New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Thats is true hence why I am sticking with my Z1 to many flaws imo.

 

I may be totally wrong on this one, but aren't the RAM soldered onto the mainboard, therefore not upgradeable by the user himself?
Which means there would be no point in opening the notebook, sealed or not sealed.

 

Seeing images, it doesn't seem to have sodimm soldered, only plugged in.

 

^okay, I might have had this idea from rumors before the release. Thanks for clarification.

 

but isn't it still proprietry sony ram? meaning you still need to buy ram from sony so you're not really saving.

as to it being sealed, wasn't the battery compartment removable with screws?

 

Some very concerning things from that article:

"The disadvantage of the fast processor in such a slender chassis is that the underside of the Vaio Z can become incredibly hot when it’s churning through demanding tasks – so much so that you won’t want to use it on your lap. To be fair this is true of many other laptops, but especially so in this case. When using Office apps and web browsing the Vaio Z runs cool enough for lap use and without the loud cooling fans ramping up to unbearable levels."


"The glossy sheen does reflect light quite easily, but the resulting glare isn’t as distracting as it is on other glossy laptop screens we’ve seen. Image quality is less than perfect which is disappointing at this price - viewing angles are restricted and contrast is noticeably less than perfect."

Running very hot, and by the sounds of it the fans are loud.

And what's with the comments on the screen, I thought it had a good screen???

 

maybe its someone used to IPS screens. The 16x9 screen on the vaio Z definitely has good enough viewing angles for me at least..

 

where do you get the 3840x1600 with 2 monitor? did you mean 3840x1200?

 

yes it is.

 

We've already demonstrated that temperature reached by this laptop are completely similar to Samsung Serie 9, Toshiba R830, Macbook Air, VPC-SA ... the one which had lower temperature was VPC-Z11(2-3-4) which had lower temperature, but it was also one of the most loud laptop ever made ( 54 db ).
Other review state that new Z it's quite silent even under load... so where is the truth?? probably in the middle..

About the screen, TN panel never had good view angle compared to other panels, but for 13" there's no evident need of viewing the panel from "odd" position.. it's already quite small to be seen in correct position and in correct position view angle cannot influence color IMHO. The contrast is superb in front of the laptop.. probably that comment is made by positioning at some view angle. (same problem on old VPC-Z or Macbook air for example)

 

Z217GG unveiled in Hong Kong
??? 1.16 kg + ??????VAIO Z217 ???? - SONY ? VAIO Z ??? - ePrice.HK

Price: 20980$ HK roughly 2700$ US.

WOOHOO! Preorder page should be up soon...

 

Was it clear that each machine had the same number and type of startup processes to run? My Z1 added about 13 seconds to boot time as I added programs, and I got almost 10 seconds back by suspending some in msconfig. No doubt the new gen SSDs and SB cpu speed things up, but I owned the new MBA 13 (new, as in, about to be replaced!) and the "thrill" of instant on wore off pretty quick. My Z1, with only two 64GB SSDs, loads programs as fast as I could ever need. Saving a few seconds here or there just wouldn't change things dramatically, the way going from 5400 rpm HDD to SSDs did. Just sayin.

 

Yes please



Sadly, no option to exclude the PMD dock from the Z in Hong Kong either. Japan is the only region with such an option AFAIK.

 

from the above link:

I was wondering what those holes at keypad edges are for? I guess it's clear now.

 

OMG!
In India even the SA26GG costs more! 2890$ to be exact!

 

So you think these are not speakers? But whereelse are they? In the rear? I can't find a good photo of the opened notebook showing the rear (I mean the gap between the lid and the rear of the chassis).

Maybe they just dropped speakers for the sake of thinness...

 

In Hong Kong the top config SA costs less than 3/4s of the Z, thanks to the import tax (or the lack of it)

 

^^
I remember reading somewhere that the speakers are at the bottom of the laptop. Correct me if I'm wrong!

 

i think i know why they put the speakers on the bottom now.. not because they could not fit it on the keyboard or bezel, but because they wanted to make it look as clean as possible

well, at least now people can listen to their music a little more clearly when the lid is closed...? =/

lighter and little thinner than mba, full voltage processor, focus on aesthetics, trackpad that clicks with no physical buttons, no optical drive, no dedicated gpu, ssd only, sony has apple in its sights

too bad the price is wayyyy above a mba... and apple has student discounts too

anyone know if there's student discount for sony?

 

^Wayyy above? MBA with 128GB and 4GB and an ethernet adapter and hdmi adapter is $1570.

Z21 is $1999 with the dock. That means you'll can expect to see discounting to around $1799. If configs show up without dock, I think you'll see prices get quite close to the air.

Let's not even get into the fact that Z's specs shred the air, and it's thinner and lighter.

 

WTH! ??? 1.16 kg + ??????VAIO Z217 ???? - SONY ? VAIO Z ??? - ePrice.HK

The device manager SS and Street fighter 4 reports a 6730m gpu.....EXPLANATION!!!!!?!?!?!?!?

@BRIANHO UK offers no pmd with CTO and italy is selling retail models without the PMD

 

^Probably preproduction, or just beta drivers (hacking the 6650's PCI ID into the INF so the drivers will load). Besides, hasn't someone mentioned the only diff between 6650 and 6730 is DRAM type?

 

Awesome!

Will be getting mine from HK for sure at that price

 

Looking at the pics I thought so too. But does that really make sense? I mean it's not the best idea acoustically speaking (I know notebook speakers aren't the best anyways, but placing them at the bottom makes it even worse).
Besides that I'm thinking of using the notebook on a non-flat surface, let's say in bed or on my lap; I won't be hearing anything, would I?

 

@noap,

at first, I also thought those holes must be speakers, however speakers are located at the bottom side (just like X series). Check this image:
Sony VAIO Z components - Engadget Galleries and this http://www.engadget.com/photos/sony-vaio-z-detailed-hands-on/#4257406

See that small vertical grills next to screw? That is speaker hole.

Cheers,
Miki

 

That's true ONLY for US market. Not for European market as example.. (Italy)

MBA 13" 1457,00€
VPC-Z 1734,00€ without PMD
VPC-Z 2134,00€ with PMD (DVD)

 

Not exatly sure what your trying to say...Those prices pretty much mirror US prices to a 1:1 ratio

 

The Z2's specs will likely shred the forthcoming MBA2 as well.

 

^yea, it'll most definitely be ULV SB and HD3000 graphics. And then we still have a better screen, lighter, usb3, ethernet, sd card, backlit keyboard, pmd option......am I missing anything?

EDIT: HDMI, VGA

 

I would prefer to see sales figures on Z/MBA. Pricewise MBA should be 600-800 USD cheaper than Z, same as with old Z/MBA

 

^^
Yes, the MBA2 uses a ULV Sandybridge i5 processor. Its not in the same league as the Z performance wise.

 

oh? guess im wrong, i thought the z2 without the pmd started at $1999

and i also thought the mba started at 1299

edit: the mba does start at 1299

 

Never was, never will be.

"Only Z can surpass Z" - from Reinventing the Z clip

 

I agree, and I'm pretty sure Sony engineers have considered it too. I think they didn't do it because the addition of LightPeak is a big enough leap and they want that to be well understood before they take other leaps. So, if the Z2 works pretty well, I think the next iteration should include better stuff.

 

Honestly, the MBA probably will sell better.

Yea....with 2gb of RAM....

 

Check it better..

PMD will probably cost at least 400$ ... so I would expect to see in US a Z at 1600$ against a comaparable (not for CPU) MBA 13 at 1462$...

In Italy it's different, cuz we see a difference of 277€ that means 390$ of difference (140$).

With PMD in US difference is about 537$.. in Italy is about 677€ (950$)

In the past, with OLD Z, at that price (1700/1800€ we were able to buy Z with 128GB ssd.. now it's impossible, we nedd around 2400€ to have the external GPU and odd. In US to get this, the price didn't change.

 

To make a similar comparision, add the 4GB ddr option, ethernet adaptor and hdmi adaptor. -> 1462$

 

there is probably a way, to get a BGA soldering equipment and ask for a certified to try, it might or not work, its quite risk.

there is also the bios issue, since we dont know how the vbios is, or if the new cards would be supported in the bios

there is also the drivers issue, sincerely not worth it, if the pmd was cheaper it could be tried without such a heavy conscience, however, you will have to buy a mxm card, unsolder it, unsolder the 6650m in the pmd, try to sold it back together, this would lead to a 1k+ for an attempt that might not work, and the raise in tdp might also lead to cooling problems, thus requiring further modification

 

got to love US

 

^ I hate Sony Europe...

 

no the difference between those 2 cards is only the core clock speed, the 6750m and 6770m have the gddr5

 

Maybe an easier GPU upgrade option would be overclocking. its probably more possible than physically upgrading the GPU no?

 

probably if it can be done, the difference in clocks if I remember right is around 75mhz on the core

 

did you find out if the ssd is the 3rd gen?

 

The question was diff between 6650 and 6730...

 

The 6730 does have a slightly higher clock than the 6650 though, but I don't think it has GDDR5.

 

6770M has GDDR5 while the 6730M has DDR3.

 

yeah sorry, I wasnt much specific

6650m

core: 600mhz

6730m

core: 725mhz

thats the only difference, as I said the only models that pack the GDDR5 are the 6750m and the 6770m

 

^OK so to make sure I understand....only difference between 6650 and 6730 is clock speed?

 

yep thats it, memory clock, memory type, number of rops, its all the same, across the entire 6600/6730m series, the only difference is that the higher tier models use GDDR5 (6750m and 6770m), even the clocks of the 6750m (600mhz core) and the 6770m (725mhz core) are the same as the 6650m and 6730m