Sony Vaio Y Series (AMD Fusion) or Macbook Air?

[Falkowski83]

Hey guys,

First of all, I'm in Brazil, so our choices here are limited when it comes to new technology.

I'm looking to buy a 11.6" notebook. I'll be using it mainly for classes, so I need a battery life of a minimum of 5 hours.

As of yesterday, I was leaning to the Macbook Air, as my only other choice here would be the Acer 1410 (Celeron 723).

But today I came across this 11.6 Vaio, which is powered by AMD E-350 (2GB Ram, 500GB HD, AMD Radeon 6310 Graphics), and it costs around U$1.000,00 (here in Brazil).

The Macbook Air (2GB, 64GB SSD) has a slightly better processor, and is priced at U$1.700,00.

Dows any of you has any opinions on the Vaio? Is it a good machine? What about battery life?

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[Zap]

Hello Falkowski83, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

Do you guys get HP in Brazil? The HP DM1Z seems a popular notebook that is similar to the Vaio Y series in specs, but costs 25% less. Potentially Sony may (or may not) have a better LCD panel, and may (or may not) have a better keyboard. I do know that the Sony does weigh less, but also offers less battery life. The Vaio has a rated battery life of 6 hours while the DM1Z is rated at 9 hours. Reviews have put the DM1Z at a "real world" 6-7 hours battery life. Both have the same CPU and integrated graphics.

I would not recommend the Celeron 723 because it is a single core CPU and is not much faster than a single core Atom.

 

[Falkowski83]

Hey Zap,

Thanks for the welcome.

We have HP here, but they release new models here almost 1 year after the US initial release, so unfortunately we don't have the dm1z in Brazil.

How would you compare the Sony Y "Fusion" with the Air, despite it's price? (I'm aware of the OS differences, I'm talking basiclly about hardware/battery life/real world use)

Thanks!

 

[Zap]

You may want to contact HP to see about a Brazil release. The thing is that the DM1Z is barely released even in the USA. I know it has been available for sale on the HP web site for weeks, but people have only barely started to actually receive their notebooks this week.

I have no personal experience with any of these notebooks, so I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer your questions. Whether you are talking about the new or old Macbook Air, both have plenty of reviews on the web (including here at AnandTech.com). I don't know if the Vaio Y has been reviewed, since it is a brand new model that is just coming out. In theory I think the Air has slightly better hardware. It may also have the nod in battery life, but that would come from the OSX optimizations.

 

[hans007]

if they DID release the dm1z in brazil i'd expect it to cost a lot too.

i think tariffs are like 40% to brazil .

the sony you are talking about i believe is $600 in the US.... i'd take the sony as the video card and cpu are probably close enough to the macbook air (the air, is an older culv with basically nvidia ion). there is actually a $550 version of tha tsony YB here (only 2gb ram)

take the $700 savings and buy an ssd for the sony if you really need one, unlss you REALLY need mac os x, and i know that seems to be something people in the US / japan / europe seem to think is worthwhile, but if you don't go for the e-350

 

[frostedflakes]

The CPU portion of the E-350 will be slower, GPU will be faster, and battery life is probably longer than the Air. The Sony has a larger HDD vs smaller SSD on the Air. The Air obviously has OS X, so if you prefer that OS and Apple's software then that's a big plus.

Both are pretty nice machines, it just depends on what you want and what your priorities are IMO.

 

[Emulex]

when you skip anti-spy/anti-virus you get alot more bang for the buck out of the same equipment.

 

[hans007]

when you skip anti-spy/anti-virus you get alot more bang for the buck out of the same equipment.

i can't really say i've gotten a virus in really forever. and windows 7 comes with firewall and spyware fore free, and virus scanning is free if you download MS security essentials.

since those are all free, you still get the same bang for the buck.

 

[slugg]

I'd say save your money and go for the Sony.

 

[Emulex]

i can't really say i've gotten a virus in really forever. and windows 7 comes with firewall and spyware fore free, and virus scanning is free if you download MS security essentials.

since those are all free, you still get the same bang for the buck.

okay OSX doesn't have windows defender either. you are losing out on performance from that alone too.

 

[Falkowski83]

hans007,

Tariffs are extremely high in Brazil. In some cases they come up close to 100% (when you sum the import tax with the state tax).

Just so you can put things in perspective, the HP Mini 210 (Atom N455, 2GB, 320GB with Windows Starter) costs around U$700,00 here.... It's basically robbery.

Btw, the Sony we get here is the 2GB RAM version...

Well, thanks for the input guys. Now it will come to a personal choice based on the "need" for Apple's design opposed to the better price of the Sonyas I believe both will be good "writing tools" and will have aproximate battery life.

 

[hans007]

hans007,

Tariffs are extremely high in Brazil. In some cases they come up close to 100% (when you sum the import tax with the state tax).

Just so you can put things in perspective, the HP Mini 210 (Atom N455, 2GB, 320GB with Windows Starter) costs around U$700,00 here.... It's basically robbery.

Btw, the Sony we get here is the 2GB RAM version...

Well, thanks for the input guys. Now it will come to a personal choice based on the "need" for Apple's design opposed to the better price of the Sonyas I believe both will be good "writing tools" and will have aproximate battery life.

your price on the sony doesn't seem so horrible. its $550 at amazon in america. so the tariff isn't ridiculous at least.


my dad used to do business trips in south america, and i knew about the tariffs, becuase he used to tell me the locals would always offer them cash for their laptops that they flew in with....