14 DAY TRIAL // Announced about two months back, Sony's 15.5-inch VAIO SE notebook series has finally become available for purchase, as the company has listed the new laptop model in its US online store, which will start shipping these on October 17.
We got the chance to spend some time with the VAIO SE during a local press event we attended just last week and we were fairly excited by what we saw, but got the impression that for an ultra-slim 15-inch notebook, as Sony portraits the VAIO SE, the machine is a bit too bulky.
The flat add-on battery that can extend the notebook's battery life to an impressive 13 hours is definitely a nice touch, but this also adds a bit of weight to the VAIO SE.
Moving to the insides of the VAIO SE, we get to see that Sony is offering the notebook with a wide variety of Sandy Bridge processors, starting with the Core i5-2430M and going all the way up to 2.8GHz Core i7-2640M.
The fast Intel CPUs are paired with 4GB of system memory, a Radeon HD 6470M or HD 6630M discrete graphics card and up to two hard drives or SSDs.
Opting for HDD storage, can provide up to 1TB of capacity, but Sony uses 5400 RPM hard drives so performance will definitely take a hit. On the other hand, choosing the SSDs will definitely improve the speed of the notebook, but storage will be limited at 512GB.
The rest of the specifications list includes a Full HD (1920x1080) LED-backlit display, a DVD writer or optional Blu-ray player, an HD webcam, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity, Intel's Wireless Display 2.1 support, an USB 3.0 port, and a 4,400mAh battery.
All these are housed inside a 25mm (almost an inch) thin chassis made of aluminum, which weights 1.96Kg (4.3 pounds). The keyboard is backlit and also features a 10-key numeric pad.
Pricing for the 15.5-inch VAIO SE starts at $999 US, which roughly translates into 734 Euros.(via engadget)