New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

I suppose. But Sony could have created a new series for the PMD version (I was just kidding about calling it the Z Air, obviously ) It's not like Sony is trying to keep its lineup as simple as possible with only two or three models. Or that it is worried much about pricing its (premium) products too high...

 

This should shut some people up

I do wish they did more powerful battery test though

 

Please kindly excuse my stupidity & ignorance.

When Sony is talking about Gen 3 vs Gen 2 SSDs, aren't they kinda actually talking about SATA revision 2.0 (SATA 3 Gbit/s) vs SATA revision 3.0 (SATA 6 Gbit/s), which is probably what explains the speed difference?

That's kind of what I thought too. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

You are right. I completely forgot about the Z139GG which was 22980$ HK.
I have enquired them regarding the new Z numerous times...no one is giving any information about it.

I am convinced a preorder page will be up soon at their site.

 

The VPC-Z1's GPU can be OC'ed, and you can use the custom drivers to push the GPU even further. I don't think the HD 3000 can be OC'ed with any available software right now. The HD3000 will be a real bottleneck when it comes to gaming, no matter how you view it. Not quite true for the 330M though, it can still handle modern games with good performance, albeit not at a very high resolution or perfect settings.

 

With the PMD being an optional accessory, Sony is essentially "killing 2 birds with 1 stone" in the sense that one can buy a VAIO Z without the dock or a VAIO Z with a dock if that's what he/she desires. IMHO, from a business point of view, this VAIO Z series makes a lot more sense than creating 2 separate lines where both would have been charged premium prices.

 

Um, a drop in frame rate from 55 fps to 39 fps is substantial. Never mind that the CPU is much faster in the new Z, so one should expect a jump in performance, not a drop.

Then there are the things that the integrated CPU just doesn't support. Meaning settings that get greyed out, or graphics processing that silently disappear, giving a worse image.

No, a real GPU is still something many people want. That hefty frame rate drop despite a faster CPU is just providing arguments for that.

 

Sadly, there isn't such an option to buy the Z separately from the dock, at least not in Taiwan for now. The dock is bundled with the Z upon purchase (with the 3300 USD price)

There is an option to bundle the Z with a RIROWA luggage if you wish

 

But isn't such business practices also typical of Sony?

Given their previous pattern of config offerings (eg, for the VAIO VPC-Z series), didn't Sony often keep the "nice" options for later minor refreshes along the same line (eg. Z11 to Z12 & so on), things such as higher capacity storage options (512GB SSD max to 1TB SSD max, although this option is mainly offered to the Japanese market), fancy "limited edition" lid cover (Metal Mosaic, Metal Shield, Bordeaux), inclusion of the TPM chip (for US market, this was not found in Z11 & Z12, but it was offered in Z13), etc.?

 

Usually when they talk about generations of SSDs they mean the new revision of controllers.

First gen is pretty much as fast as some HDD's nowadays (and much less reliable) it used SATA II, and Intel ruled this market

Second gen, is what we're used to, prices were much more acceptable and speeds reached 300 Mbps (the SSD's in the VPC-Z1 are gen 2 w/ some unknown samsung controller). This is the rise of Sandforce 1200 controlled drives. (Vertex 2, Phoenix Pro) But other drives too like the Crucial C300 (micron controller i believe). This one also used SATA II

Third gen, current gen, Vertex 3, Crucial M4, Intel 320/510's. Boasting speeds of 500 Mbps, but also on SATA III since SATA II's max bandwidth of 3 gbps ~ 375 Mbps which would bottleneck these drives.

Your statement is half right/half wrong. While most 3rd gen drives are SATA III(w/ exception of C300), not all SATA II drives are 2nd gen, but it's not your fault that the interfaces literally grew with the different generations of SSD's from 2nd gen (SATA II) to 3rd gen (SATA III)

Sorry if this wasn't as detailed and those SSD gurus out there will probably rip this post to pieces, but this is as much as i picked up being the geek and consumer I am.

Well, some things didn't come out when the Z11 came out, like the burgundy lid, but the metal sheild/metal mosaic lid were. But it depends where you are... Of course, Japan had everything CTO while if i wanted 1080p on my Vaio Z, i'd have to buy the $4500 USD signature series... or just wait 5 months later and get the Z12 and add 1080p for $100. That's the price of early adoption i guess...

 

That probably won't work. None of the miniPCIe WWAN slots I have seen have anything more than the USB part enabled. A Gobi is basically just a USB card in a PCI form. Further more miniPCIe SSDs are usually made to work in slots that specifically support them. Don't mean to crush your dreams here... but it doesn't seem plausible.

 

I and guessing there will be a glossy premium carbon fiber lid when it will be refreshed.

 

was this 'future new samsung ultraportable' competitor to the z that was mentioned earlier the samsung 9 series that was just announced?

and is the dell xps 13z the just released dell inspiron 13z?

if so.. both have ulv processors

does this mean there's not a single 13 inch ultraportable with a full voltage SB processor besides the Vaio Z and LG P330?

 

Does anyone know the specs for the 1080p display?

 

what´s the difference between 2nd and 3rd generation SSD´s?

 

If you find out more can you let me know? I'm travelling to singapore and would like to pick up a new Z there, but I'm also trying to find out if 3rd gen SSD are used.

 

Just checked it on the dutch sony site. Same specs 330 euro more expensive then yesterday for the SA.

 

Sure thing!

No sign of the Z over at the Singapore site...

 

i don't think ANYONE tries to improve their FPS by upgrading their cpu....

 

The SB CTO starts at 1200 Euros (i3, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM) on the German site. I think yesterday it was around 800 or 900... they're crazy.
Maybe they want to make the new Z seem cheap.

 

does this mean that preordered CTOs and preordered preconfig models will arrive relatively the same time? that would be good news.

 

Check this out: http://www.mmt.com.au/prodspec/15VAIO-VPCZ217GGX/Heads Up doc.pdf

It says "3rd Generation SSD" for the Z217GG.

But how do you know Asian countries get the Z217GG?

 

Thanks!
i just uploaded to youtube the videos!!!

YouTube - ‪Sony - VAIO z2 2011 - VPCZ217GW quick boot comparison‬‏

YouTube - ‪- Sony vaio z2 2011 SSD comparison - VAIO - VPCZ217GW‬‏

 

Thanks for the info and link!!!

Well according to the Sony Asia site, Asia will be getting the Z217GG.

VPCZ217GG : Z Series : VAIO Notebook : Sony Asia Pacific

 

Unbelievable.. even if sells are going well, selling SB and SA 330€ more.. it's fool.

Right.. in addition, serie z has a total different concept by his own nature.. it's meant to be a REAL ultraportable.. so small and ultra light with upperclass materials.. it's obvious the luck of powerful discrete gpu in such a small laptop.

 

I just checked on the German site: The SA I got 3 days ago had a price tag of 1500€. Now its at 1900€. 400 Euro? seriously? For what? I don't see any reasonable explanation for that increase. I like my SA but 1900€ for a laptop with such an average screen is simply way overpriced!

 

Not only the display, also the luck of high quality assembly and materials (I mean.. no carbon fiber reinforced plastics )... it doesn't make any sense at all.

 

Ehm, is it just me or does it look like the keyboard is ultra flexible? If this is for real, it's clearly somewhat of a deal breaker. IMO.

 

I didn't notice it, when I watched the video for the first time. It really seems to be extremely flexible, but I cannot imagine that the production models will be like that. In this price category this would be unacceptable.

 

Wow...the keyboard does seem to flex alot...bummer...

 

the review didn't mention it at all, so its probably not a real problem.

 

Even the previous Z flex in the same way... ... the fact is that those guys push on the keyboard really heavy... rude guys XD

 

for VPC-Z from Notebookcheck.net, but they were complaining about palmrest not keypad itself.

From NotebookJournal.de they said final unit may have different workmanship, hopefully better. They were not happy with sheet battery, too wobbly at this time.

Cheers,
Miki

 

ARGH! Yes i saw that. I was JUST about to get one, now on monday.!! MMM

How can they bump it up 330 euro over night.??

I guess they want to force people towards the new Z.

 

I'm one of them (but already with that bad display, they pushed me to something different... as Z)

 

You'd be very surprised. There are whole online communities based around that, and countless discussions on given X amount of money, how much to put into the GPU and how much into the CPU to get the best frame rates.

Since the guy in the GP post looked at Crysis, here is a chart that shows just how much Crysis fps is affected by the CPU.
So yes, that the frame rate plummets as much as it does while the CPU is upgraded is very relevant in showing how much worse an integrated GPU is.

Which is why Sony puts a dedicated GPU in the external unit too - the integrated graphics just isn't capable enough for everything.

 

I could be wrong, but there seems to have been no price bump in the sa over at USA. perhaps bc the Z has not landed yet.

 

I think so - at least it was the same last year when I pre-ordered the VPC-Z11, it was CTO and it did arrive at approx. the same time as the preconfig. models.

Although, I can only say for sure for Germany (and, I suppose, UK/FR/NL/etc... if Sony is using the same logistics center for all those deliveries).

 

Ah cr*p... although, looking here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/574993-msata-faq-basic-primer.html

There is a glimpse of the hope that Sandy Bridge systems with Intel Huron River might be compatible...

Although knowing Sony and their history of fiddling with BIOS-es/EFIs I would not be surprised they killed this even if it worked...

Good thing is, I can return the SSD if it does not work, so I will definitely try

 

Thanks, this was the kind of advice I was hoping to hear.

I'm surprised that I can't seem to find anything about USB 3-based universal docks, but it's got to be just a matter of time.

 

Even so, look at the specifications of the i7-2620M and i7-640M. They are virtually identical, albeit with a different architecture. Benchmark sites show less than 5% difference between the two, so the CPU power is probably out of the question, leaving the HD 3000 going against the 330M GPU. Some games (Starcraft 2 and BFBC 2 comes to mind, not necessarily Crysis IMO) rely on heavy CPU power, but the GPU still plays a significant role.

 

YouTube - ‪- Sony vaio z2 z 2011 SSD comparison - VAIO - VPCZ217GW‬‏

damn it does seem to flex a lot, and that review did actually mention it being quite delicate.

 

Will it also be recommended to install that same driver (unless there's an update) that people installed on their VPC-Z since it did not support trim or GC onto this new Z2?

 

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be a hot topic.

 

This video puzzles me a little as in the YT user's other video YouTube - ‪Sony - VAIO z2 2011 z - VPCZ217GW quick boot comparison‬‏ it says s/he is comparing the 1st gen SSD against the 2nd gen SSD, whereas in the SSD copy /paste comparison video in quotes above he says he is comparing 2nd gen SSD with 3rd gen SSD. Why the difference in SSDs? Also my Z1 does not boot that slowly at all, so it would be good to know the other specs for both machines used for it to mean anything.

Added In:

BTW I spoke to the sales guys at Sony Singapore and they said they will soon be going for training on the new Z2 but do not know what specs it will have or the prices etc. They are hoping to have it in August sometime.

I think everyone here knows more about the Z2 than they do at the moment. ;-)

 

we're talking about iGPU here....

ps, don't try that BS benchmark with me. no one in their right mind intentionally under-utilizes their GPU in real-life.

 

Yeah, even if I find out that i7 2620M is more then 10% faster in a lot of applications.. moreover, it more efficient then the previous one, so battery life is better with this one. I agree with the fact of GPU but... remember that these 2 laptops have really different nature and concept:
One is born to be super light, with optimal screen, upper class material, business role and completely powerful, but doing that the thickness was sacrified (so not really ultraportable.. for me such a difference in my university bag it's a problem)
The new one is born to be super light, optimal screen, upper class material, business role and powerful cpu, doing so the thickness has been decreased to spectacular level, sacrifiying GPU power.
Somebody will love this one, somebody will love the previous, that's all... for sure, this one is more near to a business sight, cuz who WORKS in video editing, 3D models and such stuff, needs a big screen, not a 13 inches.. which is the opposite of portability. Games are not in business sight obviously.

 

Sonystyle HK is down at the moment.
Perhaps, they are updating the site with the new Z.

 

It's down? It's perfectly accessible with my computer. If they shut down the site they'll usually inform you a day or two ahead.

 

Very ok on my PC now