Sony Vaio M is official and gets unboxed

Rumors of a new Sony 10 inch netbook have been around for a couple of weeks. Now they are finally confirmed, as the guys at stuff.tv got the first unboxing pictures of the mini laptop called Sony Vaio M.

For sure, this device isn’t a replacement for the older Vaio W line, but a more cheaper entry level netbook from Sony. And while “cheap” and “Vaio” don’t usually go together in the same sentence, this will be quite affordable, with a tag of around 300 pounds in UK (25% cheaper than the Vaio W). However, in order for the price to drop, some features had to be cut off.

First, from the unboxing pictures below, i can say that the new M is not really a looker. It’s not ugly also, is just common, unlike what Sony used us before with their Vaios. However, i expect build quality to be kept on the same known high standards.

Then, the famous Vaio chiclet keyboard is no longer present, as it was replaced with a standard flat one. Buooo! The 10 inch HD display was also replaced with a standard one, but for me, that’s more of a pro than a con.

Sony Vaio M - cheaper but with many goodies cut off

Inside you get the PineTrail architecture and a 6 Cell battery, thus the new Vaio M should be able to face the likes of Acer Ao532h or Toshiba NB305 in terms of battery life (at least 8 hours).

So in conclusion, the Vaio M is supposed to be a cheap Vaio. It will cost 300 pounds in UK, which is pretty much the same as the Asus 1005PE-P – but that one comes with some extra goodies. So, in order to match competition in terms of prices, Sony had to cut off some of the goodies that made people drool for the Vaios in the first place.

An interesting approach, but one that fails in catching me. I mean, i would never go for a bare naked Vaio instead of a buffed up Toshiba/Asus/Lenovo for the same amount of money. Would you?

Source: Stuff.tv via Engadget

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Tags: 10" netbook, Sony netbooks, Sony Vaio

Last updated: March 15, 2010 | Published: March 15th, 2010 | Add the first comment!