Official NEW SVZ Z series Owners Lounge

I dont really get their marketing politics. Why not to give mobile broadband to EU version? Why not to go real thunderbolt instead of stupid usb3 version?
Seems extremely foolish to me. They are losing tons of sales because holding back like this.

The only reason why i dont buy new Z is lack of thunderbolt. Im now looking for S430 or similar instead.

 

I ordered my last Tuesday online and received two emails the next day.

The 1st one titled Payment Cleared says "Sony are pleased to inform you that payment has been taken and your customised VAIO laptop is now scheduled for production." The rest gives an estimated shipping date.

The 2nd email gives me a password I can track the order on Sony website.

I'd phone Sony to see what is going on, maybe your bank is holding the payment it they think it could be fraudulent.

 

What specific Thunderbolt peripheral do you need right now?

 

A proper e-GPU which solution are already incoming very soon.
I need my 4 screens and good graphics power together with portability and high battery power.
Vaio Z with thunderbolt would be 10/10 for this.

 

I would like to know if the updated PMD you guys were talking about is "AMD Radeon™ HD 7670M"? and the old one is "AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M"?
What is the difference? Is it a big difference?

 

Going by NBC site, minimal difference at best if the new one has the 7670m.

 

I'm also thinking about purchasing a Z3. I configured one for ~1,5k $, which is pretty OK (don't need the PMD).
The main concern is the 128 GB SSD. An upgrade to 256 GB would cost me additional 500 $!!

Is there a workaround to upgrade the disk space (can be HDD too) at lower cost?

 

6650M = 7670M. Theres zero difference. Its just renamed.

 

Gigabyte U2442N?

 

Nope, well, a small USB drive would be the cheapest option. I used my old 320 laptop drive in an empty caddy.

 

I opted for the 128gb ssd aswell, Sony UK looking for £400 or something like that for the 256gb, £400 for an extra 128gb dont make sense. I will just use an external hd for my media with a couple tb's on it. Am sure you could prob change the 128ssd drive anyhow in a years time when prices drop. U could just buy a 128gb sd card

 

Not really (internally), which was my main hangup when deciding how to configure. I decided to just go for the 128GB SSD and manage my space effectively.

I have a 1.5TB NAS at home that I can use for storage. Other alternatives for expansion that I know of would be utilizing the SD/Memory Stick slots, external HD, or a web app like Dropbox. Is there anything else to consider?

 

Does the new Z have mpcie slot? Or is there everything soldered to the MB?
Is DDR3 also soldered? CPU soldered or socketed?

It lacks good battery and quad core cpu. Otherwise its not too bad, excluding the ugly silver color.

Perhaps i still take Z3 and hope for some eGPU solution for that.

Keeping my desktop until/if it happens.

 

Keyboard looks worrying on the Gigabyte too with bad flex, from one of the videos I saw but if cheap enough, worth jumping for as the specs are good.

Its not the thunderbolt/lightpeak-like method you were hoping for but shouldn't MikjoA's egpu method work on the Z3?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/619904-vpc-z2x-convenient-egpu-setup.html#

I'm still undecided as to what laptop I want to get. If the cpu promotion on the Sony UK continues for another week, might just go for the SVZ.

 

For those that have a Z2 or Z3 already, how's it like to use on your lap? Is the way the display props up the keyboard uncomfortable at all?

 

I've not found it to be a problem. It's true the rear weight of the laptop is on that point but it's so light it doesn't matter. If you are someone that balances the laptop on a single leg, it will tend to move around a bit more due to the back feet/bar.

I tend to be a bit mindful of placing it on a pillow or soft cushion so the fans aren't blocked. I don't know if others have any issues with that or not. When I travel I use the battery slice so I can place it anywhere.

 

Have used it on a pillow several times - no problems if you are just browsing or watching movies, does not even get warm.

 

Is the keyboard or sound improved over Z2?

 

Are there any benchmarks for playing games such as Diablo III available yet?
Are the speakers still as terrible as on the Z2?

 

Lisa from MobileTechReview said there is an updated PMD, anyone know anything about it?

 

She is mistaken. There is not.
Theres only a firmware/driver update. 6650 --> 7670

 

Mine arrived yesterday!

I've not actually done all that much with it yet - been cleaning out the unneeded software and adding my utilities/programs. I'll admit it's snappy. Opening 3ds max is about 3 times faster then on the W500.

 

Does this have the 'gesture control' feature? i.e. the no-touch navigation gimmick (nope, not the touch pad thingy. I think via the webcam.)?

I ask because I noticed it in a short sony z promo vid on youtube

 

So I seems that SSD upgrade is NOT possible.
Is it actually soldered on the mainboard? How about RAMs?
I saw Z2 users actually upgrading without too much hassle.

Does anyone dare to take a photo of the Z3's mainboard?
Thanks!

 

Where did you saw that? I don't mind the 128GB storage, but really want to upgrade the RAM to 6 or 8GB.

I hate Sony force you to upgrade to the 256GB ssd for £410, before allow you to upgrade the RAM to 8GB for £110.

The machine will end up costing more than Apple's 15" retina macbook air with educational discount.

 

I think I saw these: (you can find photo)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/8472797-post2870.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/8474576-post2874.html

 

Yeah that price is a joke on Sonys behalf, I had to opt for the 4GB RAM and 128GB Storage instead, that woulda pushed the cost of my laptop up too £1600 which is a bit crazy

 

I'd like to know about RAM as well. In the VPC-Z2 it seems it were proprietary but replaceable modules.

 

It's upgradeable for sure, but the bigger problem is they used SONY connector. It's not the standard SATA & DIMM slot.

 

Would someone who received their order like to comment on the speaker quality/volume? I like the specs and looks of this computer but I don't want to have to be right next 2 computer or use headphones all the time to hear music/ watch videos.

 

I don't need a huge graphics power, but I want to connect 2 external monitors. Do you owners think I should get a PMD or I can connect 2 external monitors through the laptop itself? My current Z (Z1) cannot connect two external monitors at all.

 

Also wondering the same thing.
Have any Z3 owners driven 2 external monitors from the laptop's VGA & HDMI ports?

 

From what I've read, you'll need the PMD to drive more than one external display. The VGA and HDMI on the laptop can't be used at the same time.

 

That's what I heard for the previous Z (VPC-Z). I was wondering whether it has been changed in Ivy Bridge.

 

Could someone with an SVZ 8GB model run cpu-z ( CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting ) and upload the log file (About => Save Report), please

 

I'm thinking about buying the new Z3, with educational discount it's actually pretty affordable (for what you get). Especially with the free i7 quad core upgrade promotion action running atm.

I got a few questions about the SSD('s). When you choose the 128GB option is this a 2x64GB RAID0 setup or a single 128GB SSD? I've seen some disk benchmarks for the 256GB model in this thread but is the 128GB SDD much slower? Are there any benchmarks for the Z3 model with a 128GB SSD?

Furthermore it's ridiculous that in the Netherlands you're unable the choose 8GB of RAM with the 128GB SSD, you have to choose >= 256GB to be able to have 8GB's of RAM. Also the SSD upgrade from 128 to 256 is way too expensive (300 euro vs. 200 dollar in the USA).

One last question regarding the USB 3.0 ports. Are both the USB ports present on the right side of the laptop 3.0? Because I'm picking up some conflicting chatter about this.

It's actually really annoying Sony doesn't properly update its website. There is no clear (and updated) specification sheet available on the site afaik (size/weight/ports/detailed info on display and so on).

It's a shame the free i7 promotion action stops after 18 June... Are there any other promotional discounts coming (or likely to be) coming our way?

edit: One more question: Is it easy to do a clean install (format whole drive)? Does this affect warranty and do you have to configure the RAID SSD setup in some way to do this? Because i got a Win7 Professional educational license and i don't like the bloatware Sony (and other manufacturers) install on laptops by default.

 

Yeah it is a joke, the upgrade to 256GB ssd is even more expensive in the UK! Hence the reason I opted for the 128gb ssd and 4GB ram!! I should have it end off next week

 

To answer a couple of your questions:

- All of the SSD configurations are Raid 0 with 2x drives.
- Correction: Sony's site is wrong. Both USBs are 3.0.

I'm also curious about how easy it is to perform a clean install. I did not opt for fresh start in my build, but I'm regretting that decision somewhat.

 

Actually both USB ports are 3.0 on the Z3. Holding it in my hands and looking at those blue ports right now.

 

fresh install is easy - just use the drivers straight from intel (chipset/wireless/video) and sony utils. Alot of their drivers are junk.

If you do a fresh install, you can blow away all their paritions, you only lose "sony fast wake" which is hibernation++, largely meh, standard sleep mode is good (and won't cost you 8g in storage). No doubt this will be flakey in time as sony doesn't maintain anything.

Also set the 'bios' to UEFI only, that will speed up wake etc vs the legacy bios mode. Install windows in the UEFI mode as well (google it).

 

So there are no 128GB disk benchmarks available yet unfortunately.

Does anybody has some images/videos from the charger for the Z3? I'm also wondering what's the weight of the charger, because I will be carrying it around with me most of the time.

Last question about the heat and noise. I watched the review from MobileTechReview on Youtube, but I think I missed the heat generation from the Z3 at the outside of the body. Is it comfortable to hold it on your lap while working (considering the heat produced)?

Could @pdagal please confirm that it's not possible to attach 2 screens simultaneously to the Z3 (on VGA and HDMI) without the PMD?

 

I'd love to know the verdict on this from a Z3 owner who has tried it.

 

Mines is ordered once it arrives I will try this out no problem

 

This is from MobileTechReview's typed review:

 

I've learnt that VAIO Z SD slot supports SDXC and UHS-1 (Ultra High Speed). But I don't know if SD Card can be inserted fully into the slot. If it can, for $50, you can get a 64GB UHS-1 SD Card (that works at 50MB/s write and read) to boost the total storage space to 192GB. Here's the link ( Newegg.com - Patriot EP Series 64GB SDXC). BTW, Newegg got wrong on the specification. It's UHS-1 and compatible with Class 10. It's not Class 10.

 

^
I'd like to hear about everyone's experience here as well regarding the speaker quality as I've heard alot of people are not happy with it on Z1 and Z2. I've ordered mine 3 weeks ago and today on my account page, it is showing that it has left the factory and I should be receiving a tracking number shortly. Not sure what that means in terms of when the laptop arriving at home.

I'm nervous with this expensive piece of kit, especially the screen... thinking if I have to deal with stuck / dead pixels.

Edit: Ok, Sony teased with a false hope of it being dispatched, because I logged in again just now (5 hour later) and that message about tracking number disappeared. How disappointing.

Mine's have the free CPU upgrade deal, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, 1080p display, backlit KB, PMD.

 

Mine's on its way from Japan! Looking forward to booting it up tomorrow or Wednesday. Mine's a base config, so I'll try to run some numbers on the i5 and 128GB drive.

 

Mine will be here on Wednesday too! Loaded...

 

I remember seeing a picture of the backlit keyboard on the previous Z. It looked yellowish and dull. Can anyone take a picture of their new Z's backlit keyboard in action? Perhaps they improved it despite having essentially the same chassis.

 

See post 443 by McMagnus @:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/646789-z3-coming-soon-says-sony-rep-45.html