AMD Fusion E-450 shootout: Sony Vaio YB VPCYB35AG v. Samsung Series 3 305U1A

Sony Vaio YB

I got word from the Sony Concept Store at the Mall of Asia that the updated Sony Vaio YB, model number VPCYB35AG is now available. The laptop has the following specifications:

• AMD Dual-Core E-450 APU with AMD Radeon™ HD 6320 Graphics
• Genuine Windows® 7 Starter 32-bit
• 11.6 inch wide (WXGA: 1366x768) TFT colour display
• 2GB RAM
• 320 GB (Serial ATA, 5400 rpm) hard drive
• Weight: 3.2 pounds
• HDMI Output

This is an upgraded version of the AMD Dual-Core E-350 powered Sony Vaio YB released last February. It is offered in the same three colors as before: silver, silver with a green lid and silver with a pink lid. Is is also offered in a new color, with the entire laptop in a nice stark corporate looking black.

The retail price is Php26,999, which is 3K less than the release price of the Sony Vaio YB released last February. 

Subjectively, the Sony Vaio YB was my favorite AMD Fusion powered ultraportable. Objectively, in comparison with the HP Pavilion DM1-3016AU, the HP DM1 was the better deal. 

Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A

How does the new Sony Vaio YB fair? The new Sony Vaio YB challenger is now the newly released Samsung Series 3 305U1A. Both laptops are powered by AMD E-450 APU, have 2GB of RAM and 11.6-inch screens. Here is a quick comparison of their other specifications:

Weight

Sony Vaio YB - 3.2 pounds

Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A - 2.7 pounds

Storage

Sony Vaio YB - 320GB

Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A - 500GB

Battery

Sony Vaio YB - 3500 mAh

Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A - 4000 mAh

Operating system

Sony Vaio YB - Windows 7 Starter

Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A - Windows 7 Home Basic

Price

Sony Vaio YB - Php26,999

Samsung Series 3 NP305U1A - Php23,900

Not much of a competition actually, the Samsung wins in all the categories where the two laptops differ. On subjective matters, I like the Sony's keyboard better.

What about the HP Pavillion DM1? Well it still runs on the older AMD E-350. While the E-450 is just a 50MHz bump on processor speed it it support DDR1600 memery and the graphics chip can overclock on demand 200MHz faster than the E-350. The E-450 is substantially faster, taking the HP Pavillion DM1 out of consideration until it gets its own upgrade. Check of the E-350 v. E-450 benchmarks here at Mobility Update.