New Sony VAIO X Series Announced

The Toshiba R500 has 1,72 pounds in the configuration with ssd and without optical. Thats a 12,1 inch display, with GMA950...but it has a fan, which is loud. But there are not that many compromises as with this sony...

 

Still no leaks of the specifications etc! I really want this machine! Hurry up October!!!!!!

 

Why, if you don't know the specs?

 

700 grams is all some people really care about

but i think all specs are already kinda out there, just not yet confirmed.

 

Any news ?

 

Well, I prefer the Sony brand and I need a machine that's even smaller than my Z series, I need a machine that has a longer battery life & WWAN (my main requirement) so the X series seems to tick most of the boxes before we've even got a confirmed spec...

 

If i owned a 13.3 notebook and i do i would get a 11.1 notebook as a travel laptop and i have done this.

However, i don't think i would if i owned a 13.1. The X looks larger but thinner than the TZ. In a matter of days we should be able to compare dimensions. Netbooknews.de had this down as a 11.6 but this was probably a typo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1eVitUAGx4
Although there is some difference and it makes the 11.1 form factor a little more portable and you cannot deny that to me i don't think the difference would be enough size wise to justify getting a 11.1 notebook as a travel laptop. This might work well for some people but i'm not sure i could see the point.

DanyBui posted some Sony Z and TZ comparison pictures here.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3990061&postcount=1
http://www.notebookcheck.net/IFA-2009-Sony-Vaio-X-in-a-Hands-On-Review.20326.0.html

To get the type of battery life i need the weight would be 1kg+ and not 700g.

So, if i did get this at some point in time I don't think i would buy the Sony Z as well.

Edited to add:
I had a 11.6 Acer 1410 with me for a couple of days. I would struggle to buy an 11.6 notebook as a travel notebook if i had a 13.3 notebook.

 

I totally agree. I believe too (I own a Z90), that the X is similar size to the Z. When the X series will be released we will finally see comparision photos of the Z and X. The footprint of the X is quite big as we see in the videos. In my opinion the perfect combination if someone has already a Z, is or a P or some other netbook that has 8" to 10.6".

 

Pineview is 64bit. It also has the integrated graphics controller, which would make sense for a laptop of this size.

 

Yeah this laptop screams for Pineview. If it isn't finished yet it will come with Atom Z540 1.86Ghz. Just my 2 cents.

 

i want to replace my TZ but this is still not what i want, but its a step in the right direction.

i want a bigger screen 13", dual core (no atom please), anything lighter than the TZ is good, longer battery life, and a matte screen.

 

X shows up on Sony Japan

 

Well, there is already October in Japan

 

Now this is a Vaio I can get behind. Considerably more usable than the P series this tiny little laptop is clad in carbon fiber and looks amazingly cute and functional. The units they were showing were running Windows 7 and Atom chips.


The guy at the booth pointed out that there was an earlier model, almost as small as this one, made in 2003 (shown in the last two images). It wasn’t powerful, but it predated the MacBook Air by years.

In all, however, this is a great move. It’s ultralight and ultrafun.

 

that was legendary x505 model.

 

I am going to get the Sony P, and swap the vista with windows 7. The price of one Sony X can get me 2 Sony P. I am not that good at math, but this isn't too hard to find out.

 

I'm sure you've all seen the profiles pics of the X and the placement of the ports. By the way, it's an 11.2 screen.

 

Hey, if I were to buy one of these small laptops, should I go for the TZ series, which I personally like much more than the X Series, especially cuz X doesnt have friggen Dvd drive which I use all the time! Any suggestions?

 

TZ is out of sale for over a year, go for TT or wait for it to get even more cheap, since it is going to be EOL soon.

 

Same here, I am going to buy the P. The X is just too big, if you have a Z already. Do you know anything about the P "mark 2" that is supposed to come soon? Also, Sony said that with the releasing of Windows 7 at the 22th of October, they will release a touchscreen model. I wonder which will be. It would be great the P with touchscreen.

 

I really hope they are planning to swap that VGA port for an HDMI before shipping. I guess that depends on the graphics/chipset.

I mean, replacing a laptop model and going *from* HDMI *to* VGA just seems like lunacy.

Also, considering TT to X, what implications does this have for Z to ??

My last quip - boy that trackpad looks tiny, and shouldn't it at least be 16-by-9 to match the screen. Looking at my Z trackpad, I'm pretty sure it's 16-by-9, or near to.

So, maybe there will be a miracle, and we'll see the final shipped model with
a) Not an Atom
b) HDMI instead of VGA
c) different trackpad

...but seems my dreams are unlikely.

 

I can't see them dropping VGA. As this is a business orientated notebook, VGA is pretty essential for those wanting to connect to an external display/projector.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love HDMI. Maybe that will come in a future X Series/TT replacement?

 

Z really have no more room to improve, it seems like a perfect laptop already and its selling good, so i dont think sony will sack it, like it did with TT.

have patient, sony cannot release top model so soon, first there needs to be initial model so they have some room to improve.

common guys, its gonna be first "usable" laptop with weight of 700 grams, why do you all keep forgeting that?

 

The Z is close to perfection, but there's still room for improvement. Although the likes of Intel could assist by producing CPU's that don't generate so much heat

 

I agree it's a great notebook but I'd like it to be more quiet and to support all multi touch gestures. (or maybe these issues have been fixed?)

Oh yeah and it should be cheaper.

 

I recall the X505 could be purchased with an optional optical drive when I first saw it years ago at the Sony Store. The question is if you won't mind carrying 2 devices and later hooking them up together to watch a dvd. Sony, most likely, will offer an optional compatibly-design optic drive to go with the X. By the way, where are the speakers located, stereo or mono?

 

Maybe in the next refresh of the X we will see the CULV new Intel dual-core:

http://translate.google.it/translat...-6631.html&sl=it&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1

We don't know the specs of this X and I'm thinking already the X2... Anyway guys, I don't think that the optical drive is necessary in such a laptop, if you want to see movies just put it in your hard drive. Come on Sony, is time to release the specs!

 

Well, for now single core CULV would be enough.

I can't wait for the first reviews to see the battery life. In this kind of notebooks is all that counts for me, together with the weight.

 

True, and I use the VGA on my Z whenever I go off to a conference. But for the few times a year I need it, I'd be happy to take an HDMI to VGA dongle.

The thing is, you can't make a VGA to HDMI dongle instead.

As for the Z, well, I want Sony to drop OLED into a notebook. OLED + SSD + i7 + Windows 7 = awesome battery life and performance. Added to this, I want Sony to make a 13"+ notebook with no optical drive.

Also, the Z is great, I wouldn't swap it for any other laptop... but looking at what's available now, the Z is looking a bit chubby.

 

I agree with those specs. I'm hoping the X is offered in a 13" as well and w/o the optic drive. However, I would prefer the 4:3 ratio, as in the SR over the 16:9 in the Z.

 

Do we know anything about the expansion slots? will it have express card option?

 

I think the days of 4:3 are gone. And if you require a 13" screen, then the Z is the best option for you. The X is designed to be ultra slim and ultra light, adding inches to the screen will just bulk the notebook up.

 

the only VAIO with 4:3 currently is VAIO G which at version G3.
seeing the screen on X, hardly it gets the 4:3 ratio. and i agree with Steve78.

i7..wont think it gonna be equip with Z. you gotta count the heat management too. with the P variant core 2 is already generate quite amount of heat at peak.
i7 notebook usually goes on bulky size.

 

I think you mean 16:10 for the SR

Ok, let's say i5 then?

 

thats possible. but then the motherboard layout would be difference? need to redesign the whole thing. perhaps new series replacing Z. ZX? lol.

 

Guys, tell me honestly, I was gonna sell my Vaio Z555 because I dont use it much, however do you think I should keep my Z, or sell it and buy a TZ, or X series?

(By the way, does anyone have the Z series with the 1.33Ghz and know if its any good? Is it fast enough for apps and photoshop etc? Any problems with the TZ?)

Thanks!

 

You are talking about completely different leagues here.

Z - power + lighweight + small - pretty much more than most people will need anyway

TZ - ultraportable business laptop, not fast, but perfect for mobile business uses (PowerPoint, Word, Outlook)

X Series - from how it looks at the moment - if its an atom flavour - it'll be an extreme netbook which is also ultraportable but weaker than a TZ.
If it get's an ultra low voltage CPU it will replace (for a user) a TT or TZ.

 

My $.01 as someone who regrets not getting the old X and has thrown a lot of money Sony's way for 6 or 7 years ... I think they've lost a bit of their way.

They've got good design - I kinda like the new X - but the specs are not there.

I have my Z with the RAIDed SSDs, but once I got my Toshiba R600 with the 512GB drive, it's been collecting dust. The new X, as cool as it may be, wouldn't suit my needs. Right now, my R600 is dual booting Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V and Windows 7.

The controller Toshiba designed for the 512GB SSD just flat out rocks. Did I pay for it? You bet. The drive is arguably most of the cost of the mahcine, but I have nearly all the power of my Z, just slightly slower. On most tasks - including running 5 or 6 virtual machines - I barely notice it.

Is the Toshiba sexy? Not really. It's not a bad looking machine, but compared to some of the stuff Sony has done, it's more utilitarian. I've come to the conclusion I don't care.

The X is tempting, but I think for once I'm going to stay away from Sony and see what they come up with. Fingers crossed, I can see the Toshiba sticking around at least a year lol

What I really wish Sony would do is embrace the LV chips. That would make an interesting notebook which would have great battery life and good power, but not be as expensive, say, as a Z ... and be much better for power business users or even those who do things like I do. For the brief time I had the HP 2530p, I was surprised how good the LV processor was. I can only imagine this Toshiba with it ... hoo boy!

 

FenderP, before you sell your Z, is there any chance you could take your Toshiba 512GB SSD out of your R600 and stick it in your Z for a spin and benchmark?

How does R600's screen compares to Z's? It seems people either like it or hate it. One of the reasons I stick with Sony has been good quality screen, and this really has changed -- even though some other manufacturers have caught up in a couple models, but Sony is consistently good across the board.

On the other hand, yeah, Sony's reluctance in using LV CPU is interesting.

 

No, sorry. Not gonna happen

I'd say the R600's screen is good; I like it. It isn't the Z's screen; it's more along the lines of the G (which I like as well). Sometimes I find the screen of Z and when I used it, the SZ, too bright or too much at times. In many instances I've prefered the screen of the G to my Z (when I didn't have the R600). I actually prefer the resolution of the R600 - 1280x800. You can do a search here, but it's well documented that I hated the 1600x900, so my Z was one that had the 1366x768. To me, 1280x800 is a good, usable resolution (and yes, I have good eyesight; 1600x900 is too small IMO and changing DPI doesn't work well with all apps across the board).

One thing I don't like about the R600: there's no 9-cell battery, just a 6. Granted, I get like 6 hours, but my G gets slightly better battery life.

The R600 is a very balanced machine; with a LV processor it'd be perfect. But I can't complain; I can easily run six VMs with no slowdown under Hyper-V and it's a ULV processor (1.4 GHz). That's where I notice the difference in snappiness vs. the Z, but it's not really that big of a difference. You'd be surprised how capable the ULV is.

 

In think it depends on the person. Some people see a screen as a device to read text off. In that case the screen is fine.

If you care about contrast, black levels or colors, the R500 is one of the lowest perfoming screens out there because of the transflective display. It's been reviewed and measured by Notebookcheck here.

As far as I know the R600 uses the same screen as the R500.

 

Do any of you think typing on the X will be like typing on a MBAir? The surface on a MB Air is hard and I can feel my fingers fatigue sooner than I do on my Z.

 

Well since it will be made from carbon fiber and not aluminum, chances are it will be like the Z and not the MBA.

 

For text reading and web surfing, I turned my Z's brightness level down to 50%, I can't take the full brightness either, not in door anyway. I do use Hulu or ESPN360 quite a lot, since our TV is pretty much stuck on Nick Jr. any time it's on, my Z is practically my TV and I do need the ability to go above and beyond in picture quality as well as viewing angle (it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to stream the same program to me and my wife''s laptps at the same time and my older one is old enough to be more interested in what I am watching than what his sister is ) than just simple personal web surfing.

I can definitely see the R600's screen very suitable for business use, but I do wonder how R600 stack up in its claim (or at least R500's claim, which this site's review completely disagree) that it works well in outdoor.

As for resolution, yeah, I would take 1280x800 over 1600x900 as well. My Z is 1366x768 and I am pretty happy that I got it while Sony USA still offers it.

 

The R600 has a button (although non-functional for me under Windows 7 ... it worked with their build of Vista) that essentially turns the backlight off and lets the sun deal with lighting your screen. It's a neat feature that seemed to work OK.

I'm not editing major photos and such where I'd need extreme resolution or graphics duties, so the R600's screen is just fine. If you want to do stuff like heavy duty Photoshop editing, it's probably not the best screen, but it's not advertised as such, either.

It's funny: I went from the SZ to the G to the Z to the R600, and in both cases, I wound up preferring the "lower resolution" screen for normal daily use.

I do like the eSATA port which doubles as a USB charger as well even if the R600 is off. I thought it was gimmicky, but I use the charger feature all the time.

 

http://techielobang.com/blog/2009/10/04/sony-vaio-x-series-what-could-it-be/

Perhaps 8th October is when we finally find out the spec!

 

vaio x will come in 6th October in japan.

 

that's today...

 

Exciting. Any one wants to guess?

I'm going for Z540 1.86 GHz and GMA500.

 

It should be out by now then, since its almost night at japan