Sony refreshes Vaio S laptop family with Sandy Bridge Core i5 CPU, new AMD Radeon graphics
Some svelte notebooks, like the HP Envy 13 and Dell XPS 14, have recently bit the dust, but Sony is not only carrying on with its Vaio S laptop, but also sprucing it up.
The new 3.9-pound Vaio S has undergone a face lift, emerging with what Sony is calling a "full flat" magnesium design for "enhanced mobility," which equates to "a little easier to pack." Perhaps more important, Sony has introduced a Fast Boot mode that it says cuts boot time for the Vaio S in half.
Its innards have also been updated, with a new Intel Core i5-2410M Sandy Bridge processor and AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics card with either 512MB or 1GB of video RAM. You also get 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, and 13.3-inch screen with 1,366x768 resolution. The Dynamic Hybrid Graphic System allows the Vaio S to switch between integrated and discrete graphics depending on the application in use, which helps to squeeze out a little more battery life.
The Vaio S will be available at the end of March and should be priced in the mid-range segment ($900-$1,300) if its predecessors are any indication.