Vaio re-enters the computer market. Farewell VAIO: remembering the most impressive Sony laptops Why aren't Sony laptops selling?

For a long time, laptops and other electronics from Sony were considered the standard of quality and reliability. This was largely due to the hard work of Japanese women, who persistently and efficiently soldered the elements on the boards. But then came the era of production automation, and first South Korean and then Chinese manufacturers began to strongly squeeze Japanese Sony, which in 2014 announced the sale of the Sony VAIO laptop business.

Today in our country it is almost impossible to buy Sony VAIO laptops - there are no leftovers, as well as new production. But service centers continue to offer repairs for these laptops. At the same time, the cost of repair turns out to be slightly more expensive than repairing the same Lenovo laptops. For example, replacing the power connector will cost you 1700-2000 rubles - https://sonyk-smart-service.ru/zamena_razema_pitaniya_sony_vaio/. Well, what can I say - Japanese brands have always been more expensive to service than Chinese and South Korean ones.

Should we worry that we won't see Sony VAIO laptops on the market anymore? Of course not. This is a natural development of the market. First, with the popularization of smartphones and tablets, the demand for laptops has decreased significantly, increasing competition within the shrinking market. The advantage of Sony VAIO laptops was the quality and reliability that other manufacturers provide today - all the equipment is assembled by robots anyway. At the same time, these laptops do not have any technological highlight that could make their owners proud of the fact that they have the Sony VAIO brand - often for the same money the buyer received a slower laptop than Chinese manufacturers sold for the same money.

Sony VAIO also had a lot of problems with drivers. As soon as you decided to switch to a new operating system or simply replace the supplied operating system with a boxed one, problems arose with additional buttons on the keyboard, etc. The problem with Wi-Fi falling off is also not new. Yes, there is a solution - you need to disable the power saving function of the USB ports. But is this what a buyer of a top-end laptop should do? We think not. Therefore, there is no Sony VAIO - so no.

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The famous laptop brand Vaio was sold to Sony in February 2014. The buyer was Japan Industrial Partners, which paid for the laptop manufacturer, according to various sources, from $400 to $500 million. Sony justified its decision by “radical changes in the global PC industry,” or, in simpler terms, by the prolonged decline of the PC market. In return, Sony decided to concentrate on the smartphone and tablet segment.

Vaio itself, under the leadership of Japan Industrial Partners, at first wanted to concentrate on the corporate segment of the Japanese market, where the brand’s position was especially strong.

However, the company has now decided to rediscover international sales. Devices under this brand will go on retail in the United States in October. In particular, sales of Vaio through its chain of stores will be handled by . According to company representatives, this is due to the fact that Microsoft wants to expand the range of products offered to all audiences.

In addition, the company is also counting on the Brazilian market, having entered into a partnership with local electronics manufacturer Positivo Informatica. The company will manufacture and distribute devices developed by Vaio.

However, at the moment Vaio has an extremely weak position in the market. According to Euromonitor, which cites The Wall Street Journal, even in its native Japanese market, the company's share does not exceed 1%.

The company currently employs only 250 people, and the production of Vaio devices is carried out at a single plant, which it owns.

According to company CEO Yoshimi Ota, Vaio will aim to occupy a niche in the premium device segment. The head of Vaio believes that devices should be aimed at designers, photographers and artists, that is, at the audience that has traditionally been fans of . Ota also said that among Windows devices, no one can offer an alternative to Cupertino laptops.

This differs from the policy pursued by Sony, which tried to make Vaio a mass brand. Ota indicated that Sony was more concerned about Vaio's market share than the profitability of the business.

Moreover, Ota expects that Vaio will make an operating profit this fiscal year, despite the losses that were recorded in the past.

Today, Vaio sells devices that were developed within the walls of Sony. In the US, the company will release a new device, the Vaio Z Canvas, a tablet with a clip-on keyboard and a 12.3-inch display with a resolution of 2560x1704 pixels. The processor is a high-performance Intel Core i7 chip. The focus of the device on artists is indicated by the stylus, which is inserted into a loop at the end of the device.

Vaio Z Canvas // Image: vaio.com

The cost of the tablet, which went on sale in Japan in May, is 200 thousand yen (about $1,600). In the US, Vaio plans to launch at a price starting at $2,199, which is about double what it was when the company was targeting the mass market.

In addition to laptops, Vaio also began producing Palmi robots developed by Fujitsu. It is set up at the same plant where Sony previously produced Aibo robots and where laptops are also produced. In the future, Vaio plans to also produce wearable accessories and devices for production. Ota expects that in fiscal 2017, profits from such devices will be comparable to profits from laptops.

Vaio is a strong brand, and users have not forgotten it, a leading analyst at iKS-Consulting told Gazeta.Ru. “Even apart from Sony, it was quite popular,” he believes. According to the expert, Vaio products can become popular, and with good distribution and well-thought-out advertising and marketing strategies, the brand will be able to return to its previous positions with minimal costs.

“The only question is how sales will be organized logistically,” Savvatin said.

He also noted that as a sales channel, Microsoft stores will not be of great help in selling the company's products, since the company's retail network is not so large. “Vaio will need to build partnerships with stronger players in retail. In addition, it is not entirely clear how retail will be structured in other countries besides the United States,” he added.

The fact that Sony is selling its division for the production of personal computers and laptops under the VAIO brand was a sad, but generally expected event. Over the past year, the situation on the computer and laptop market has not been developing very well, and I think this is not the last negative news we will hear.

I hope that the reasons for this decision can be discussed in detail in a separate article. For now, I’ll just note that in the case of Sony, several negative factors overlapped. Firstly, this is a difficult situation in the laptop market as a whole. Secondly, a number of negative factors affecting the Japanese economy. Finally, Sony itself has been operating at losses for a long time and cannot develop the right strategy that would allow it to get out of losses. Moreover, most of the losses arise from work in the “electronic” direction: the production of PCs and televisions.

In general, we will talk about the causes of the situation and its consequences separately, but for now let's focus on the VAIO division.

VAIO yesterday and today

Disappeared advantages

There was a time when Sony VAIO laptops were considered the benchmark of technology and style, providing its users with a unique combination of features. True, like other purebred Japanese computer equipment, they cost a lot. But everyone understood why.

Sony VAIO has always been famous for the following things.

Firstly, Sony's flagship laptops have always been thin and light for their time. Small computers with Windows, which, despite their modest size, also have good autonomy - no one had such things. Businessmen really liked this combination, which largely predetermined the positioning of these models.

Secondly, Sony laptops have always been technologically advanced. Innovative materials, the latest technologies, unusual interesting features, modern platforms. However, at that time, cramming existing components of mobile platforms into a thin and light body, and even ensuring decent battery life, was already akin to a feat. And Sony has proven its status as one of the leaders time after time.

Thirdly, what is now formulated as “legendary Japanese quality”. Compared to what was sold in Sony's heyday, its VAIO laptops did offer a noticeably higher quality of materials and workmanship that set them apart in the market and created the desired image. Although, as far as reliability is concerned, I’m not sure - I know too many different cases.

However, the company gradually lost all these advantages. Gradually, all laptops became thinner and lighter, and with the release of new, more economical platforms, operating autonomy also increased. Technologies became more widespread and spread throughout the market. The overall level of design grew, the quality of materials and workmanship became better, and overall reliability increased. And gradually it turned out that the difference between Sony products and competitors’ models became unimportant.

At the same time, Sony VAIOs were not ideal at all - they had many of their own features and disadvantages, including those that affected the ease of working with a laptop. Often this was due to low reliability (for example, with SZ) or problems with the stability of the case (the first Z), which is traditionally difficult to disassemble for Japanese laptops. Speaking about the disadvantages for users, we can recall strong heating and noise of cooling fans. Also, VAIO laptops have always been distinguished by a very complicated driver installation procedure (most users simply couldn’t cope with it) and the system was seriously littered with unnecessary software. And these are top, very expensive lines!

Much the same thing happened with style. At one time, Sony VAIO laptops looked like a standard of style compared to dull gray or black plastic laptops. But those times are gone. And although modern VAIOs still look very cool today, the overall level has increased even more, and models from other manufacturers look no worse. There are a lot of stylish models on the market for every taste.

In general, only the Sony brand remained. However, it was also affected by general devaluation. Moreover, image advantages apply only to top models, while Sony’s mainstream model was significantly more expensive than its competitors, while having only the same style and brand as its advantages. No, the company had unique pink models, but this won’t make mass sales. In general, Sony has only a narrow group of buyers left who are willing to overpay for the brand image. However, this image is not formed by itself.

So, the old technological potential of Sony VAIO laptops has been exhausted for several years now. But the problem is not just technology.

Vicious strategy

Japanese companies are also characterized by what is sometimes called an “overly conservative approach.” Simply put - fear of making sharp decisions and excessive collegiality. The Japanese are good at acting in accordance with long-term plans, their strong point is moderation and accuracy. For the same reasons, the Japanese rarely act as market drivers, preferring to follow in the wake of those who shape the market. Therefore, in stable markets they are able to succeed. But if sudden changes begin in the market, then Japanese companies most often begin to have problems.

In general, all the crisis phenomena described did not encourage Sony to at least somehow change its market strategy. Despite all of the above, Sony, with tenacity worthy of better use, continued to cling to the image of a premium brand, which was finding less and less response among buyers, raising prices on its flagship lines (the same ones, Japanese, not Chinese) to cosmic levels. Despite the fact that the previous technical superiority no longer existed, moreover, laptops often contained rather strange solutions that made them inconvenient to work with.

It's interesting to note that most of Sony's technological advantages, for which it gained its reputation in the market, were successfully picked up by Apple and used in its laptops. But she played the “image and style” card much more successfully. By the way, it was with Apple that Sony tried for a long time to compete as the “sole premium brand”; in the USA they even opened brand stores in the same places...

In general, the company did not take active steps and gradually squandered its potential. And the place that Sony equipment occupied (or hoped to occupy) is firmly occupied by Apple. Its laptops have approximately the same positioning (even the same advantages), but a much more competent promotion policy.

Sony was probably finally finished off by ultrabooks. Thanks to Intel's initiative, a market niche that was originally Sony's domain has become the target of all laptop manufacturers. And with increasing competition, a huge selection of beautiful, stylish thin laptops for every taste appeared, and prices went down.

On top of that, Sony performed unsuccessfully in the emerging class of transformable ultrabook tablets, choosing an unsuccessful and inconvenient form factor. Thus, as a result, the company has nothing left in the laptop market (we don’t take the monoblock market, the situation there is even sadder) - not even any clear prospects.

Final: sale of the VAIO division

The historical maximum supply of Sony equipment to the market is 8.7 million units, and in 2012 the company supplied 7.5 million units to the market. In the third quarter of 2013, its PC market share, according to IDC, was 1.9%, a year earlier - 2.3%. In units this is approximately 1.5 million versus 2 million a year earlier for the quarter.

Sony's laptop and PC business is unprofitable, and has been for several years. However, all areas of the company related to electronics are unprofitable, with the production of televisions being particularly noticeable.

In recent years, the company has made several attempts at reforms (we will also talk about them separately) in order to restore profitability, but this was never achieved. I repeat - for many reasons, both internal (management problems within Sony) and external (the general crisis of the laptop market, problems of the Japanese economy).

In general, there was no chance of restoring profitability in this market, nor were there any prospects. The overall poor results and ineffectiveness of the ongoing reforms forced the company to make a tough decision - to get rid of the unprofitable asset.

Terms of sale

The new owner is Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. This is a Japanese company specializing in investments in industrial enterprises, specifically in the manufacturing sector. It was founded in 2000 (according to other sources, it began operations in 2002), and is located in Tokyo.

One of JIP's goals is to help struggling Japanese manufacturing companies, including through cost optimization. In particular, through restructuring, including the separation of non-core or unprofitable areas into separate enterprises. This stabilizes the main enterprise, allows it to focus on its core business, and also provides new opportunities for the newly formed company. The spin-off unit is either sold to long-term investors or they are trying to return it to profitability on their own.

Most likely, this fund is also a state or near-state structure that buys out important Japanese assets so that they do not leave the market and go to “non-Japanese” companies. When the first rumors about the sale of the PC division appeared in the press, the Chinese company Lenovo was named as the buyer. This would be quite an interesting move - both for the industry and from a political point of view. However, I am almost sure that Sony VAIO would not have been sold to the Chinese. And this, in general, is quite obvious. After all, the purchase of one of the largest image assets of the largest Japanese corporation to Chinese competitors would be a strong slap in the face. Stronger than the purchase of Opel by Russian investors.

To date, the parties have signed a memorandum of intent, and a full agreement must be developed and signed by the end of March 2014 (by the end of Sony’s financial year). The deal itself must be completed by July 1 of this year.

According to official information (Sony press releases), as a result of the transaction, a new company should be created, to which the business for the production of personal systems, as well as all assets of the division, will be transferred completely. Sony must stop developing, manufacturing and selling personal computers and laptops. But the wording here is somewhat vague, because there is an indication: “after the spring 2014 line of laptops enters the market.” That is, it is not clear what will happen to the new lines. They also promise to maintain warranty and post-warranty support for users, but these issues have not yet been finalized.

The corresponding division of Sony (and now it includes not only PCs and laptops, but also tablets and smartphones) will be disbanded. About 300 employees directly related to VAIO technology will be transferred to the new company. The remaining employees (about 700 people) will be transferred to other departments and divisions of Sony. The new company will occupy the same location in the Nagano technology cluster (Azumin city, Nagano Prefecture), where Sony's PC development center is currently located. The VAIO brand will also be transferred to the new company (the Sony brand will most likely not be retained on laptops).

At the outset of its operations, the new company will evaluate its development strategy and market behavior, with a rapid transition to profitability identified as the main priority. After this, a revision of the model range will be carried out - apparently, in the direction of reducing the model line, standardization and simplification.

There is another big news: the new company will focus on the Japanese market, including optimizing production and distribution. And only after successful work in this market will opportunities to enter other markets be considered. If we take this wording literally, then all Sony activities in other countries regarding the sales and promotion of PCs and laptops should be curtailed.

The transaction amount is estimated at about 400-500 million dollars. Investments in the new company will be made by JIP, Sony will invest 5% of the company's capital.

Personal opinion (Sergey Korogod)

It's worth mentioning right away that my opinion will vary greatly depending on whether I speak as a person who writes professional laptop reviews or as an ordinary buyer. After all, as an author, I need to objectively reflect the pros and cons, but as a buyer, I may have my own priorities, which are very different from both the general market and the priorities of buyers of a particular laptop.

If we talk about professional opinion, Sony equipment stood out to me primarily for its high level of quality. Excellent case materials, excellent keyboards, interesting hardware. But the main thing is that Sony laptops have always been unusual and beautiful. I especially liked the “black” Z series (VA, etc.), which followed the “central tube design”. The appearance of Sony laptops has always been such that “I want” was formed in my head, and in a business environment and with a business suit they looked simply fantastic.

The problem is that Sony has always had significant advantages alongside significant disadvantages. Not even that: Sony had a strange system of priorities when creating a new model. To be honest, more than once or twice I got the impression that these laptops were made with people in mind who didn’t understand anything about computers at all and didn’t want to understand anything about them. “It works - and that’s fine.” Actually, the company’s crisis began with the fact that Apple took away the palm with bananas for such users. At a technical level that Sony has never reached.

For example, how can you make a laptop whose name VAIO the manufacturer itself deciphers as “for video and audio”, and at the same time put in it a disgusting screen, one of the worst on the market with terrible viewing angles (the only thing is that the anti-glare filter is good) and no less disgusting acoustics?

And the built-in management utilities in Windows are terrible. The design comes from the nineties, a completely unintuitive control scheme, and at the same time, it seems aimed at fools. For example, the keyboard backlight was controlled only automatically, and it could only be turned off in the depths of the menu.

Sony laptops more or less work only with the original driver sets, but the system is littered with a huge amount of unnecessary annoying software. The procedure for installing drivers can baffle the most experienced computer technician, even one familiar with the specifics (just look at the “strict procedure for installing drivers and utilities”, if not followed, nothing will work). Sony laptops are characterized by very high disassembly complexity. These are, in principle, common problems of all Japanese manufacturers (all of them come from the 90s and still persist), but Sony has especially distinguished itself.

Finally, positioning. Sony correctly tried to target senior managers who need a computer for simple work, but it must be beautiful and high-status. But at the same time, the company failed to get rid of the “technical priorities” of the 90s, when technology was fundamental, and fell between the chairs. Amusing features emerged from the positioning: Sony put top-end Core i7 processors in top models, which are not needed “for working with email,” while in thin and light cases they overheated themselves and heated the case so much that it was impossible to hold it on your lap - and this is with the deafening howl of the fans.

In general, Sony laptops turned out to be strange - very beautiful, very desirable, but with dubious functionality (claimed video / audio, but in fact - a corporate machine for showing off and working with text) and a general “don’t touch it while it works” approach. There were enough advantages, but there were also a lot of disadvantages.

If we talk about my personal position as a person who was thinking about purchasing Sony laptops (largely because of their external beauty), then many times I wanted to buy myself a Sony laptop - and each of them had something that made the purchase unacceptable . Every time I understood: the machine is very beautiful, and I want to own one, but I need to work with it every day - and here, for example, the minus in the form of a very noisy fan will definitely outweigh the appearance as a plus.

As a user, I was also irritated by all Sony laptops, including the latest VAIO Pro, by their flimsiness. A laptop, and especially a premium one, should not sag with a crunch when you pick it up, the whole body should not spring back when typing from pressing the keys, and the body should not “play” with it. Should not. In this regard, the Thinkpad or Macbook felt much more reliable - simply because it lay securely in the hand.

Results

So, Sony VAIO equipment should soon disappear from the world market, although the VAIO brand remains on it (for now). Which, by the way, looks like a rather strange decision. At the very least, the US market, with its simple logistics and large volumes (as far as I remember, it accounted for 35% of sales of VAIO equipment), would be worth trying to preserve - this is at least logical.

Perhaps the strategy outlined in Sony's press release is aimed at market participants and investors of the corporation, and its goal is to convince them that the company is finally breaking off interaction with the VAIO brand in unprofitable foreign markets. And later some additional agreements will be concluded (it was in vain that the spring 2014 line was mentioned). Or maybe, on the contrary, this is a plan for a “soft landing” of the brand, when it will be gradually removed from the market or pushed into some niche - they just didn’t want to give it to the Chinese now.

I'm not a big expert on the peculiarities of the Japanese market, so it's difficult to make definitive conclusions about whether VAIO can survive there. The Japanese are very patriotic and choose their own products - yes. But will there be enough Japanese buyers to keep the development and production lines running? Something tells me that it is unlikely - even if the Japanese market is in good condition, and it is now far from normal. The world has changed a lot over the past decades, and globalization, whatever you say about it, has greatly reduced prices and raised quality requirements. It is now difficult to survive in the local market alone.

As for Sony Corporation, its problem is not the crisis or the high exchange rate of the yen (although they, of course, play their negative role). The main problem is an outdated work scheme from the 90s, which the Japanese cannot get rid of. Traditional Japanese moderation and accuracy, following the leader, a specific system of priorities and a fear of making sharp and difficult decisions (in fact, a general fear of decision-making, which they hide behind “collegiality”) - all this, plus formed in the late 90s - in the early 2000s (the most successful years for the Sony computer division), the corporate culture and production culture, which no one wanted or could change, is the main reason for the crisis within the company.

It's like a disease, and it affected not only the PC and laptop division - it affected all divisions, representative offices and often even external contractors. Therefore, it is not a fact that getting rid of the unprofitable laptop and PC division will allow the company to achieve profitability. “The whole system needs to be changed here,” as an old Soviet joke said. On the one hand, it’s good that the Japanese understand the problem (and constantly write about it in program documents). On the other hand, it is alarming that the problem was formulated a long time ago, and Sony has still not been able to solve it.

Be that as it may, the history of the Sony VAIO computer division is over. This is the end (Doors).

Sony stopped producing laptops back in 2014, but not everyone still knows about it. And there are still people who are looking for them on store shelves, and especially for those who want only a Sony laptop, we have made a list that includes only the best laptops from Sony that can still be found even new. Although it is quite difficult to call such a purchase a wise decision, but as they say, taste and color have no comrades!

Sony VAIO SVT1112S1R

Our top 10 will begin with the cheapest laptop from this company, based on a metal case, which houses a good set of hardware that can not only satisfy your work goals, but also give you the opportunity to have a fun evening after a hard day of work by playing your favorite game at very good prices. settings. Despite the case material, the weight of this model is 1.42 kg, and the thickness when closed is 17.8 mm.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i3 3217U 1.8 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce 920M 2 GB;
• Storage - 352 GB 3600 rpm, HDD;
• Display - 11.6″ inch glossy display with HD resolution (1366×768), aspect ratio 16:9;

pros:

1. Very bright screen compared to previous models;
2. Long operating time without recharging;
3. Excellent price/quality ratio.

Minuses:

1. Inconvenient location of the touchpad.

Sony VAIO Fit A SVF15N2M2R

This convenient laptop is entirely made of lightweight and pleasant-to-touch aluminum, which is very easily soiled; as soon as you touch it, fingerprints remain perfectly on its surface. This problem can be eliminated with the help of one rag and a slight movement of the hand; if you do this after each use of the laptop, then this problem will automatically disappear. The advantage of the appearance is the thin frames that are located on all sides of the widescreen display.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i5 4200U 1.6 GHz;
• RAM - 4 GB DDR3L 1.6 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 4400 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M 2 GB;
• Storage - 508 GB 3600 rpm, HDD;
• Display - 15.5″ inch matte display with HD resolution (1920×1080), aspect ratio 16:9;

Advantages:

1. Good screen with oleophobic coating;
2. Attractive design;
3. Powerful battery for a budget laptop in 2017.

Flaws:

1. Sometimes the keyboard backlight goes out without the owner's knowledge.

Sony VAIO SVT1313K1R

The design of this option is very ordinary; this reliable laptop does not have any elegant forms. What the device can really boast of is its battery life; at maximum loads, the device can withstand as much as 6 hours on a single charge of a Li-Pol battery, although the charging time to 100% of this type of battery is about 3.5 hours, which is also not small . The small widescreen screen, which is located at the top of the laptop, is protected by a special coating.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i3 3227U 1.9 GHz;
• RAM - 4 GB DDR3 1.6 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 4400 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 2 GB;
• Display - 13.3″ inch glossy display with HD resolution (1366×768), aspect ratio 16:9;

Pros:

1. Operating time on one charge;
2. Good hardware configuration;
3. Excellent price/quality ratio.

Minuses:

1. The keyboard backlight is not enough for late-night gatherings.

Sony VAIO VPC-F12GFX

This good laptop comes in calm, dark shades that are great for everyday use. The case material is not capricious, is easy to maintain and does not leave noticeable traces of touch. The case contains a good configuration of modern hardware, which can fulfill any requirements of its owner. The price of the device allows you to take it not only for games, but also for work, because in the price category it is not far from workhorses, which cannot be said about its internals.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 4-core Intel Core i7 740QM 1.7 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 5500 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 2 GB;
• Storage - 500 GB 4200 rpm, HDD;
• Display - 16.4″ inch matte display with HD resolution (1920×1080), aspect ratio 16:9;

Pros:

1. Excellent material from which the case is made;
2. High performance.

Minuses:

1. The battery life is 3 hours.

Sony VAIO SVS1511X9R

This top-of-the-line laptop comes in a very attractive design, made even more extravagant by the laptop's overall thickness of just 23mm. Such a thin flagship contains a good processor that produces fairly high performance, along with a built-in graphics editor. The device also has a widescreen screen with a decent diagonal. On the sides of the flagship there are a large number of various connectors that will be useful to you in your work.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 4-core Intel Core i7 3612QM 2.1 GHz;
• RAM - 8 GB DDR3L 1.6 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2 GB;
• Display - 15.5″ inch glossy display with HD resolution (1920×1080), aspect ratio 16:9;

Pros:

1. Relatively light weight;
2. Stylish case design;
3. Reasonable price for the device.

Minuses:

1. Short-term problems with the SD slot.

Sony VAIO VPC-CB4S1R

This rather powerful laptop has already switched to the more modern Win 7 Home Premium operating system, which everyone who decided to try it on their devices liked. At the bottom of our gadget are installed the most basic components of all these machines, namely the processor, video card, RAM, hard drive and, of course, cooling. By the way, during active operation the device practically does not heat up, which indicates the effective operation of the cooling system, which does not bring all the iron to critical temperatures.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 4-core Intel Core i5 2450M 2.5 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 3000 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2 GB;
• Storage - 500 GB 4200 rpm, HDD;
• Display - 15.5″ inch glossy display with Full HD resolution (1920×1080), aspect ratio 16:9;

Advantages:

1. FullHD screen with excellent characteristics (angles, contrast, color rendition);
2. Good sound;
3. Great build.

Flaws:

1. The screen glares when exposed to sunlight;
2. It is better to immediately buy a cooling system for it.

Sony VAIO VGN-AW235J

This expensive laptop has only one modification, which is very modest; the device is perfect for solving some work issues, for example, such as drawing up a quarterly report or working with any text editors. You can also work with games on this device, but it is unlikely to handle the highest settings. It has a large wide-format display, which contains a high-quality and reliable TFT IPS matrix with a maximum resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels per second.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i5 7200U 2.5 GHz;
• RAM - 4 GB DDR3 2.1 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 620 1 GB, discrete: AMD Radeon R7 M445 4 GB;
• Storage - 500 GB 4200 rpm, HDD;
• Display - 18.4″ inch glossy display with HD resolution (2690×1324), aspect ratio 16:9;

Pros:

1. Good design;
2. Quiet and doesn't get hot.

Minuses:

1. No longer top-end hardware.

Sony VAIO VGN-TT299PBB

This is the most compact version of this rating; Sony released this model for sale a long time ago and from the very beginning it was clear that the laptop would be extremely popular. The general appearance of the gadget is quite good, the black ribbed plastic has shown itself to be excellent over many years of active work, it has not worn out anywhere, and is quite durable and reliable. It has a good configuration of the main components on which the model functions day after day. The weight of the laptop is 1.3 kg.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i5 6200U 2.7 GHz;
• RAM - 8 GB DDR3 2.1 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 520 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 2 GB;
• Storage - 512 GB 4200 rpm, HDD;
• Display - 11.6″ inch matte display with HD resolution (1366×768), aspect ratio 16:9;

Advantages:

1. Soft keyboard keys;
2. Battery life 7.5 hours.

Flaws:

1. Lack of memory.

Sony VAIO VPC-Z12NGX

The top cover has a nice ribbed plastic on the front, which looks great and will not cause unnecessary trouble to its owner. The inner shell of the laptop contains excellent hardware, which is very popular today, their capabilities in 2017 practically know no limits, all games will run perfectly on this configuration, which is installed in this version, almost at the highest settings. The flagship also has a good screen, small in size.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i7 620M 2.7 GHz;
• RAM - 6 GB DDR3 1.6 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 2 GB;
• Storage - 256 GB 4200 rpm, SSD;
• Display - 13.1″ inch matte display with HD resolution (1600×900), aspect ratio 16:9;

Pros:

• Compact dimensions;
• Long lasting battery.

Sony VAIO Duo 13 SVD1321K4R

This is the latest model from Sony, which has classified this device as part of the VAIO line. It also belongs to the type of transformers, the widescreen screen of which can rotate 180 degrees. This best laptop initially comes with the Win 8 Pro 64 operating system, which perfectly suits the hardware installed in this device. The display also has touch control; it is based on a good TFT IPS matrix and also has LED backlighting.

Main characteristics:

• Processor - 2-core Intel Core i7 6500U 2.5 GHz;
• RAM - 16 GB DDR4 1.6 GHz;
• Video card - built-in: Intel HD Graphics 520 1 GB, discrete: NVIDIA GeForce 940M 2 GB;
• Drive - 512 GB 4200 rpm, HHD;
• Display - 13.3″ inch matte display with HD resolution (1920×1080), aspect ratio 16:9;

Advantages:

1. Impeccable design;
2. Good energy capacity.

Flaws:

1. No ExpressCard slot.

Conclusion

That's all, the top 10 best laptops from Sony ends. This company produced a lot of beautiful laptops, but unfortunately in 2014, it closed the production of laptops and fired more than 5,000 employees in this industry. Therefore, our rating is no longer relevant and you simply will not find many models on store shelves. However, you can still search hard and find something suitable, but I’ll tell you right away it will be difficult!