For the past year and a half, small AMD Fusion powered laptops have been our favorite choice for those looking for a low cost Ultraportables, particularly those with the AMD E-350 and E-450 accelerated processing units. Priced at around 20K, these small 11 to 12-inch laptops are reasonably light at about 3 pounds in weight, and would give a good 5 or 6 hours of battery life on a charge.
The one model which diverged on price was Sony own 11.6-inch AMD Fusion based laptop, the Sony Viao YB. Initially released in the first quarter of 2011, with an AMD E-350 APU for Php29,999, it was priced 50% over that of its competitors. The current model with a AMD E-450 APU brough the price down to Php26,999. This was still a good 20-30% higher than the competition. Now Sony has dropped the price of the Sony Vaio YB to Php21,999, no doubt in anticipation of the release of a newer model. The Php21,999 at 12-months zero interest, so we are fairly sure that you can get it at 20K of below for cash.
So how does the Sony Vaio YB fare at this price. Typical specifications for these AMD powered ultra portables is to be equipped with Windows 7 Starter or Home BasiC, 2 to 4 GB of RAM, a 320 GB or 500 GB hard drive and a 4000 mAh or so battery.
On all these counts the Sony Vaio YB tips the scales on the low end Windows 7 Starter, 2 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive and a 3500 mAh or so battery. On the other hand it has a nicely built chassis. While some of its competition is built on enlarged netbook chassis, the Sony Vaio YB is built using the same case the Sony uses for more the expensive Intel powered Sony Vaio Y.
It may not be the best deal on the market, and we are more inclined to recommend the Lenovo Thinkpad Edge e125. On the other hand the e125 will now cost you a bit more the the Sony Vaio YB, so if the Vaio strikes your fancy, there has never been a better time to buy one.
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