New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

We have a thread for the Sony SA/SB Series, so I think it's right to have a thread for one of the greatest laptops out there's future.

The NEW 2011 Z21 IS OUT!

It has been released in Europe and some Asian markets while North America is supposed to get it later this month.

What it has:

-Options of dual-core Core i5 or Core i7 Processors

-8 Hour battery without the Slice, 16 Hour battery with it

-Starting weight of 2.5 lbs

-Options of black, blue, gold, or Premium Carbon Fiber

-1600x900 Resolution screen, 1080p optional

-Backlit keyboard (slight greenish tint)

-Aluminum chasis

-Power Media Dock - connects through Light Peak, can drive up to 4 monitors, Includes an optional blu ray drive with AMD Radeon 6650HD Graphics

What we don't know:

-Is the Power Media Dock optional? It is turning out to be in some markets, it is, and others, it isn't.

-What is the actual battery life in real world use? According to one review, it is 8 hours, 47 minutes which is actually MORE than what Sony advertised.

-Overall build quality

Detailed pictures:

http://kunkoku.livedoor.biz/archives/51943546.html

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/40771/sony-vaio-z-series-hands-on

Review:

http://www.itpro.co.uk/634780/sony-vaio-z-2011-vpcz21m9e-review

 

Good idea to have this thread.

Two more things:
- It's expected sometime early summer
- Will be very different from current Z

And big thanks to Beaups for sharing all this information/hints with us.

 

I think it may have been deduced that this model will retain an optical drive due to Sony's tie ins with Blu-Ray technology and how they would not abandon that on their flagship computer.

 

i hope blu-ray drive isn't built-in on the new Z, that would be an instant fail. Optical drive on laptop is NOT the future.

 

Memory Stick slot is still on the current Z.......
I don't think BR Drive will be gone in the near future....

I hope the new version of 13" macbook pro will come with SSD RAID, IPS Full HD Screen, no optical drive, longer battery life with sandy bridge, thinner/lighter chasis and the aluminium unibody that does not wear off......
this is going to be the truely ultimate notebook .....

 

recent rumor has it, new macbook pro will use amorphous alloy as the unibody material. it helps macbook pro drop 20% off its weight. Apple will be the first and only company offers amorphous alloy casing on a laptop.

 

If they wont drop that stupid uber-glossy display, they can do whatever they want... it'll still be a sucky lifestyle notebook and nothing more

 

One thing that bothers me about the current Macbook "Pro" 13" (and maybe 15" but I've only seen this problem on the smaller ones) is that the screen touches the keyboard when closed and since the screen is plastic, the keyboard scratches it almost on the whole surface area. It's very ugly.

 

Let's go back to the Z (I see more than enough Macbooks each day, don't want to see them even in the new Z thread ):

I would like it if it has ODD. I use it very rarely, but sometimes I need one.

And besides, one of the most unique things about the Z is that it's a desktop replacement in a small, light-weight package. It has almost everything inside (good CPU, lots of RAM, ODD, dedicated GPU, relatively large SSD/HDD, etc.). A Z without ODD and dedicated GPU wouldn't be so appealing to me.

 

On the other hand you can realise a better cooling system or a longer battery life but simply dropping the odd which is not needed often.

I'd like to drop the ODD in favor of 2hrs more battery life and less noise.
Since I think GPU's don't need much space and since you can always switch to Intel's GPU solution, you wouldn't win much by dropping the dedicated GPU.
They really should bring nVidia stock driver support, so you can use that Chip for CUDA.

 

Another question added to the list:

Will the new Z still be $2499 when it comes out? Or will it try to more and more turn into a less-niche market notebook?

 

I hope it remains a high-end luxury model (although the Z base price, at least in the US, is about $1800... although last night MS had a base model Z11 for $1000... lasted about 10 mins on slickdeals)

 

I hope that a lot of people (like me) do want all-in-one Z, so this would influence on sales and Sony will get back to 13" old/current style in a year or so..

 

I too hope that Sony do not dumb down the ultraportable, yet powerful 'Z' as that would defeat the purpose of the model. People do not really need a competitor to the macbook air, they'd buy a macbook air. And if they wanted a business, rugged fast notebook, they'd buy a Lenovo X201s with SSD drives.

Quad core I do not feel would be worthwhile. What effect would that have on heat and battery life? No point having an ultraportable that will not last the distance, especially with the Macbook air batterylife to compete with. A swappable lithium polymer battery that is uniquely shaped (e.g. a large, flat slim battery that slides into the base) with improved battery life would be nice. 4 hours isn't much in today's standards.

I think 1600x900 is satisfactory on the 13" although I admit I have the 1080p

Full sized keyboard, backlit is a must. Optical drive however is optional.

I think a more standardized SSD rather than quad RAID0 would be more pragmatic and perhaps cheaper.

Don't make it too small. Business users, especilly those who use Excel spreadsheets appreciate screen real estate but also the ability to read the damned numbers.

I've bought a 'Z' with the intention of keeping it for 3 years knowing even if technology is superceded, it will still be plenty fast enough for daily use if it lasts that long.

 

A lot of people wrote what they wanted from a new Z in this thread-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...s-what-your-hopes-dreams-vpc-z-successor.html

I temporarily closed the above thread when i thought the SA was about to launch (and many thought it was the Z successor)and also when there were suggestions made that the SA/SB thread should be merged with the above thread as a lot of overlap was happening. I would merge this thread with the CES thread but a good proportion of the discussion seems to centre on the SA/SB and things have moved on since then with what we know about the next gen Z.

You're right, the next gen Z could well do with a thread of its own.The summer seems some time to wait or to speculate to. Hopefully some more info will materalise soon.

Now we know the SA/SB will be Sony's powerhouse what do i think the new Z might be like?

Well, we know it's going to be 13.1 again. I think that we're looking at a weight of around 2.7lbs. In terms of specs and battery life it will compete with the 13" MBP. Possibly if possible the graphics could be built into a slice of some description?
The optical i'm unsure of. Toshiba used smaller optical drives about 7" but BD drives do not exist in this form. It seems that with the X being discontinued that the next Z will also need to fill that void.

 

I seriously doubt Sony would be stupid enough to take out the discrete GPU, even to put it in an external dock.

Why would you pay for a Z in that case, instead of buying a Macbook Air and a Vidock or an MSI GUS for less money, better performance and a smaller profile? Especially if apple's going to drop a Sandy Bridge Macbook Air this summer, as a lot of people are expecting...

What really makes the Z special is the powerful discrete GPU in such a small package, and putting the GPU in a dock would be idiotic.

 

It's going to be more compact that it currently is and i guess lighter. Can you really expect to see a decent dedicated gpu in such a laptop?
Furthermore, the 13.3 SA full featured power house with switchable graphics will be there and only weigh about 3.2lbs.

The Z will focus more on portablity and for that reason i can see Sony forgoing the built in dedicated gpu.

 

Lenovo looks like they are going to release a pretty decent Z replacement if Sony really gets rid of the discrete GPU:

Lenovo announces ThinkPad with Sandy Bridge

14 inch screen, so a bit bigger. Less than four pounds and .89 inches thick. 1600x900 screen. Optical drive. Pretty similar to the Z...

The Nvidia NVS 4200m gpu would be a little bit of a downgrade from the Z's GPU, but maybe not too much.

Supposedly with an SSD, it boots cold in 7 seconds. Which is spectacular.

 

Of course, it looks like the SA will be a pretty similar form factor to the Lenovo t420s as well, with a better GPU...

 

I've heard this argument before but it still doesn't make sense to me. MSI GUS is a pretty crappy graphics card, limited to 1x PCI Express Lane. If it were theoretically possible to have a proprietary dock with 16x PCI-E lanes then that would be infinitely preferable. When you push a powerful GPU its not like you are going to be mobile anyway - it kills battery life and reduces your range to about 2 metres from a wall socket. It also produces a staggering amount of heat and noise which is easier to control in an external desktop surface.

If you could do it this way, you should do it this way. Especially since Sandy Bridge integrated graphics virtually eliminates low end discrete gpus and thats something you can carry around with you, on a battery.

 

FWIW, I notice build-to-order Z series laptops at Sony Style are out of stock and now give a ship date of 4/11... dunno if this is normal or prelude to a refresh.

 

No Z anymore on the SonyStyle.com web site...

 

Thought this deserved a separate thread from the SA/SB discussion.

So, here's what we can look forward to from my speculation along with what I've gathered so far from the SA/SB thread:

1. Available early summer (May/June)
2. 2nd generation i5/i7 processors (Sandy Bridge)
3. Lighter/thinner with carbon fiber parts
4. Hybrid graphics by physical switch (Sony seems reluctant to implement nVidia Optimus as it seems to be buggy)
5. SSD only, probably proprietary SSDs
6. Thunderbolt (Light Peak)
7. Feel free to add anything.

I doubt it will have USB 3 as Sony probably wants to push Thunderbolt.

One last thing, I think I understand where Sony is going with the SA/SB now.
Sony never had a product to directly compete with the 13.3 inch Apple Macbook Pro (MBP13), and the SA/SB is their answer.
Like the MBP13, the screen size of the SA/SB is also 13.3 inches.
Sony opted for the flat design (again, like the MBP13) for this model rather than the traditional cylindrical hinge design.
Sony used aluminum for the SA/SB chassis (again, like the MBP13)
Sony is marketing them as thinner and lighter than the MBP13.
The SA/SB can switch between Sandy Bridge's integrated GPU and the faster AMD GPU whereas the current MBP13 only uses Sandy Bridge's integrated GPU.
The SA/SB has a slice battery option that would probably crush the MBP13's battery life.
Sony is offering them in the same price range as the MBP13.

The reasonable consumer would therefore have no reason to go for the MBP13 over the SA/SB... unless the MBP13 has markedly better battery life with the standard battery and that is a decisive factor for the buyer.
Anyone agree/disagree?

 

oops, didnt even notice this existed

 

i think the new z will be called za

 

they really have to get rid of the VGN and VPC prefixes .. they are just confusing their customers

one thing i'm not looking forward to is... i'm almost certain that starting price will be $1899 for the lowest cpu and 128gb ssd. upping to the 2720qm probably costs $200, and then upping to 256gb ssd will probably cost $250, and anything else... like a custom lid and a keyboard protector will each cost $50, in the end .. the standard cost, at least for me, would be around $2450 + taxes + shipping and handling, which will amount to roughly $2700 usd ... each refresh will probably go down in price by $150 for the same options... sound about right?

 

too early to speculate anything on the new Z, it's at least 6 months away.

 

nah, at most 3 months, early summer as beaups put it

 

Well, the current VPC-Z does have a carbon fiber chasses (and once you remove the top of the keyboard the bottom does flex quite freely...). Personally i prefer a physical switch as opposed to Nvidia Optimus... I just feel like it's a loss of control if the laptop switches itself over to the dedicated or back to the integrated (and with the HD 3000 IGP's it can do much more than the current IGPs of the Arrandale chips). Hmm, i've not read anything about Sony being on bandwagon of light peak... but if they do go with light peak, does that mean it'll be able to support a larger screen res? (OH! what if sony goes up to HDMI 1.4??? 4096×2160 is pretty!)

Personally, i want Sony to have USB 3.0... i mean, it's backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and there are already devices out on the market that use it... I really hope Sony doesn't do what apple does and give us 1 "do-it-all" port which is HORRIBLE because what if you want to use an external monitor with a external hard drive (both using thunderbolt)...

That is an interesting analysis for the Vaio SA/SB... you might have hit your mark on that one, but personally the reason Apple has their fanboys is because of their software and the "coolness" factor (although, i must say, Vaios also have a coolness factor ). Unless Sony can advertise as well as Apple, which to me is the KING of advertisement and marketing, Apple still has the minds and souls of the young adult/teen population (I once walked by a classroom and saw a wall of Macs... oh the horror!)

 

The Thunderbolt technology may mean that Sony can do away with the docking station since one port can hook up to external HDDs & external monitor in a "daisy" chain. More info below:

YouTube - Light Peak Demo part 1

With regards to Apple, I personally will be switching over to MBPs to replace all my Sony VAIO notebooks (when I can afford to) unless Sony stop implementing their "stupid" proprietary SSD solutions. I was hoping that maybe the true VAIO Z replacement will have HDD options but unfortunately, beaups has already mentioned that it will be SSD only. I'm sure I'm not the only VAIO customer Sony has lost due to that reason. The good thing with Sony insisting on their proprietary SSD path is that it makes it easier for me to make up my mind to move from all-Sony to all-Apple.

 

well, turns out that apple and sony were the 2 key contributors to intel's development of light peak, this is also why sony, like apple, will be early adopters of thunderbolt

seeing that apple didn't bother with usb 3, i doubt sony will either.. especially when they have a stake in thunderbolt ... and usb 3 is its direct competitor, i could even say that the chances of sony not implementing usb 3 is 100%

anyway, you're absolutely right about sony, their advertising sucks, i dont think i've ever seen a television ad for vaio laptops... and dont forget that apple has ties with a lot of universities and schools, giving them large discounts on bulk sales as well as student discounts.. apple knows it's best to start brainwashing people when they are young

 

Not only that, I think Sony really need to significantly improve their repair services in order to retain existing customers. Their repair service is definitely at the bottom rank when compared to their competitors IMHO. I'm sure a lot of those VAIO owners who have ever had their broken VAIO notebooks sent in for service will not ever buy a VAIO notebook again because of those horrible services.

 

Ahh well i learned something new today . I don't know... i want to see Sony implement both... since they better have USB 2.0 ports... (shame on them if they remove them) and since they're backwards-compatible, if i were sony, i'd best apple by including both. I mean Sonys of the past had esata, firewire and usb 2.0 ports... I can dream can't i?

p.s. I doubt the new Z will have a quad-core though... Although i guess with Intel's power optimizations it might have the same batt life as the dual-core i7 arrandales.

Yeah... although personally, i'd go with a SquareTrade Warranty as those sometimes are cheaper and their service is supurb (also some cards ie. AMEX give you extra 1 year warranty after manufacturer's is done), but yes, Sony needs to upgrade their US Customer Service by a TON! Sony USA needs to match Sony HK or Sony Japan in customer service...

 

noooo not you!

the proprietary ssd just means that sony wants to make the laptop as small as possible, and maybe, just maybe... make sure that we dont just opt for the lowest hdd and then switch it out for our own since their ssd upgrade prices are out of this world

just make sure that you're comfortable with not being able to maximize windows in osx.. not right click... and having the "taskbar" locked to the top of the screen

luckily for me, i only want 1 laptop and don't need more than a 256gb ssd so i'd much rather spend a little more and not have to deal with osx

 

Apologize for the slightly off-topic.

Unfortunately, Sony has a long way to go to improve their repair services. I've yet to hear from them since I dropped off my VAIO SZ381 at the "Backstage" area of my local SonyStyle store for repair last Friday (about 8 days ago).

Just last month, I had to contact Dell for an issue with one of their products. They are just great & responsive. Within 30 minutes of the phone call with their technician, he dispatched out a replacement. Not only that, he called me up every day (Mon-Fri) after my initial service call to keep me up to date on the latest developments. He did that until the day I received my replacement item & made sure that it is working properly. That technician then called me up exactly one week later to reconfirm that I've got the replacement running properly before he closed the case. I know that lots of people are bashing Dell for poor service, but IMHO, if that is poor service, I really don't know what good service is. Maybe the current Sony service that I'm receiving is what those people will call excellent service.

It's really not an issue for me at all. I'll be running Windows 24/7 on my future MBPs, just like I've been doing on my early 09' MBP. Oddly enough, except for lousy battery life & slightly higher heat, my MBP is running Windows 7 better than it does on my VAIO Z690!

 

yup, i think sony will include all of that because it is marketed as a business laptop, and most peripherals out there wont be switching over to thunderbolt right off the bat

and i'm almost certain the new Z will have quad core, that was the biggest change of sandy bridge, it improved power consumption significantly and brought quad core with integrated gpu down to a TDP of 45W. this was arrandale's weak point, the quad cores consumed a lot of power and therefore produced a lot of heat, and were therefore forced to operate at much lower frequencies than their dual core counterparts.. this was why there were all those threads with people asking whether it's better to buy the 3ghz dual core or the 1.8ghz quad core... but as you can see with sandy bridge, the quad core frequencies are much higher now relative to their dual core counterparts

 

i was going to recommend the SA/SB, but after factoring in customer service, you're probably right about going for the MBPs

i had horrible customer service with sony canada, but i only have to deal with 1 laptop at a time, so it's okay for me

anyway, i'm out for now, peace!

 

What do you mean? Sony has implemented usb3 on F series even before SB, so why would they remove it for upcoming Z series. I'm just hoping they will not decrease screen size and resolution.
In terms of discrete graphics: Unless they mean to implement something like or better than gf 550M, it's not really useful anyway.
Blu-ray drive is really cool, but one can live without it.

What puzzles me is that Z13 is incredible machine, absolute top, so why change it now to a lesser version.
SA is bigger than Z and frame around screen makes is it look like 1999 laptop They could have squeezed in 14.1 screen like EA which is cool but poor battery life. @1600x900 display's 130ppi is really comfortable for eyes.
Z's 1600x900 is 140ppi which is pushing limits a little (still much better than anything less . well even FHD for Z must look wonderful for photo/video editing, harder for text though

 

the SA is the temporary replacement for the Z, basically it replaces the S series and will take over the Z market until the actual Z replacement is announced in a few months

btw, higher resolution is always better, just use the windows dpi scaling, then the fonts will be nice and easy to read

 

I see SA as semi replacement for Z, but it's not nearly as cool.
But if they change new Z to loose BD drive, discrete graphics, 1080p, then new Z is different class, and not unique on the market any more.

 

the quads frequency are still lower than the dual core parts. even if TB is accounted for. The difference is a lot less.

 

ahh, thats what i meant, thanks for wording it better

 

Weird, if you go to the page directly, it seems to still be available. However I tried adding one to my cart and it just took me back to the VAIO home page.
VPCZ1390X | VAIO® Z1390X Configure-to-Order | Sony | Sony Style USA

 

They probably just forgot the remove that page...I noticed that they always have some bugs/errors on their website..someone needs to get fired =p

 

hey guys, according to beaups, the new z won't have quad core.. and i have a feeling he's usually right on these things

 

vaio z is gone if you notice sony now is producing on value computing

 

our insider source would disagree

btw, why would sony cancel the z, it's their most popular model, look at how many people talk about it on this forum in sections like "what should i buy" and in here, the "sony" forum. after more people found out about the z, the number of people that view the sony subforum jumped into the hundreds and has stayed there consistently

not only that, but people talk about it all over the internet, on all review sites and it's pretty much hailed as the best ultraportable.. type in "vaio" into google and the first suggestion will be "vaio z"... with "vaio laptop" following it
this suggests that the vaio z is even more popular than the actual vaio branding

sony knows they're onto something big with the z, there's no way they would want to get rid of it

 

The SB being the price that is at, and the cost of the upgrades, I find myself obliged to completely agree with you.

 

Enthusiasts talk about the Z more than other models on here, but the C & E series has sold 10,000+ times what the Z series did.

Cheap consumer notebooks will always vastly outsell niche premium models.

 

by most popular, i meant.. well known