Any new models on the horizon? (VAIO summer refresh)

i know, but i told him i wanted to order a model that was sold out and i asked him the reason it was sold out and he said new models are going to replace it soon.

 

Currently, Sonystyle offers FREE upgrade to Blu-ray drive. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...52921665729701&categoryId=8198552921644564390

 

yeah i saw that, only reason is because they are trying to sell these before new model.

 

Too bad the free upgrade to blu-ray drive is not available for the Z...
Otherwise it would totally be a steal.. and I would be really pissed that I've already bought mine...

 

I'm not so sure that a self-initiated hardware change won't void the warranty. I think the warranty is for the exact configuration purchased (the serial number on the machine tells Sony what the config is). The info on the Website with images telling how to replace the HDD is to enable you to NOT have to send in the drive if they are replacing a part under warranty.

Of course, Best Buy in the States will do these quick changes for $50, I believe, and as authorized Sony techs, the warranty should be fine.

Memory is probably a big deal because it involves a lot more opening of the system than a HDD does! Check with Sony before doing ANYTHING. Ask for the interpretation to be confirmed to you in an email for future reference. And if you don't like what you hear, escalate the issue up the Sony "food chain"....

Good luck!

 

Memory upgrades for a SR is very simple....

 

ANyone know why the SSD for the Z is such an expensive upgrade?

 

thanks for the info, Phil

Its because that the FW's blu-ray is read only while the Z's is read and write.

 

Also note that Z's bluray is a slim-drive compared to FW's normal-size bluray drive.

 

I think that Sony should offer the 9400M in the low end Sony SR and add a HDMI port as standard. The prices the Z are right now not many people will be able to afford one and they will look to other brands like the Apple MB. The middle model Z has jumped up by £200-£300. It is just too expensive.

The top model is priced i think over £3,000.

The SR with those specs would be ideal for students that want to do a bit of gaming and need semi decent battery life and it would offer good competition other 13" laptops right now.

 

And Apple offers 15% discount, almost free 3 year AppleCare and free iPod Touch; no way Sony is going to make any impact on students. No way in hell...

Apple is simply taking over. Almost everyone I know has bought mac recently. I'm moving to Sony, because I hate the mirror displays they use these days.

 

hey phil,can you give me some info about student discount?i mean how can i get it and how much the discount it will be

 

I read once that student discount can be gotten by calling Sonystyle.

 

Go right ahead and swap out things from your original configuration and see if, down the line, you send in the computer for repair and you're refused.

A Level II Sony tech told a colleague that the esupport Website info on swapping out drives on the FW is ONLY for replacement drives sent and authorized by Sony. And a Best Buy representative confirmed that to me, as well.

If anyone, including a Moderator on this list, has hard evidence from that high a level of Sony tech support to the contrary (namely, that drives and memory may be installed by anyone other than Sony-authorized techs), do produce the evidence, please. Email or tech name and case number or whatever to provide a trail....

 

If you're in the US, there's something like Sony Campus on Sonystyle.com and they give you 7% discount.

Outside US, they don't :-(

My friend is in the US now and if new Vaios show up soon (and I mean really soon!), I'll might just ask him to bring me one!

Even though the warranty won't hold here in Europe, it's going to be so cheap compared to here that it'll be worthwhile. (the pre-configured model on jr.com looks good!)

 

And if you buy it from jr.com you can get 5% cashback from bing.com. I just ordered the vgn-z650n/b from them.

 

How so? Isn't bing.com the search engine from Microsoft?

 

Go to bing.com/cashback. Its a program where microsoft gives you cashback from lots of different online stores. Anywhere from 1% to 15%. I have used it before and it works. Sony is also doing another deal where you trade in an old dell and they will give you a $450 rebate off of a new sony purchased from any authorized sony retailer. I went and bought an old dell for $150 that qualifies for the rebate, now I get $300 off my new Z.

 

wheres this? i have an old dell that i wont be using after i buy the sony vaio fw...

also it works for desktop or dell laptops only?

 

Bing Cashback

 

Go to Sony Business... two promo that will end 30-Jun-09:

1. Productivity or Mobility bundle
2. Vaio trade up (up to $450 for Dell notebook and $300 for others, but there are rules as to what is a qualified notebook)

I think (read the details) you have to buy from a reseller. Maybe that is the reason why I read in some threads that some were informed their purchase is not entitled to the rebates...not really sure.

I am waiting for the refreshed SR with the updated graphics. If it comes before Jun 30, I will likely avail of this offer... and look at the Bing cash back too.

 

You can also sign up for the sony playstation credit card and get $100 off a $299 purchase in the first month, another $100 off if you spend another $1500 by the second month, and another $100 off if you spend another $1500 in the third month. So my new Z650 is going to cost me a total of $1300!!

 

So, the new factoid that is going around is the Z going up to 8gb, along with pretty much every sony notebook not the P.

 

well,i'm a international student and going to study in us next semester,time is a problem maybe,because cto needs 15days to ship right?so ,maybe i'll use the discount next time...everything gonna be allright

 

I'm in Australia, and the Australian Sony store lists the Vaio Z as either AU$3500 or AU$4000, depending on model, while the SR is only $2500 with better specs. What's the battery life like on the SR?

 

so i am hearing that the Z will keep the 9300gs but they plan to give it 512mb of ram(possibly faster) as an upgrade, kind of like how they went from 128mb(192mb for some models) of video ram to 256mb. Same scenario here.

SR gets like 3.3 hours while the Z can do 5.5 or so.

 

Hi guys. Happy to stumble upon this thread, great read.

I've just about completed my rationalization process and am gearing up to buy a Z. With all this talk within the last 30 pages about 'summer renovations' and what not, not to mention the above post about a ram upgrade, is this the right time to buy? Are things lkely to change within the next one~two months?

Yes yes I know computers are always evolving, just would like to avoid getting in right before a significant speedbump if possible. Last time I bought my MBP Core Duo 2.0 and then a month later the Core 2 Duo's came out that sucked balls.

Speaking of Apple, the only reason I'm looking to buy a Z is because I kicked my MBP off my bed (twice) while sleeping and the metal case is now twisted up, not to mention if I do something to graphically demanding, the screen starts to go acid trip. Anyway, it's been a long decision process not to go with one of the new 13in MBPs, but I feel for dollar for dollar Sony wins, especially if things like weight are a consideration. Not to mention the Sony V just looks so slick (I'm in finance and to tell you the truth having a shiny Apple on my desk would be a little, well, you know) Anyway, not to spark a Apple/Sony debate here, because apples & oranges blah blah blah.

But hey, if you guys could tell me that Sony will NOT shoot out another Z within the next couple of months that will do everything better PLUS give me a backrub, I'll go out and get one right now.

Cheers.

EDIT: By the way I'm in Taiwan, where the blueray is not offered period, and there are currently three models for sale.

 

macadocious, the Z4 is already available for pre-order in the UK and this has been known in Japan for quite some time. It is only a matter of time before these models come to North America.
Model numbers are different in Asia and the EU. So this is like a Z4 in the UK Z9 i think in Japan and it will be the Z7 in North America.
https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonySty...ROUP&ctype=areaDetails&isHideActive=true)/.do

 

FW4 is the latest. I would suggest to just buy the specs you need.

I've been told that even the older models support 8GB.

You can probably get great deals on the older models in online stores.

Probably not. I think the next refresh is at the end of the year.

3.5 max with dedicated GPU.
5 hours max with Intel IGP.

 

robotosan: regarding Z refresh namely Z4 (since you are in Asia like me), it doesnt have significant upgrade than its previous. only the SSD capacity (256gb SSD), 6gb DDR3 ram (factory) upgradeable to 8gb, and better cpu, P9700. the gpu still the same capacity and version.

about the built, i think Apple new MBP feel more sturdy than Z, but yea, its little bit heavier. i dont dare to drop the Z though.. i guess if you accidentally kicked Z from the bed, if the drop hit at the hinge, it will break as the hinge(rollcage thingy) made of plastic. this part the most vulnerable to break.
i dont dare to drop the Z tho. show my Z to friends, and they said Z kinda fragile.

 

Yes but my sources are saying that all models not the P will get 8gb not just the Z. Also the euro site says battery is only 3.5 hours but extended is 6. I thought it was 5 for standard battery with the base gpu?

My source is also adamant about seeing more video ram on the Z, and when I asked again on any model using the current intel igp out so either the 4500hd or the 4700hd up from 780mb is it? \
Well isn;t thin carbon fiber kind of fragile vs aluminum?

 

I thought some versions of the Z had more than 512 with the nvidia gpu?

 

My source says that the older Z models already support 8GB. Although Sony claims they don't.

Has anyone tried 8GB in the older Zs?

 

It is just the TT/BZ and may be NS series that is left to find any word about the 8GB of ram support. It would be good if the TT can support 8GB of ram.

I wondered about the battery life for a moment. Sony do though often get things wrong on their website.

About the SR4 battery life with the ATI 4570 card. I haven't seen any reviews yet for this model. Battery life will naturally be a bit under what it was for the ATI 3470 model and that seemed to be in the 3hrs-3.30mins according to owners using power maximising settings with wifi on.

I do wonder if these new Z's do support VT.

@Phil
Somebody tried 8GB of ram in the older Z's here.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=383811
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=384968

I just had a look at the AW and it is very strange that the FW has got a better graphics card. I'm not quite sure what Sony is intending to do with this line.

 

Yes that's sound advice. Unfortunately 'need' seldom enters the equation.

Hehe, don't get me wrong, I don't expect my computer to be able to withstand drops from ~1m onto a ceramic tile floor. Learnt a valuable lesson though, that a book is much more suitable for bed then an expensive laptop

 

These refreshed models need to come out North America already! I'm guessing next week. I just checked the SR series on sonystyle and the "This item is out of stock" tab is no longer there along without the Add to Cart tab. The site is slowly updating!

 

even the Everest claim it supports up to 8gb. if i got a cash, i certainly try out D:

but ive read before in nbr forum someone claim that the Z wont boot if exceeds 4gb ram (for old batch).

sadly nope for current refresh. 256mb only though support by NVIDIA 9300M GS, unless Sony change the current with the NVIDIA G 210M (40nm) later.

 

Pretty sure the SR can hit ~4 hrs. The power consumption on the 3470 is about the same as the 4570.

 

Saw a test somewhere with Vaio SR w/ 3470 hit 4 hours & 10 mins. Can't really find the link, but hey, it is possible.

 

I'd be grabbing a 4570, though, after the refresh, since IGP doesn't cut it.

 

Users have seemed to not been able match some of the tests with say 40% brightness and wifi on, it is possible that different BIOS versions might get slightly different battery life

This is some user feedback
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4269523&postcount=1496
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3852163&postcount=87
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4508782
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4677293&postcount=1960

You would expect battery life to be better seeing as this card only draws 12w. Notebookcheck speculates on the power consumption for the 4570 but i checked the AMD website just now and cannot find anything concrete. Notebook check states-

So it is possible that battery life might be marginally a little bit worse.

 

rep, thanks for the info.

3 hours+ should be adequate, especially if I grab a 9 cell, which should give 4+.

 

Just found out for sure that the new SR will have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNSR490&SelectOS=36

Look under video.


The new FW will have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNFW490&SelectOS=36


The new Z will have the same nvidia 9300gs.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNZ790

 

Could have sworn I saw a review claiming the nvidia gfx had more than 256mb of ram.

edit: there we go http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/sony-vaio-z-series-vgn-z530n.aspx?page=4

 

Laptopmag's information is wrong. It's 256 MB dedicated.

 

When will be available the new z on us site?
nothink yet

 

Look for the updates soooooon. Sooooooooon. Probably not soon enough for many of you but sooooon!

 

What do you mean "sooon"?
1 week or 1 month?
thanks

 

i love you o_o

lol. NOW RELEASE THE DAMN THING SONY T_T

 

A VGN-Z790 already? Wow, I've been out of the loop.

Particularly good timing... I need a new notebook within the month. I hope that thing comes out soon; anyone have any founded guesses as to when?