New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Not a 540m either. How do you know they got everything correct??

 

What I meant was that all the things they described in their article has matched with the information that has surfaced on this forum, I'm pretty sure. Like using the USB and AC to connect the external unit, duplication of HDMI and Ethernet ports on the external unit and notebook.

And their description also matched the picture that was teased to us.

 

you are just killing me you know that beaups?

if things turn out to be the way of the dodo like that, I will just buy any thunderbolt equipped notebook and be done with it

 

I think 6650/6630 is the way that sony goes with the SB ultraportables.

 

6650/6630 is in the vaio SA. So why would somebody pay more money for a Z only to have the same GPU externally, when the SA has the same GPU and Blu-Ray drive internally?

Even if the Vaio Z is thinner, the SA is already quite thin to make any extra thinness a case of declining marginal returns.

Sony is missing a good opportunity, having the GPU externally thanks to new technology of lightpeak eliminates the two biggest problems of GPU notebook design - power consumption and heat issues.

I'm really quite confused..

 

also no LTE/HSDPA+ build-in right?, are we stuck with the same Gobi2000 as the old Z?

 

Please kindly excuse my ignorance. Maybe somebody would pay more for a VAIO Z notebook because it is thinner, lighter, has a higher quality screen, has a higher screen resolution option (1920x1080) if offered, no built-in optical drive, etc.

 

i dont understand sony's reasoning either, and i believe a lot of us are waiting for the final product to see if we're missing something.. maybe it's the best thing ever but we just don't know it yet

but with the new 13" timelineX and LG p330 out, sony has some serious competition

i'd gladly carry a little extra weight and bulk for the dedicated GPU to be incorporated in the main unit
not only this, but higher screen resolution really isn't a good argument for getting the z:
1. 1920x1080 on a 13.1 inch at 96dpi scaling just makes everything way too tiny for anyone, even me with 20/20 vision
2. If you use the correct dpi scaling setting for 1920x1080 and 1600x900, the objects on both screens will be the same size
3. with the limited power of a mobile gpu, lower resolution is the better choice
4. the only advantage of higher resolution is "crispness", but in all honesty, it is not the most noticeable thing

 

Wow, I think Sony missed their mark a bit on the graphics card then. The SA/SB series have discrete 6650/6630 onboard, and they can't pull off something a bit more speedy in an external enclosure for their flagship ultraportable? Of course we don't know it will be the Whistler-Pro in the enclosure, but if it's something slower than Whistler-XT it will be as similar as makes no difference.

I doubt they will hold this 2-piece niche to themselves for very long with Thunderbolt available to everyone. I think they are wasting their head start.

If only the SA/SB series had a better screen w/ smaller bezel. . .

 

the 3830tg throttles, and the P330 is coming out in Q4 this year

 

the new one is the TimeLineX 3830T

how do you know that it throttles when it's just been announced not too long ago?

 

3830TG has been on sale in Europe and Asia for a while.

 

there are several reviews out there too, and the owners lounge as well.

3830T = igpu

3830TG = dgpu = GT 540m

its been that way for quite a while as well.

 

ahh, thanks for the clarification, i guess i expected too much out of acer, guess that leaves us with the p330.. which im not even sure what its availability is like

 

untrue, may be it is just you

 

5. Far better overall experience with dual monitors (clone and extended desktop) since nothing has to be resized all the time
6. Noticeable nicer playback of (Full)HD content
7. More screen real estate even with higher DPI setting in CAD, drawing and image processing applications
8. Bragging rights

And so on. I admit to agree on item 1 though.

 

next thing you know, people will be asking for retina like displays in 13.3 screens

 

^ That would be great if Windows was resolution independent

 

That's exactly what I'm planning to to.

Bummer that the new Vaio Z will most likely be the only nice thunderbolt notebook in the next time .-.

 

If it's anything like the P310, don't look for it in North America. The P330 release in Q4 is too late IMO. At that point, IvyBridge will be around the corner. I don't see anything out there ATM that makes me want to give up my 3820TG.

Bronsky

 

have to agree with you launch a laptop for the xmas sales only, is a bad idea, its only going to retain its value for a little while

 

Supposedly, the new Z will have a higher quality display, as distinct from also being higher resolution. The SA's screen has not been getting rave reviews.


Whether the new Z's screen (or at least the high option screen) is actually significantly better than the SA, we'll see.

 

^You should expect the same display quality as the current Z, which is much better than the SA.

 

That's what I'm hoping (and willing to spend extra) for.

 

Beaups, here's a question where the answer is completely subjective.

Knowing what you do about the new Z and about other laptops, if you were in the market for a 13" laptop in the July-August timeframe, would you buy the new Z?

(We can stipulate for purposes of the question that you are able to afford the Z but would prefer to spend less unless there are one or more subjectively good reasons to spend extra for Z.)

 

I think it's hot, personally. Really depends on needs. We all know the sacrifices of the new Z, but those features I personally rarely use...and when I do, an external unit would suffice.

I'm big on screen quality, and until some 900P (or higher) IPS or PLS screens start showing up, I think the Z is the only game in town (again, for me).

 

wait....will the Z have a fullHD option or not?

dear lordy, i hope those prices are just overinflated for European preorders

 

I'm one of them. That would be amazing. It'd be great if Apple had the retina displays on all their MacBooks.

 

will you do with a 2560x1600 screen on a 13" laptop. that is NOT the same argument as the one against the 1080p Z.

i honestly can't see the pixels on my 13" macbook now when using it like any normal person.

 

Yes... where can I buy one.

 

Z Series : VAIO & computing : tab3

Z Series : VAIO & computing : tab4

Gallery

 

i'm quite serious.

larger resolution screens offer:

1) more screen real estate

2) show a clearer image


#1 is clearly ridiculous - you can USE text that is almost 4 times smaller than the 1080p screen? i would honestly like to see how many days anybody would last staring at something that small.

#2 what are you trying to make 'clearer' exactly? considering that the common currently highest resolution media is 1080p...you'll make videos WORSE as you're at the mercy of the upscaler(or w/e its called). text-wise? even at current macbook resolutions, text is unpixelated. gaming wise? why are you spending that much money for a GPU to run games at that resolution? if you're just quadrupling pixels, why are you risking image quality by using the upscaler?

 

actually, i admit that on the SA/SB, the 1366 resolution on the 13.3" screen isn't high enough. just looking at the "start button", i could see the actual pixels

so basically, pixel density is not high enough

but i honestly believe that 1600x900 on a 13.1 inch is high enough, where higher resolutions would only result in, as generic user put it, worse quality for the majority of videos out there that are below 1080p, and reduced performance and battery life

 

I want my text to be razor sharp since I spend most of my free time reading. I want my pictures and videos to look like a page from a high quality magazine. For this I need high contrast, high resolution display with high color gamut. And with some adjustments my Z shows exactly that. I don't need a small text and DPI scaling takes care of that

 

I was totally serious. If I could get a 13" screen with 2560x1600 I would.
The Z has the lowest pixel density of any of my computers. It is great, but it could always be better. I will pretty much buy the most ridiculous most top end computer stuff I can find. Computers are my life.

 

how close is your face to your monitor?

 

im wondering why i could see the pixels of the start button when i looked at the vaio SA, whereas i dont believe that i notice the pixels on the screens of other 13" laptops with the same resolution, most notably those with glossy displays

could it be because the screen is semi-matte? i don't understand how that could make the smooth outline of the start button look jagged and pixelated

 

One thing to keep in mind about higher res displays is that it's more likely to get a stuck/dead pixel. I just got a stuck pixel on my Z the other week and it's been bothering me since.

 

it has the LOWEST pixel density?

but what i'm trying to say is:

1) you're getting a WORSE display when watching movies
2) you get a WORSE display for gaming
3) you're effective breaking even on text rendering

it just really doesn't pay more to get less on everything except for bragging rights.

 

Absolutely! I first bought a Z1 with 1600x900 but a month later bought one with the 1920 screen instead (and larger SSD). If you want to do stuff (rather than read websites) the ability to mix small content that is still readable with larger text that has more pixels and better formed characters that are extremely readable is brilliant.

Many people seem to think that their low res displays can already display text just fine, but it really cannot, until we get to much higher DPI you cannot have detail in the characters like varying stoke widths and precise spacing as you would for printed text. The effects are subtle but have a big impact on how comfortable it is to read.

I see Samsung have a 300dpi 2560x1600 10.1" PLS or IPS screen coming for tablets for next year, hopefully that will happen as that will be fantastic for
consuming content, and then maybe we'll see a Z3 with a similar kind of screen.

In the mean time, anyone saying "normal" people "don't need" "more than 640k or more than 768 pixels or whatever" is just talking complete crap.

 

Hi everyone, I was lurking on this thread from its very start. Now we are approaching a release date... and after 7 years and a half I'm seriously considering a laptop refresh.

I do not spend much money on computer stuff even if a freelance developer and my pc is on 18hrs/day. But when I spend, price tag is the last thing I consider.

Vaio Z has been my dream lappy and I will buy the new Z2 almost for sure. My dream Vaio Z2 is something like this:

13 inches
8+ hours of battery
8GB of very fast ram (1333Mhz at least)
Very fast 256GB SSD drive (don't care if replaceable)
VGA + HDMI connectors (first for compatibility, second for quality)
Very good dual core processor, i7 2620M *AS MINIMUM*
Very good discrete GPU (I think external unit is a great idea, but I want a damn good chip, cmon, it is external, you can pump it up a little bit right? Just exaggerate sony, put a damn 6970M in the external unit...)
Blueray Burner in the external unit

Deal breakers (if not present, I won't buy):
Full HD display with very good image quality
Backlit keyboard!!!
Less than 1.5kg in weight (only main unit)
USB 3

For something 100% like this, I can go 4000euro in price tag, this toy will last for at least 6 years.

Just listen to us sony, half of the potential buyers of the vaio Z2 are on these pages... listen to us

 

I am quite sure new Z will be lighter than the current one - as it is going to have less parts actually (no discrete GPU, more things will be soldered on the main PCB, etc...)

For me, the only two deal breakers would be:

a) Lack of 1080p LCD (which I doubt, I see no reason why they would not offer something they already have)

b) Lack of native 2560x1600 output via. HDMI/DVI without having to resort to ViDock etc...

I hope Sony is not going to repeat the same mistake like with VPC-Z with regards to b) especially considering the fact that today there are much more available monitors capable of displaying 2560x1600 and they are entering the "mid-range" price segment making them affordable to much wider audience

@edit - just saw on the earlier pages that the new Z will still have a discrete GPU... oh well, I hope they will make it at least as light as the VPC-Z...

 

the discrete gpu is in the dock or base and not in the main unit, which has integrated GPU

 

Not fussy about a SSD drive, Solid State Drives are still too expensive in my opinion. Would rather have 750 GB Hard Drive.

I would like the ability to upgrade the CPU though to Ivybridge.

Also, premium screen. That's what I keep on hearing about why the Z is the best thing ever.

 

The laptop sits on my laps or if I am in bed on lower belly

 

What makes you think there will be no 1080p screen offered????

 

Can't wait for a retina display on a PC or iPad myself. However, I am concerned that 1080p display on Z1 has lower contrast ratio and lower brightness than 900p screen. Since I am already using higher DPI settings to increase sharpness of the text on my current 1600x900 screen, I may have to buy a lower res screen on Z2 because of it higher contrast.

Beaups, are we going to get exactly same panels in Z2 as Z1 has?

 

Can you give any hints on whether there will be a Quad Core version like the old Z?

 

^Z has never had a quad core.

 

whoops sorry my mistake, you're right.

well can you tell us if the 1080p option will be available at launch or later?