New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Let me first say that I am not directing my comments at anyone and that I don't have a dog in any fight. To me, all the post are interesting. Some I agree with. Others I don't. On some design aspects I am, like others, not decided.

Regarding the discussion about trolls, I have never been entirely clear on the concept so I looked it up. Here is the applicable definition: "slang ( intr ) computing to post deliberately inflammatory articles on an internet discussion board."

The reasons I migrated to Notebook Review are for the elevated discussion of issues, the comity and the relative absence of name calling. For me, nothing is accomplished by labeling. In fact, it often becomes as inflammatory as whatever irritated us in the first place. The fact that someone's comments are irritating to me doesn't necessarily mean that feeling is shared. Surely every commentator on this string understands how easily written tone and intent can be misunderstood or understood differently by others. If, on the other hand, someone truly is trolling, engaging them only serves as encouragement. Negativity loves to pull out negativity. It's difficult but I believe the best solution is to ignore and, if necessary, report. This allows the moderators to take discussions off-line where things can be less heightened because they are not taking place in front of so many others.

Let me say again that I have enjoyed posts from every person who has taken the time to write. Thanks. My 2.5 cents duly deposited.

 

No new P. That sliding 9.5" they teased with the Z a month ago is the closest thing, really. I find it atrocious.

High quality display lovers will see some pretty decent stuff from Samsung later this year,including a model or 2 that "may" meet the needs of those disappointed from the Z1-Z2 upgrage camp.

 

i have changed my current z laptop rez from 1080p to the next lowest 16:9 aspect rez.
This is 1600x900 and looks like it would if it was a screen of lesser resolution. Funny That
no performance issues so far. no artifacts.
i do like the sharpness of 1080p but this is often a more readable resolution.

when using 1080p i am able to tile windows and almost use the screen as if it were 2 separate.

 

Yea it looks pretty retarded. curious, is it running windows, android, chromeos, or something else?

 

Now, this is going to be interesting. I can't wait!

 

Don't worry. You cannot satisfy everyone in the world, and apprently God failed to do so given not all people believe in. So take it easy and just be yourself. Cheers!

 

it is android 3.0/3.1

 

Are you referring to the 10inch 2560x1600 pentile display?

Samsung and Nouvoyance show off power-sipping, pixel packed Pentile display (video) -- Engadget

 

you know when we might expect retina-display on any laptop? ie 13" @ 1600p

 

I remember a rumor that the 13inch mbp got stuck with 1280x800 because apple had something in the works that would double (or 4x depending how you see it) resolution to 2560x1600 to make it easier on devs and scaling.

 

The piece I'm referring to runs win7

 

i think ur thinking of the s1 and s2 tablets/clamshell

 

Maybe I should wait a bit before ordering the Z. Unless something unexpected comes up, I wasn't going to buy it before (and maybe not after) trying it. I'm really on the fence about this one and would prefer the SA with a Z-quality (or better) screen. If Samsung or someone else comes out with anything that meets by needs by the end of July, I will definitely consider.

Will there be an announcement/detailed rumor of anything along those lines in the next month?

 

I completely agree. There is no way Z will get more than 4hrs of battery life with such a small battery and non ULV processor. This is ofcourse with 60-70% brigthness and wifi surfing.

 

Humm thank you

The reason I´m asking this is that the price difference between the 1080p and the 900p screen in new Z CTO is just 20 pounds. So I believe it´s a smart move to get the 1080p screen and just use the 1600x900 resolution. If you going to re-sell it certainly you will get more money for having a 1080p screen.

 

Sorry I'm referring to the september/October timeframe.

 

Beaups, thanks for the cool info once again.

In the meantime, I found some good deals on the German eBay:

Z21: Sony Vaio Z (VPC-Z21) 2,70GHz 8GB 512GB SSD PMD DE/EN | eBay
Z14: Sony Vaio Z (Z14) 2,80GHz 8GB 1TB = 1024GB SSD RAID | eBay (!!!)

Some more from the same seller:

X1: Sony Vaio X 2GHz 256GB SSD Windows XP or 7 Deutsch/Eng | eBay
G3: Sony Vaio G VGN-G3 8GB 256GB SSD Pro Business Notebook | eBay


If that's not scam, then I don't know what the seller was thinking...

 

Is it running Atom? I'll probably be looking to upgrade my VPC P after next school year and this slider thing may be its replacement, however, an Atom would probably take it out of the running.



Comments regarding the new Z:

Here's how I feel about the new Z, and it's similar to what someone else stated earlier. Sony should have made the new Z just like the old one in terms of its functionality (no dock)- just like a typical redesign from VGN Z to VPC Z. This new computer they introduced should be the next X or something along those lines. There should be no SA.

The issue for people with a VPC Z1 is that the new Z is too different from the current offering, and the next closest thing is the SA which is worse in some regards (size, screen, weight, etc.) Sony should not have made an SA which is a gussied up mid range computer. Instead they should have designed a high end computer from the ground up.

With that said, what are you going to do? I'm just happy because I see no need to "upgrade" and am very content with my Z13.

BTW here's another scenario where the dock doesn't make sense in my application. I'm a second year design student who will need the GPU/ processing power on the go, either in class or in the library working on group projects. Bringing a separate dock does not make sense in either application because I need the graphical processing power on the go. (ODD isn't used as much, but I love the novelty of having a portable blu ray player on the go as well) Another thing is when I'm at home, I always use the laptop while on the sofa or at the kitchen island. Having a dock does not work well on the couch and leaving the dock on the island is not an elegant solution. It'll also be cumbersome to always disassemble the dock and hide it whenever I'm done using it.

I think what some people fail to see is that sometimes other users have different requirements and usage patterns than themselves and really can't comprehend this idea. So just my $0.02.

 

I completely agree with you, but I am a realist and understand that Sony had to base their design on a target audience that may preclude other user profiles.

So, you are a student and "do not fit" the profile or market segment Sony may have been targeting. Not saying that you shouldn't want one or buy one, you are not the typical demographic Sony was shooting for.

Some are happy that the ODD and GPU are separate in order to achieve space/weight savings, while others would gladly sacrifice that for the built in functionality. I don't think there is an easy way for any manufacturer to address everyone's needs.

If only someone could design a modular solution so that prospective customers had more choices and configurations. That would probably drive prices up though.

 

Beaups, will these new samsung laptops beat z21 in terms of screen quality/resolution by a significant margin? What about weight comparison? Thx!

 

Graduation from reform school?

Bronsky

 

Similar. Beat in some respects (8 bit) and at least match 900p on 13". Other specs are unknown at this point. But definitely no "retina" displays here.

 

i just wondering what about the internal battery, imagine 2 or 3 years after you purchase the vaio z, you will find some battery replacement to replace yourself or you will have to take to a sony retail service?

im just worried about that!

I was reading and posting until page 250 (27th june aprox) on this thread and now it is 328!!!

 

the battery is user removable by few screws

 

So how does the new Z's screen compare to the Z11-13's screen then?

 

thanks!!!!!!!!!

 

Its the same panel.

 

Ding ding.

 

Is it running Atom? I'll probably be looking to upgrade my VPC P after next school year and this slider thing may be its replacement, however, an Atom would probably take it out of the running.

 

A socket instead of solder? This is certain?

(And I thought it had two batteries, one on each side of the touchpad?)

 

yes two batteries!!
i see screws!a lot of them!!

 

yes one on each side, there is 4 rubber coated screws on each corner of battery (8 screws total). to unscrew seem like you can use a penny or quarter to twist it.

im 90% sure beaups may confirm this

 

Can we add ram by ourselves?

I really don't want to pay sony for memory upgrade, but it seems like Sony is using proprietary memory module, and we can't even open the back to add rams.

 

Please excuse my stupidity, but I'm just not seeing the screws on each corner of the battery. I mean I don't see any screws that are holding the batteries in place. Or am I seeing it wrong?

Are you guys sure the batteries in the VAIO Z notebook is "user replaceable"? To me, the batteries in the photo don't look like the battery in the VAIO SA notebook, but more like the "non-user replaceable" in the MBA.

 

im talking outside case not the internal like picture above



you see it now?

once you unscrew those 4 screws battery should come loose, i have exact same battery mechanism like that on my clevo laptop

 

The RAM module don't seem to be user replaceable to me. From the internal photo, it looks like the RAM module is being soldered onto the motherboard, although I could be wrong. I guess you'll just have to fork out whatever Sony charges to go from 4GB to 8GB.

Oh, I see what you mean now.

However, I was talking about the internal photos & from those 2 photos, it does not seem to me that the 2 batteries are user-replaceable, although I could be wrong again, of course.

 

i dont think internal picture above include battery in the picture



from this picture (engadget) seem like it is only big plate so may be it just a weird sheet battery not dual like i think

 

No user replace RAM is really annoying to some people, as Sony charges 220 USD in my country to add an extra 4 GB of RAM. Could've even been more for the new Z as they use proprietary parts.

Also, although the new Z's panel are the same, they're apparently placed in a different display lid, so they're not really interchangeable with the VPC-Z1 are they? Will that help bring down the price of the VPC-Z1's panels? Or will it remain just as expensive as it did before?

 

I think you are correct.

 

I wonder if Sony will sell these batteries in the open market?

 

I think I realize a reason for the hinge to force the computer upwards aside from better ventilation... it's so that the ethernet jack can pivot down. Otherwise if the laptop were on a flat surface, the computer wouldn't be level.

 

also better ergonomic

 

Here's a great profile photo of the Z2 depicting the integrity of those rubber guards on the hinge.


That secondary unit, as inconvenient as it may be, appears to be the size of an external hard drive - not too bad.


Very Thin. I'd still choose the Z2 over the MB Air.


Didn't someone post that back-lit is suppose to have a green hue.


Those 6 screws is visible from this vantage pointe.


If I were getting the Z2, I'd forgo the external. Glad to see the Z2 has HDMI built-in rather than having to rely on this unit.

 

^nice pic showing just how THIN this thing is. Beautiful.

 

Haha that's exactly me!! I've been running the same MATLAB scripts on my core i7 desktop and my old Core2 Duo notebook and some of them run about 100X faster! no idea why, something about the i7 architecture or perhaps the L2 memory?!?!

Main reasons for my planned upgrade are: 1) Core i7 2) super lightweight 3) awesome high-res screen. Z2 is perrrrrfection* for me!

The fact that I can dock it at work and get more graphics power is just icing on the cake.

Now I just have to wait for US, Japan or Hong Kong pricing and try to get someone to ship it to Aus for me (since the prices here are absurd).

* except the slightly oversized bezel and puny little tractpad

 

Too right mate, the Aus dollar is just crazy these years! Stuff here in Hong Kong is much cheaper thanks to the lack of import tax, my Z (config in sig) costed $2600, and only falls short of 256GB less of SSD space when compared to the $4000 signature edition sold overseas.

 

Just spoke to Sony HK.
They have absolutely no info regarding the new Z2.
I want to buy it already...

 

The SA was made available in HK on June 17th, about 2 weeks later than NA/European countries. So I'd say the Z might come out in August in HK?

 

I expected it to be available in HK roughly around the same time as Taiwan which IIRC is on July 23 meaning that they should have a preorder page up soon.

 

beaups. have you mentioned how hot the chassis gets running average loads? webbrowser and flash videos sorta thing