Sony outs VAIO E 14P with wrap-around look, gesture control
updated 09:25 am EDT, Tue April 10, 2012
Sony VAIO E 14P remakes familiar design
Sony has quietly revamped its VAIO E in Europe to make real one of the CES prototypes we saw in January. The VAIO E 14P has a new, wrap-around design that makes the top surface look like one continuous shell. The white, black, and pink 14-inch PCs all have a new two-tone design with trim around the edges, keyboard, and trackpad in a contrasting color that sets off the design.
All of them have a "buttonless" multi-touch trackpad akin to Apple's as well as a motion control feature that was previewed at CES and is making its production debut here: users can navigate through music, photos, or the web just by swiping left, right, up, or down. Only Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, PowerPoint, and PowerDVD are immediately recognized.
Audio processing has stepped up with xLOUD processing to get distortion-free high volume and Dolby Home Theater V4 decoding. An Exmor-based webcam with better low light performance, and sleep-and-charge USB ports, give it extra stand-out features.
Just one hardware spec is making the European appearance, with a 2.3GHz Core i3 from the current generation, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a 1366x768 resolution, and a DVD burner. In an unusual twist, it will have uncommonly aggressive video performance for the category and will run on a Radeon HD 7670M for mid-range visuals.
The VAIO E 14P should be available now for Europeans with an unmentioned price. Its design is virtually certain to reach the US, although the configurations may vary.
