We were fortunate enough to be able to witness Sony’s VAIO line enter the country after years of gray market and overseas purchases. Sony held its four product-lines launching on September 12, 2007 at the Makati Shangri-La. The Sony VAIO TZ, UX, SZ and FZ lines were presented to the media, to a mixture of excitement that’s present at any new product launching, and a degree of familiarity that is a result of events on many different levels.

                                             Just how thin can you go?
 

The original Sony VAIO Notebook would still qualify as a TZ on form factor alone (not much else of course, since ’97 tech is hardly…modern). Yet this classification itself is reason for wonderment, as the new VAIO  TZ is a cross eye – causing 22.5mm thick, roughly two regular-sized HWM magazines stacked on top of each other-thick. The VAIO 505 released 1997, on the other hand, is 23.9mm – two and a half magazines thick. This more than anything points to the VAIO brand’s primary focus through the years.

                                            This is like the TZ, except with bell-bottoms and dark Police-style shades.

Style over substance, and substance over style. Why not both at the same time? It is even more possible these days as technology for portable appliances mature and miniaturization reaches a level that enables one to harmonize with another. Sony has always been a brand centered on style.  If you had the original VAIO 505, you owned it at considerable expense – not only price-wise, but also in terms of performance. It did not include a built-in optical drive. Battery life was middling. Performance was far from laptop norms due to power constraints.

All of these shortcomings have been overcome, and at the same time Sony has retained its reputation for producing style conscious products for the style conscious consumer. In fact, Sony’s defining one-liner, oft-repeated during the product launching, is “Pride Of Ownership” – wherein the owner of the VAIO portable carries the product as much as a declaration of fashion as an instrument for productivity.

In other words, these are products that practically yell “look at me!” – I’m carrying a VAIO product. If not for our general paranoia and less than safe cityscape, I’d gladly yell something like that if I owned one of these products. Regardless, I wouldn’t need to actually open my mouth to proclaim my stylishness – I may customarily wear jeans and a company-sponsored shirt day to day, but one of these will instantly propel me into fashion stardom – especially if it’s in a geek gathering.

                                             A powerful fashion statement in more ways than one.

The other product lines serve to flesh out the VAIO brand, with offerings meant for business, casual use, fashionable, and the tech-enthusiasts. Of these, the UX line is of much interest, as it represents Sony’s considerable investment in the Ultra-Mobile PC space. This particular UMPC immediately drew comparisons (from me and my fellow editors) to the recently previewed Gigabyte U60, a 740g, easy-to-use rectangle of circuitry that I praised (for the most part) for its sheer capacity to induce gadget-lust. Well, the Sony UX series tops it in that department, although we will have to see whether its other features in the power, usability and ergonomic departments will be better in an official review.

One thing’s for sure though, this is another “look at me!” product. Its form factor alone will make tech-heads take a 2^nd look, and the fact that it’s a VAIO only compounds its desirability. The UX is listed as having only 520g on its petite frame, so I won’t be surprised if it handles even better than the Gigabyte.

Now, Sony’s launch is not a “total” launch, meaning some equipment options may still be unavailable locally. Sony is promising better availability that may stem some of the gray-market sources, as well as discourage buying from stores abroad – since an official warranty will be offered to customers here. Around a dozen stores have been listed as Sony-approved retailers, which we were assured is only a partial list of the planned total number of retailers.

                                             Hmm if we combine our salaries, then apply for terms...

Better availability may eventually mean better (lower) prices, but I wouldn’t count on it- Sony VAIO has always been about the premium and the style – especially here in the Philippines. As the VAIO line performs as well as or even better than the competition, and looks good while doing so, it ensures that Sony maintains its image of the brand – as a product that the consumer will be proud to own.

We are looking forward to review these products in the near future. Watch this space for previews and news on these wondrous tech gadget dreams come true!