New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Is there a possibility to get a refurbished Z or one from an outlet in Europe as well? Afaik those options are just available in the U.S..

 

Completely agree.

 

My laptop from 4 years ago had 2 hours battery life. My SB has 2-3 times that life in nearly every scenario I've used it in and more importantly to me, I can do far more in every hour I get.

I think a big part of improved battery life is going to idle state more often, just like Intel's Hurry Up and Get Idle approach. The turbo boost may take more power when it's used but saves more from idling sooner.

The flip-side is that if you use the Turbo for longer then it's an overclocking function more than a prolonger of battery life. However, having my laptop do things smoothly at sub-optimal battery life is better than a worse experience for that extra hour or two.

With efficient CPUs, SSD's, sufficient integrated graphics and newer more efficient DDR4 i think coming too, the only thing remaining must be some super-efficient screens.

 

Considering how slow the progress is on battery technology, efficient components seem to be the best way to improve run time. LED is pretty efficient though... are you talking about the panels themselves?

 

I for my part really hope the new Z will go back to a 13.3" screen, which seems so much more spacious to me. When I moved from the SZ to the Z I really noticed how much smaller the screen is.

 

There's a lot more to it than that. You need more efficient southbridges, fewer lights on the machine, more efficient GPU's, etc. Then you get into power draw of Keyboard, touchpad, etc. The final issue is windows.

A 13" MBP at dead idle, 50% brightness, wifi on, audio at 50% viewing (not scrolling) a static webpage consumes about 6 watts of power. On a 63wh battery that would be ~10 hours of IDLE time.

That same scenario with nearly, if not identical hardware (but DESIGNED for windows), in windows we can get down to about 9-10 watts of consumption.

That's about a 50% gap due to just the O/S and whatever add'l efficiency tweaks apple is making.

 

beaups,

Based on what you know and can say, do you think it's possible to replace the GPU by the user if one can get appropriate part? Also, is it easy to add some external cooling solution for over-clocking?

Thanks!

 

All the more reason to see if the new Z can run linux, what with the video setup.

 

beaups has been MIA for a while now

 

^ Huh?
char 10

 

I've been around.

 

what the hell is an external cooling solution? you mean a fan?

 

I'm afraid I don't understand you?

 

Sorry. My comment was directed at the remark that you've "been MIA for a while now" even though you had posted an hour earlier.

 

Ahhhhh. got it

 

Yeah, like a cooling pad designed to put under the laptop -- with this 2nd unit, I am thinking the regular cooling pad won't work...

I don't really like the separate GPU solution, but I figure if it's separate maybe there is potential to replace the card or OC with some form of additional fan blowing at it.

 

so, anyone have any comments on the new ultra-thin 14 inch laptop from Dell, heard it starts at 1000$ and runs a full voltage processor, sounds like a good alternative pricewise

 

I'm definitely going to go for the Dell, or something other than Z2, as long it weighs under 3lbs, offers an i7, USB 3, FHD, and at least a 256GB SSD.

Methinks I'm going to end up with a Z2.

 

Can you say if the new Z has Express Card built into the main unit and or the "dock"?

 

Whoops i missed that post lol, sorry yeh i haven't seen him post that much though

 

I got Z1, so I will wait for Z3/Z4....
for those who got nothing, Z2 is a good investment

 

I agree. The words " temporary replacement" was misused. It inappropriately defined the SA with the new Z, and linked them together. What should have been written was the following. "The SA/SB/SC will be the replacement of the S. Due to the late production of the Z2, the new SA would be a consideration for those that can't wait for the new Z during the interim." Something like that..... Anyway.........

 

Still don't understand why production of Z1 stopped.. should've kept coming till Z2 gets released...

 

I have looked for the last Z series with the following specs and cannot find what I want so if anyone can link me to a new one for sale I would greatly appreciate it:

i5 or i7
4-8gb
256ssd
FHD display preferred but will take other
Black only, no silver

Tried tiger, j&r, amazon....what other ones are there?

 

Is a "refurb" out of the question? Check Sony's selection of refurb units- most of them are actually just CTO models that people have returned. Many are still brand new.

 

The only way you can get those specs are through Sony CTOs as the preconfig models sold at retail stores were always base models (1600x900, 128GB, black/silver). But yes, check out the sonystyle outlet... the refurbs are usually just returned CTOs. Cheaper than just CTOing it yourself sometimes (and sometimes really good deals)

here's one like what you're looking for, except it has a premium carbon fiber lid and mobile broadband card... for what I paid for mines a year ago...

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666332074

 

How come I couldn't find all of those?! I just bought the one with 8gb ram and win7 pro. Thanks!

 

I'm glad you found what you're looking for!

 

Haha you're welcome. I hope you enjoy it (i sure enjoy mines... but i'm envying the 1080p screen )

 

But isn't it the case that the SA will be very much like the current Z in configuration but with updated cpu/gpu and a few missing "luxury" design elements? I agree that it should not be called the "replacement Z" but the SA seems far more like what one would expect of a refreshed Z13 than a refreshed S model. Also likely to be priced closer to current Z pricing than the new Z, comparably equipped, will sell for, though this is just speculative since prices for the SA and Z2 are not yet announced.

 

I should be fine with a refurb shouldn't I? I tend to stay away from them but I have friends/family that never had a problem with refurb products.

 

I have bought 2 or 3 refurb items, and they were all like new. But I only do it when I can inspect the item in store before committing; I wouldn't be as sure if ordering one online.

 

Except that rumors say SA will have Vaio Display Plus. Have you seen Vaio Display Plus on SB? It's a joke, a bad one. My old TZ has better screen than that. Definitely not an upgrade from Z1.

 

You should be fine. Note that Sony should have a 30-day return policy on their computers (check that... i'm sure they do). Which means you can return it if you don't like it, or it is defective... that 30-day return policy is applicable for CTOs (and that's probably why there's so many in the outlet). I forgot which country it was (either Canada or UK) doesn't have that policy, but here in the states, is better i guess.

 

I don't think they do in Canada

 

Where do I browse the refurb Z models? Do I have to use the US site or do they do them in the UK too?

 

Sony UK does have a "outlet" store here: https://shop.sony.co.uk/shop/VAIO-CLEARANCE/

but doesn't contain any Vaio Z's... only older models. You can browse the Sony USA outlet, but they won't ship to international addresses (AFAIK).

 

With the talk about refurb VAIO notebooks, how long is the standard Sony warranty for a refurb VAIO notebook? Is it 1 year or 90 days?

Edit: Never mind. I found the answer. Sony provides a "very generous" 90 day limited warranty for each of its refurb VAIO notebooks.

 

Hey there!Here you have one in France https://outlet.sony.fr/shop/b2c/start/(xcm=PCM_b2ccrmstandard)/.do

 

Why does Sony require a $50 upgrade to win7 pro in order to get the fresh start option? (USA)

 

... and nobody answered about the photos from the original Sony presentation. OK. Then let's categorize: this is new Vaio Z2.

 

So when is the Z2 suppose to be released?

 

June - early July.

 

Really? And how much will it cost for its med spec and top spec versions? (Sorry if I'm asking questions that you all addressed before)

 

because Fresh Start only comes with Win 7 Pro, which is a $50 upgrade. In any case, most people agree that the Z doesn't come with much bloatware. Much easier to uninstall the few programs as opposed to reinstalling windows (or losing out on some free software)

Yep that's actually the "current" VPC-Z1X (despite the logo and the pictures being of the old VGN-Z's)

In any case, we're getting slightly off-topic . Has anyone seen this:

Lenovo X1 on Amazon UK: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 priced at £1,293 by Amazon, shipping May 20th -- Engadget

for ~$2120... for lower res screen, no external GPU/HDD unit. To those considering it, i guess no go there.

 

I don't think that anyone who wants a Z would be happy settling for less. Maybe they will have to because of time or budget constraints but that doesn't make the SA, et al. a satisfactory substitute.

 

I think I can take the next generation super-thin Dell off my list of potential purchases. I'm not impressed.
Unreleased Dell XPS 15z Laptop Shows Itself Peculiar Keyboard And All [Photos]|Laptop Computer Planet Blog

 

^ how about the 14 inch one?

 

I am one of those people who does not agree with that at all. The pre-installed software is all trash. The only thing that is kind of OK is the bundled version of WinDVD BD, which has it's uses. I got mine with Home Premium or some such rubbish. I made the recovery DVDs and then tore them apart to extract the bundled software. I reformatted the whole system and installed Ultimate. No way in hell I am going to lose all that space to keep the recover partition. Fresh start is trash also. Sony seems only capable of making nice hardware, they have no clue how to set up the software. The drivers are outdated right out of the box. I just got a P with Vista and I didn't even boot it. I just wiped it and clean installed it first thing.

 

Well for those who actually plan on using the OS as it comes, it's much simpler to just boot and just uninstall the programs you don't need. You need to compare Sony with other manufacturers (ie HP) who load their computers with so much bloatware that sometimes, it's just faster to reformat. Also, just because you bought a P now, doesn't mean it's drivers were out of date when it was first sold...