Sony is recalling about half a million of their VAIO notebooks because of heating issues. The issue could cause a Sony notebook to “distort the shape” in other words “MELT”.
The effected Sony VAIO models are:
- VPCF11 Series: VPCF111FD, VPCF111FD/B, VPCF111FX, VPCF111FX/B, VPCF111FX/H, VPCF112FX, VPCF112FX/B, VPCF112FX/H, VPCF113FX, VPCF113FX/B, VPCF113FX/H, VPCF114FX, VPCF114FX/B, VPCF114FX/H, VPCF115FM, VPCF115FM/B, VPCF115FM/BL, VPCF116FX, VPCF116FX/B, VPCF116FX/H, VPCF117FX, VPCF117FX/B, VPCF117FX/B, VPCF117FX/H, VPCF1190X, VPCF119FX, VPCF119GX, VPCF119HX, VPCF11AFX, VPCF11AFX/B, VPCF11BFX, VPCF11BFX/B, VPCF11CGX, VPCF11CGX/B, VPCF11DGX, VPCF11DGX/B, VPCF11EGX, VPCF11EGX/B, VPCF11FGX, VPCF11FGX/B, VPCF11GGX, VPCF11GGX/B, VPCF11HGX, VPCF11HGX/B, VPCF11JFX, VPCF11JFX/B, VPCF11KFX, VPCF11KFX/B, VPCF11KFX/H, VPCF11LFX, VPCF11LFX/B, VPCF11LFX/H, VPCF11MFX, VPCF11MFX/B, VPCF11NFX, VPCF11NFX/B, VPCF11NFX/H, VPCF11PFX, VPCF11PFX/H, VPCF11QFX, VPCF11QFX/B and VPCF11QFX/H
- VPCCW2 Series: VPCCW21FX, VPCCW21FX/B, VPCCW21FX/L, VPCCW21FX/P, VPCCW21FX/R, VPCCW21FX/W, VPCCW22FX, VPCCW22FX/B, VPCCW22FX/L, VPCCW22FX/P, VPCCW22FX/R, VPCCW22FX/W, VPCCW23FX, VPCCW23FX/B, VPCCW23FX/L, VPCCW23FX/P, VPCCW23FX/R, VPCCW23FX/W, VPCCW26FX, VPCCW26FX/B, VPCCW26FX/L, VPCCW26FX/P, VPCCW26FX/R, VPCCW26FX/W, VPCCW27FX, VPCCW27FX/B, VPCCW27FX/L, VPCCW27FX/P, VPCCW27FX/R, VPCCW27FX/W, VPCCW29FX, VPCCW29GX, VPCCW2AFX, VPCCW2AFX/B, VPCCW2BFX, VPCCW2BFX/B, VPCCW2CGX, VPCCW2CGX/B, VPCCW2DGX, VPCCW2DGX/B, VPCCW2EGX, VPCCW2EGX/B, VPCCW2FGX, VPCCW2FGX/B, VPCCW2GGX, VPCCW2GGX/B, VPCCW2HGX, VPCCW2HGX/B, VPCCW2JGX, VPCCW2JGX/B, VPCCW2KGX, VPCCW2KGX/B, VPCCW2LFX, VPCCW2LFX/B, VPCCW2LFX/L, VPCCW2LFX/P, VPCCW2LFX/R, VPCCW2LFX/W, VPCCW2MFX, VPCCW2MFX/PU, VPCCW2MFX/WJ, VPCCW2MGX, VPCCW2MGX/B, VPCCW2NFX, VPCCW2NFX/LU, VPCCW2PFX, VPCCW2PFX/L, VPCCW2PFX/R. VPCCW2PFX/W, VPCCW2QGX, VPCCW2QGX/B, VPCCW2RGX, VPCCW2RGX/B, VPCCW2SGX, VPCCW2SGX/B, VPCCW2TGX, VPCCW2TGX/B, VPCCW2UFX, VPCCW2UFX/B, VPCCW2VFX, and VPCCW2VFX/B
If your model number is included then consider contacting Sony’s service centers in Saudi Arabia. More information is on Sony’s eSupport website.
From Cnet via Buzz Out Loud.
The Adamo, Dell’s solution for the Apple Macbook Air, had a massive price drop of up to $499 (1,900SR). The price cut was to compete with the MacBook Air.
The “1.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD” model cost $1,500 (5,700SR) and the “1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, a 128GB SSD, and 4GB RAM” will be for $2,230 (8,500SR). These are significant price changes and we have no idea when will it be applied in Saudi Arabia.
The Dell Adamo was released in Saudi Arabia last month.
Via Maximum PC.
SaudiMac has a price list of the new MacBook Pro models. But should you buy them from Saudi Arabia or just buy them online from Amazon.
Quick overview on your Apple choices in Saudi Arabia: stores “authorized” by Arab Computers stores and “independant” stores (itechia, ADAM, apparently Global Store and others). AC Macs appear to be European based on the power adapter while the others import from the United States.
The other choice as I said earlier is to buy from Amazon then ship using MyUS or similar services. You should assume paying for shipping as well as paying the Saudi Arabia custom fee (%5 if you are lucky, they once considered my 3rd gen iPod a computer!). You will need to add Arabic letters yourself and warranty is a bit sketchy.
Here are the prices for the MacBook Pro models from Apple compared to the Saudi Arabia prices, assuming a convert rate of $1 = 3.80SR. Remember that you need to add shipping and custom fees:
MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.26GHz: on Amazon: 4,405SR. Here: 5,649SR.
MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.53GHz: on Amazon: 5,677SR. Here: 6,899SR.
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.53GHz: on Amazon: 6,480SR. Here: 8,399SR.
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.66GHz: on Amazon: 7,480SR. Here: not available.
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.80GHz: on Amazon: 9,268SR. Here: 10,199SR.
MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.80GHz: on Amazon: 9,344SR. Here: 11,299SR.
Dell has launched their ultra thin notebook, the Adamo in Saudi Arabia this week. The notebook is similar in many ways to the Apple MacBook Air. Prices in Saudi Arabia start at 9,500SR ($2,500). The Dell Adamo was launched last week in UAE in a press event while the Saudi Arabia “launch event” was in Jarir Bookstore. Dell Saudi Arabia also decided to copy the UAE event by hiring, uh, “models”?
Please Dell, why don’t you fix your keyboards first? Instead of having two guys in a very weird dress. Is that supposed to be a thobe? It’s NOT! This is how a thobe supposed to look like! Not having a stupid line on it like that just to have the Dell name on it! Look at the models used in the UAE launch event, but don’t look too much 
. Their outfit doesn’t have the word “Dell” on it.
Finally, Dell should have a real press event in Saudi Arabia. You have a Saudi headquarter, don’t you?
Anyway those Dell Adamo machines are found in Jarir “Bookstores”. Just don’t mind the crappy keyboard print found on all Dell notebooks in the Middle East.
Low price Windows Home Server from Acer
Acer have an affordable way for you to backup and store your media files. The Acer easyStore is a $400 (1,500SR) Windows Home Server system with 1TB of storage, 3 hot-swappable 3.5-inch hard drive bays for up to 7TB of storage. It is powered by 1.6GHz Atom CPU.
We hope this reaches the Saudi Arabia market very soon.
Acer bypasses Dell and becomes number 2 notebook maker
Acer has beaten Dell in the global notebook market, becoming the second notebook maker after HP. HP have a worldwide market share of %24.1 and Acer is now %18.8. Netbooks was an important factor, %31.6 of Acer’s notebooks are netbooks.
Intel Pine Trail platform for Netbooks
Intel has announced the “Pine Trail” platform which will succeed the current Atom on netbooks. The CPU “pineview” as well as the GPU will be on the same die so it won’t need a graphics processor.
This means Pine Trail will be a two-chip solution, one less than Intel’s current netbook platform. In theory, this should result in cost savings and lower power consumption.
It should be released by the end of this year.
AMD Catalyst 9.5 drivers released
AMD released version 9.5 of their Catalyst video card drivers. It promises performance improvements “Performance gains of up to 11 percent for single GPU and ATI CrossFireX configurations with AA enabled in Unigine Tropics DX9″ on these Radeon cards.
You can read more and download it from AMD’s website.
Hewlett-Packard announced a voluntary recall of about 70,000 lithium ion batteries. The potentially defective batteries can be found on a number of both HP and Compaq branded notebooks. These include the following:
- HP dv2000, dv2500, dv2700, dv6000, dv6500, dv6700, dv9000, dv9500, dv9700
- Compaq A900, C700, F700, V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, V6700
- HP G6000, G7000
- Compaq 6720s
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says the recalled batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. So far there have been two reports of overheating and ruptured batteries, which resulted in flames and property damage, but no injuries.
You can check your battery’s serial number on this website. Many stores in Saudi Arabia import some notebooks from the United States so there is a possibilities that some of these notebooks might end up in Saudi Arabia.
Image and news from Maximum PC.