Sony refreshes VAIO C, E notebooks with Sandy Bridge, Fusion
updated 11:15 am EDT, Wed June 15, 2011
Sony VAIO C and E get spring 2011 remakes
Sony on Wednesday morning reworked the VAIO C and E for the summer. The 14-inch EG, 15.5-inch EH, and 17.3-inch EJ are the more radical breaks with new patterns and fingerprint-resistant shells. Buyers still have the pick of more recent Sandy Bridge-era Core i3 and i5 processors but can pick an AMD Fusion-based 1.6GHz E-350 in the EH to keep the price down but still get HD-capable video.
Some models can get Blu-ray as well as Intel's WiDi for beaming video to a supporting TV and either Remote Keyboard or Remote Play for steering Bravia and PS3 hardware. A low-light friendly Exmor webcam is stock. Pricing will start off at $550 on the E series when it reaches stores in July; pre-orders start June 19.
The VAIO C is now split into two models with both the 14-inch CA using the original screen size and the 15.5-inch CB going one step larger. It remains faster than the E series with Core i3 and i5 as the processors and an optional, though unnamed, 1GB AMD Radeon HD graphics chip as as an option. Longevity is an edge, too, as both can get up to nine hours of battery life, including on the stock battery for the CB.
Options are narrow for the C series and, beyond the graphics, focus on backlit keyboards for some versions as well as WiDi. The Exmor webcam is standard on the lineup, which will come in at $730 for its July release and June 19 pre-order date.
VAIO CB
VAIO EG, EH, EJ
