Sony press release verbatim:
Design That Works: The VAIO N10-Series
A new addition to the VAIO range of notebooks brings together sharp design and affordable practicality
The VAIO N10-Series is for everyone who wants a practical, general purpose notebook for use at home or as a student. It represents excellent usability without frills, but – and this is key – it remains very much a VAIO at heart. One look at the clean, classic design makes that clear.
“We believe there are lots of people who want a portable which is strong on core features but does not compromise on design or quality,” says Jun Koyama, Director of IT for VAIO Operations Europe (VOE). “The N10-Series is here to provide them with exactly that.”
Essential Sony design values are matched by essential specifications. The range features Intel® Core™ Duo processors, hard disks ranging from 80GB to 100GB and either 1GB or 512MB of memory.
There are constants across the range, particularly where comfort and ease of use are concerned. The A4-footprint chassis is partnered with a highly legible 15.4-inch widescreen display operating at 1280 x 800 resolution. The result is an all-purpose, portable format with a generous on-screen workspace and an ergonomic keyboard. Power-efficient integrated graphics performance comes courtesy of the Intel® 945 GM motherboard chipset.
VAIO portables are noted for their superior displays, and the N10-Series is no exception. Sony X-black LCD™ screen enhancement greatly boosts the range of contrast, so blacks are really black and everything else is rendered in more natural and realistic tones. Colour also benefits, appearing richer and more vibrant – a long way from the basic standard of generic LCDs.
A double layer DVD±RW drive is fitted to all models, so very large amounts of information indeed (up to 8.5GB per double layer disc) can be archived for safe storage or easily shared with others. Students in particular may find this extremely useful.
High-speed 802.11a/b/g wireless networking is standard on all models, as is wired Ethernet (100Base-TX/10Base-T), so connectivity with home wireless or wired networks is built-in. All N10-Series notebooks also feature handy SD Card (Secure Digital) and Memory Stick™ slots (Memory Stick™ Duo and Memory Stick™ PRO Duo compatible), making use with digital cameras and many other digital devices a simple matter.
Source press release with links to larger images here.
MacDailyNews Take: First of all, yes, we did a genuine “Grade A” double-take when we first saw the press release images. Right down to the chiclet keyboard, no less! When companies do this, it really draws attention to their lack of original ideas and their inability to innovate. See Microsoft’s Windows Vista, for example: It’s Windows XP dressed up to fool the general public that it’s “just like Apple’s Mac OS X.” Now poor Sony with this OS-limited, can’t-run-Mac OS X-but-obviously-wishes-it-could, knock-off spawn of a MacBook Pro and a MacBook.
Buy this mess, put Vista on it and you, too, can have a retarded stepchild of Apple’s Mac platform.
Shouldn’t Apple, or at least Jon Ive, be getting royalties from Sony for the design? If they aren’t, then Apple’s lawyers should do something about this travesty.
MacDailyNews Reader “Dave” put it so eloquently and humorously in a comment we’ve grabbed from below and moved right up here: “Sony’s new line of laptops: MockBook and MockBook Pro.”
“Essential Sony design values!” It’d be funny if it wasn’t so sickening and sad. This is the move of some no-name Chinese company, not Sony! How the mighty have fallen.
Sony is just a sore loser. They watched the iPod destroy what was left of the walkman. So now, they will just make people THINK they’re buying a Mac, but really getting a crappy “Vista Capable dee dee dee” machine.
Just one question for MDN. What exactly did Sony copy from Apple? The fact that its white?
I particularly like the attempt to fake the MacBook keyboard.
We’ll see the end of the white MacBook soon. It’s yesterday’s cool once the imitators start imitating.
Stupid is as stupid does….
Man, what a rip-off.
I think I saw another Sony laptop that had a camera built-in. I don’t ever recall seeing that with any computer until Apple started doing it.
I shudder when I think how the Tech world would be if there were no Apple.
That thing is ugly…
Actually, JadisOne i think Sony started that idea about the built-in cameras.
However, i do think that new laptop looks a lot like a MacBook
Like a MacBook but much larger!
Half macbook pro, half macbook, if only Apple will license their OS this would probably run OS X.
Jeff,
This’ll help. You obviously need it:
http://www.afb.org/
From what I can see in the photos, it is still way thinker than a MacBook and probably way heavier. It’s not particularly sleek or attractive.
Not to worry! Now that the whole Mac line has moved to Intel I’m sure that the new iterations of the laptops coming soon will completely change the landscape and they won’t look like this sad knockoff any more.
do they use their own batteries? lol, doesnt look widescreen though!
I am done buying any Sony products because of this copycat move. Sony is on my shitlist now, right underneath Microsoft!
Too bad it doesn’t run OS X. Then it would be worth something.
Interesting. Didn’t Apple poach several hardware engineers to help design the MacBook and MacBook Pro? I wonder if there was some kind of agreement between the two? In any case, Sony looks the worse for having such a derivative kind of product. Gee, if you were a PC guy, which one would you buy? THe one that runs only Windows and Linux, or the one that runs OS X in addition to the two?
Why does my macbook say VAIO on it?
MDW=passed As in passed it off as a macbook.
Yes – The once mighty Sony has surely fallen – but let’s give credit where credit is due…Sony DID have a camera built into one of their laptops several years ago…BEFORE Apple. I believe it was the Sony Picturebook
This is obvious, since Sony manufacturers laptops for Apple. Sony and Apple are closer than people think.
Anyway, this just legitimises the iBook / MacBook.
I think a slightly thicker design is a good idea. If it’s very slightly thicker than the MB, and that helps with cooling then that’s great.
I often wish my MacBook Pro were a teensie bit thicker to help with cooling. MacBooks and MacBook Pros are awesome computers – too bad about the heat issues.
Chum,
Sony does not manufacture laptops for Apple.
did anyone see the toyota commercial on monday night that featured an iMac prominently??? I loved it. It was beautiful. I wonder how much Apple had to pay to get that kind of placement.
chum you are a chump, do your research
What do you get when you mix a Titanium PowerBook and a MacBook.
Sony’s got BALLS.
Apple has LAWYERS!
MDN Magic Word: enough… EXACTLY!
It comes with exploding batteries too!
It’s like the deformed, inbred offspring of a Powerbook and a Macbook.