Any News about Z3?

or similar flagship product from sony?
I guess it is going to use ivy bridge

 

I'm looking forward to the next Z model. I don't care about the new processor as I doubt it will make that much difference but I would like them to improve a few things -

Much better video out - I have a number of clients with bad connectivity to external monitors with the current gen models (not on the previous models (various sony models including the Z).

Ideally they'd have a VGA and a display port out or two display port outs on the laptop itself, making the docking station unnecessary for most.

If 802.11ac is available when they release the Z3, that would be most desirable - or a slot for a to be released wireless upgrade.

less bezel, more screen.

keep improving the contrast on the screen.

keep upgrading the SSD.

 

I'd be surprised if a new Z model is even in the works. The Z2 is new, and the new CEO doesn't seem to care much about the PC business.

 

Well, the Z did get refreshed after 2 revisions of the Z1.(Z11,Z12,Z13)

And the Z23 has just been released, so maybe it will come soon, who knows.

It might come with IB in April.

 

They need to shave another 2lbs off the Z2. I would like a better keyboard and GPU in the PMD. And for the love of all things.. please make the Z3 PMD usable with the Z2.

 

+1

Cheers,
Miki

 

I agree with the PMD part.
I actually find the keyboard (and touchpad) pretty good, except the crippled right shift and the arrow keys. Those annoy me each time I have to use them, which is very often.

 

I heard from an unknown source they gonna call it Sony Mac because its going to be a whopper! ok ok

 

Here's my wish list for the Vaio Z3:

1. Dedicated graphics card+PMD Solution. previous Zs have a dedicated graphics card. Why not put a mid range graphics card in the laptop and use the PMD if you need more power?

2. Weight wise the vaio z is already light enough, any more lighter would considerably make the laptop more fragile!

3. 802.11ac nuff said.

4. Edge to edge screen.

 

What will be *really* interesting to me is if they continue with PMD's and if the new PMD will be compatible with the Z2's.

If not, then it's business as usual for Sony and they've not learned the lessons that Apple is beating them over the head with.

 

I'm expecting the PMD to stay around until Haswell. The Z was last designed on the tock, no reason to expact that to change particularly since the video improvement in IB won't be enough to offset the eGPU for photoshoppers and other who need that capability. I'll toss out a wild guess and predict that the IB PMD will be backward compatible if only because Sony may not be able to deliver much more video horsepower over the LP connection. Besides, the cost of redesigning and producing a new connection would probably be way more than they could hope it would be worth.

When Haswell arrives, there could be a redesigned PMDless Z -- if there's a Z at all.

 

I have a bit of an off the wall prediction: the next Z will be sold in the US with a PMD-delete option - as it already is offered in Europe. It will probably only save around $200-$300, but I'll wager that as many as 50% of buyers would opt for the sans-PMD model. I predict that this move alone would increase the rate of sales of the product. I'd wager that a substantial % of PMDs are, a) gathering dust on desktops after being tired once or twice or, b) neatly packed in the original box, never even used. Nobody likes to think they paid extra money for an appendage that they don't use. I would add that things might be different if there was a blockbuster GPu in there, but I still question if high-zoot "executive" Z2 buyers bought these super sleek, super light, super fast notebooks to fiddle with a funky connector, a second power brick, an awkward shaped dock requiring a separate stand so they can play video games with mediocre frame rates and minimal eye candy - any more than they bought them to go through the same bother to watch a blu ray disk on their 13" screens.

I say make the IB version base model with 8GB of 1600 mhz RAM, 256GB SSD and sell it as a standalone for $2,000. Go to 16GB RAM and 512GB for $500 each, so $3,000 buys what high-buck "players" can really use. Contrary to myth, high income buyers are not fine with being overcharged or forced to buy something costly that they don't want just to get something even more costly that they do want; they are fine with paying a lot and getting a lot. By next round, $2,000 will be a lot to spend on an 8GB, 256GB notebook and $3,000 will be far more off-the-charts than it is today, but given the cost of the PMD, I would think Sony will make as much per unit in these configuration/price points as they do today offering far, far less for the $2,000 and $3,000 price points. An I'm sure there will be plenty of people (in the context of a low volume product) willing to push the scale towards $4,000 if you give them outrageously elegant finishes, custom leather, felt lined sleeves (like the one they sell in Europe and Japan for $200 now) with monograms and, maybe pay up for a PMD that someone over 25 would have any use for, though I'm inclined to agree with Louche that they can't justify the R&D and tooling for the "tock" upgrade cycle.

The good thing about making these kind of conjectures is they can't be proven right or wrong, for now.

 

*deleted to avoid additional trauma to anyone's delicate sensibilities*

 

Thanks for the edits, mod

 

multitouchscreen + win 8 : )