Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 7th Jun 2012 21:23 UTC
So, the next venue of patent trolling has just been opened. Apple has patented - quite specifically - the wedge shape of the MacBook Air. Not the general design or impression, no - just the wedge shape. This is interesting, because that wedge shape? Hit prior art in 3.2 seconds: the Vaio x505 from 2004. A wedge-shaped, superthin (for its day) laptop - exactly what Apple's design patent claims the company has invented.
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RE: Whatever happened to the Vaios?
by Morgan on Fri 8th Jun 2012 01:03
in reply to "Whatever happened to the Vaios?"
Member since:2005-06-29
I can say from my own experience with Vaio laptops is that, while the specs are top notch and the visual design is usually beautiful and unique, the hardware itself is often prone to failure. From failing SODIMM slots to cooling fans that seize up, to LCD inverters that burn out in a few months (fixed when the industry in general moved to LED backlighting), to keyboards that stop responding...
I've had to diagnose and/or repair every one of those issues on Sony laptops over the last eight or so years, the most recent being my sister's old VGN-CS215J that required a new cooling fan a week after it was out of warranty.
I realize that my view might be somewhat skewed as I obviously only work on laptops that need work, but with other brands it's almost always a software issue or damage directly caused by the owner, i.e. dropping a laptop on the corner which cracks the screen, or the cat getting on the keyboard and ripping keys off (thanks, Dad). With Sony devices it's almost always hardware failing prematurely.
All that said, when you have a Vaio running smoothly in front of you it's computing bliss!
RE[2]: Whatever happened to the Vaios?
by bornagainenguin on Fri 8th Jun 2012 21:46
in reply to "RE: Whatever happened to the Vaios?"
Member since:2005-08-07
Morgan posited...
I can say from my own experience with Vaio laptops is that, while the specs are top notch and the visual design is usually beautiful and unique, the hardware itself is often prone to failure. From failing SODIMM slots to cooling fans that seize up, to LCD inverters that burn out in a few months (fixed when the industry in general moved to LED backlighting), to keyboards that stop responding...
Don't forget the tricks they played with their various bundleware and crapware in the install which somehow combined with drivers and made the only way to get a clean install to kill the restore of the image and then delete the files before they were installed while in safe mode. SONY is a pain to deal with. I always tell people to avoid them whenever I can.
Not to say that the hardware issues weren't problematic as well, I had a friend who had a SONY laptop fail recently (it was a gift) and it was the LCD screen IIRC, just that there were a whole wreath of problems there in the software as well. What should we expect from the company who brought us the musical rootkit?
--bornagainpenguin
RE[2]: Whatever happened to the Vaios?
by zima on Thu 14th Jun 2012 23:33
in reply to "RE: Whatever happened to the Vaios?"
Member since:2005-07-06
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2008-08-09
Don't have the time at the moment to look through the patent, and one really should before commenting. These summaries are often misleading.
This however raised another question for me. What happened to Sony? They had those ultrathin and ridiculously desirable Vaios for so many years, why aren't they at the top of the heap of the ultrabooks? The only thing they didn't already do a decade ago was the price. Was it just greed that cost them this market? Something else?
Edited 2012-06-07 21:33 UTC