New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

The only remaining question for me: Will it have no battery drain?

 

Is there any word on how bright the FHD screen will be and whether it is glossy?

 

^yeah, I'm interested in the screen quality as well. The brightness of the 1080p was significantly lower than the 720p one in previous Z models.

lol, glossy. Shame on Sony if they are even thinking of something like making it glossy! Not a Z!

 

Approximately how thick and heavy is the new Z going to be with the sheet battery?

 

^For a rough estimation I guess you could take the SBs sheet battery. Shouldn't be too different.

 

Is the Z thinner and lighter than the SA/SB?

So if it is, it should be roughly the same size as a normal laptop with the sheet battery?

 

i was talking to a guy at sony today who said the reason Z CTO's are removed from some sonystyle sites is because Z's with Sandy Bridge are coming. not sure how credible his info is tho

 

If the new Z with the sheet battery is the same thickness and weight as the current Z, then that would be awesome!

 

I also want to know this. If not, will it have USB 2.0

If you would spend some time reading this thread some of your questions may be answered...

CPU: full powered sandy bridge
RAM: soldered on
GPU: Only integrated on main unit, discrete comes on a separate GPU/ODD unit.
SSD: most likely
Weight: most likely LIGHT, but VERY sturdy
Thinness: thicker than MBA
USB: unknown, but it does have thunderbolt

The question is how reliable is Beaups. He's where we're getting our info.

That because some people dont bother to read... =.=

If you're referring to the VPCZ models, the difference between the brightness of the 900p and 1080p is because you are pushing the same amount of light through 25% more pixels in the 1080p as compared to the 900p screen and so that's why it's dimmer. I bet if you went and put a 720p panel on the Z's backlight it'd be just as bright as the Samsung 9 (okay i KNOW backlights come with the panel, but you get the point)

 

Aww no... eww... sure, triple batt life, but now i lose GPU and ODD? why? BUT you are entitled to your opnion yes. Although i dont think it'll be the same weight... batteries weigh so much... i usually take out the battery on my Z... and it SOOOOO light without it....

 

I do prefer a built in GPU and ODD...that's why I love the Z.
I agree with you that batteries are heavy...

 

yeah, sounds like a bunch of bologna to me!

 

Well... I didn't buy a Z last time because the battery life was too low... Glad they're solving that in this model.

 

Oh okay thanks A LOT Beaups for that information. Do you know how many USB ports they'd include. I won't be too bummed about not having USB 3.0, but USB 2.0 is a must (I don't understand why Intel isn't supporting it, it being USB 3.0, in its chipsets... =.=)

Look at this article from Engadget today:

Intels of Intel's X79 chipset exposed: 14 USB 2.0 ports but not a one with 3.0? -- Engadget

Okay fine, i get it Intel, no USB 3.0 because you want to support lightpeak... but even YOU don't include lightpeak in the successor to X58.

 

attached via lightpeak does not mean that the unit cannot sit in a cutout on the bottom of the laptop

which would mean that the lightpeak connection could be on the bottom of the first unit and there's no external wiring that is required for the two units to attach together

 

ahh, good to have that cleared up

so far, this laptop sounds worse than the current Z

 

Initially, I thought the new Z would be a reinvent from the old TR, which came in two parts (same dimensions), but now, I see the new Z more or less a reinvent of the X505 without the barrel hinge and a larger footprint (13.1). Sony did offer the X505 with an optional optical drive for purchase, however, this time around, it appears that this 2nd unit will house more than just a drive and be included as one package.

 

Thinner than the current Z but thicker than the MBA (there hasn't been an actual number pointed out) and about 2.5lbs (just the main unit).

How can you say that? This so depends from customer to customer. I love the new approach!

 

I've said this before. Sony makes the same "cutting edge" device that they did a few years ago, then they abandon it, only to bring it back again.

A few to name:

Sony P had a predecessor at the beginning of the decade (can't remember the name).

Sony X505 was brought back as the X netbook. And it seems like the new Z plays off of the X505 idea as well.

Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. (which gives me hope they'll bring back a true TT successor in the future)

 

Have to say I agree on this one; how much lighter do you need a notebook to be, especially one this powerful?

 

Light but you have to plug it on the wall. Not a portable anymore... In that usecase, light or not, it doesn't really matter...
BTW, here in Belgium, portables are generally presented in the shops without battery. Lighter... thus more impressive...

 

No........

 

So it will have battery drain? Pity.

 

Whatever Sony does with the Z, it will have competitors: New HP ultraportable on the way | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

 

new Z definitely sounds good to me so far. i hope it gets released in summer, don't think i can wait for longer than 3 months.

 

edit: nvm, more characters

 

12" 3.5 lbs??? i think the current Z beats that in all aspects beside battery life and integrated graphics. No mention of discrete gpu or screen res either.

 

This is for the current 2540p! There are no official information about the dimension/weight (or features) of the 2560p.
I think businesswise there's not much you can do to compete with the X220.
It's light, slim (not an MBA, but still slim enough to carry it around all day) it has insane battery life and is pretty powerful.
Tough it has no dedicated GPU, but it's not meant to be a gaming machine.
Sad thing is, they don't offer a high-res screen, something I don't understand.

For me, i.e., this is so important, that I'm sticking to Sony, even if I am not happy with their support and their drivers, but what are drivers and support good for, if the screen is a pain to watch?

 

well, 12" is more portable, but i bet that 12" has a greater volume than the next Z

but if the hp ends up having a discrete gpu, at least 1600x900 res, and 16:9 ratio, and backlit keyboard, then i would definitely consider it .. but, i really doubt it

 

x220 is slim? I won't ever call that slim:
Notebook Reviews - Laptop Reviews and Netbook News Picture
(0.5-1.5inches)

 

I TOTALLY agree with you about the screen res. Companies should have 900p standard... not 720p ><

In any case check out this thread on the Lenovo/IBM forum here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/564162-x220-might-have-1600x900-ips-panel-option.html

(dude... NBR needs a better forum search tool... searching X220 came up with only 2 threads... I had to google to find it)

 

gamut is also important.


btw:
sparkbuy says it all...
Laptops &mdash; Sparkbuy.com

 

I just read through much of this thread again, and I still don't completely understand the external GPU.

• When plugged in, does it accelerate graphics on the laptop display, or (like a ViDock) does it only accelerate graphics piped to an external monitor?
• Does it have its own power cord, or is it powered from the laptop?

Thanks...

 

If they can do a 13" screen while keeping it to about 3.5 lbs, it may be a competitor. The new Z with the ODD attachment will be about 4 lbs.

 

I just wonder, why Sony is so late with this one.
beaups somewhere before stated, that there won't be official announcement/info until late may/early june (i think).
But Z13, at least here in deutschland, is not aviable anymore as CTO since some time.
Do they have so much left in stock or is an expensive notebook like the Z just selling so slowly?

It is like they are giving away the market to other companys for 3 months or so.
Lenovo's X220 is coming 14.4 i think and it won't take HP long to release it's 2460p

 

Based in Sony's previous releases, can someone estimate how long it will take for the new Z to come to the European market after an official announcement has been made? Apple for instance releases most of their stuff really fast after the announcement. How was it with the previous iterations of the Z?

Since the old Z is not available anymore and the SA also does not seem to be available here, I am trying to figure out whether the new Z will be out by early August if an official announcement may by due only in two month. Also, I would love if Sony finally got rid of the battery drain problem of my old Z. 8 hours of battery life are a nice start.

 

The following has nothing to do with laptop (it is a Sony Alpha/Nex related site), but may give a clue...

Link: sonyalpharumors | Blog | (Under development) IMPORTANT: Some Sony last minute product announcements deleted/postponed?

 

It accelerates the laptop display, otherwise it won't make much sense. (It hasn't been pointed out directly, but I think that's the case)

Afaik it hasn't been mentioned if it has it's own power cord or not, although it has been asked if I recall it right.

 

Thanks, noap_. I was wondering whether the X220 with a ViDock was a reasonable alternative. It seemed interesting since you can put any graphics card in the ViDock, but with the OCD adapter, you're presumably stuck with the mobile GPU they ship with. But the ViDock only works with external screens, which is a huge difference. Definitely waiting for the new Z before I buy anything new!

 

Now I remember beaups (our sony insider) saying that it won't be possible to drive the internal screen with a ViDock, which is the main disadvantage over the Sony external unit.

 

any estimation on the base price of the new Z?

 

Based on the recent announcements of new computers at this year's CES at the beginning of January, Sony was going to originally open up preorders from February 6-20 depending on the computer. Of course the Sandy Bridge recall happened which pushed things back another month. Typically, when a new product is released, you have to wait 3-4 weeks for the CTO to start shipping. So from that experience, the computers could be preordered 4-7 weeks after CES and ships 3-4 weeks after that. Total, 7-11 weeks in that instance.

 

I wonder if there will be improvement on the screen. You notice there is a band of brightness on the screen. Nothing as clear compare to other Sony laptop for such an expensive laptop.

 

Yeah it's just the backlight bleeding through... I guess we'll have to wait for 13" AMOLED panels eh?

 

Thanks for the info. Do you also know when Sony usually launches their notebooks in the summer? A release by August seems possible, but might the window seems to be narrow.

 

Sorry I don't know when they do the refresh. It seems like they usually do 1 new model and 2 refresh every year for 3 variations of one computer in a year. This would imply a refresh every 4 months. But that's just guesswork on my part.

 

will be nice once those are available, perhaps middle of 2012 or late 2012, if not then early 2013 when production is in really full swing.

 

I know someone who will do it for $150, it is only a matter of sourcing the right i7 from some broken latop motherboard on eBay. No big deal. At the prices we pay for stuff you think ~$200 is a bad deal for 10% performance upgrade, I disagree.

Just put a Broadcom Crystal HD miniPCIe card in there, they cost $44 and work awesome. I agree that it won't display 1080P, unless you plug it into a TV, but all my Blu-ray backups are 1080P MKV, why go transcoding them all to 720P when I can just use the same copy on any of my computers.

Z plays HD MKV, even 3D dual MKV, stock
UX plays them with Broacom Chip
P plays them with Broadcom Chip


the other great thing about having the P and UX play native 1080P is that I can take RAW 1080P footage from HD cameras and have a quick look at it. I can't say enough good stuff about the Crystal HD, it is cheap, versatile and awesome.

 

I mean, if you need to plug an external hard drive or bd drive to your ultraportable in order to have enough space for 1080p movies, it somehow loses its portability.

 

13" AMOLED in a Z, yummy...