Check out the Vaio SX12, a small laptop that's packed with ports

[midian182]

What just happened? When it comes to laptops, it’s usually the case that the smaller they are, the fewer ports they have. But the newly announced SX12 from Vaio is one of the exceptions. Featuring a 12.5-inch screen, it comes with a slew of connectivity ports that would make many 15-inch+ laptops envious.

Weighing 888g (just under two pounds), the SX12 is aimed at those looking for a thin and light machine that offers a wealth of I/O ports. There are three USB A inputs, a USB-C for charging, a full-sized SD card slot, a headphone/microphone port, an ethernet port, HDMI, and even an old-school VGA connection.

Specs-wise, the SX12 offers buyers the choice of Intel 8th-Gen quad-core Core i5 or i7 processors, up to 16GB RAM, and up to 1TB SSD. There’s also a multi-touch trackpad with two buttons, a fingerprint sensor, an anti-glare coating on the display, 14 hours of claimed battery life, a full-size “silent keyboard,” and an optional LTE module, allowing users to get online while on the move.

The Vaio SX12 goes on sale in Japan later this week for between 119,800 yen (~$1,100) to 216,800 yen (~$2,000), depending on the specs and color choice. No word on when or if it’ll make it to the US or Europe, but with the S11 and SX14 available in the states, the SX12 will likely follow suit.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80861-sony-unveils-vaio-sx12-small-laptops-packed-ports.html

 

[VitalyT]

Such solution seems a bit odd. I think it would be way better to offer 4 Thunderbolt-3 ports, for which there are tons of useful and cheap adapters out there, so one can buy and use only the ones he needs, with potential to use faster access, depending on the adapter, like in case of Thunderbolt-3 to Ethernet 10Gbit adapter.

The internet is flooded with products like this, and many of them are great. If anybody cares about a laptop with VGA port in it, that could be someone who also needs RS232 to connect some old hardware, and guess what - it ain't there, while there plenty of adapters for it. Pointless product, really.

You want to be covered for everything? - there are plenty of monsters like this one.

 

[GreenArrow]

Such solution seems a bit odd. I think it would be way better to offer 4 Thunderbolt-3 ports, for which there are tons of useful and cheap adapters out there, so one can buy and use only the ones he needs, with potential to use faster access, depending on the adapter, like in case of Thunderbolt-3 to Ethernet 10Gbit adapter.

The internet is flooded with products like this, and many of them are great. If anybody cares about a laptop with VGA port in it, that could be someone who also needs RS232 to connect some old hardware, and guess what - it ain't there, while there plenty of adapters for it. Pointless product, really.

You want to be covered for everything? - there are plenty of monsters like this one.

I agree that the average person may not need this. But people who travel tend to want to travel light.

 

[VitalyT]

Such solution seems a bit odd. I think it would be way better to offer 4 Thunderbolt-3 ports, for which there are tons of useful and cheap adapters out there, so one can buy and use only the ones he needs, with potential to use faster access, depending on the adapter, like in case of Thunderbolt-3 to Ethernet 10Gbit adapter.

The internet is flooded with products like this, and many of them are great. If anybody cares about a laptop with VGA port in it, that could be someone who also needs RS232 to connect some old hardware, and guess what - it ain't there, while there plenty of adapters for it. Pointless product, really.

You want to be covered for everything? - there are plenty of monsters like this one.

I agree that the average person may not need this. But people who travel tend to want to travel light.

People who want to travel light stick with just the smartphone these days, or a tablet, as the last resort.

 

[ForgottenLegion]

Such solution seems a bit odd. I think it would be way better to offer 4 Thunderbolt-3 ports, for which there are tons of useful and cheap adapters out there, so one can buy and use only the ones he needs, with potential to use faster access, depending on the adapter, like in case of Thunderbolt-3 to Ethernet 10Gbit adapter.

The internet is flooded with products like this, and many of them are great. If anybody cares about a laptop with VGA port in it, that could be someone who also needs RS232 to connect some old hardware, and guess what - it ain't there, while there plenty of adapters for it. Pointless product, really.

You want to be covered for everything? - there are plenty of monsters like this one.

Not everyone wants a donglebook pro.

 

[OneSpeed]

Replace that VGA port with a DisplayPort, take out a USB-A and add 2 x Thunderbolt ports.

 

[VitalyT]

Such solution seems a bit odd. I think it would be way better to offer 4 Thunderbolt-3 ports, for which there are tons of useful and cheap adapters out there, so one can buy and use only the ones he needs, with potential to use faster access, depending on the adapter, like in case of Thunderbolt-3 to Ethernet 10Gbit adapter.

The internet is flooded with products like this, and many of them are great. If anybody cares about a laptop with VGA port in it, that could be someone who also needs RS232 to connect some old hardware, and guess what - it ain't there, while there plenty of adapters for it. Pointless product, really.

You want to be covered for everything? - there are plenty of monsters like this one.

Not everyone wants a donglebook pro.

And your point being?

People are usually interested in the laptop, based on the performance, the screen, etc. One shouldn't base the choice on the ports, that's a poor guide, very limiting the choice.

 

[GreenArrow]

Replace that VGA port with a DisplayPort, take out a USB-A and add 2 x Thunderbolt ports.

A lot of places (like schools and university ) still use projectors that only have VGA

 

[Squid Surprise]

I thought the Vaio brand was sold to Japan Industrial Partners like 5 years ago.... While Sony is still a minority owner, these are NOT Sony products.... Which is too bad, as I always liked the Sony PC line...

I have a Sony Mastercard (got it over 20 years ago while in university) and I could use the points to buy various Sony merchandise (I have a "free" TV, receiver, camera and laptop from them already) but was forced to purchase my wife's latest laptop from Dell once Sony bowed out...

I'd love to hear otherwise, as I'd be happy to use the rest of my Sony points to buy a new Vaio laptop...

 

[Burty117]

I thought the Vaio brand was sold to Japan Industrial Partners like 5 years ago....

Exactly what I thought! I swear the Sony Vaio brand died years ago? I'll have to have a Google when I get home. I liked the old Vaio's!

 

[fluffydestroyer]

Apple, take note of this

 

[toooooot]

I could be shopping for this device for an IT job.

 

[GregonMaui]

They should just go Thunderbolt and a dock if necessary - so much cleaner. No one uses all those legacy ports in this day and age (unless they have a museum of antiquated technology). wireless - its the future baby!

 

[fluffydestroyer]

They should just go Thunderbolt and a dock if necessary - so much cleaner. No one uses all those legacy ports in this day and age (unless they have a museum of antiquated technology). wireless - its the future baby!

wireless is unreliable and too unsecure to my taste. I rather use wires instead. Also those legacy ports are still used by a number of devices in offices and companies.

 

[arrowflash]

Sounds pretty good. I'd seriously consider one if I was shopping for a small sized laptop, ports are important for me. Though personally, instead of SD and VGA ports I think more USB ports, or even 1 or 2 Thunderbolt ports, would be more useful.

Such solution seems a bit odd. I think it would be way better to offer 4 Thunderbolt-3 ports, for which there are tons of useful and cheap adapters out there, so one can buy and use only the ones he needs, with potential to use faster access, depending on the adapter, like in case of Thunderbolt-3 to Ethernet 10Gbit adapter.

The internet is flooded with products like this, and many of them are great. If anybody cares about a laptop with VGA port in it, that could be someone who also needs RS232 to connect some old hardware, and guess what - it ain't there, while there plenty of adapters for it. Pointless product, really.

You want to be covered for everything? - there are plenty of monsters like this one.

I doubt that "monster" works even remotely as well or reliably as dedicated ports. It doesn't even have its own power supply, which in my experience is a must even for the most basic USB hubs. I doubt it's reliable.

 

[NotABadSlime]

Vaio is its own company now. Sony has sold off the brand and company like IBM did to ThinkPad.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaio

 

[DelJo63]

People who want to travel light stick with just the smartphone these days, or a tablet, as the last resort.

EXCEPT, they could easily need Powerpoint / Excel for presentations, and NO WAY would I attempt to use a smartphone to drive PP/Ex -- keyboard & mouse are requisite

 

[VitalyT]

EXCEPT, they could easily need Powerpoint / Excel for presentations, and NO WAY would I attempt to use a smartphone to drive PP/Ex -- keyboard & mouse are requisite

I've been using the latest MS Office on my iPad Pro, and it is excellent!

 

[Knot Schure]

Hi Sony, want to make $2k USD?

Give me a 10.5" version, so I can dump the horrific Android OS / Tablet.

I'd pay more just to be able to leave the 'roid ecosystem.

EDIT: and give me as big keys as you can, bring them forward (I use a mouse anyway).

 

[erickmendes]

Know what? I got a better idea... I deal with SAN switches and other server hardware... Why don't they make "mods" just like in the Motorola Zx series? Like little "transceiver" like modules, or even small adapter cards, like the old notebooks had, but with a combo of ports.

You make your laptop with whatever number of module slots you want, then the user choose whatever he wants... USB whatever flavor module, Ethernet modules, video output module, LTE module.
Obviously a "transceiver" like module would be a lot more expensive then a plain simple usb controller with ports, but the possibility to mix and match would make it worth it.

That would be awesome.

 

[nismo91]

Should've just put a dock connector there. make a slim dock that fit in your typical laptop bag. if necessary include all the **** there is: firewire, rs232, parallel port, rj11, esata, s-video, infrared, expresscard etc. not to mention quad 3.5mm jack for the good ol' 7.1 speakers.

I doubt even the latest hardware offering they have would run legacy OS such as WinXP perfectly, so even if someone were to use this laptop to connect to legacy hardware, what seems to be the purpose?

I understand the need for VGA for the ocassional presentation. but if you can afford a new decent laptop for work you could probably install a widi capable projector in your office. any modern intel laptop with win8 or win10 lets you connect to the projector easily. the rest of the ports? meh.

I don't like "travelling with dongle" but as with my first zenbook, I'd rather have a skinny laptop and carry 2 small vga and hdmi dongles than make this half-assed compromise. after all, a wireless mouse is way bigger than these dongles and I can't seem to travel without it.