The first VAIO laptops to be produced since Sony sold off its laptop division have been unveiled in Japan. Sony sold VAIO in 2013 to a Japanese investment fund, who've been selling models designed by Sony ever since. The new VAIO Z and VAIO Z Canvas are the first to be designed entirely by the new owners, who trade under the VAIO name.
The VAIO Z, the long-standing name for the company's flagship laptop, is a convertible device. It can be used as a conventional laptop, flipped over so that the screen faces away from the keyboard, or used as a slate with the screen folded flat against the keyboard.
It weighs 1.34kg and measures only 18.6mm thick. The top spec is kitted out with an Intel Core i7-5557U processor, a whopping 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It has a 13.3in touchscreen with a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution.
The company claims the laptop will last a staggering 15.5 hours, although we always take such claims with an absolute fistful of salt until we've put these devices through our battery benchmarks. VAIO claims it achieved such impressive longevity by redesigning the construction of the battery cells and with a special screen mode that only projects light at a narrow angle to preserve power, according to a report on Engadget .
The new VAIO Z will cost around $1,600, but at the present time it's not clear whether VAIO intends to sell its laptops outside of Japan.
Split screen
Also launched alongside the VAIO Z is the VAIO Z Canvas, a similar looking device, except this time the screen detaches entirely from the keyboard to form a standalone tablet. It has a slightly different resolution - 2,560 x 1,704 - spread across a smaller 12.1in display, and reportedly covers 95% of the Adobe RGB gamut.
The Canvas comes with its own stylus and VAIO says it will be available with up to 1TB of storage, which underlines the device's credentials for creatives. It's not set to launch for three months and no price details have been released.
