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Steampunk Sony VAIO F Goes Back to the Victorian Era

Technabob — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:00:07 +0000

Is your laptop feeling too modern and shiny for you? Why not give it a retro redo? With the eCog Mercury mod, you can give your Sony VAIO a serious steampunk makeover, and send your 21st century gadget all the way back to the 19th century.

Designer John “Wilhelm” Dunn of the Victorian Steam Calculation Engine Company originally created this steampunk mod on commission for Sony, but is now selling the same thing as a mod for your own laptop. The primary components of the eCog Mercury include beautifully-finished birch plywood trim, retro key caps, and a grid of copper and steel “pipes” (actually wires and drawer pulls) and (non-functional) gauges which protrude from the back of the laptop’s display, which John refers to as his “boilerplate” design (also available as an iPad 2 or Nook Color case.)

The keyboard keys are encircled by solid brass bezels, and have translucent off-white keycaps which allow the keyboard’s backlighting to show through in the dark. The larger keys also have birch ply veneers, and the trackpad is surrounded by red fabric wrist rests.

If you want one of these, you’ll first need to go pick up a Sony VAIO F series laptop of your own. That’ll set you back between $1000 and $2500 (USD). Then, you’ll need the eCog mod, which costs another $1250. So this clearly isn’t a project for cheapskates. On the other hand, the end result is pretty spectacular, and I’m pretty sure even your pals with the sleekest new MacBooks will be jealous of your laptop when it’s done.

John is quick to point out that the design could be customized to your liking if you’d like to commission him to make additions or modifications to the design. Down the road, he even plans on building a steampunk goggle mod for the 3D glasses which work with the top-of-the-line VAIO Fs and other Sony 3D displays. You can see way more of John’s original mod in this video clip from Sony’s SGNL:

If you’re interested in the eCog Mercury mod for your VAIO F, head on over to Etsy for more details.

Sony Vaio S Notebook Breaks Cover with 15-Hour Battery Option

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:00:05 +0000

Sony has pulled the wraps off a new notebook computer called the Vaio S. The new Vaio S notebook has a 13.3-inch (1366×768) screen and a thin profile that is a bit under an inch thick.The case of the notebook is made from magnesium for light weight and strength. Designed for long trips, the Vaio S also has exceptional battery life.

The notebook has many options that the user can choose from. Blu-ray is optional and the CPU can go up to a Core i7-2620M. The machine can be fitted with a 256GB SSD or up to 750GB of HDD storage and up to 8GB of RAM. Graphics options include a Radeon HD 6630M 1GB hybrid graphics card.

The machine has Bluetooth, WiFi, and a backlit keyboard as well. It can be purchased in black or white colors. Battery life is quite good too. The standard battery is good for up to 7.5 hours of use per charge and with the optional sheet battery that connects to the bottom of the notebook the machine can run for up to 15 hours. The notebook starts at $969.99 (USD) and the sheet battery is a $150 option.

Sony Second Generation Vaio P Computers Are Odd as Ever

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:38:10 +0000

Sony first showed off its Vaio P line of computers at CES a few years back and they were downright offended if you called the machines netbooks. This was despite their small form factor, netbook hardware, and netbook performance mind you. The only thing not netbook-like about the original Vaio P was its huge price.

Sony has now updated the Vaio P and apparently still doesn’t think of the strange machines as netbooks. The little handheld rigs come in some bright hues including green, pink, orange black, and white. Inside the wide and thin chassis are available Intel Z530, Z550, and Z560 CPUs.

Storage is provided by SSDs in 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB capacities, and the machines also include GPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, and Bluetooth. That is a lot of features to cram into a machine with such small stature. The small screen has an incredibly dense resolution of 1600 x 1280 on sports a track pad on one side of the screen and a pair of mouse buttons on the other. Pricing and availability for the US is unknown, but May 22 is the launch date in Europe.

[via Netbook News]

Sony Launches Vaio Cs Series of Notebooks, Cs Meaning Crocodile Skinned

Lambert Varias — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:29:41 +0000

We already have leather boots and snake skin bags, so why not crocodile skin laptops? Sony Japan’s latest addition to their Vaio laptops don’t really have lizard hide, just plastic made to look like its crocodile skin. Red, brown or pink crocodile skin.

According to popgadget, the ¥104,800 (approx. $1,047 USD) limited edition notebooks have the same specs as the rest of the CS – series products. They’re Japan-only for now, so fashionistas will have to take a trip to the land of the weird stuff rising sun to pre-order these babies.

Spps200 Portable Power Station:the Bmw M6 of Battery Packs

Lambert Varias — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:40:44 +0000

Let it be known that I am not the one responsible for that analogy. Battery Geek Inc., makers of said battery pack, are to be commended for such an exquisite and refreshing figure of speech.

So why is the SPPS200 200 Wh Portable Power Station the BMW M6 of battery packs? Because its little brothers, the 118 Wh and 130 Wh models, are the BMW of battery packs, that’s why. So why are they the BMWs of battery packs? Because they’re expensive. So why are they expensive? Because they can power your laptop, for up to 30 hours. Vrooom.

The SPPS 200 can power PC laptops for 20-30 hours, while MacBooks owners can expect 16 hours of extra runtime. BMW of runtimes if you ask me.

And that’s not all: As you may have guessed from the picture, you can adjust the output voltage of the PPS so that aside from giving your laptop the BMW of battery lives, it can also power and recharge your cellphone, your PDA, your PSP, your iPhone, your iPod and other mp3 players.

And that’s not all: You don’t even need to bring the chargers for any of those devices because the PPS comes with adapters that will fit with your gadget. You can check out the link to Battery Geek below for the BMW of supported laptops and mobile devices. And that’s not all: while Macbooks are supported, Battery Geek charges an extra $20 for the Macbook/Macbook Pro adapter. G4 and Powerbook adapters are already included with the PPS.

And that’s not all: The PPS weighs only 4.4 lbs. and is just over an inch thick. What’s the catch? The BMW M6 of battery pack prices, of course. The list price of the SPPS 200 is $800 (USD). Fortunately, you can buy it straight from Battery Geek for the BMW of discounted prices of $500. And that’s not all: when you buy the SPPS 200, you’ll get the BMW of freebies, a free leather & canvas travel case.

And that’s not all: Here are the BMWs of introductory videos for battery packs:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now you know the BMWs and the BMW M6s of the tech world. Next time we’ll take a look at the Scot Pollard of rap.

Update: a couple of commenters have pointed out that the spps200 may in fact be the Ford Edsel of battery packs. Apparently Battery Geek also has poor service. Caveat emptor.

Famicom Cart + Camera = Famicam

Alisha K. — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:50:47 +0000

Famicom cartridges, and their NES counterparts, have been turned into a great many things by the DIY community–including the consoles themselves–but this particular mod wins major cool points simply for design. Turns out a Sony point-and-shoot camera is just the right size to fit inside a hollowed out cartridge.

I’m not sure I could bring myself to gut a copy of Final Fantasy III, but goteking, the modder behind this project, never played the game, and so felt no connection to the beloved RPG. He can be forgiven, however, because the game makes a pretty good-looking camera.

The BenHeck.com forums are jammed with people fascinated by the idea of turning things into other things, but goteking is apparently an old pro. He posted pictures of and links to a number of projects, including a DS Lite redone with Sony Vaio branding,

Apparently, he has a knack for taking good-looking items and making them even more interesting.

[goteking's blog via BenHeck.com forums]

Sony Vaio R Master: Quad Core Pc Power, but at a Price.

Technabob — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:00:42 +0000

For those of you who can never get enough horsepower in your PC, you might want to check out some of the new Intel Core 2 Quad core CPU machines coming out this year. One such machine is the Sony Vaio R Master desktop PC.

The machine is the new bad boy on Sony’s block, featuring a quad core 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU. Fully outfitted, the machine sports 3GB of DDR2-667 RAM, 3TB of SATA hard disk storag, an nVidia Quadro FX 1500 graphics card, and a 24-inch widescreen LCD. In this configuration, the system should have no problem handling the most graphically and processor intensive tasks out there.

Now the bad news… in this configuration, the system will run

Sony Dt1 Digital Tuner: Reinventing the Wheel

Technabob — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:34:39 +0000

A little while back, I told you about Sony’s forthcoming round VAIO TP1 home computer. Now Sony has announced an additional wheel shaped component that lets you receive HDTV broadcasts and pipe them into a media center PC.

The Sony DT1 is a stand-alone television tuner that can tune both analog or digital broadcasts, but also integrates with media center PCs such as the round VAIO TP1 to provide HD DVR capabilities. You can even burn recorded programs to DVD on an attached Media Center PC. You’ll also be able to watch live TV on connected PCs. The DT1 tuner should run about $400 bucks, and is slated for release in Japan any day now.

[via Electronista]

Sony Vaio TP1: the Round PC

Technabob — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:24:32 +0000

The Sony VAIO TP1 reinvents the wheel (literally,) by placing the latest in media center PCs in a case that’s shaped like a wheel. The TP1 features all of the requisite media PC bells and whistles, such as an HDMI port, a DVD burner, memory card slots and built-in Wi-Fi.

The round PC comes loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium edition, and includes a nifty wireless keyboard so you can surf while being a couch potato. The keyboard also features a trackpad, so no mouse is required. The system will launch this March for about $1600.

[via Gizmodo]

Sony Vaio G: Ultra Portable Laptop

Technabob — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:02:50 +0000

Lately, Sony’s been having more bad days than good ones, what with flaming batteries, Playstation 3 launch concerns and other financial woes. Well today, we get to report on something coming from Sony that actually looks good.

The Sony VAIO G series of ultra-portable laptops weighs just 1.98 pounds and measures just 10.9″ x 8.5″ x 1″. The little portables feature a 12.1-inch TFT LCD screen (running at a respectable 1024×768 resolution). Powered by a Celeron or Core Solo 1.06GHz or 1.2GHz U1400 CPU, 40, 60 or 80GB hard drive and up to 1.5GB of RAM, the VAIO G should be more than sufficient for all but the most intensive business applications. The laptops also feature an on board fingerprint sensor for added security.

Battery life is up to 6 hours, and an optional 12.5 hour battery is available, but increases weight by about half a pound. Initially slated for launch this December in Japan, the base model runs 164,800 (appx. $1403 USD), with well configured systems around 220,000 yen (appx. $1872 USD).

[via engadget]

New Sony Vaio Combines Tv and Pc

Technabob — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 23:26:09 +0000

Sony’s latest attempt to combine a flat panel LCD with a PC has resulted in the svelte new VAIO LS1 TV/PC. The new system combines a reasonably powerful computer into the back of a flat-panel 19-inch WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) LCD display.

The computer features an Intel Core Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and a 250GB Hard Drive. The system also does its best to hide any cables and integrates built in cable management and comes with a wireless mouse and keyboard. In addition, the system has built-in 802.11g Wi-Fi network access.

The LS1 ships with Windows XP MCE 2005 (upgradeable to Vista when it comes out), a built-in NTSC TV tuner and DVR capabilities, but doesn’t include any HD tuning capability – which is a shame given the resolution of the screen.

The system has a (pricey) MSRP of $2100, and should hit Sony stores this September.