SONY make.believe

From the drawing board to final QA testing, the Making of the VAIO X Series takes you behind the scenes and offers you an inside look at the development of the world’s lightest notebook.

Last week I introduced you to Hayashi Kaoru, Chief Project Manager, who reviewed Sony’s long history of miniaturization, including the x505, why this X Series was developed and why the project was so important to him.

You also met Shibata Takashi, Lead Project Engineer, who discussed the amazing engineering challenges Kaoru-san’s project presented and the unique solutions his engineering team had to devise to overcome them.

This week I reserved for what I think are some of the most interesting stories behind the development of the X Series.

For example, in part 3, Lead LCD Engineer Fujita Kiyohito discusses the incredible challenge his team encountered trying to fit an LCD and its components within an extremely thin 0.07 inch (2mm) thin display case without affecting picture quality.  To help save space, he and his team had to go to such great lengths as developing a new glass polisher that could mill down display glass a hairline-thin piece at a time.

His team also had to design and engineer the LCD’s motherboard from scratch so that it would fit within the tiny confines of the display case.  Discover more of what went into the design and engineering of the LCD in the video below.

In part 4, Lead Mechanical Engineer Saito Kenji offers an interesting look at the amazing detail and thought that went into the construction of the X Series’ chassis.   Because of the inherent thinness of the materials, his team had to examine every aspect and minute detail of the frame to uncover ways to enhance rigidity, durability and overall strength.

For example, Kenji-san’s team incorporated miniature arcs into the walls of the chassis to increase the frame’s strength – giving the overall notebook a more solid feel.  Discover more of what Kenji-san’s team did to overcome the challenges presented to them in the video below.

Want to discover more?  Uncover answers to questions not covered in these interviews?  Post your questions below and I’ll hunt down the answers for you.  In the meantime, check back next week for more in this series.

As many of you have probably already heard, Sony recently unveiled the World’s lightest notebook in the VAIO X Series.

In addition to the detailed information we passed along at the announcement in NYC, I wanted to share with you a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the X Series.

In this 7 part series, you’ll learn about the unique engineering challenges, surprising design inspirations and innovative technology used to transform the VAIO X series from concept to notebook directly from those who worked on the project.

The series kicks off with the following two installments:

Part 1:  Hayashi Kaoru, Chief Project Manager, offers an overview of the project and answers why the VAIO X Series was developed and what he hopes customers take away from it.

Part 2:  Lead Project Engineer Shibata Takashi provides insight into the engineering technology used to make the VAIO X series an incredible ½ an inch thin.

Want to discover more?  Uncover answers to questions not covered in these interviews?  Post your questions below and I’ll hunt down the answers for you.  In the meantime, check back next week for more in this series.