick and an apology letter for the inconvenience. Nothing wrong with that service!
@ Oakes
No DVD-writer in that overpriced heap of expensive show off for Starbucks lovers.
