| Sony VAIO G1 laptop reviewed | | Posted Monday, January 29, 2007 3:03:33 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sony's sleek little VAIO G1 laptop may still only officially be available in Japan, but that didn't stop the folks at LAPTOP Magazine from getting their hands on one for a full review. As you'd no doubt expect, the laptop immediately impresses, tipping the scales at a featherweight 2.1 pounds and lighting things up with the familiar 12.1-inch display that some of us still find to be the best balance of size and portability, although it unfortunately doesn't get Sony's trademark XBRITE treatment. more @ source. .... | |
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| | | Laptop makers boast individual highlights | | Posted Tuesday, January 09, 2007 1:17:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | One of the cool things about shopping online for a laptop computer is the ability to configure a model with the components and features you want. All the big players, including Dell, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony, Apple and more, give you the ability to pretty much have it your way. From processor speed and amount of memory to screen resolution and video support -- and many other options -- you can choose the parts to custom-tailor a system that fits your needs and budget. You won't find nearly the same variety if you visit a consumer electronics store. There will be a dozen or more systems, which may seem a bewildering number, but you won't have the freedom to make a given laptop conform exactly to what you want. And yet, as I realized after spending time with four laptops over the holidays, there are still some features that can't be mixed and matched no matter how much time you spend scrolling through options and clicking on what appeals to you.... | |
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| | | Sony laptop almost burns house down | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 1:15:16 PM by Blog57 Team | | When Scott* returned home last Friday afternoon, his nostrils were singed by the acrid smell of burning plastic that filled his apartment. After some searching, he isolated the smell to his five-year-old Sony VAIO notebook (model number PCG-R505AFT), which he left switched on while he was out in order to complete a virus scan. He initially thought he'd fallen victim to one of the faulty lithium-ion batteries that have caused a spate of fires in recent months, but this wasn't the case. The pungent odour had come from the power adaptor used to charge the notebook. "The VAIO was still on and being powered by an adapter melting on the sofa, so hot that I had to pick it up via the cord," said Scott. Luckily, Scott returned home early enough to disconnect the adaptor from the power source, before it could start a fire.... | |
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| | | Laptop Battery Standard | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 11:19:28 AM by Blog57 Team | | Nov. 13, 2006 -- In response to recent calls to make laptop battery systems more reliable and robust, the IEEE will revise its laptop battery standard, IEEE 1625. "The 1625 update will be a global effort," said Edward Rashba, manager, New Technical Programs at the IEEE-SA. "The leading laptop OEMs and battery manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sanyo and Sony have indicated strong interest to participate. .... | |
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| | | Sony PlayStation 3 Debuts in Japan to Long Lines, Short Supply | | Posted Saturday, November 11, 2006 11:19:26 AM by Blog57 Team | | Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Akihiro Okawa waited all night to be among the first to buy Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 game console when it went on sale at 7 a.m. in Tokyo. Okawa, a 25-year-old office worker, was the first of more than 1,000 fans who queued overnight to buy Sony's latest game machine at Yodobashi Camera Co. in Akihabara, an area of Tokyo famous for its electronics stores. Demand outstripped supply at the store because Sony, which halved its 2006 shipments forecast to 2 million because of a shortage of parts, limited initial deliveries in Japan to 100,000. The company said last month it would cut the new machine's price to 49,980 yen ($425) from 59,800 yen after complaints from gamers. The Playstation 3 goes on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 17. ``When Sony announced the Playstation 3 I really wanted one, but thought I should wait because of the high price,'' Okawa said.... | |
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| | | Sony to Sell World's Lightest Laptop | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 11:06:54 PM by Blog57 Team | | According to reports, Sony is planning to start selling the world's lightest notebook computer in December in Japan, in a move to increase its presence among business users. The company said that weighing 898 grams, Sony's type "G" Vaio computer would be the lightest laptop PC that comes with a 12.1-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Sony further said that this would help them expand their presence amongst the business consumers who like to use ultra lightweight notebooks. In addition to the device's portability, the company has created a services bundle that aims to further appeal to business users. The company also plans to launch a basic model of its new "type G" notebook, which would run for about 12.5 hours on a battery, and would not come with an optical drive. It would sell for about $1,881.... | |
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| | | Game news: Nintendo soars, Sony sinks; wait for 'Burning Crusade'; 'Mansfield' a 96-hour keeper | | Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 11:15:49 PM by Blog57 Team | | GO FIGURE: Nothing says drama quite like financial reports, but recent numbers from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft could provide a preview of the next-generation console war. Nintendo, home of Mario, gobbled a huge power-up mushroom as it saw its profits increase 48 percent over the six-month period that ended Sept. 30. Most of that came from soaring sales of the handheld Nintendo DS. Microsoft's overall earnings rose 11 percent in the July-September quarter, and even though it's still losing money on the Xbox, it's not losing as much. Sony is the company everyone's worried about, and its profit nose-dived 94 percent for July-September. The costs of launching the PlayStation 3 ate up much of Sony's profitability, the company said, and the recall of 9.6 million laptop batteries didn't help. BURNING DESIRE: Thousands of online gamers raced to reschedule their vacation time after the announcement that "The Burning Crusade," the highly anticipated expansion of "World of Warcraft," is being delayed until January.... | |
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| | | Problems Abound for Sony | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 3:19:34 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sony Corp. has receded from its days of glory, when the Walkman was the synonym for portable music and PlayStation 2 was the pinnacle of video game consoles, having unseated the mighty Nintendo. While Sony was once an icon of quality, now its batteries are being recalled as fire hazards, mass production problems are delaying wide release of its much-awaited PlayStation 3, and rivals are outselling its TV sets. Amid all this, the company posted a 71 percent decline in the operating profit of its electronic segment in the most recent fiscal quarter, with overall profit down 94 percent, weighed down among other things by the costs of launching the PS3. Howard Stringer, Sony's first non-Japanese chief executive, is leading the company in a turnaround plan, but the effort has hit some snags, notably the recall of 9.6 million laptop batteries that has cost the company $429 million so far.... | |
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| | | Sony releases "James Bond" laptop | | Posted Thursday, November 02, 2006 3:00:42 PM by Blog57 Team | | IN WHAT Sony marketeers must have thought was a good idea at the time, the maker of exploding batteries, released a "James Bond" range based around its Sony Vaio TX laptop. The range, which features dark brief cases, digital cameras and USB memory sticks, has been released as part of the movie marketing for a remake of the James Bond flick "Casino Royale". Each item is marked 007, because British Intelligence mark all their electronic gear with their code words to help them clear security checks at Heathrow and to assist attractive foreign agents in identifying them. More @ source. .... | |
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| | | Sony laptop-battery recall grows and grows | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 1:23:40 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sony plans to recall 340,000 rechargeable lithium ion batteries that shipped with laptop computers in the US, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced. Batteries that shipped with laptops sold by Fujitsu, Gateway, Sony and Toshiba comprise this recall, the CPSC said. Sony is expected to make its own official announcement today at a press conference in Japan, according to a CPSC statement. The worldwide tally of potentially defective batteries used in laptops made by these four PC makers is more than three million, the CPSC added. The CPSC's decision to recall the batteries is based on 16 previous reports of laptop batteries overheating, causing minor property damage and two minor burns, the statement said. It cautions that there have been no reported incidents involving batteries sold by Fujitsu, Gateway, Sony or Toshiba.... | |
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