Anyone think a 12.1" is coming from Sony?

I love everything about the Sony TX -- except the screen size & resolution combination. The higher resolution of 1366x768 combined with the little 11.1" screen makes the text just a tad small for me. And the footprint of the 13.3" SZ is just a tad too large for what I want.

I could probably live with the TX if I stocked up on some headache pills , but I realized that the 12.1" screens with 1280x800 resolution are much easier on the eyes, yet still produce a fairly small laptop. Probably the perfect size for me.

So... does anyone think Sony will release a lighweight 12.1" laptop once Santa Rosa is released?

 

Not sure, but I know the Dell Latitude D420 fits your needs.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/latit_d420?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

 

I'm so close to pulling the trigger on the D420 you have no idea.

My concerns, though, are the 4200 RPM hard drive (big concern) and the lack of an optical drive (less of a concern).

I was hoping that since Santa Rosa is coming soon, someone (Sony?) might be able to make a 12.1" laptop with a 5400 RPM drive and a built-in optical drive... that weighs less than 4 lbs and provides over 4 hours of battery life.

Hoping is the key word here.

 

Sony already has a 12in notebook. Link

However, if I were you, I'd consider the X60 from Lenovo.

 

Thanks, but I can't use that little pencil eraser thing. I gotta have a track-pad.

 

As hehe posted, Sony does have a 12.1". It's the G. It's standard 4:3 ratio.

 

The G1 has the 4200 rpm hard disk drive though.

 

The G1 is offered with a 32gb ssd hard drive, though.

 

That's true. But you pay 499$ more for this upgrade.

 

$2699 with HD
$2999 with SSD

$300. Sounds very nice for the speed gain

 

SSD technology is still expensive. Think Sony's just going to give it away at the cost of a cheaper piece of technology? No.

To be bleeding edge, you're gonna pay. The G1 with the SSD drive weighs less than the one with the regular hard drive. If it had the ULV Core Duo, it'd be the near perfect ultraportable.

 

Soundsgood

look at the G series from sony...it is 12.1 inch...not sure if they have the full pwr core 2 duo...i think it is the lower energy ones.

 

$300 extra to add the fastest drive available sound fine to me. I would not even think twice about it. SSD is the definite way for ultraportables.

 

hmm...i still would not consider the solo processor. might be a good mobility solution (for those who work on the go). but may lag for power users. of course, this is a personal preference as most of the time. buy the ones that will fit your needs and will make you productive.

 

Thanks Arctic (and others)... but...

First off, the G is not available in the U.S., which means I can't go to a store to see and try it (I'd have to buy it "blind"). It also means I'd have to buy it from an importer (expen$ive).

Also, I think I'd prefer a widescreen with 1280x800 resolution (the G looks like it's a non-widescreen with 1024x768). And it appears that the G only has a Core Solo processor.

I guess I'm not really seeing the big deal about the G. Is it the weight? something else?

So, help me out here, guys... What makes the G so great? What am I missing?

 

i saw from sonystyle japan that they say G series is even LIGHTER than TX

 

True... but other than that, how is the G better than the TX?

 

Really its just the weight, I much perfer the TX over the G.

 

Yep... I agree.

 

Hmm

How come everyone is soooo sure that SSD will have speed gain?

 

Are you kidding? Seriously? Do a google for research on SSD drives.They're more reliable (no moving heads/parts), no noise, less power (better battery life), lighter (shaves some weight off the overall laptop), and the speed blows away traditional hard drives (figure somewhere between 40 and 60MB/s read, 30 - 30MB/s write). Not even close.

I mean, your desktop/server/SAN SCSI hard drives at 15.4k (2x that of the fastest notebook hard drive) get at max about 40MB/s for reads.

Need I say more? SanDisk has a 64GB one coming out. That right there is going to be the one to want ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=113578&highlight=ssd

 

Not more expensive than the TX. I mean, if you look at Dynamism the top end G is basically the same price as the top end TX.

Correct - but no Sony ultraportable has a Core Duo ULV yet.

As I posted above, the G is a standard size screen (4:3), but you need to evaluate if having widescreen is worth it to you. I've had the JVC 741 (8.9"), and it was OK. I've played with the TX a lot - I don't like it. The screen always seems squashed to me. I also don't really watch a lot of movies, so the extra real estate would be nice, but not a necessity for someone like me.

To each his own, tho.

Who else makes a fully featured laptop that is slightly over 2lbs (like 2.1) WITH a DVD drive? No one. The Panasonic R6 - its closest competitor in weight - is a 10.6" screen with no DVD drive. Weight is arguably the biggest reason to get a G. The fact it now can come with the SSD drive as an option puts it ahead of a TX for power.

You can also put a standard memory chip in there (not like the microdimms of the Panasonics), and if it's like the SZ, if you put a 2GB in there, you should be able to get to a max of 3GB of RAM. That's amazing for an ultraportable.

It really depends what you want in an ultraportable laptop. If it's power you want, an ultraportable is pretty much out in the 3lb or under category. The only one coming close is the IBM/Lenovo X60 since it can also take more than a ULV Core Duo. Even the ones that are Core Duo ULV have the 1.8" 4200rpm drives. So if you're somewhat crippled in processor with the ULV, you're going to be even more crippled by the 4200rpm drive. That's where the SSD comes in - it will blow away any traditional hard drive in terms of speed so at that point, you can see if processor really is your bottleneck.

Trust me - I come from a line of ultraportables but needed something under 4lbs and the only one that fits the bill in terms of power/speed/size/weight is the SZ. However, now that my power work is close to being done and I won't need all that power on the road 100% of the time, I want to go back to a more ultraportable solution.

So the only negative to me at this point of the G is the processor. I'm so close to wanting to order one, but I want to see if I can hold off until Sony gets on the ball and puts the ULV Core Duo in the TX and G lines.

 

>> Not more expensive than the TX. I mean, if you look at Dynamism the top end G is basically the same price as the top end TX.

Well, if I bought a TX it would be a refurb (with XP) which is only around $1600.


>> Correct - but no Sony ultraportable has a Core Duo ULV yet.

I guess my point was that the processors are equal -- meaning the G is not better in this regard.


>> I've played with the TX a lot - I don't like it. The screen always seems squashed to me.

Hmmm... interesting. I wondered about that. Is that because the screen is only 768 pixels high? Or ???


>> I also don't really watch a lot of movies, so the extra real estate would be nice, but not a necessity for someone like me.

Actually, I hardly ever watch movies on my laptop. I wanted the widescreen for extra wide real estate space, but not for movies.


>> Weight is arguably the biggest reason to get a G. The fact it now can come with the SSD drive as an option puts it ahead of a TX for power.

But it's only 32 GBs, right? How can a laptop live on 32 GBs?


>> If it's power you want, and ultraportable is pretty much out in the 3lb or under category.

I don't need super-power. I just don't want slow-as-molasses wait times.


>> Trust me - I come from a line of ultraportables but needed something under 4lbs and the only one that fits the bill in terms of power/speed/size/weight is the SZ.

I considered the SZ, but it's kinda big for my taste (footprint-wise).

I'll tell ya what I REALLY want: something similar to a Dell M1210 that got 5 hours of battery life but only weighed 3 lbs. Now THAT would make me happy!

 

Ooooh... check this out!

 

Going on list price of new machines, they're equivalent. Older and refurb really are different beasts.

They're equal, but the SSD speed puts it in another league in terms of performance.

It's the way Sony did their resolution. It just doesn't work for me. Nice screen quality wise, but IMHO my 741 was/is more usable. I keep wanting to like the TX series. I don't.

I don't really do much that uses extra work space (maybe some Excel), so I could do without it.

OS and programs. I can get a small external which is a 1/2 lb and still come in well under 3GB. That external can be a 7200rpm drive which you couldn't get in a G anyway. If I'm doing nothing but Word, Excel, or OUtlook, the G alone should be fine. It all goes back to usage. The new 64GB SSDs are on the doorstep.

OK, so here's my rant. I used VMWare under XP on a Pentium M 1.0 ULV processor on my U70, and a P-M 1.1 ULV on the 741. No dual core obviously. They worked fine. Memory and hard drive were bigger bottlenecks than processor speed. Would a Core Duo ULV be better in the G or TX? Yes. But I don't think we're talking huge night and day since the ULV Core Duos are not nearly as robust as the L series of C2D. Thats why the Thinkpad X series has a leg up.

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The SZ really isn't that big. It's been the best laptop I've owned to date - no real complaints, still fits in most small bags, and nothing touches it speed/weight/power wise. I prefer it to the Thinkpad because it's basically the same money for more power and about the same weight.

When you get into the true ultraportable world, you are ALWAYS going to sacrifice power - whether it is processor or hard disk.

The only other laptop you may want to look at is Fujitsu's Q2010, which starts at $1999, comes with XP, and is a 12.1" WXGA screen.

If you need more power, avoid the ultraportables. As I said earlier, I could run VMWare with quite a few servers going at the same time. The toughest was booting them up. That's where a faster drive and a Core Duo helps out. They worked, tho.

 

That's what I was referring to in my posts when I say 64GB is coming out. They are not available yet, but the cheapest I've seen a 32GB drive is about $600. I can't imagine what a 64GB will cost in current technology since it hasn't gotten cheaper yet.

 

The future's so bright... I gotta wear shades!

 

Well, I'm referring to a refurb TXN15, so it's not really that old. But I know what you're sayin'.

 

In response to the question you asked in Leog.net forums, the TXs with XP will be noticably faster I'm sure than with Vista. With my TX and XP, its just fine as regards to speed, no complaints. So far, the TXs and XP are surely a better match than with Vista.

 

I agree. However, the low pricing of the Dell D420 makes it easier to pair it with a SSD. If the Dell D420 gets the Santa Rosa upgrade and a 32GB 1.8" HD is selling for about $600-$700 then I'll get one for sure. That way I can spend less than $2500.

On a sidenote, The Sony G1 and the IBM X60 are good options too, but it only has 4:3 ratio screens which pisses me off. I want widescreen!

 

I agree. However, I think with the upcoming Santa Rosa platform, I think ultraportables will finally get the much needed power boost that we crave. Dual core processors with DX10 compatible graphics and SSD will more than satisfy me.

 

I'm looking to new an ultraportable laptop around May 10th. I just can't wait, I wish I knew in advance what new ultraportables would come out by then! I'm really looking for an 11.1" screen.

 

It's not likely a ultraportable with the Santa Rosa platform will be available by May 10th. I don't think ultraportables sell as well as the traditional 14 to 15" laptops. 11.1" screens are just way too small. Combine that with a high res and I think it's going to annoy you unless you boost the DPI.

 

I personally have no trouble at all looking at a 10.6" or 11.1" screen, I love the screen size and the resolution on them, things look crisper and brighter to me on them in fact, they are a joy for me to work on and I have no eye strain after extended periods, I can use them comfortably but thats just me. Yes I know many cannot bear to use those screens especially for extended periods.
I am anxious to see what new refreshes or new 11.1" models will be out though, you don't think anything will happen by May 10th?

 

If you want Santa Rosa, I doubt it. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. I wouldn't settle for anything less than 12.1". At least my current Sonoma platform base ultraportable is powerful enough for my current activities.

 

Are you saying that you'd buy a D420, and eventually upgrade it? Or are you saying you'll wait for the D430, then buy?

 

Bingo. I love the footprint size of the 11.1" laptops, so the TX is very tempting to me... but the smaller screen with a higher res concerns me. I'm not sure if my eyes can handle it.

Sure, you can boost the DPI, but that tends to muck up the look of certain web pages. I'd rather not mess with the DPI.

 

The new Intel platform (Centrino Pro aka Santa Rosa) is rumored for release around that time.

My guess is that there is almost no chance of new ultraportables being released with the new platform immediately. I'm just guessing based on previous Intel releases. If I remember correctly, here's what happens:

The 14.1"-15.4" category gets released first - these often get announced at the same time as the new Intel platform (although they might not ship for a while after the announcement). Next comes the big 17" models a few weeks or months later. Finally, the <= 12" models arrive 3-6 months later.

But who knows? Anything is possible.

 

Then you'll like what's coming. Maybe not on May 10th, but something good.

 

Anyone know when it might be?

 

Hello SoundsGood,

I've just discovered that one of the laptops on the list is much lighter than I originally thought.

Asus S6Fm is actually 3.4 pounds, not 4.3 pounds
-Up to 160 GB 2.5" HDD
-Core 2 Duo LV 1.33GHz processor
-Widescreen
-Optical disk drive built in
-Wireless-N capable
-3.5 hour battery life (with a 3-cell battery)

Potential drawbacks
-max 1.5 GB of RAM
-11-inch screen
-price

here's the link: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1603&l1=5&l2=25&l3=283

What do you think?

 

If you're going to get a 3.4 pounder, just get an SZ. .3 more and much more computer for the $.

 

True, but some like the smaller footprint as me. But yeah, the SZ is very light and feature packed, a great product from Sony!

 

Hi sturmnacht!

Thanks for the info. The Asus looks pretty good, except I'm not too crazy about the battery life.

But the real problem (one that I've been struggling with) is whether or not I'd be able to handle an 11.1" screen with 1368 x 768 resolution. On one hand it's a great size because it allows a very small footprint for the laptop. But, the downside is it creates pretty tiny text. I'm just not sure...

That's why I'm wondering if a 12.1" widescreen laptop with 1280x800 resolution might be "just right"... not too big, not too small.

Although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted by the 11.1" form factor.

 

Prepare to drool like crazy, rahulnirmal

10.6" Ultraportable with Core Duo ULV and integrated ODD (Japanese)
Fujitsu FMV Biblo-LOOX T - The smallest dual-core laptop yet.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/17/fujitsu-introduces-their-fmv-biblo-laptops-to-santa-rosa/
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?&u=http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2007/0417/fujitsu2.htm


Come on, Sony. They're falling behind with their TX. Where's the dual core goodness?

 

I had a chance to try a TXN15 with XP today. Huge difference in speed and performance between it and a TX with Vista. The TX with XP almost seemed "zippy" in comparison.

Personally I'm still concerned about the small screen size (and now concerned a bit about the small keyboard as well), but if someone wants a TX, I would highly recommend they get one with XP -- not Vista.

 

I'm looking to get the Averatec 1500 thats coming out here in late April, even as a budget ultraportable, this also has a 1.06 ghz Core Duo ULV chip, what is taking so long Sony? I think they are waiting to put the new Core 2 Duo ULV chips just like Gateway. Gateway has a 12.1" ultraportable laptop, the NX100X with Core Solo ULV and they'll update it to Core 2 Duo ULV early May, maybe Sony will too?

I am planning on buying an ultraportable, 10.6/11.1" in early May when my final exams are over, will there be any new or refreshed models by then? I think Sony will put dual core in their ultraportables by then? Even then, they command a hefty price premium and I will probably get the Averatec for only around $1300 and save up for another laptop later on.

http://www.sparco.com/cgi-bin/wfind2?spn=A95M062

 

I would love to see Sony come out with a slightly larger version of the TX...

Like a 12.1" LCD widescreen with 1280x800 resolution, Core Duo processor and still under 3 lbs.

I would buy one today.

 

Again, Sony has a tough position. They have an 11.1 and a 13.3. A 12.1 WXGA really has no place in the Sony line right now. The G is a 12.1, but a standard 4:3 ratio, and is geared towards business folks.

Sony also did their Spring refreshes so I'd say about June is when you may see Santa Rosa start to creep into the Sony line (and one of the reasons I'm holding out to buy the G lol). I haven't seen a Core Solo (unless I missed it) in the Santa Rosa ULV lineup, so I'd say it's a pretty solid bet that a Core Duo ULV (1.06 or 1.2) will be in the true next gen of the G or TX.

Sony usually updates between 3 and 6 months or so with some sort of updates to some or all of their laptops.

The problem with the new Fujitsu T is that it has the 1.8" and is the current gen Core Duo (the U2500). Big deal. No Santa Rosa in that one.

 

Size is part of it, but weight for me is more important in an ultraportable for me. I'll take bigger and lighter over smaller and heavier.