Showing posts with label Best Buy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best Buy. Show all posts

Friday, August 5, 2011

Best Buy Blue Label Press Release

Saving the text here just in case. It talks about the extended 2-year warranty, etc.
Best Buy® Launches Pre-Sale of Exclusive Blue Label(TM) 3.0 Laptop Line | Reuters

Best Buy® Launches Pre-Sale of Exclusive Blue Label(TM) 3.0 Laptop Line

Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:36pm EDT

Collaboration with Intel, Sony and Toshiba yields two new notebooks that meet consumer expectations for performance and protection
MINNEAPOLIS - April 14, 2011 - Today Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) launches the online pre-sale of Blue Label 3.0 laptops, the latest computing solutions in an exclusive line created by and for consumers. Developed and manufactured in partnership with Intel®, Sony and Toshiba, the two new Blue Label notebooks deliver a combination of features such as pre-loaded anti-theft technology, streaming wirelessly to your TV in 1080p and solid state hybrid technology.
Blue Label 3.0 laptops are the latest arrivals in the customer-inspired You Spoke, We Listened program at Best Buy. The new Toshiba Satellite® E305 (priced at $899.99) and Sony VAIO® VPCSC1AFM/S (priced at $949.99) are available for online pre-order beginning today, and for sale in-store and on-line starting May 1.
"Three years ago, when we first launched Blue Label, we created thin, lightweight laptops with backlit keyboards and prolonged battery life because those were the features people said were really important to them," said Jason Bonfig, vice president of Computing at Best Buy. "Today, those form factors are really the new basics, and what we're creating now are notebooks with a whole new set of essentials that improve performance and deliver better data protection."
"Best Buy's Blue Label 3.0 program is bringing great PC innovation like 2nd Generation Intel® Core Processors, Intel® Anti-Theft Technology and Intel Wireless Display 2.0 to the market in attractive form factors. And when great performance and innovative features come together in cool form factors, consumers win," said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel's PC Client Group.
Blue Label 3.0 laptops offer a broad range of features to address consumer expectations for getting fast, reliable and safe performance from their notebooks. With a backlit keyboard and improved battery life to seven hours, the laptops also feature:
· PC Theft Defense (PCTD) service powered by Intel Anti-Theft Technology provides hardware-enabled security for added peace of mind. If the PC is lost or stolen, PCTD service will automatically shut down the PC and lock down the data stored on the PC. Built directly into the hardware, Intel Anti-Theft provides local protection that works even if a thief reinstalls the operating system, uses a new hard-drive or stays off the Internet. These Blue Label 3.0 systems include three years' of PC Theft Defense service.
· A built-in Blu-Ray drive and Wireless Display technology with push button streaming to provide easy transfer of content from the laptop to the TV in 1080p without wires. Included in the package is the NETGEAR Push2TV(TM) adapter that connects to the HDMI port on the television.
· A Seagate solid state hybrid drive with up to 50 percent faster boot-up time over 7200 RPM1.
· A two-year extended manufacturer's limited warranty, 90 days of Geek Squad phone and remote support, and 12 months of Anti-Virus protection.
More information about Blue Label 3.0 laptops is available by visiting www.bestbuy.com/bluelabel. Customers also can conveniently pre-order a new laptop at this site for free in-home delivery beginning May 1.
About You Spoke, We Listened
Since their launch in late 2008, laptops emerging from the You Spoke, We Listened program at Best Buy have changed the dynamics of how computers are designed. Each generation originates with insight into desired features, styling and performance gleaned from Best Buy's own customers and employees. These are translated into product specifications for further development by the retailer's computing partners. The resulting laptops are offered under the brand names Blue Label, Next Class and First Glimpse, and are available exclusively at Best Buy stores and online.
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Mexico, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $50 billion in annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy, Audiovisions, Best Buy Mobile, The Carphone Warehouse, Five Star, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Napster, Pacific Sales, and The Phone House. Approximately 180,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way Best Buy does business. In fiscal 2011, the company donated approximately $25 million to improve the vitality of the communities where its employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bby.com.
1Performance may vary depending on user's hardware configuration and operating system. Test results based on comparison with traditional 5400 RPM HDD using Windows® 7 OS and PCMark® Vantage benchmark analysis.
Media Contacts:
Paula Baldwin, Best Buy
612-291-6126

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Sony VAIO VPCSC1AFM - Thumbs Down (but I'm keeping it)

As you can see further below, I wound up keeping this machine. I'll share the not so great stuff as it happens.

11/1--
Forgot to mention one of my pet peeves about all Sony VAIO machines.... VOLUME. Don't understand why the max volume is so low on Sony machines.

I guess I'm done with PC's... My next machine will be a MAC. Now that I can access my work via the MAC, there is nothing keeping me tied to Microsoft.

LOL... this is stamped on my VAIO , "Dolby Home Theater".

7/27--
Some cool things about this machine: http://funlimited.co.uk/tag/vpcsc1afm/

7/20--
  • The screen is quite crappy (details further below). In addition to the text that's not quite dark enough unless you hunchback and look up  the screen, it's also just not very rich. 
  • Too easy to hit the Shut Down button instead of the Delete Key (lost work will happen!) 
  • The touch-pad intermittently stops working. Most of the time I have to shut down the laptop to regain touch-pad access. Fn + F1 doesn't work to reactivate the touch-pad. Strange. 
7/21--
Just to note, if you buy from Best Buy. These Blue Label laptops come with an extended 2 year warranty and you can read about it here on Best Buy's web site. The sales force is relentless about pushing their own Extended Warranty (or "performance service plans" as Best Buy likes to call them) and they will not mention this extended warranty that is already included.

Original Post:

My 2 year-old Sony VAIO VGN-Z610Y finally disintegrated. It always ran hot, but it started getting sizzling hot and then turning itself off. Finally it just wouldn't stay on at all. Thinking I'd clear out some accumulated dust to keep the heat down, I opened the machine to find not much dust at all. (It did stay on longer with the machine wide open... but not very practical... :)

I wanted to wait for the new super cool Sony VAIO Z but looks like it will be a few months longer for it to debut here in the states. It's getting stellar reviews.

So I bought the only other available 13", the Sony VAIO VPCSC1AFM from Best Buy. But it's going back (even though the 15% restocking fee). I will somehow make the fried laptop work (USB keyboard and mouse!) until the new Z arrives. Keeping my eye on www.engadet.com - they seem to be the first to know about these types of things.

Here is the problem with Best Buy's (I now understand proprietary!) Sony VAIO VPCSC1AFM/S:

Even with the screen tilted as far back as it can go, the text is lighter than it should be. If you s
crunch down and look up the screen or lift the front of the laptop (in effect tilting the screen back further) you can see the text becomes nice and dark. Tweaking the contrast will not fix this - the screen tilt is just off. It'sespecially noticeable when compared side by side with my VGN-Z610Y. Setting the machine on a platform helps but then it's weird typing while it's elevated. Sigh.

7/18 - Decided to keep the machine. I just didn't want to be bothered with returning it and re-imaging yet another computer. The screen display is not that great. The rest is OK. It's $1K vs. the $2K+ I would've spent on the new 2011 Vaio Z. Something tells me it's going to cost me to keep this machine however...


Other's take on the machine:

Machine weight: 3.9 pounds
4-hour battery life
Also includes Geek Squad Support for 90 days
2-year extended warranty
Model vpcsc
Press release describing the warranty, etc: http://digital-qa.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-buy-blue-label-press-release.html
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