New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Prices seem to keep going down. Base Z2 comes up as $1871.49 for me now.

 

You can't link to the Z2 from the main site. This looks like a pre-launch with all options to come towards the end of the month.

 

I remember asking the sony store in philly right after the Z was announced in UK when they will have a display model and they said end of july. Rest assured, the build quality is much better than the SB or SA

 

That's the discounted price... probably the discount code is active when you see prices with your account.

 

I'm not logged in...nor do I have an account to log in with.

 

Seems like sony blocked us out. Can't access the pages anymore and search is completely non-functional.

 

Works for me...I just loaded the CTO page in a new window fine.

 

Maybe its just me and my work is blocking it. Doesnt usually happen though.

 

Last year i got 15% on my Z12 and 10% when I ordered two P series. I did not order any accessories or ADH plan crap.

LOL

It is like getting a woman you just met into bed, it is not that hard if you are charismatic, charming etc.


I will give you a few tips. I start off strong, talking about all the top end Sony stuff I buy all the time. I go on and on about how I must have the best thing for top dollar, this all leads up to me saying that I deserve a special treatment for being such a good loyal customer. I don't say it exactly like that but you get the idea. They want you to accessorize, I might buy a mouse or a dock or something but with CTO I just point out all the extra options I already added. Then they want you to get a warranty, then I tell them I buy a new computer from them every six to twelve months so why do I need a warranty. Then when they ho hum about it I tell them that I know that all they need to do is to get an override from the manager on the floor.

So that is pretty much it... but, you need to balance it just right. Have fun with it. Make it clear that you have gotten this deal before and you are expecting it again. Also that you don't really need this thing anyway, you just like new toys. I make it clear that I could just as easily buy a new something else instead. The whole idea is to make them sell it to you by way of them giving you the incentive to buy it.

 

^^^ignore my PM. lol

 

But if i said a lot of that stuff I would be lying. I think they can see my purchase history (which is none). Withyou your actually telling the truth.

 

Hi, I am concidering buying the new Z2.

Although i have skimmed most of these pages here, i still have a few questions.
I rarely play a lot, but i sometimes plays SC2 and similar games. Would the CPU matter at all? If so, which one should i go for? Also, which of the CPU to the vaio z2 will be better for the battery life?

Secondly, if i want to connect the laptop to my tv, i have to use the docking station aswell, or does the laptop itself have and HDMI out?

Thanks!

 

The laptop and PMD both have HDMI out.

 

The laptop has both hdmi and vga.

The lowest clocked GPU would obciously be better for battery life under stressed conditions, but under normal usage, they should all be the same.

 

you: i was just wondering where the Premium carbon and Gold color options are on the CTO page

you: are they purposely left out?

Christine E: Those are not available on this current model.

 

you: do the signature editions feature the premium carbon finish or the normal black finish?

Christine E: It is only the normal black finish on the Z series.

 

What is wrong with lying? Go back to point one... it is like talking a woman into bed. I am shameless. Also I don't buy all my Sony stuff from SonyStyle either, there is no way for them to disprove that I bought VAIOs on eBay, Amazon etc. I do use my knowledge of all the top end models to paint a story of my purchase history. Also if it doesn't work just call back again. I find it easier to charm the women and order from them. Again buying a computer from Sony is like getting a dime to take her clothes off, there is nothing to it. You may fail but you will eventually succeed!

 

you: ok, If i preorder a preconfigured model or a CTO model, will there be any difference in shipping time?

you: I should expect them to arrive on my dorrstep at relatively the same time?

Christine E: It is showing the cto will ship out on July 29 and the preorder will not be until August 17.

Christine E: Looks like it is faster on the cto model.

 

You won't notice much of a performance increase from an upgraded CPU. You can take the lower i5 to save on battery life and heat, the i7 would provide minuscule FPS increases for games.

Plus if you plan to play SC2, you better play with the PMD as the Intel 3000 HD doesn't have the beef to get past 30+ FPS unless you scale everything to low, possibly some medium settings.

 

Not so happy about this. While it's the best LCD screen I've ever used, I'm on my third one already. The previous two developed dead pixels. Now this one has a dead pixel, although it's a LOT harder to see than the others. I've never had such a bad experience with dead pixels before. Maybe I'm just being picky.

 

Thanks!

Then i will take the i5, no point paying for something i will not use. I thought the i7 had some special idle to use less battery.

Regarding the RAM and SSD, is it possible to upgrade yourself later? It seems to be way more difficult than other computer.

 

CTO starts with Windows 7 Home Premium, pre-config comes with Windows 7 Pro...

 

crap i just closed the window, but i asked the rep why the sheet battery has the price dif of $50 between cto and accessories. she said somethign along:

Im not sure why that is the case i will report it to my supervisor

 

Thisismynext review.

 

Judging by the site, the RAM seems like 'what you buy is what you get': soldered.

SSD, no idea.

 

No premium carbon or gold???? ... that can't be right.

 

Thisismynext review.

vertigal view angle... good???
Matte???

 

I've never seen a 13" 1920x1080 in person...Is everything ridiculously small or what? Debating whether or not I should just stick with the 1600x900.

 

For me, it was way to small. The 900p was small and clear enough. And the computer will be able to play modern games at native res, while it would struggle with the 1080p screen.

Im getting 900p

 

Guys,

we got a full-fledged review from laptopmag.com - Sony VAIO Z Notebook Review | Top Ultraportable Notebooks | Sony Notebook Reviews

 

^ 99 degrees... obviously, fahrenheit. A little more then 37°C as hottest spot (not at full load, sure..)...

And boot time is over the double...

I think it's a 128GB 2nd generation... and that probably, the difference between 256gb is "big"..

 

Oh that's what I missed. I don't care whether it's home or pro. I think I'd rather save $30. If they offered DOS model with cheaper price, I'd go with that.
But the build quality shouldn't matter, right? Looking at the past, CTO models were assembled in US, while pre-configured are assembled in Japan. Does this make any difference in build quality?

 

I find it funny the CTO US price vs. Conics in terms of price is nearly the same for some configs. And you can get that brown color in Japan.

The 8GB, can't change it memory is a dealbreaker for someone like me.

And BTW, while the i5 is good for most people, on my Panasonic CF-S9 I got the premium with the i5-540 (or 520, I forget). When I got the CF-J9, I got it with the i7-640 and it's a pretty big difference. I did order the J10 with 16GB and the i7-2620, so I expect it's faster than my J9.

 

Nice review. Annoying with the heat and noise...

A question though. If you buy the ekstra 8 hour battery, is that a extra pack you can put on when you need it on the plane, or is it permanent?

 

YouTube - ‪Sony VAIO Z (2011) hands-on‬‏

 

^ Not permanent. I believe you can attach or remove it without rebooting as well. Correct me if I am wrong, everyone.

 

I think that these review are not so good.. I mean.. some review are in contraddiction with other talking about display, noise, lifetime battery, ssd.
I think I'll wait notebookcheck and check their data.

 

Agreed, I will probably get it regardless but I am interested in seeing their review.

 

laptop mag probably forgot to enable the fast bios mode.

 

After playing around on the Sony USA website it looks like the premium carbon fiber finish is being reserved for the signature collection - no sign of the gold finish just yet. I really really reallllly want the carbon fiber (looks so legit Signature Collection, wish we had an option like in Europe.

 

Damned. Two dealbreakers: fan noise + no possibility for two 1920x1200 external monitors. I'm disappointed.

 

So, universal agreement seems to be that the speakers are not good at all. Much like the VAIO X I would imagine, but at least there are two of them rather than just one. Both reviews seem to also agree that 900p is high res enough without having to zoom into things, and although the laptop generally runs very cool there does seem to be quite a bit of fan noise under heavy load. I imagine this is not so severe when using the i5 CPU (both review had the i7).

Battery life (without sheet battery) seems to be good, it has the edge on the Samsung but not the Macbook Air I think? The keyboard is fine if you can get used to the short travel. Was a bit worried about one reviewers troubles with the touchpad.

The laptopmag review mentions that it takes almost 5 seconds to resume from sleep; that can't be right can it? Is it a symptom of being connected to the PMD? Surely the fast processor and SSD would resume the machine far quicker?

Interesting to note that the Web button lets you browse the web instantly when the VAIO is off; never seen this kind of thing myself. Not sure I'd ever use it.

I don't know what crackhead in Sony thinks the blue model is a good idea; ugly as sin. Don't send it to reviewers! Send them the gold one!

 

So get it from a place like Conics or Dynamism ... it's not like you don't have options.

 

is that what it sounds like? ie an option in the bios to resume from sleep faster? does it affect battery life, and would that be a reason for it to be turned off by default?

 

Sort of:
1) Conics site seems broken, the 256GB SSD is $2,600+ and the 512GB SSD is $780, this error concerns me about if the other information listed could also be incorrect.
2) The price overhead to get the machine CTO from Conics defeats the purpose of trying to get the machine with carbon fiber cheaper than the signature collection. If I have to spend $4,500 I might as well get the whole package through Sony :/

 

Sony VAIO Z Series (VPCZ216GX/L) review | This is my next...

 

That would be disappointing...I really liked the premium carbon

 

Idk, but all the sony ads have said "boots in 14secs with fast bios enabled"

 

I forgot this!

Idem.

 

from the above review: