New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

1.3 MP camera Finally!! I really hated that crappy 0.3MP with old Vaio, I do travel a lot, and in the evening I talk with my son (usually via Skype), so finally he can see me in "better light". I know this doesn't mean a lot to most people, but it does to me.

Cheers,
Miki

 

Hi, guys, I would interfer with sad news about the battery:

Black

Voltage (V)
11.1

Capacity (mAh)
4000.0

Electric Energy (Wh)
45 Wh

THERE WILL BE NO even 5 hours on it.

 

Additional battery:

Voltage (V)
11.1

Capacity (mAh)
4400.0

Electric Energy (Wh)
49 Wh

Cell (Parallel x Series)
6 (2p3s)

Lithium content (Cell/PAC)
0.66g / 3.6g

Supplied accessories
Operating Instructions, Warranty, Safety


Dimensions
Weight (g)
Approx. 520 g

 

You would think that when you take the optical disc drive and discrete graphics out, that despite a thinner case design (albeit a now wider one), that they can at least have the same size battery as before.

 

old Z: 210 x 23.8 x 314mm
new Z: 210 x 16.65 x 330mm

quite thinner, but also a bit wider.

 

^ Unfortunately, capacity of batteries is mediocre.

 

yet they stated ~ 7 hours battery life (standard battery).

Any idea on sheet battery dimensions?

 

I was wondering that too. Now they have so much space inside, or maybe not?
This weight reduction is commendable but to unleash true power you need to count Vdock weight at well.

Cheers,
Miki

 

This will not end will. I predict it goes the way of the Dell Adamo XPS and Sony is forced to re-release a new sensible Z as soon as possible once Ivy Bridge comes out.

Remember this?
Dell Adamo XPS is no more? - MobileWhack.com -

 

Volume wise, the old Z is quite a bit bigger. (according to those specs)
old 1,569,372 cubic cm
new 1,153,845 cubic cm

Or in another words, the new Z is 26.5% smaller in volume than the old one. (Can someone double check all my math please)

 

i don't know what those numbers mean....how does that compare to other sandy bridge lappies?

 

Oh and with those measurements I did not include the external dock thingy. If you give me the dimensions I'll be happy to run the calculations. (maybe the SA would be something good to compare)

 

148x16.65x220mm, weight: 0.685kg (Vdock)

 

That's the Z's external dock, or Vidock?

 

So, did you experience crappy driver support as well??? I have the SZ series and I stayed far and far away after experiencing the bad support from sony.
I felt that Sony Vaio was not a computer maker, but just an electronics maker who was only good at making stuffs people would buy. I thought vaio really didnt care about their product once it had been sold.
So, have vaio improved at all???
I really like this new z and ready to buy as soon as they introduce in us, but I'm worried about their supports and updates.

 

external unit

 

When they say 7h battery life with those watt/hour, I think it only means minimum settings for every components with minimal amount of work load as well.

 

Ahem... We are your support group. This forum has given me far more support than Sony or any other manufacture ever has. The needed tweaks will come.

 

Can anyone please explain to me what is "Quick boot" feature?

 

I noticed dimension is 2cm longer than previous z1.
I can see they had hard time squeezing everything in, but in this case they would easily increase screen to at least 13.3" (same screen is in SA anyways).
The trick for me is that I normally, when running around meetings, I put my z1 in one of the folders/binders on the desk or shelf, as it fits in with regular papers, and it's safe from somebody steeling it . Now it will peek out ;(.
Same thing with SA, they increased the box, enough to easily fit in 14".
Not sure why are going backwards in time with all the frame around screen and keyboard?
330x210mm box can fit: 13.1" screen is 290x163mm
13.3" screen is 294x166mm
14.1" screen is 312x176mm => so plenty of space for all
even 15.4" 16/10 screen is 332x207mm @WUXGA => well that'd make it cool=> edge to edge screen

 

Yup, I feel you! When I bought the SZ I couldn't even connect it to my TV for one year until I figured out that I had to do some unintall from protected folder. I shared my experience with this forum and I hope I helped out other as well : )
Personally, I don't like anything from Sony thesedays except for this Z and PS3 , and I would not buy anything from sony. However, this Z is so ideal for me and I'm crossing my fingers that everything will work fine with great support from vaio.
So, I guess this is an wishful thinking....

 

Two questions spring to mind....

1. When do we expect to start seeing reviews of this? I'd really like to get some decent feedback on it before ordering...

2. How does the US price compare to the UK price? If it's close to 1:1, is there mileage in bringing in from the US? How does this affect warranty?

Like others I don't need the dock - only the lightness. Going to wait to see how it stacks up against the MBA first before pulling the trigger.

cheers

Paul

 

Have you seen LG P430,P530???
These notebooks have what you are looking for.

 

There won't be a Sandy Bridge quad core chip in a VAIO Z or S.

If you want more power & efficiency and are prepared to wait, then wait for Ivy Bridge.

Regarding the new Z, it's stunning! I'd not hesitate if I was in the market for a new machine. But my 2010 Z is more than good enough

 

Since I don't like the external unit with its low GPU, can anyone tell me if the USB-Lightpeak / -Thunderbolt port will be usable with the sonnet external GPU dock?

I heard that sonnet is building it for the displayport-interface, will there be an adapter for the usb one?

 

No, I can't wait till next year I need a laptop that I can carry around. I'm sick of carrying mbp 17 and this damn thing is really heavy. I was actually looking at Thinpad t420s and x1, then decided to get t420s and I was about to order it today. Well, not anymore I guess : ) but the waiting starts..

 

wait....i've never used a sony before. are we expecting special drivers for this lappy?

 

Most people don't need the Power Media Dock. Intel's HD 3000 is more than ample for 95% of road users. The i7 is overkill and not necessary so people should opt for the more frugal i5.

Those speccing the Z upto the hilt need their head looking at. You are paying over the odds and missing the point of the Z.

If you don't travel regularly and intend to plonk the Z on the desk for 80% of the time, then you really shouldn't be looking at the Z.

Just my opinion...

 

"On-the-go usability is enhanced further by the backlit keyboard with extra-wide palm rest"

Extra wide palm rest? haha, is that how they're justifying making the laptop wider and still putting the same screen size in?

The LG P430 has a 14" screen and is 329.4mm wide.
The new Z has a 13.1" screen and is 330mm wide.

SONY FAIL

 

i'm lovin' it! question is does the built-in hmdi using intel graphics will work in external monitors?

 

FARK!!! the z is too wide for my messenger bag -_-

 

yeah sony seem to not understand that "ultraportable" relies on three dimensions, not just one

 

Don't forget: Weight (with 6-cell battery) : 1.94 kg (P430) and low res screen 1366x786, LG fail?

I guess each to its own.....

Cheers,
Miki

 

Does anyone know that the USB 3.0 in the main body can be used for other devices (or just for the docking part) ?

 

for any device (even if not USB 3.0 compliant).

 

Yeh I don't get those two fans at the bottom, they wouldn't be very effective because they would be mostly blocked even if the hinge lifts the back of the Z a little bit.

And when you are using the sheet battery, they would be completely covered as the sheet battery doesn't have a hole for the vents... hmm.

 

Does anybody know if the docking station has an isolated power?

 

Good point.

I really don't understand the use of those rubber feet below screen, plus they will get dirty in no time. . If they suppose to raise laptop a bit for better airflow, why not making regular feet a bit higher? Anyways, I believe it would be better off without them.

Cheers,
Miki

 

Vents on the bottom! I could not use my MBA first gen in bed because of this exact issue. Hope its just passive cooling.

Also, how easy will it be to adjust the screen angle with this setup? Doesnt look easy.

 

Sony UK did actually upload a video of the new Z series on youtube but has since made the video private. I can't access it anymore.

I will definitely be getting one when it comes out, on Sony UK website it had the option of having 512 GB of SSD memory, which is very nice.

But I found the same video here: http://youtu.be/mzOup9n4x7Y

Please note that is not my account, the youtube account is Sony Nordic.

 

the only video I've seen today is this one (I've posted this earlier today):
YouTube - ‪New VAIO Z Series from Sony - Ultimate performance and design‬‏

Is this what you mean?

 

There seems to be channels in the sheet battery enabling air flow to the fans.

 

Yes, that is it. Not sure why they keep uploading and then making them private. It is a very beautiful looking machine.

 

Pure tech . Love it.

 

The optical interface can be seen here I think. One can also see cables (optical fibres) in the motherboard pictures (in addition to the flat electrical connection) going to the USB3.0/dock port.

 

Hand's on

Sony's new VAIO Z ultraportable laptop with Power Media Dock hands-on -- Engadget

 

it is too bad they got rid of the optical drive from the laptop.

The whole point of the hybrid graphics plus optical drive was that you only needed your one laptop for everything -- i.e a desktop replacement in an ultraportable package with the ability to downgrade the graphics for additional battery life.


This is a throwback to the days where docks were all the rage -- providing extra ports and so on.

Actually there was an old IBM series which allowed you to throw in a PCI full length graphics card into the dock.

 

green backlit??? looks ugly

 

^Hey look they mentioned the green-tint keyboard backlight

It's hard to describe how light this thing feels. Those worried about the bezel won't find it objectionable in person.

It IS the premium display.

I didn't tax the CPU much, but with light web browsing, etc. it's dead silent.

edit: I don't think folks should find the green objectionable. It's quite pale...reminds me of "glow in the dark" if that makes sense.

 

it is pretty damn sexy and the gpu score is x2 that of the old Z. i also like the dual fan system...very nice. dock is bigger than i thought it would be, but overall very nice. i think for people that got the cash and like/or don't mind the idea of external gpu/odd..it's a no brainier...new Z is King. For everyone else...either the LG or old Z. now lets just wait for prices. =)