Sony VAIO Fit Laptop Line Introduced To Rave Reviews: New VAIO Specs Include Touchscreen Display, NFC, Intel Core Processor

Sony introduced the new VAIO Fit line of 'entry-level' notebooks on May 7 to rave reviews across the Internet's tech sites. The Sony VAIO Fit E starts at $549, but still offers Intel Core processors, Nvidia graphics, hybrid hard drives and a keyboard and trackpad that are surprisingly spacious. 

The Verge reported that the Sony VAIO Fit laptops feel like premium, rather than entry-level, laptops. The $649 Fit has an elegant-looking aluminum frame. Although the Fit laptops are thinner than budget laptops, they aren't thin enough to be considered ultrabooks. They are large enough to fit an optical drive, and come in 14- and 15-inch models. The Fit notebooks come in black, silver, and pink.

Sony VAIO product manager Travis Furst told The Verge, "We're really focusing on the power of Sony." Allegedly, this focus on "power" means collaboration throughout the company, called "One Sony."

The most exciting spec in the new Fit is its display. The Sony Fit display comes with a 1600x1920 or 1920x1080 touchscreen. Representatives reportedly said, "We're not going to offer 1366x768. We've killed that."

Other great specs in the Fit and Fit E are huge webcam improvements and quality sound. The Sony VAIO Fit is aimed at students heading back-to-school. Included on the laptops is a software set for editing photo, video, and audio, similar to iLife.

The keyboards, in addition to being spacious, are backlit with a full number pad in the 15-inch models.

All models will come with a standard of 4GB of RAM, and upgrades will be available to 6GB or 8GB. Storage will range from 500GB to 1TB on hard drives, and will incorporate Hybrid and SSD options.

Sony has also integrated NFC (near-field communication) technology into the wrist area of the laptops, allowing connection with other NFC-equipped devices, like allowing Bluetooth and WiFi connections. It could lead to interesting apps, but there hasn't been extensive development yet. All models come with Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro.

Touchscreens will be available across the whole Fit product line and standard on certain models. Sony said in a briefing that touchscreens are expected to overtake non-touch displays rapidly in the laptop market.

Furst said, "We've had E Series, T Series, things like that in the past. Fit kind of combines the best of those, and puts it into one easy-to-understand series." So, although Sony will continue to sell its T Series of VAIO laptops, it and other laptops will be marginalized.

The Fit line will become available by mid-May.