New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

I play games in bed all the time. Sometimes with my computer too.

Seriously, being able to use the computer in bed (and pretty much anywhere) is the reason why I got a Z in the first place. If the new Z is either less powerful or less mobile, I'm just not going to buy it.

 

omg, a bigger bezel than the SB? That would be horrible!
Could anyone confirm that?

beaups, one quick word about that would be nice

 

that diagram is stretched horizontally

and didn't beaups say that the bezel is slightly thinner than the current z

 

I hope he said that, design could be a deal breaker for me.

 

I agree to everything 100% (couldn't have written it better myself)...even the stuff about the new Z!!

 

i would imagine the new Z being less mobile when the external gpu is attached...

 

Look on the bright side. Huge bezels are the hottest 2011 fashion!

 

I"d like to ask beaups, the man who informed us much about Z21, something different about the range of 11" ultra. The glorious days of VGN-TT gone to past, we got only rumours about Chrome netbook based on Tegra. However, can we expect a true powerful Core i successor to TT series in 2010-2011? Or the reign of the 11"-inch Vaios is completely ended (Y series is out of count)?

 

There's this, 9.4 inches, atom powered. No idea on release date, maybe same time as new Z?

 

^ This is a tablet, not an 11-incher. (I don't ask, however, about Vaio P and its successors). Sorry for off.

 

supposedly the freestyle hybrid pc is the chrome OS based thingy from sony, supposedly.

 

Is that timing for the announcement, pre-orders or shipping? If that's not the shipping date, would it be possible to provide a sense of about when it will be shipped?

 

^in-store availability, shipping, etc.

 

what are the chances of them handing out review units?

i remember the Z's distribution was non-existant

 

SWEET!!! Do you know if Sony is going to be making some sort of announcement before this date?

 

Could that mean that the official announcement and unveiling could be early july?

 

sorry if this has already been answered - but is the external gpu/odd sold separately?

Also what is the expected base price on the new Z (with/without external hardware) ?

 

If you look at Sony's line of small stuff... each successor is quite different from the predecessor. Look at the PictureBook, the U series, the UX the P. One could argue that they are all about the same class. I guess my point is that the successor to the P could be nothing like the P except that it is really small.

 

Thank you.

 

Right. But still, If we try to imagine this very small notebook (ultrabook, let's use this nova Intel's slang), not a tablet or a hybrid slider system. That's why I ask the question.

Anything smaller and thinner than Z21 but still a Win7 notebook WILL FOLLOW from Sony?

 

No, it's bundled. You can't buy just the main unit.
Price for base config about 2000 USD.

What about Europe?

 

I'd love to know also. I love my P and my UX. I used the UX as my primary machine from mid 2007 until mid 2010. I use the P quite often now, if I step out for coffee or a meal I just grab it.

 

Did anyone really saw or heard something new regarding the new Vaio Z at Computex 2011? Or this news is based on the European leak?

Sony VAIO Z21 Laptop Overview at Computex | Laptop - Notebooks Drivers Updates

 

nice find.

"Rumors have it that the VAIO Z21 has been available on Italian online retailer for the high price at $2,640 for the Core i5 version and $4,140 for one with the Core i7 processor on-board."

ahhh....that's @#$!ing expensive....lol

time will tell if a $1,999 base model price will happen.

 

IT PRO | Sony VAIO Z21

Oops, old laptop, ignore...

Edit: Old or new? Nvidia geforce 9300m

Edit: Old I think, sorry, sorry...

Another link: http://www.minilaptops.org/sony-vaio-z21-sandy-bridge-laptop-launched-in-europe.html

Edit: People seem to base the specs solely on those listed on a particular retailer's site...

 

if those prices are true...that's too rich for my blood...base price after tax will be close to 3k....no laptop is worth that to me...2k ok...3k...no thanks.

Than again that website probably just jacked up the prices....

 

As always, the US/ North America should have the lowest prices compared to the rest of the world.

 

Too bad we Americans don't get the customization that Japan gets.

For instance, if we wanted to buy a Z with the 1920x1080 screen vs the standard 1600x900, we had to get the "Signature Collection" model with the i7 processor, high capacity SSD and Blu-Ray drive which made it very expensive. I like in Japan where I could get that "Full HD" screen with "just" a regular hard drive, i5 processor and DVD-drive.

Even if I want to import one from Japan with websites like Conics.net and PriceJapan.com, the price is still very high that I might as well get the "Signature Collection" model, where at least I don't have to send it to Japan for repair if it breaks. The poor U.S dollar to yen exchange rate doesn't help any. I miss when $1 USD got you 125 JPY back in 2007 when the Vaio TZ came out (I was crazy about that model!). That was when I was thinking of getting one from Japan. Now its about $1 to 79 JPY.

 

Ok. This thread is a nightmare. I'm trying to find basic specs of the Z21 and I know the answers are in this thread somewhere but after 30 mins going back through pages and pages I can't find them!

Ok. The basics I can find, either here or on the various sites.

- CPU - i5-2410M / i7-2620M
- memory 4Gb / 8Gb
- SSD 128Gb / 256 Gb
- screen - 1600 x 900

However, two areas are still a mystery to me.

1. How much is this thing going to weigh?
2. What is the deal with this external GPU? What sort is it? Is it bundled with the list price or an extra expense?

I believe we are looking at the 3rd week of July for release (again, from this thread). Is there any possibility of any hands-on tests/reviews before that time?

cheers

Paul

 

Weight should be 1.13kg for the main unit and 0.68kg for the external unit.

External GPU is a AMD Whister-XT, so probably two options will be available; the 6730 and the 6770. It's bundled not an extra expense.

And as some extra info a full HD display option and 512GB SSD should be available, perhaps not initially but eventually.

Some more spec and price info on this page http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/556513-new-sony-vaio-z-speculation-news-thread-166.html

 

I assume it will work with the onboard video (Intel HD 3000?) when the external GPU is unplugged - is the GPU hotswappable?

The other question I have is noise/heat. Correct me if I'm wrong but the CPU options are 'standard' voltage models and are likely to generate quite a bit of heat?

 

It's Sandy Bridge so yep Intel HD 3000 when the external unit isn't being used. It's based on thunderbolt/lightpeak so should be hotswappable.

They are standard voltage dual core 35W i5/i7 so they are not using the Quad Core 45W chips that are in the macbook pros for example, so that should help.

 

^besides that no heat from an internal GPU

 

Would the GPU or the CPU produce more heat in these kind of high performance notebooks?

 

GPUs run hotter...assuming the cpu/gpu are in the same 'class'

 

The GDDR RAM that the GPU uses is a large part of the reason. Those chips produce a LOT of heat, and makes the "cold" temperature of the GPU quite a bit higher than ambient.
If CPUs had to have system RAM directly connected with short paths, we'd see much of the same problem there too.

GPU-Z is a useful tool, by the way.

 

One website is showing what they claim are pictures of the new Z. They also state that it's maximum resolution is 1600*900 so I'm not sure how accurate it is. I'm still hoping for a high quality FHD display, at least as an option.

The translation of the article can be found here: Google Translate

 

^Haven't we been through all of this already?

 

^True. It was a pointless post.

 

I'm kind of regretting not getting the blue-ray drive for my VPC-Z1 now. I just moved, I'm waiting for my stuff to arrive, and my Harry Potter disc is sitting there looking at me.

 

Torrent the 1080p blu-ray rip. If you have a decent connection it won't take long... AND it's not illegal because you own the hardcopy

 

Haha, unfortunately it's Netflix's, so it may make me feel like a pirate Aaar!

Perhaps I can download it, and delete it after I watch it Anyway...

 

Why don't you just buy a 100$ shipped USB2.0 Bluray drive? This thing gets powered through the usb port as well.

 

Coz I'm a tightwad and don't like to spend money

Also I want to enjoy the full experience on my TV, I mean it's... it's... Harry Potter!

 

Get a cable to allow your TV to plug into your laptop. It's likely your TV has either a vga or hdmi spigot on it.

Besides that, the external BD player will be money well spent (even for self-confirmed tightwads )

 

You might want to read some lawbooks. I won't debate whether or not it's illegal to download....but torrenting uploads during the download. That's what gets folks in trouble.

 

My TV's also being shipped And I can't activate my TV services until it arrives...

About the external drive: I've actually been thinking about that for a while. The advancement of ODD is very slow, which was why I could use my DVD drive as long as I had. Maybe it would be better to get a BR external drive rather than one in the Z21. Portability will suffer though...

 

So you regret not getting the Blu-Ray drive option but also don't want to spend $100 on an external USB Blu-Ray drive? The internal option from Sony is more than $100 so I'm confused here.

 

I guess if I had gotten the BR drive earlier then I would not have encountered the situation today. Today, spending $100 more when I know my PS3 & TV are on their way just doesn't seem like a good thing to do.

It actually gets more complicated than that. My Z is bought CTO from Japan via Conics. It has i7, HDD, no ODD, and FHD (and iLink). I wanted my own SSD, and the HDD option does not come with ODD, while the Z11s' SSDs are proprietary. Getting a BR was actually of less importance then. (I feel like an old man reminiscing about the past...)

If there's one thing I wish of the Z21, I wish that it has a non-proprietary SATA connection, with the option for BR drive. Better yet would be non-proprietary 2.5" drives with BR drive option. I will stick TRIM-capable SSDs in there, not RAID-ed.