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.
What has happened to Sony? They used to be one of the top designers of electronics. Now they are lifting obvious designs from other manufacturers. Why didn’t they at least do something different from Apple gray/white? They could easily have given us a notebook in royal blue. Granted, it would have been somewhat similar to the original iBook but at least it would have been different.
I’m not sure I’m seeing amazing similarity extecpt that it’s white
It’s actually not a bad product (aside from the OS limitation), niching right between a MacBook and the MBP. Card slot means a lot to people who think that (whether or not they actually do) their new machine is limited without one. It is clearly built to have features of both, cosmetically. But if it’s priced right, it’ll sell pretty well, I suspect – partly because the relatively clean lines and color have been made popular by Apple.
This is basically a knock-off of a MacBook Pro & MacBook.
However, I wish Apple would copy some features of Sony laptops, such as making the built in camera adjustable, like on the sony picture books.
Adding memory card slots and built in high-speed celluar networking capbility like the VAIO’s.
It would also be nice to have the fingerprint scanner like on the Lenovo’s thinkpads.
Just a wish list.
They should put a Sony logo on the Windows (command) key, give it a remote with FirstPosition media software and call it a SonyBook!
What’s next Carport Musicians?
Imitation is the sincerest form of we’ve run out of ideas so let’s copy that guy.
Apple leads and even the once great Sony, just follow.
They lose. As it does not run the worlds most advaanced OS it can only be a poor replica.
I just love this quote. “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.”
Yea, an exact copy of Apple’s designed Macbook Pro. Yea you guys at Sony are really amazing. NOT!!!! The problem is it still runs Windows which means it is still only half as good as a Macbook Pro.
I wonder what Apple’s Legal team will do with this fraud?
Sony put built-in cameras in some of their laptops beginning way back in 1999. I have one of the mini-VAIOs with camera still running Windows 98. It’s about 3 lbs. It had Sony software for taking pictures but not anywhere near what you can do with PhotoBooth.
My kids still use it to access the Web with a wireless card.
Sonybook, love it!
Actually no, I don’t! Its an uninspiring copy of a classic.
You have to ask why its taken them so long?
The plagarising nitwits…
Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.
Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon, volume I, no. 183
(1780 – 1832)
I suppose if the end result of the last great design effort by my product development team was the “Bean”, I too would just give up and copy Apple.
that’s just not right
The sincerest form of flattery is to pay royalties
Sony manufactured the original PowerBook 100 back in 1991.
That’s it as far as Sony building Apple products.
I dunno I am typing on my PB right now and that doesn’t look anything like my PB. Anyway its whats under the hood that counts. They can attempt to look like apple as much as they want. They only look worse and worse by doing so. Now not only do they have a poor attempt at a rip off, but have to wait for Vista to run it haha what a joke.
“It comes with exploding batteries too!”
(If they are manufactured by Sony, Yes)
Memory card slots are a nice idea, IF you use the particular memory cards that the slots are designed for. What if you use CompactFlash or some other format? So, that means you’ve got to carry some sort of reader or card adaptor. When I get new gear or swap out the old, I just carry the appropriate cable. There’s no need to worry if my computer supports it, or NOT.
Some people will NEVER use the slots, so why add the cost, added complexity, (AND in this case, it being Windows… driver issues), when you can buy a $10 (street) USB2 card reader that can double as a thumb drive.
Scroll down and take a look:
http://www.iogear.com/main.php?loc=product_category&category=usb
How do you know they weren’t working on this before the MacBook came out?
Sent to Sony PR —
“Dear Sony,
It seems that the days when Sony was a design leader are now history.
For the N10 looks remarkably like a competitor’s product.
A pity, as I have bought and used many Sony products in the past, but this time would be more inclined to go to the opposition, particularly as it can use Windows if absolutely necessary.”
Doubtless any reply will be in BBC-speak to avoid the subject entirely.
While it certainly does look like the MacBook design, there’s something about it that reminds me more of the early TiBook designs. Maybe it’s the external hinge look on the back? Anyways it’s either extremely arrogant or or sincerely flattering! I’m not sure which.
Fred Mertz,
a very good answer to Jeff’s non(visual)sense.
I followed the link to Sony’s press images to see where the optical drive was. IT USES A TRAY!!! HAHAHA! What crap. The funniest part was the tagline at the top of the page:
like.no.other
HAHAHAHA!!! If I didn’t laugh at it, I’d be furious at the nerve of copying a design and then trying to take credit for it. I think that Apple should get an injunction against Sony on the same grounds as the “Trade Dress” suit they won against eMachines when their iMac knock-off came out years ago. The funniest thing about THAT was eMachines thinking they won a future battle since the injunction expired after 2 years. Of course, Apple had re-invented the iMac by then and any attempt to use the old design would have been just sad and pathetic. Sony: take note – eMachines doesn’t exist any more.
Sony you can put all the bolt on flares and gull wings you like on your Macbookalike.
Turn that ignition on and you still have the same cheap and trashy 70’s VW kit car underneath you started out with. Some folks just don’t get it. The whole Mac Experience (hardware and software) is where it’s at. Try cloning them Apples.
The Apple/Sony connection goes back as far as the original 128k Mac. Sony manufactured the 3.5″ floppy drive that debuted in that machine.
I was given a new Vaio 17″ notebook to evaluate some MCE powered sites and it is like carrying around a huge VCR compared to my PowerBook G4. You need 2 hands just to open it because the damn monitor is soo heavy.