New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

I think the notebook looks fantastic. You have to applaud them for trying something different.

 

it's like the X-series big brother.. i like it! i don't need the dock anyways... i just hope i can sell my Z11 for a good price

 

Haven't been on these forums for a while and I come on today, and read (from page 250 on this thread) that the Z2 has been announced.

Having witnessed Sony innovating the dual graphics lineup with the SZ...
I don't know. As mentioned earlier, I tend to side with the fact that the Z was more about all-in-one-ness rather than seperate-bits-ness. Integrated AND discrete graphics, WITH optics. All the while maintaining a form factor and performance capability that is unparalleled by anyone else.

So saying that, this almost feels like a step backwards (and I had a thing towards the cylinderical barrel design but that's more a personal taste thing...).

But don't get me wrong. It's lighter, has rather grunty CPU (for those going all out), and the Intel HD 3000 is approx on par with the nVidia 310m. All in that ridiculously thin and small form factor. Engineering at its finest. Though again, not sure if it's in the right direction for me...

Anyways, onto what was announced. The most immediate issue I see with the press shots is (or ARE since there are two) fans. Ok; allows for cooler running temperatures. But I would have to assume that each INDIVIDUAL fan is now smaller than it would usually be with a one-fan setup. From what I've experienced with small fans, they tend to whine. Not loud like you'd hear from a full-CPU-loud VPC-Z, but a quiet though irritating whine. Though that's just speculation. Will be watching for the reviews intently in regards to this...

Yeah. For the price demanded AND what it offers, I'd at the very least wait for the early-bird reviews before dishing out the moolah (and alot at that).

 

making this dock optional - is quite a good approach actually. I'll get one, but most basic I assume.

 

^I'm not sure how "optional" it will be. All the US retail configs are bundled with the dock. Perhaps CTO or other markets will see "dockless" versions available.

 

Engadget hands-on review

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

 

I always buy CTO from sonystyle, so I guess you get to choose.

 

I love how they put so much thought into the cooling system. That's my one big gripe with the macbook pros, they heat up like a hotplate after a while

 

Too bad it's an Asia model, or I'd have been very interested.

 

In Germany you can CTO and order it as you like. With or without the dock. The preconfigered models are bundled with the dock.

What's really frustraiting about the new Z is the price tag. Even without the dock I would pay 2100 Euro in comparison to 1600 Euro for the SA with the same specs (but including optical drive and AMD). Yes the display will be way better and its much lighter and thinner but still it's very expensive for what it does.

 

I will lament for my barrel hinge till the new one is available for order

 

On the engadget hands-on article they say:

Can someone please explain this to me? I don't quite understand this.

Does this mean, that the new Z has a thunderbolt port (with a USB interface), but that it's only being used by the GPU-dock? So you can't use the thunderbolt-port as such but only the USB 3.0 part?

 

What's really frustraiting about the new Z is its satisfying-no-one capacity 4000 mAh battery that has little to do with upgrading compared even to the current Z. Sadly, guys...

 

Yes, pretty much. Sony is calling it Light Peak in its press releases, which is the same thing as Thunderbolt. But yea unless people start developing this version of thunderbolt (which is possible) you cant use other thunderbolt devices with it (not that alot exist anyway).

 

With the sheet battery you should be fine, but then again the Laptop becomes thicker.

 

not working

 

plus you cover those twin vents at bottom

 

the air flow is channeled. I'm sure sony made it work

 

I'm sure they are, but when it gets hot, you need all airfow you can get

 

i love how they advertised the "extra large palmrest" for increased comfort! LOL

they should have advertised the "extra large bezel" for.. "increased theatrical framing"?

anyway, why is the screen 13.1 rather than 13.3

in fact, as pointed out earlier by someone else, this laptop can fit a 14 inch screen

so far, from the website, they advertise the new Z with things such as "beautifully crafted hexagonal-shaped vents!" and "regularly-spaced screws!" and "hexagonal-shaped laptop that looks beautiful when viewed from any angle!"

... is it just me or does anyone else feel like this is a case of "form over function"?

 

Isn't it with every Z so far? If you want function get S, Z was/is all about form

Cheers,
Miki

 

So, I'm not very much in the architecture of those things but - is there a chance that there will be an adapter for the lightpeak port so we - that is I - will be able to use the Sonnet thunderbolt-vidock?

 

its form AND function. They clearly know what they are doing.

 

If Sony marketing now uses advertising space for "regularly-spaced screws!", you know that the company's products have gone seriously downhill.

 

Ok wait just watched the engadget video, the gold looks a lot better on camera than in the press photos.

 

I was expecting much stronger marketing upon introduction. Seems to me - kinda "mild". I mean, who gives a damn about screws space???

 

Anyone understand what this image is? do you get *two* AC adapters if you get the GPU dock? I'm hoping this is true! The bigger one might be higher wattage since it has to run the GPU and ODD in addition to the notebook, whereas the smaller one is for travel with just the notebook...

Either that or they are just comparing the size to another older and bigger AC adapter.

Can anyone confirm?

 

Looks like the one of the left is the same AC adapter as the one bundled with the Z1...

 

I believe one is for laptop (first) and one for dock.

 

No confirmation but my work dell laptop has 2 powersupplies. A small one for the laptop and a larger one for the dock and laptop.

i read somewhere in this thread that the dock can power the laptop which can explain the larger size and power output.

 

The one on the left is VGP-AC19V49, what came with the VPC-Z? They all look the same, but tend to get a little smaller each couple of years.

 

OMG.. that's a huge power brick.. it would be heavy if you bring the dock when travelling...

 

Question, would getting the i7 use more battery? I remember with the old Z there was a slight difference, about 30minutes, in battery life

 

Well there's another question answered: Palmrest is all-aluminium once again! I'm sure no VPC-Z owners will be lamenting the loss of their plastic palmrest

 

That just COMPLETELY rules the dock out for me. I want this laptop for travel and was thinking that the external dock might be ok to bring along with me, but if you need a chunky power supply, no thanks.

*starts the z3 speculations thread*

 

One quick question - What's the main difference between Premium carbon finish, and any other finish? Can we see carbon fibres, or how does it feel different to touch?

 

I think im going with the carbon fiber finish, it looks sexy. Im guessing its slightly textured, like a "brushed" texture

WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE UP IN US! MY WALLET IS OUT SONY!!!

 

Vents at the bottom is not a good thing if you use it on your lap. Then you may block them.

 

This is the premium carbon finish:

What you're seeing is a layer of this unidirectional carbon fibre laminated with epoxy ("plastic") and a matt clear-coat finish. Only the lid is like this, the rest is short strand injection moulded carbon fibre reinforced plastic and could have no such finish.

 

It's marketingese for "extra small touchpad".

 

So in summary, they removed the ODD, removed discrete graphics, put in a lower capacity battery, and all they gained out of this was that it is now 300grams lighter? I'm I missing what is so good about this laptop?

Oh yeah they made it really slim, but at the expense of of width.
Good thing the width has given us an "extra wide" palm rest for comfort...
The lame marketing says it all. It doesn't have anything on the previous Z apart from thickness. So now they're trying to show you how all the screws are equally spaced? Come on you've got to be kidding me!

If i was sony, i'd just let the pictures do the talking.

 

One of the minor annoyances with the Vaio Z were that battery-life rarely reached anywhere near the quoted potential unless you were using almost nada processor power (e.g. word processing, light internet use, reading .pdf).

Anything intensive drives the i7 processor to 25+W power usage and I always had to lug around the heavy brick of a transformer or the extended battery. Not so nice. It really annoyed me my Dell e6400 can last a 6 hour plane trip. The Sony Vaio Z can't with the standard battery.

2 USB ports only? Oh well, suppose everything is bluetooth nowadays but with one port for a unifying USB mouse, I can only plug in my iPhone or a flash drive at the same time, not both. 3 USB ports was a nice number in the Z1 series.

2 fans and quieter is nice. Lower capacity battery is idiocy. The previous Z was ligh enough. I would have preferred marginally heavier and a macbook air rigidity!

Perhaps time to relook at the Macbook air 13" or the Lenovo x220 series.

I'd hate to see the price. Glad they took out the 4SSD Raid0 array. It's a pain.

Not sur about the styling. And would have liked gorilla glass and less fragile design - the new angular approach reminds me of the Dell E-series.

No point upgrading... yet if you have the Z1.

 

No, that is not what you're seeing. What you see on the "premium carbon fibre" lid is a blue lacquer with metallic specks in it, on top of a blackish brushed paint, on top of the injection molded lid with a small amount of recycled/milled carbon fibres mixed with the plastic.
But make no mistake, it's only a thin layer of lacquer, which can be rubbed off. I can upload a pic later showing how it looks when the lacuqer is rubbed through - undeneath it looks just like any other blackish plastic.

 

Indeed, that's why I still love my VGN-Z

And the main reason I never opted for VPC-Z

But I do like new Z, still don't see the point of those rubber feet at screen bottom

 

Wonderful, thank yo very much Premium carbon it is then

 

you still have vents on the left side right?

 

pricing in Australia is crazy, this was from a sony rep from whirlpool forums:

"Z217
i7 2620M
8Gb RAM
1920x1080 screen, anti-reflective with 96%RGB
256Gb SSD, RAID 0
HD Exmor webcam
HDMI and VGA outputs
Noise canceling headphones
Win7 Pro 64-bit
1.16kg (battery inclusive)
6.5hr battery, 13 hours with the optional sheet battery
16.6mm thick
1 x dock connector (also works USB 2.0/3.0)
1 x USB 2.0

Dock.

1Gb AMD 6650 graphics (Intel HD 3000 onboard the notebook)
Bluray combo drive
HDMI and VGA outputs, HDMI is 3D supported, and the
system can drive up to 4 monitors (including the notebook
screen)
1 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0 port
Ethernet

$3999 INCLUDING the dock!! AAND we should have them before the end of July"

Even though the aussie dollar is stronger than the US, we still usuallyl pay 50-60% more. think we get ripped cos of our smaller market.

Though interesting they've spec'd the full HD screen for us, not sure how legible things are in full HD on a 13" screen

 

after checking sonystyle UK's new Z config page and the price (ouch).....and currently owning a vpc-z, i think i will stick to what i have now; the cpu and video config is enough for my use for now anyways

when my vpc-z breaks down, then i shall look into this new Z

 

With this money, you can go on a holiday to US or Asia and still have enough money for this latest Z.

 

I don't know how you guys can keep up with this latest reincarnation of Z. The last one was only 1.5 years ago. The cost of a Z is no small change by any means and this money can actually buy you a nice large (50 inch perhaps) latest LCD/plasma TV plus some kind of entertainment system. No thanks to Microsoft and Intel monopoly of course.