New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

It always depends on what you do with that.. for me, it's better 1600x900. And remember, I wrote before little, not huge. In addition we have better contrast and black level and a semi anti glare treatment.

There's a big series of cpu in Sandy Bridge. And i5/i7 ULV in MBA are 20-35% slower then i5 2540m or 2620m. It always depends on usage, for me it's quite a big difference.

That's the same GPU but different clock. ULV processor have slower gpu clock then normal CPU.

In fact I wrote a "+".. didn't you see that?

Agreed, but at the same time, you can make the choice of break raid0 and use separated ssd with different os or make raid1. So it's up to user choice. So in the start you have multiple choice having 2 different ssd (impossible with MBA). Are you worried about failure? Make raid1. You want high read/write sequential? Make raid0. You want os on different ssd or something like that? Don't use raid. So, it's quite positive.

 

I don't think there's Raid1, at least not on the VPC-Z1.

I don't deny that the Z2 is better than the MBA, but I think, for most people including me, the ways in which the Z2 is better is not that significant. That's why I think the MBA will appeal to the masses more than the Z2, that's why I think Apple got it right. And for half the price of a Z2, I find it much easier to get the MBA.

 

^ Sony chat rep told me that there's also raid1 available, but we'll see if he told the truth.

Half the price if you get 11" ... the 13" it's 1299$ against 1969$ of Z. Quite a huge difference, but in reality we're comparing two different type of laptop cuz' Z comes with PMD. It's a complete different approach and need. If we compare those two laptop in this way, it's nonsense. The difference it's quite right...

You're argumentation fits a lot more in Europe where with a similar difference in price, there's no PMD. In that case, yeah, you're completely right, cuz' we're comparing two similar laptop concepts from the beginning. In US it's different due to PMD is included (and it costs a lot on its own). I don't know if I explained my point clearly :S

 

Here's a Z2 v. MBA comparison from a business publication. Their perspective is significant, at least for the Z since it's targeted at a business market.

New Macbook Air vs. Sony Vaio Z 2011 - International Business Times

 

I think you are absolutely correct with your statement here. Look at iOS. Its simplistic and trendy design have made it a massive hit.

Apple has done well in dumbing down computing and training customers on what they really need on a daily basis. It is a scary thing because most of us in our 30's+ worked very hard and tweaked our computers on a daily basis to get the best out of our systems. Learning every day something new about hardware and or software.

Looking at the state of computing today, where everyone thinks social media is the only thing computers are good for, I find it depressing that a much smaller window of people will get to enjoy building a PC and or pushing it to its limits. Phones, handhelds, console and now live game streaming services have but killed the need or desire for a powerful computing system.

I actually am typing this on an 11" Ultimate (Thats what they call it). And while I do find the form factor enjoyable, its only, like the Z2, .5 LBS lighter. The footprint is a tad smaller and obviously thinner, but I still would have a seriously hard time trading my Z1 for either. I bought it purely to see what all the rage is/was about the MBA.

If you guys want, I can take some pictures next to my Z1 so you can see the difference for yourself. Its just thickness really. But for the thickness, I get BluRay, Full Powered i7, Dedicated GPU. Obviously, you can say you may not need these items.

I can say this, please stop and remember, without a real CPU, or even dedicated GPU, you will not be able to run a lot of software out there. Games, Emu's (Dolphin for example) and obviously heavy lifting apps will have significant less processing time if you do have these items.

Is 1" of thickness and .5 Lbs worth the sacrifice? Again, I would loose CPU, GPU, SD/MS card reader, significantly better screen & resolution, BluRay, noise canceling headphones/jack, separate mic in jack, network jack, 1 usb, HDMI, express card slot, GPS, and built in 3g.

What would I gain aside from 1" less thick and .5 lbs lighter? OSX, better battery life ONLY under OSX while web surfing (sucks under windows), better repair service, trackpad (I'm a mouse user myself) Bluetooth 4.0, iLife suite, face time, smaller power adapter (Sony's really sucks) and thats about it.

I hope I was subjective enough for both sides. Although, some of this is the reason I will not be running out to purchase a Z2. I guess its time for us old guys to give in and take the low powered computing approach for a ride. I for one am/will be fighting it kicking and screaming to the end.

 

The Conics listing for the Z2 is kinda freaky. It offers configurations I didn't know were available, such as without a backlit keyboard and without a camera (!). The upgrade from 4GB to 8GB or RAM is only $83.20. On the other hand, the upgrade from 128GB SSD to 512GB is almost $2,700.

 

Nice photos.

 

Which country? :S Still waiting for answers from Sony. The home page is not complete compared on what you can by in the stores.

 

Considering this is a business publication I'm surprised they didn't mention the proliferation of ports on the Z versus the Air. Having full sized VGA, HDMI, ethernet and 2 x USB without need of any adapters or dongles is a major major plus for the travelling businessperson.

Otherwise, the summary seems to be that the Z technically beats out the Macbook Air (speaker quality being a notable exception) if you're looking for the fastest / slimmest / lightest. But you have to ignore the price difference ;-)

 

In Italy.. or UK, France, Germany..

Don't know what people think but.. in an ultraportable... speakers... ehm... I don't mind even if they're not in it XD

 

You're a kid. I spent my time with punch cards and punch tape and surfed the "web" prior to a graphical interface via a lynx browser and unix commands. Graphics were via uuencode/uudecode.

That said, I agree with you. I'm not about to accept some dumbed down, underpowered Macincrap no matter the marketing.

 

Wow this thing is thin...

 

Pretty good article (short and to the point).

IDK why people are still debating the Z2 with the MBA refresh. It's obviously a trade off between cost vs technical specifications; or common user vs. super user.

 

^ vs super user + Cowboy ... just kidding, obviosuly!

 

UK, and Germany have all options available on their pages. In Sweden you can not customize but hope the they will have PMD and all the goodies available in ONE ultimate unit

 

"Old is in the eye of the beholder! I'm 55, also started with punch cards and FORTRAN, lol, but I'm always looking at the most high powered (and thin and light) notebook of the moment. I fell in love with the Z1 earlier this year, and I am a year away from even considering the next move (tested the X220 and X1 and even with SB, did not match the Z1 for performance, features and, especially, screen quality - if it's important to you, no other notebook, certainly not the MBA (which I also owned and tested 2010 model, with same screen as 2011) is remotely in the same league: resolution, contrast, color gamut, brightness, matte finish.

My bottom line:

1) Price sensitive: get new (on eBay), refurbished or lightly used Z1 w/256GB SSD (or add more by replacing DVD w/2.5" SSD), cost about same as MBA 2011, but better in every respect (except customer support, but the Z1 is known for exceptional reliability.)

2) Price insensitive: wait for initial model "kinks" to be worked out, and go for the Z2; it is the best in the land, bar none. Base unit beats the heck out of the new MBA and PMD makes it at once the most powerful notebook and most powerful DTR at the same time.

My analogy: the MBA is a Honda. Excellent performance, excellent reliability, gets most jobs done well, has a few gee-wow features, mostly in boot up speeds (the Z's are on in 3 seconds from sleep vs. perhaps 1-2 secs for the MBA, big whoop). Zero modification of upgrade possible. Battery life stuck at OEM; No upgrade, no sheet battery, no 15 hr endurance. Only difference from Honda analogy: the MBA has very slick design - though unchanged for 3 years now -while Honda rarely winds design awards.

The Z (1 or 2) is a BMW. Performance beyond the MBA on pretty much every level. Modifiable to make it better and better. Z2 suffers from same inability to upgrade or modify as MBA (boo!) but leaves less to need for upgrading, if you can pay the price to fully equip it when new, whereas top config of MBA is worse than last year's Z. Screen makes it a no-brainer for anyone who cares a lot about that; the MBA screen has decent stats: brightness 290 nit, contrast 600:1, resolution 1440x900, color gamut fuggeddiboudit) but subjectively, it is merely above average while the Z (900p or 1080p have 300-360p, 800:1 contrast, 95% color gamut, and subjectively, blows the MBA, and every other 13" display out of the water subjectively. Support for the Zs, like all Sonys are not in the league with Apple (though I was entirely unimpressed by App;e's lack of help and passing the buck to every peripheral it was hooked up to when my daughter's new MBP had horrendous - I know now characterisitc - wireless problems), but Z1s so rarely need service, it matters less. Z2 service/reliability jury is out.

The MBA is an "appliance" that does what the average user wants, and does it well and at a very competitive price. It has no "soul," and, like a Honda, is a fine piece of work that will stir nothing in you. (Trust me, the "instant on" gee-whiz gets old after a week or so.) The Z1 does everything better than the MBA and, with a 9 cell battery, gets better battery life. Actually, does better than the MBA with a 6 cell if the MBA is running Windows. And you will get a thrill every time you fire it up, look at the amazing screen and run any program where speed counts.

(Oh, and I forgot this: many of the MBA's strengths turn into weakness running Windows: battery life, trackpad functionality and performance. I have made three valiant efforts to live with OSX and I am NOT one of those Windows addicts who can learn to love OSX. And many articles suggest Lion just takes what was bad about OSX and makes it worse, while adding few true benefits. So for me, the comparison is exclusively to the MBA running W7 in Bootcamp, and that further skews all the comparisons.)

Me, I drive used BMWs for the price of new Hondas. As of now, I would rather have a loaded, mint condition new, refurb or gently used Z1 for the price of a comparably equipped MBA 13. I'm not quite ready to endorse the Z2, but at $2000 for the base model and likelihood of selling the PMB to a European for $300 or so, the price differential vs MBA can be quite narrowed for base model to base model. I'm old enough to be more concerned with reliability than excellence, but haven't chosen the former over the latter in anything but kitchen appliances!

Sorry for running on, but this is the sum total of experience from having all previous models of Z and MBA to compare and, while both got better in 2011, the Z became the new world class standard while the MBA caught up, barely to the previous generation Z1.

Conclusions:

1) MBA is a great, great product for the masses, who want to turn on a new notebook and never think about the machine again. The Z is the lightest, most powerful, greatest ultraportable in all the land. Hondas and MBAs leave me cold, bored. Zs and BMWs excite me, and I know what I'm using every time I work fire it up.

2) the MBA will out-sell both the Z and the SA by multiples, just as Honda outsells all the German cars combined. The Apple brand, the marketing/mfg juggernaut will insure that. The "cool" factor it retains - unbelievable, since they are headed for the Wal Mart of technology companies (in market share and abuse of their market power) - but their designs and legacy keep that myth going. We should all worry about their capacity to dominate every market they are in, with the end result of running competitors out by strong-arming suppliers and using patents to put biggest competitors out of business. I dread the day went people by food from iEat, cars from iAuto and toilets from iCrap.

Whew! I guess the length of this may prevent anyone from reading it! I will go back in and edit it down to make it easier to read, but I think it covers all the major differences accurately, and makes it clear who will buy the Z and who will buy an MBA. I only wish Sony had made the SA more like a Z1 with SB cpu/gpu and not scrimped on the screen. Even using 1st gen i5/i7 cpus and a heavy duty battery, but better screen, would have made them equal/better to the new MBA and able to compete on price - with 256GB SSDs included.

I'm not trying to win any X vs Y arguments here. Just calling it as I see it. I guess I'm just not a mainstream kinda guy, nor, I suspect, are the enthusiasts on these pages. Thanks for hearing me out.

 

AnandTech - Sony Updates Vaio Z: Light Peak and An External GPU

ONE standard and rest is CTO

 

i stopped reading here

ps. i can assure you there are many more aftermarket "add ons" for a honda than a bmw, but that's not why I stopped reading

 

Have we had any other news on the Z delay? Is mid-august going to be achievable?

 

Ordered mine. Stupid SONY fraud department routinely cancel my orders every time I place them. They look at my order history and notice a few returns 3 years ago and boom - cancelled.

My first ship date was showing as July 24th. They cancelled that order, I called them and yelled at them as usual, and I replaced the order. Two days later my new ship date is August 27th. Thanks Fraud department. Worst customer service on the planet, Sony. From top to bottom.

Anyways - bummed that Sony assumes we are all boring businessmen and we dont want optional colors. Great .. color choices - black, black or black ... sweet. Was really hoping for a white one. Oh well. At least the keyboard is backlit. Thats huge. Hopefully the screen is auto-dimming which is a big help too. The sheet battery is nectar of the gods when it comes to new inventions. I absolutely cannot wait to have 15 hours of batterly life on a regular basis. Outstanding.

Bought the HDMI projector thing which puts your display up onto a full HD television. Have been using an HDMI cable out of my old Z series directly to the TV and a remote keyboard mouse to control it. This will be nice.

Can any of you comment on tethering? I have an iphone4 with Verizon but have also had the built-in wireless network option on my old Z ... which is another phone number and another account at about $69 a month. If I tether my iphone to my laptop is that identical to having this "aircard" installed ? Speed is the same? Quality? My phone is struggling right now with data but my internal verizon card on thiss older Z is working fine. Would hate to be stuck with the iPhone's sh*tty unreliability. Only happens when I travel. Can't seem to stay connected to 3G at all here in Vegas ... yet back home no problem.

It was a long wait, but glad I finally got it. And yes I paid about $4300 when all is said and done.

 

I also pulled the plug today. Carbon fiber, 256 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM, PMD with CD/RW, 1080p.

Not so impressed that Sony Canada charged my credit card right away for a machine they won't ship for another 2.5 weeks.

Any thoughts on sleeves? My default will be a 13" Zero Shock 3.

And I may be in the market for another PMD, so if anyone is forced to buy one they don't want, let's talk.

 

^ the zeroshock3 seems a little thick. like .5 inches too thick WITH the sheet battery. I might buy a logitech mbp one.

 

i got the Zeroshock III. I use it in my backpack everyday with my laptop. I don't consider it too thick... i was even looking to get the Zeroshock IV which is thicker, but again, it's supposed to be guarded from being dropped.

 

^ he means it is too big for the Z2, too much space inside

 

Nice article but I think they're missing the point that the PMD is using optical cables for LightPeak, meaning they could encode multiple channels or lanes (in PCI terms) in the same direction. This would greatly increase the overall through put in both directions between the main unit and the PMD, great enough that the external GPU shouldn't really be throttled by the connector as much as they're proposing.

*Somebody please correct me if I am mistaken

 

OMG!!! What if it falls into the water???

 

^ They didn't miss it, the article specifically mentions "10Gb/s of bandwidth in each direction". But that's the point that they're raising: that LightPeak only allows for 10Gb/s (or 1.25GB/s) in each direction, whereas the H67 chipset has up to 16GB/s dedicated for an internal discrete GPU (I think the HM67 specifically, in the Z2, has up to 8GB/s).

Of course it really depends on whether or not the 6650M can consume more than 1.25GB/s, and for that we just need to wait for real benchmarks.

 

That was exactly what I thought when I saw those.

 

My X has the Gobi 2000 3G card built in and it's been very good. We have prepay data card options here in Ireland and I've had no problems with any of them. It can just be a little slow reconnecting to the 3G network when resuming from sleep. I have a USB modem from O2 but it's not ideal as it sticks out a fair bit and the software required to use it is laborious.

I've been using a number of different laptops recently though and it's been an inconvenience removing the sim card from the X, so I've been using my old HTC Winmo 6.5 phone as a tethering device. It's a lot handier as I simply plug it in to the laptop via USB and about 5 seconds later it's connected. I also tether via Bluetooth if I don't want the phone hanging off the laptop (eg if I'm not at a desk), but definitely the speeds / responsiveness are not as good with bluetooth. I rarely run the Wifi hotspot as it destroys the battery on the phone and makes it run incredibly hot. But it is handy if you want simultaneous internet access for a number of devices.

I can't comment on the tethering quality of the iPhone, but 3G and HSDPA speeds from my own phone are as good as speeds from the builtin Gobi2000 modem on my X. I believe the iPhone is good as a wireless hotspot, but again it might be bad for battery life (on both the phone and the laptop).

 

In terms of thickness (not sure if you were refering just to the Z1 all the time), the Z2 is thinner than the MBA 13" AND 11".

 

wow, nice find. why dont we have this kind of review with a lot of pic in English...?

btw. sony should make stackable sheet battery too just incase someone need more than 15hrs -P

 

I couldn't find this on the Logitech site... do you have a link?

 

What is the level of noise on Z21 with i5 and under low load? I mainly use laptop in the bedroom and any noise is noticeable.

 

I'm not sure if I recall this correctly, but didn't ComputerCowboy respectively the guy from Conics he was talking to say that the USB3.0/LP port can't be used as a USB3.0 port if the PMD is not connected? Does that mean that it's working as a USB2.0 port or what?
Hopefully I got that whole thing wrong...

 

Any idea if future Lightpeak implementations will support a higher throughput than the current model used by Sony?
I believe there's a 15Gb/s construction out there but honestly this is only a marginal increase for an eGPU concept.

@Fhsieh thanks for the update, I didn't catch the bits vs. bytes

 

I caught that too, seems fishy since that port has the usual blue USB 3.0 marketing color.

 

According to that guy the USB port on the unit would NOT be usable as USB3. If that is the case that is really dumb. I wasn't even asking about that, I was trying to figure out what the deal was with Bluetooth. Anyway, we all just assumed that we could use the USB/LP port as USB3 when not docked, if that is not true that really sucks. Makes me wonder if it will double as a USB port at all? Now I am starting to understand why the USB people are all mad about USB being used for lightpeak. I mean if you have this nice blue port and you are used to getting USB3 devices working on that nice blue port and along comes a computer where it has the same looking port but your stuff doesn't plug into that port. As a consumer that would make me not pleased with USB even though it is not the USB consortium's fault that a vendor did something like that.

 

^On the other hand, if that would be the case, why would SONY use an USB port instead of a random proprietary port (shouldn't be too difficult for SONY making something proprietary ) to connect the PMD if you wouldn't be able to connect USB devices to that port anyway?

 

The japanese (or chinese?) review has very good pictures of the new machine! Don´t understand a word but pics are amazing

 

I think its supposed to be pretty quiet. People just complain that its loud under heavy load.

 

Korean ;]

guess you don't use google chrome which translates webpages for you

 

There's a lot of drama/confusion surrounding the whole LightPeak/USB3.0 port.

The USB consortium does not allow for custom modifications of its ports (including and especially USB3.0) because of the tolerances required to achieve the speed and reliability in the specifications. This is part of the reason why Intel/Apple decided to switch to DisplayPort as a connector, instead of using the modified USB3.0 port as Sony did with the Z2.

Since the USB consortium did not validate the Z2's USB3.0 port, Sony cannot officially call it a "USB 3.0 port"; they can only say that it is a proprietary port "that is compatible with USB2.0 and 3.0 devices".

If you look through the official press releases and spec sheets, you will notice Sony being very careful about how they advertise the Z. On the Japanese Z2 spec page, the main unit only has 1x USB2.0 port. The other port is described as "Other: Docking station connector (compatible with USB2.0 and USB3.0 devices)"; meanwhile, the PMD itself does list a USB3.0 port, because that port is unmodified and therefore Sony is allowed to advertise it as such.

In short: the main unit does not have a "USB 3.0 port"; however, it does have "a port compatible with USB2.0/3.0".

 

^ exactely.

But the practical result is that... yeah, we have a full USB 3.0 support... that's the only important thing..

 

^to be sure I got that right: The "PMD connector"-port is USB3.0 compatible, which means USB3.0 can be attached AND use the whole USB3.0 bandwidth like on an official USB3.0 port?

EDIT
Guess Crystal1988 answered my question.

 

No. The Z2 is less than 0.5mm thinner than the MBA is at its thickest point. Factor in average thickness, the MBA is MUCH thinner.

 

Does the Vaio Z2 support hardware virualization? I give a lot of demo's using virtual images, and this is a must.

Also, does it support TPM and Bitlocker? I know it comes in RAID0, so i am not sure if that impacts Bitlocker at all

 

Amazon.com: Caselogic PAS-213 13-Inch Macbook Neoprene Sleeve (Black): Electronics

 

So is there any information about the speed of the external ATI gpu in the dock? I´m not sure if a special driver is needed?

 

BTW: How can i use that feature?

 

Normally when you enter a website that's not in english there will be a blue bar sliding down right under the white bar where you enter web pages. It will then display the language of the page, and ask you if you'd like it to be translated.