Sony VAIO Laptops - The Big Picture

History

Although Sony made computers in the 1980s for the Japanese market only, Sony withdrew from the computer business around 1990. Later, Sony re-entered the market, this time globally, under the new VAIO brand, started in 1996 with the PCV series of desktops.

VAIO Brand

The VAIO is a sub-brand for many of Sony's computer products. The branding was created to distinguish items that used consumer audio and video, as well as being conventional computing products.

One example of this was the Sony VAIO W Series personal computer, which was a regular PC and a miniature entertainment center.

Sony is expanding the use of the VAIO label. It can now be found on notebooks, subnotebooks, desktop, and a hard-disk-based audio player that comes in both 20GB and 40GB variations (called VAIO POCKET player).

VAIO Features

High-end VAIO laptops are usually shipped with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium or Business, while low end laptops such as N series come with Microsoft Vista Home Basic.

As of October 2005, VAIO laptops are available upon request without pre-installed software at a slightly lower price. Most recently, some models no longer ship with a Recovery CD, but a special partition on the hard drive is used for the recovery information, including operating system and all bundled software. VAIO users are prompted to create a set of recovery CDs or DVDs immediately after purchase.

VAIO computers use Intel processors, Seagate Technology or Fujitsu hard drives, Infineon RAM, Sony (usually made by Hitachi) or Matsushita optical drives, Intel or NVIDIA graphics processors and Sony speakers.

Current VAIO Models

AR - Flagship 17" High-end multimedia machine FZ - The first 15" notebook with BluRay burner CR - New 14" derivatives of the FJ and C Series. BX - Professional 4:3 notebook G - Entry level Vista Laptop for professionals N - Entry level Vista laptop for home users TZ- 11.1" professional notebook, perfect for long business trips with 7hour battery life SZ- 13.3" professional notebook

Bundled software

VAIO computers feature a wide array of specially designed or bundled software that help you to use the laptop for multimedia purposes. Many of these applications inspired similar software or integration into the Windows OS, e.g. Movie Shaker preceded Windows XP's Movie Maker.

Additional software products in the bundle can include:

Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements. These products are bundled as part of the video and audio integration that Sony prides its VAIO series on. SonicStage, a digital music manager. Integrated with Sony's Connect downloadable music service, it allows users to transfer music to Sony standalone music players, PDAs, or PSPs. PictureGear, an image management software that predated popular programs like Picasa. VAIO Zone, used for music listening, viewing photo slide shows, and watching TV (when a tuner card is present) and DVDs. VAIO Zone is an equivalent to Apple Front Row and Windows XP Media Center Edition.

VAIO Trivia

Sony named its VAIO line using an acronym for "Video Audio Integrated Operation." The VAIO logo represents a combination of analog and digital signal technology. The 'VA' represents an analog wave and the 'IO' represents digital binary code.