New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Maybe the blue colour means it's the bluray version.

 

Sometimes, its hard to see where the Fn keys are, so for example, to change the brightness or volume, its pretty darn useful to have a backlit keyboard.

 

Who cares? Do people buy laptops to show them off? I'd much rather have something mute/basic than something flashy/attention grabbing. I like how they toned down the flash of the Z in the black model. The gold one is really bad. Although overall the design of this new Z isn't anything to look at. Hinge definitely looks like it might snap if you open it too quickly. I guess I'm a little biased given I got two VAIO's in the past DOA, lol. Never again!

 

A lot of people care about the design of the products they use. I mean the same can be said for cars, many buy them as A B cars and many buy them as an extension of their personality. Be a little more open minded, not everyone thinks the same way.

 

from sony's website

 

The base stats will probably include bluray reader with a burner upgrade like teh SA. But yea maybe the blue will signify a burner. Doesn't really make sense tho.

I think thats been there for a while. Thanks for sharing tho!

 

I'm not saying that looks don't matter at all, just seems some people care more about looks than function is all. Ha, come on now... cars are a different beast than a computer.

 

Not really, especially not for notebook enthusiasts like us. I care about both looks and function alot. I will not settle for function without looks or looks without function.

 

form follows function in my opinion. That's how japanese electronics are usually designed, look at their phones for example.

I really don't understand the fascination with metal for electronics that apple has started. Plastic is superior in every way. Look at any rugged military or industrial computer/phone/electronic they are made from plastic. I'm not saying consumer electronics should be designed like industrial ones, but the choice of material should have the same motivations.

 

The problem is that plastic feels cheap to the touch. If your touching your phone all the time, you want it to feel a little more premium.

 

I rank a backlit keyboard up there with bezelmania under irrelevant issues.

There's something amusing about people who have no design experience or responsibilities criticizing the competance of the designers of something they haven't even seen except in a few selected photos.

 

Well just keep this in mind, cheapo econobox cars are made from metal. Formula one cars are made from plastic (carbon fiber). Which one FEELS cheaper to the touch.

 

Well f1 cars NEED carbon fiber. and luxury cars like lambos are still made out of metal...

And you don't generally touch the outside of your car all the time...so this argument is kinda irrelevant. The parts you do touch tho, like the interior, are generally made with a more premium material (like leather)

 

Count me in with the people who do not understand the fascination with: bezel width, color, texture, hinge shape...

Given a chance to buy a powerful, lightweight, computer vs something else, I do not care about what the something else looks like. Fast and light (with a decent screen) wins every time in my book (it's a laptop for goodness sake ).

Oh, and useability is important too. But that is still separate and distinct from the purely aesthetic aspects.

Mind you that I'm not saying it's not worth discussing at all, I just don't understand the extreme fascination with the subject going on page after page.

 

Lambos are only made from metal because carbon fiber is still to expensive and difficult to mass produce even for expensive supercars like lambos. But some of extremely high end supercars like the Ferrari Enzo has a carbon fiber frame.

And lambo would need carbon fiber for the same reason you say a F1 car needs it. Better performance. High tech Plastic is stronger and stiffer than metal, while at the same time being lighter weight as well. And in the case of electronics, it has the added benefit of not interfering with radio signals. I'm sorry metal is stupid material for electronics, just because of some subjective idea that it "feels" more expensive or something.

 

I think the fascination is with the fact that when you're paying this much for a laptop, people expect that it is also aesthetically pleasing because despite your knowledge of the internals, you're going to want to justify it by saying it's a beauty. It wouldn't be a consideration if say this was heavily discounted, but you're paying premium buck for this laptop and so, you'd want everything to be perfect.

 

Interesting thought about plastic.

I guess we can now all agree that Sony's use of that plastic palmrest block for the VPC-Z series both looks good & feels more expensive to the touch than if Sony had gone with a totally full aluminum palmrest/keyboard combo.

 

you'd be surprised home much plastic is used inside modern cars these days.

CF when destroyed or involved in an accident shatters or falls apart, it does not bend or crumple. The repair costs in a small fender bender would be too high for CF to be used in cheaper cars, while plastic (fenders and what not) are easily replaced (cheap cost) or just reshaped.

F1 cars use CF not to be better to the touch, it's used to lighten and strengthen the car. Most F1 are pained anyways, so you don't see much of the CF exposed except in areas that are not painted.

Plastic may feel cheap, but my FW has a plastic body 9except lid, and it doesn't feel 'cheap'. My galaxy S2 has a plastic back, and sides, doesn't feel cheap at all.

 

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its not that plastic feels cheap - although it usually does. its that it feels cheaper than metal/glass - which is true.

 

Plastic is superior in every way???? That couldn't be further from the truth. From tensile strength to thermal dissipation, to look and feel, etc...it's inferior. Why does Panasonic use alloys in it's toughbooks?

Mid to highend laptops have been using metal for the a and d surfaces for years. It's only recently it's become more trendy to use metal for the c surface.

And BTW carbon fiber is not plastic. It's sometimes mixed with plastic (e.g. CFRP), but carbon fiber itself is still not plastic.

 

Nice... Engadget once again mentioning us: Is this the next Sony VAIO Z? -- Engadget

 

A few things to clear up here.

Lamborghinis have recently made the move over to be mostly made out of carbon fiber. Starting with the Sesto Elemento concept (and will be a limited production of 20) and the recently released Aventador, they use an all carbon fiber monocoque (1 piece) frame (no metal!).

Panasonic Toughbooks are made out of Magnesium allow (at least my Toughbook is).

Hypothetically speaking, if IBM/Lenovo were to make a computer with the Z's specs but then stuck that excruciatingly ugly black case on it, I would not buy it. Like another poster said, I'd like form and function in my electronics, or whatever product I'm buying (more specifically high end products). A huge drawback to the plastic palmrest on the Z11/12/13 is that it's easy to dent. Because I have a glossy palmrest, and due to me holding the computer with one hand and my thumb digging down into the palmrest, it's been dented. With a more stiff material with better backing (possibly metal) this issue would not have happened. It's the only negative thing I can find with my computer, but it bothers me because I notice it every time I look.

This argument can be applied to cars because this is a high end enthusiast's computer. People who are in the market for something like this want something that looks adequate to good and not a plain black box that you see corporations hand out to their employees.

Another thing to add on to the metal vs. plastic is that painted plastic or even molded plastic (not really talking about CF here) is that it wears down and gets really shiny in the most touched areas. This looks like crap after a couple of years and generally isn't a problem with metal.

 

Seriously though, I hope the screen isn't a disaster like the SA and SB. If it's good, I will buy this as soon as it comes out!

 

Maybe for you, but I wouldn't say most people on this forum are unanimous on that. If so then thinkpads wouldn't be so popular here, ha. Course I think that is an advantage to not stand out with an expensive laptop, but I guess I look at things differently.

 

I seriously I don't see why everybody is ing about the GPU, it's a whole lot better than the previous Zs external dock or not, hell the dock is small as hell too.

 

I don't have a dock... and a few people don't either. that's the problem. Previously the dock was an option, with this one, it's a necessity (no choice to just buy the laptop w/o dock this time)

 

I agree it is a lot better. But the fact that its external made people hope that there would be something better.

There might be something better though. We will have to wait and see.

 

does it have thunderbolt anymore?

 

The external was rumored to be connected with thunderbolt. Im guessing they went with a thunderbolt/usb combo and the port is that blue USB port on the right side.

Another question: Is there some sort of cap covering the ethernet port? it looks like that.

 

6630 is not a whole lot better than the 330m variant that is in the current Z. We dont even know if this external card can even be overclocked.

 

Anyone annoyed of the centered touchpad?...

There's a reason why most notebook touchpads are placed below the space bar. .. I wonder if I would get massive accidental clicks when I type of the keyboard...

 

Keep your fingers crossed for a 6770

 

How easy or hard was it to install one of those things?

This is coming from someone who struggled eternally with a Zagg invisibleshield for an iphone before giving up lol

 

Thanks ComputerCowboy. I tried ordering one, but it doesn't ask what notebook I have. Based on this site, they custom make it for you. I think it'll look sleek on the Silver to give it contrast with the black chicklet keys. I can't wait. I may order by phone. Was it easy to install? How difficult was it to align the skin with the VAIO logo on the lid?

(edit) Got it. The product name specifies that the skin is tailored for the Z. Just need to choose the color.

Very cool. Makes the Z look ultra expensive. How difficult was it to install and align with the VAIO logo on the lid? This is the best compliment to the Z. I'm really really liking this and your photos.

I'll be the first to admit. I do care how the aesthetic designs are on products, especially the Z. Its what draws me to purchase and want these products. Specs and functionality come to a close second. Call me shallow.....

 

yea that leather skin looks sexy. hopefully there will be one for the z21

 

That leather skin is sweeeeet!!! I want one too!!
(Does shipping really take long or it's just their wild quote/disclaimer?)

 

Sorry I suppose I was wrong. Interesting to learn new things.

 

At this point, I am most likely going to the iMac + MacBook Air route for about $2200 instead of the Sony Vaio Z route for $2000 unless something really extraordinary is presented with the Z.

 

My wifey did it for me in 1 try. Quite easy if u start by aligning the "Vaio" in the centre

 

took mine slightly longer than 1 week to arrive. Packaging is good

 

The ethernet adapter is the same as the Vaio X where the bottom swings down to reveal the full port. When not in use, it's closed. (It's a hinged plastic piece that feels a tad flimsy in real life but not a big deal)

I am happy about the centered touchpad, I actually find myself accidentally touching the touchpad too often with my left hand on my current Z so hopefully this will remedy that issue.

 

agree with backlit keyboard being a non issue for me, however i wouldn't say the width of the bezel is an irrelevent issue.
If i have a 14" sized laptop, i'd rather a 14" screen than a 13" screen. I think people are missing this simple point.

if it means they have to make the lid an extra mm or two thicker then that would certainly justify an extra INCH of screen size, to ME. It may just mean sony could lose some bragging rights or marketing potential. As products are made to sell, and to sell they need to be marketed, the focus of laptop design would be on how they can make it appealing to consumers. Being able to say the laptop is 16mm thick instead of 20mm (nominal dimensions, don't think we have them yet?) helps marketing. If the company has to increase the footprint to acheive this, it does not affect how they market the product.

And it is valid for people without design experience to comment on design, as the product is designed for the general populations wants and tastes. Those of us with either design experience or just good technical understanding are a minority, and hence are often dissapointed when marketability is put first when products are designed. Fortunately as the marketplace is becoming more informed due to forums like this and just the internet in general, the general consumer has a greater understanding of the technical aspects of products so they are becoming more demanding and as a result should be getting better product. Companies like mac on the otherhand is taking the market backwards (IMO) in this regards, and making the user dumber. Or do they just target the dumn user, I'm not sure. Sorry I've gone off on a tangent..


One more thing i wanted to say, it may be a mix of the current technology and pricing issues that cause laptop designers to design large bezels on ultraportables, however i guarantee that in the not too distant future, we will be getting 15" screens in laptops the same size as this 13" sony z. And i cannot wait for that!

So that is the reason why so many of us are going on about the whole "bezel issue". Ultra portables by their definition should be as small as is reasonably possible, and simple logic demands the largest screen size possible in the footprint you have. Reducing the screen size should be purely a compromise due to portability. The ability to ensure this is dependent on technology, cost of that technology, and the profitability/marketability of the product. And as sony have made no move towards this improvement to efficient use of space, and have actually gone BACKWARDS, that is why people here are dissapointed. Forwards, not backwards please sony.

sorry about the thesis...

 

i really have to disagree with you that any company is making consumers smarter.

most people just THINK that they know anything about electronics(blame the mobile OS wars....). you have any clue how many people think that core i7s have 7 cores on them? or that a 30-pin connector is a usb plug?

 

don't think i said any company was making consumers smarter, infact i even said companies like apple are making people dumber.

 

"the general consumer has a greater understanding of the technical aspects of products "

what are you referring to then? unless you're not correlating modern products with the increase in consumer interest in CE.

 

i was reffering to the internet and forums like this where people can discuss things and share information, product reviews etc. Previously consumers would often just base their information on what they were told from a punk on the shop floor.

 

i still disagree. the general consumer does not use the internet as a resource(especially not forums). they use commercials and friends to find out what the latest trend is. to find the cheapest solution, they go ask the punks on the floor lol.

i'm making a distinction between general consumers and informed consumers/prosumers...because they are distinct groupslol.

 

ok maybe not everyone directly but even with the minority like you and me who do their research due to the ease and accessibility of information, this knowledge is then passed on to friends and family when they need help finding a laptop etc. As a result of the consumer having a better understanding of what is available to them, and what different products can do for them, they can develop in their heads the exact product that they want. The end user becomes the designer. The market will move towards supplying this product based on trends with existing sales and from market research. Where do you think a laptop manufacturer would get their most genuine feedback on the wants and opinions of the marketplace? Forums like this if they had any sense!

Of course with apple, apple decides what you want before you realise you want it, and then even when you don't want it, they brain wash you into thinking you do

 

Sony VAIO Z21 Leaked! Previously Dubbed Ultimate Mobile PC (pics)

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