New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

The s1 is a normal tablet and the s2 is a dual screen clamshell.

 

I have been using it for quite a while and I am satisfied with it.

Just spoke to Sony Hong Kong...the Z2 has been delayed and they will have updated info next week.

 

Well, buying the Z2 outside the US is not really an option. But I've been thinking about what kind of re-sale value the PMD might have. If Sony won't be selling it separately (I think that's been mentioned earlier in this thread), then people who want to have more than one will only have eBay as an option. Any opinions about this?

Also, is there a way to get a CTO configuration, tax-free in the US? I.e. is there a state where Sony's online store, does not charge taxes?

 

If decide to get a Z2, I will be in the market for one. So I would say that you should have no trouble selling it. $300-$500.

 

Since Z2 is being manufactured/assembled in Japan, some clarifications on the delay:

Original retail units were scheduled to go on sale in Japan on July 30. That has been pushed back 2 weeks to August 13.

CTO models are also pushed back according to the same schedule, but there is currently no info if the delay will result in longer build times. The general pre-order period for CTO has also been pushed back 2 weeks, from July 22 to August 5.

Details about the delay are vague but suggest that Sony is inspecting "a communication component between the main unit and PMD". Of course that means the Lightpeak connection, but there's no clear info about if it's the optical cable, the LP/USB port connection, part of the controller, or something else. There is also no info on whether retail/CTO units without PMD will experience less delay than those with PMD.

Although the delay only concerns the Lightpeak interface, sale of Z2 related accessories in Japan (the separately-sold PMDs VGP-PRZ20A/B and VGP-PRZ20C/B, internal replacement battery VGP-BPS27, external sheet battery VGP-BPSC27, and carrying cases VGP-CKZ3, VGP-CKZ4 and VGP-CVZ3) have also been pushed back to August 13.

Personally I don't mind the delay. The 3G+LTE module won't be available in CTO here in Japan until August anyway.

 

I hate how they force you to buy the dock. It drastically drives up the cost for those who don't need the GPU or optical drive.

Someone like me would be perfectly satisfied with the way the laptop is without the dock, and wouldn't want the unnecessary cost attributed to the dock on top of the price of an already expensive laptop, just to get a GPU and optical drive you can't use all the time.

 

Sony UK rep told me CTO orders cannot be returned; once it's paid for and built, it's yours. Usual rights not affected of course if something is faulty or not as described.

 

Looks like there are one or two kinks to work out, good to know, thanks.

My own order is without the PMD but I would imagine if there is any question of an issue with their lightpeak implementation then they will want to look at all connectors and cables etc.

I suppose that's the difference between building a couple of demo units and full production, especially with new tech like the PMD setup; you never know what might come up.

EDIT: just thinking back to my phone call with the Sony UK rep on Friday, she did mention that some orders are seeing a delay because of a particular component. Must be the PMD?

Meanwhile, anybody have any decent photos of the three carry cases: VGP-CKZ3, VGP-CKZ4 and VGP-CVZ3? Or prices?

 

CKZ3 is a sleeve-type slip case, main unit only. Perfectly fitted for the Z2. Japan MSRP 14,980yen.

CVZ3 is a folio-style cover, main unit only. Uses some removeable adhesive. Can be used in place. Japan MSRP 14,980yen.

CKZ4 is a traditional carrying case, and can hold Z2 with sheet battery, and custom sized compartments for PMD, AC adapter, and accessories. Japan MSRP 9,980yen.
ZƒVƒŠ[ƒY—pƒAƒNƒZƒTƒŠ[ | ŠJ”­ŽÒƒCƒ“ƒ^ƒrƒ…[ | ƒAƒNƒZƒTƒŠ[ŠÖ˜A‹LŽ– | My VAIO | VAIOƒp[ƒ\ƒiƒ‹ƒRƒ“ƒsƒ…[ƒ^[ | ƒ\ƒj[

Sonystyle Japan is also offering a limited edition Briefing case (collaboration). Shoulder-bag style. Main bag holds Z2 with or without sheet battery and AC adapter, and removeable pouch holds PMD and accessories. Price TBD.
ƒXƒ^ƒCƒ‹gŽ©Ýhæ‰sPCƒoƒbƒO„  ƒp[ƒ\ƒiƒ‹ƒRƒ“ƒsƒ…[ƒ^[ŠÖ˜A¤•i - ƒ\ƒj[ƒXƒgƒA

Hands-on of the cases:
VAIO ?Z????? ??????????????????????????So-net???

 

thanks this is what i need to know,

anyword on US availability? those purple case will match with mouse and laptop perfectly.

 

The VGP-CKZ4 Case makes me want to buy the Z2. Nice and organized.

 

Thanks, that's what I wanted to know! about €130 for the folio / slim cases? meh... they look pretty good all the same. I'm interested to see what 3rd party accessory manufacturers will come up with.

 

I was called by Sony's local sales rep yesterday - he told me that ETA for shipping of my CTO is 27th of July.

I guess he either did not have the most recent information, or the system displaying ETAs is just not accounting for the new delays yet (I doubt.... it is Japanese ) or they produced some initial batches and mine managed to be in one of them...

I'll see on 27th... but I am almost sure it won't ship then.


@edit - ah, yes, I ordered mine without the PMD... so maybe, if the problem is in PMD cabling or PMD unit, this does not affect my order.

 

im still holding off from pulling the trigger because i'm skeptical of whether all of the cto options and preconfig models are available yet, not to mention if there will be any back-to-school promotions

i guess i'll wait until august 5th, give them 7 business days and maybe catch the 8/17 shipping date

ill stop rambling now

 

Sony.com USA has their school discounts listed
Laptops - Notebooks VAIO | Sony Store USA

Don't know about other countries

 

CVZ3 folio-style looks nice but I don't see any ventilation on the bottom. Concerns me considering the Z has 2 bottom vents for intake + an i7 can make it pretty toasty to begin with.

 

DELAWARE BABY!

They are doing 5% off for the Z line. Also, beaups has hinted at a free ps3 back to school offer.

Pretty sure all the cto options are final, at least for a while.

 

PS3 back to school? Wow. That's not the best offer ever......a sheet battery might be better suited for school work

 

This interview was in Japanese but I'll translate the gist:
ƒy[ƒW2 | ZƒVƒŠ[ƒY—pƒAƒNƒZƒTƒŠ[ | ŠJ”­ŽÒƒCƒ“ƒ^ƒrƒ…[ | ƒAƒNƒZƒTƒŠ[ŠÖ˜A‹LŽ– | My VAIO | VAIOƒp[ƒ\ƒiƒ‹ƒRƒ“ƒsƒ…[ƒ^[ | ƒ\ƒj[

The Z2 actually has 4 air inlets: the two fan vents on the bottom of the device, and two narrow slits on the left and right side of the keyboard (which most people would otherwise think were simply design aesthetics).

The folio cover has two stiff panels for the top and bottom of the Z2, while the middle "spine/hinge" section is left free to bend when opening the unit (as seen in the photos). This has two purposes: 1) to help with protection and to ensure a secure fit onto the Z2, and more importantly, 2) the extra thickness on the bottom half of the folio cover gave the designers the ability to cut some shallow grooves/channels into the cover, and allow venthilation for the bottom fan vents (which you can sort of see in the 4th photo) -- akin to the channels in the sheet battery.

While it probably won't offer as much venthilation as just using the Z2 by itself on a flat surface, it might actually provide more venthilation if you use it on your lap, where your leg would certainly block the vents.

 

^ interesting, I made the same observation about the sheet battery (less ventilation than without but more so than on your lap)

The 5th photo still looks pretty insulated on the bottom, I think I'd just have to wait and see it in person before passing judgement.

 

So hot air is blown out at the top of the notebook?

 

^ The left hand side vent next too the VGA port

 

I think he used the word inlets.

 

Ok guys A guy at the Sony NYC store named Mitchell spent a good amount of time talking with other people to get this info, but he finally has an answer. The SSD in all USA Vaio Z models is indeed, 6 Gbit/s SATA 3.

 

^
That's great news! I hope it's the same for the Asian models.

 

Thanks for following up. Kudos to Mitchell, too.

 

Hong Kong Z217GG comes with gen 2 SSD according to press release. I assume this applies to the Z217GG in other Asian countries.

http://www.sony.com.hk/press/pdf/20110713_e.pdf

 

I don't know... he might just be talking about the interface. Also, didn't the US CTO page use to have options for the Gen of SSDs? or was i imagining things? Also like i've said before, a 3rd gen kingston drive might not be as good as a 2nd gen Sandforce drive. or an Indilix 3rd gen being better than a 2nd gen Sandforce. the controller matters a lot too...

 

No, it was the UK site that offered the gen option (and still does).

i realize that, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that the 3rd gen that sony offers is faster than the 2nd gen that sony offers and that USA got the superior of the two.

What does slightly worry me is, what if mitchell got 3gbps and sata3 mixed up and thought just because he saw 3gbps he assumed sata 3. Kinda unlikely though.

 

^yep, there are options for the Gen of SSDs on the CTO page. (at least here in austria)

 

unless there are benchmark we will not know what is gen 2 and gen3 mean at all

 

There is this clip...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94vPpy03Prs

 

In Japan, the retail units (sold at regular electronics chain stores like Sofmap and Yodobashi) will all have 2nd gen 128GB SSD.

But the Sonystyle CTO, and Sonystyle-exclusive pre-configured units will all feature 3rd gen 128GB/256GB/512GB SSDs.

Sony could be doing the same thing in other countries as well: 2nd gen for standard retail, 3rd gen for CTO and Sonystyle-exclusives. Hopefully people buying from places outside of Japan can get some clarification soon. No doubt the possibility of early demo/review units being "retail" models might be adding to the confusion.

Controller type (Micron, Indilinx, Sandforce, etc) has some influence on performance, as long as you're comparing along the same SATA speed. But when you compare controller speed (3Gbps vs 6Gbps), 6Gbps pretty much always offers better performance than 3Gbps, regardless of what controller is being used. On desktop testing, even 6Gbps worst-case-scenario (no trim, no garbage collection, full drive, non-compressible files) still managed to perform better than 3Gbps best-case. SSD technology, despite still being quite expensive, has actually matured quite a lot after a number of bad controllers in the first couple generations.

Early testing shows the Z's 3rd gen 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB SSDs perform up to 150%, 170%, and 180% better (respectively) than previous the 2nd gen SSDs. So I really doubt anyone would be better off with a 2nd gen SSD; except if you don't really need the performance, and want to save a little money with a retail model.

 

...did you just copy/paste that off a press release?

specific controllers DO much a difference. As does the SATA version, although this is because many vendors chose sequential speeds over random speeds this generation.

In the real world though, they're ALL so fast that you're not going to notice the difference - unless you're one of those people who use two computers at the same time and do the exact same things on both at the exact same time.

 

I'm not surprised by the delays. There's too much that's still up in the air, at least on the American site, such as avilability of some colors (gold, etc.) an LTE option, 2nd or 3rd gen ssd, etc. Maybe it will all get straightened out in the next couple of weeks.

As for the delay maybe related to LP, there's always something when it comes to a new technology. I'm glad Sony found out the problem and is fixing it before shipment.

I'm back to leaning in favor of getting a maxed-out Z2 when the details get sorted out. I checked out an SA at a store. It was OK but it was next to a Z13. It's just not in the same league. I'm thinking that even if an SA was offered with a premium display, I would prefer the Z. I do want to see a Z2 before buying.

 

not only in terms of performance but also reliability as well as longevity... not to mention the type of flash memory used, Sony could go cheap and after 2 years all the SSDs fail, but by then they're off the hook so, yeah...

 

Cutting costs on SSD's in their most premium product sounds extremely stupid, if it's true.

I'd like to know whether the pre-config models in Norway use G2 or G3 SSD's. It seems to vary for every country *confused*

 

What I mean is, when you're only comparing different 3Gbps controllers, specific controllers offer better performance (and reliability) in different tests, as one would expecte. But when you start comparing 3Gbps controllers against 6Gbps controllers (both on 6Gbps interface), the 6Gbps controllers, regardless of which specific controller it is (Indilinx, Sandforce, etc) perform better than the 3Gbps controllers by a significant margin in nearly all tests and scenarios.

So even if Sony changed which controller type they're using, it's simply unlikely that a 3rd gen 6Gbps controller would perform worse than a 2nd gen 3Gbps controller.

 

Did any of you guys watch the benchmark video otacon posted? It renders this entire discussion moot.

 

Sigh I'm going to have to buy this overpriced, proprietary monster, aren't I?

Damn you Sony!

I think I can at least hold out until they offer the Gold/Brown in the US though.

Well at least I got a good 18 months out of my last Z...

 

well if somehow the LTE option shown up before my order is going to production, can i still make a change on my order? or i have to cancel and place an order again?

 

According to the Sony site, most changes require canceling and placing the order again, although that would suck because we'd lose our place in line. Bleh. I'll keep my eyes out anyways and cross that bridge once I come to it.

 

well after the pushed back on the production i'm considering canceling my order and wait for LTE and intel 6300 option. then replace and order again? do you guys have any idea what would be ideal time? also mcbookair will refesh by the end of this month too?

 

Just went to the Sony showroom and saw the Z hands on. Few thoughts:

I like it, but not awed by it. Considered one and still considering, but i hoped to be knock out by it,didnt happen.

The bezel looks standout ... bad, especially with blue color and others. Less annoying with black and carbon look.

The keyboard is meh, i can live with it but certainly dont like it.

The screen is good, but full HD is a little too small for my taste. Didnt see a 1600*900 screen there and i did not ask them.

The weight is light, especially compare to the SA near that i like it.

Still top of my list but i will consider the MBA too.

 

why isnt the intel 6300 available anyway?

 

hey guys, just heard of the asus u36sd -- 13", quad core SB, nvidia GT520m, 3.72lbs, 0.76" thickness, up to 10 hours battery on standard 5600mah battery

it's available for preorder and is already in stock, looks like a good alternative to the lg p330 that has a speculated release date as early as in september or as late as Q1 2012

opinion?

 

terrible screen

 

agreed, at least bring 900p i can live with it

 

the Z will be the only 13" for a while with a 900p or higher screen in a while (barring the SA)