14 DAY TRIAL // Some leaks in Sony documents, as well as specifications posted on a few reseller sites, show that Sony intends to use the upcoming mobile chips from Intel. This may end up in a massive refresh for Sony's notebook lineup offering. Some good news can be spotted there for Advanced Micro Devices as well, because the same leaks show a prominent use of the company's mobile graphics processors for the new lineup.
Laptoping says on one of its posts that there will be a few 16.4-inch models included in the lineup. The post refers to the Sony VAIO FW multimedia-oriented laptop, stated to replace the FZ series. There will also be the VAIO Z-Series of ultra portable notebooks "featuring a 13.1-inch screen," states Laptoping. Sony will include in this series, as well as on other notebooks, a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI).
A Sony Vaio VGN-FW198U/H laptop is listed on one reseller site at the price of $2,149.99, which includes a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 processor, 4GB of memory, a 320GB hard disk drive, and a Blu-Ray disc drive.
Although Intel does not list yet the T9400 on its processor pricing page, we may assume that it will be placed below T9500 (2.6GHz), which costs $530.
Notebookreview.com posted a document in which a VGN-FW100 series image is included. The website also has a Vaio VGN-FW160E/H model posted with specifications that include a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400, 4GB of memory, a 250GB hard disk drive, and Blu-Ray Disc drive. The P series of the ready-to-come Intel central processor units, which includes the P8400, features less power usage than today's mainstream mobile processors.
The FW series of Vaio notebooks is expected to arrive with AMD-ATI HD 3470 graphics, but some other graphics cards are also featured.
There are also sites which list a consumer notebook series featuring 13.3-inch LED backlit LCD and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics processor. The Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU is specified for the listed models, as well. The upcoming Sony VAIO SR laptops are stated to feature 13.3-inch displays, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, and up to 250GB HDD.
No comments on these speculations have been made yet by Sony.