New Vaio 2008 model listing with indication prices - FW - Z - SR - BZ

Wow, impressive picture. Must be because of the Montevina chipset that reduce sizes so much. I am pretty sure that in fall we are going to see a new T series from Sony with the half of Z's motherboard.

 

The Z Series have a resolution of 1600x900 can I change this Resolution?
I mean can i use fo example 1280x800 too (without stretch the Picture) or is there only the 1600x900 resolutuin that I can use?

 

you can buy z wiht a 1366x768 resolution. but anyway in any os you can change the resolution of you screen(for example to 1280x800). 1600x900 would be a maximum resolution.

btw, does sony.com ship to europe. it would much cheaper to buy there than in europe

 

No, but other retailers do.

 

You can change the resolution, but it's not a good idea. It will make things blurry.

 

who? can you give me links?

 

Are sony having a laugh?

Base SR model is £999 ($2000) in the UK, but only $1400 in the US?


Yeah.....i think i'll be importing

 

I've never bought directly from SonyStyle, but can you exchange it within a certain time period if your not happy with it? Also, please give us a review as soon as you get yours. I'm not sure if this thread will continue on with discussion on people's experiences with their new Z, SR, FW; hopefully it will unless someone creates a new thread on that discussion.
But again, let us know. You may get yours way before I get mine. And it would be good to find out what recommendations you may have before some of us who decide to get our preconfig. models at the retail shops.

I've had my SZ since Jan. 08, so far those rubber protectors your referring too is fine. Mine are all in tact, but I'm not rough with my SZ. I would imagine since they've been on the SZ that Sony has worked out the kinks on those when they decided to put them on the new line: Z and SR.

By the way, how do you guys posts those pictures as you just did (with that rubber screen protectors) for it to come out that large automatically? I usually have to upload it first, and then it creates thumbnail that requires you to click too before it takes you to another tab? I tried click and drag onto the post page and it doesn't work.

 

That is crazy, the Z's motherboard significantly smaller than the smaller TZs!?

I agree with Jack Sparrow, I can't wait to see Sony's Montevina ultraportables!

 

For example: sparco.com, techonweb.com, portableone.com (not sure)

Many other retailers will send laptops to Europe. Just be careful when they offer USPS international shipping it can take 4 weeks (I've had this experience with Techonweb)

 

Yeah, it's why I'm trying to hold out until the fall to see if there's a G successor or something better than the TZ (which I dislike).

 

I did the math, in case any other U.S. guys are confused.

Standard Battery VGP-BPS12 - 0.68784 lb.
Extended Battery VGP-BPL12 - 1.03617 lb.

 

I'm even more amazed that the Z's screen blows away the TZs, when the latter is so far the best screen I have ever seen, and I'm sure many others agree with me. I read on Sony Japan the TX's screen was 50% NTSC color reproduction, TZ is 72% and the Z is now 100%! I can't wait to see its screen in the wild.

I am also looking for picture/s that compare the TZ to the Z side by side as I may upgrade to it.

 

Well I saw the prototype demo models that were put up for display in Sony Style San diego. The have the FW, SR & Z all for display.

 

apparently here are the dates for the other models for canada

BZ and SR are around august 4th, so a monday, the Z series is slated to hit the stores/sonystyle on or after the 31st of august which is a sunday, so my guess is first week of september.

 

man this gonna be expensive

 

Have you got any further info about when the models you quoted will be in available and in stock?

 

I guess all of us who do not have $3000 dollars to spare on the Z have settled on the 1366x768 resolution.

The question now is which of the 4 pre-order Z's will most people get?
I'm looking at the Z-570 with P9500, but does the performance gain over p8600 justify the $300 mark-up price? In other words, would the increased L2 cache make any difference in light gaming and photoshop?

Also, why does the Z-550 cost $50 dollar more than Z-540? when the 550 has a 250gb hdd and the 540 has a 350gb hdd?
Thanks

 

Looks like the Z-550 comes with Vista Business and the 540 comes with Vista Home Premium.

 

in gaming it will not make any difference because the GPU is the bottleneck.

In Photoshop it could make a difference at the moment when you're maxing out your CPU. For example when you are applying a filter, or doing something else that is CPU intensive.

Is it worth $300? Definetely not in my opinion. A fast harddrive and a lot of memory are more important.

 

Mhm is a harddrive with 5400 r/pm or 7200 r/pm better? Yeah i know that the 7200 is faster but a harddrive with 5400r/pm is more quiet?

 

It's impossible to say because some 5400rpm drives are faster, make more noise and take more power than 7200rpm drives.

It all depends on which type from which brand.

 

Do you know anything about the harddrives in the Z Series? ^^
Which one would you choose?

 

320GB 5400 rpm is the safest bet.

If I'd be sure the 200GB 7200 is a Hitachi 7K200 that would be good too. But Sony does not say which one they use, afaik.

(The best option would be to just order the cheapest and then build in my own drive, but that may void warranty.)

 

BTW, for those looking for uncompressed high-res photos of the newly BZ/FW/SR/Z series, you can find them on Sony's B2B site, b2b.sony.com. There is also a load of images on the press release page:

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/notebooks/release/35845.html

 

Anyone knows if the barrel/hinge is actually polished aluminum or is it another material that is painted to look like it?
I'm asking this because I had a Asus U6SG which had the same hinge design and the hinge was I think made of painted metal, the paint not being very tough and it scratch very easily. Not to the point it's possible to scratch with ones nails but the tip of a pen would definitely damage it and it would then look awful..

 

Thanks for pointing out the difference in the OS, and the two processors.

My problem is that I have to have either Vista business or ultimate for school, but the 540 only has home premium. That leaves me only with the 550, which has the lesser desirable hdd compare to the 320 gb hdd. Also, I heard that upgrading from home premium to business causes problems later on, despite the price of buying another set of OS.

So what do you guys think? I'm still leaning toward the 570 and upgrade the ram later on because I don't really want to go through all the troubles of upgrade the OS and the hdd.
Thanks!

 

I highly doubt if the barrel thing is made out of brushed aluminum, but personally, I trust Sony laptops for their build quality.

 

Quality link! ^

Huge photos , like 2000 * 1800 resolution.

 

Thanks for the link.
There are a lot more pre-order models on the Vaio Z site (b2b.sony.com) for business.
I noticed that they have the 540 with same hardware but has vista business instead of home premium.
So will I be able to get the business version of the 540 on online retailers when it comes out? Thanks!

 

^ Yes, that's how it also worked with SZ. You can even get more configurations.

 

1. A question regarding the short article on http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39029450,49298185-1,00.htm (which -btw- is so incredibly positive that I am now 100% sure I want to go for a Z! ). Anyway, in the 4th paragraph it says: "There's no Blu-ray drive, though, and although we were told by Sony that it "might be possible" in the future, there's currently no solid-state drive option." Is this a mistake?? Blu-ray and SSD are both available already :S

2. I am planning to purchase the Z in the United States (since I'll be studying there for a few months in the near future anyway), so I wanted to double-check the following; Is it possible to work with each Z model on every 'electricity network' in the world? Or in other words, is the required voltage equal for each Z, no matter where you buy it?? On http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Special/Z/index.html there's a picture that reads "DC IN 19.5V" on the spot the power cable is connected to the notebook. Is this the voltage of all Z's?
2.2 I yes, that means that once I would have bought a Z in the United States, I would be able to plugin a European 'Z-model' power cable /adapter and connect it to the local electrcitiy network, correct? Or is the only way I could use an 'American Z' in Europe by using such a 'socket converter'?

 

Probably because it came from Sony UK. So not a mistake I think.

 

Just thought you guys may want to know, I found a sony vaio 570 N/B for $2246 online (vs. $2350 on sony style).
http://www.techonweb.com/products/productdetail.aspx?id=A0286K

 

What exactly do you mean by Sony's Montevina ultraportables? Will there be other models than the Z and SR or will there be a replacement of the CPU?

When yo say 100% NTSC on the Z, is that based on both resolution. Will 100% apply to 1600x900 and 1366x768?

I believe someone already answered it for you. Home Premium versus Business.

I'm glad you brought that up. With carbon fiber, the material Sony uses on that barrel hinge has got to be high quality whatever it may be. I'm hoping its polished or brushed aluminum since the faceplate on the keyboard is some type of brushed aluminum. The more I look at it, the more it appears to look like plastic - the would not be good with carbon.

 

I think the following offer which doesn't require a phonecall is very interesting (at least if you're a student), and probably is the offer one person in this thread was talking about before:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...0151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644568897

Summarized: "One VAIO PC + two accessories + any Extended Service Plan = big savings."

- $200 off any Z and SR
- $150 off any FW
- upto $300 off older models

 

one thing i cant understand is why they are only offering the HD 3650 for the FW in European markets but not in US markets. that seems very odd to me.

 

Standard battery is 6 cells, gives around 6h in stamina mode.
Extended battery is 9 cells, so expect around 9h or a bit less (around 50%).
The other advantage of the extended battery is better airflow to cool down the laptop as the back is slightly raised. I have both batteries on my TZ, and use the standard one most of the time, and the extended one when I go for away for the day.

 

Unfortunately, it's not a mistake, the models discussed in the article are UK models, and like the rest of Europe, there are NO SSD and no Blu-Ray models (which are indeed available in the US), at least for the next few months

The AC/DC adapter with all modern notebooks (and definitely Sony ones) are world adapters, so yes, they will convert any AC voltage (110V in the US, 220-240 in Europe) into the 19.5V DC needed for the Vaio.

You can either use a European cable (one may be included with the US model) for the adapter, or buy a cable (they are standard). There is no need to buy a new adapter. Alternatively, you could get a socket adapter, but that's bulky and inelegant.

On last thing, the Broadband board (WWAN) in the US model (SPRINT) will NOT be compatible with European nteworks (HSDPA), so make sure you don't plan to use this feature or you'll be disappointed. Swapping a US SIM card for a European SIM card unfortunately won't do the trick....

 

If anyone's lookin' for an FW, here's a decent config from the Sony B2B site:

http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGN-FW190EEH

 

can anyone tell me what ram type and brand to get to upgrade a Vaio VGN-SR129E/b with 2 GB ram to 3 or 4

 

Thanks a lot for your reply! But concerning the above issue; I understand the European Z models are expected to come with HSDPA support (instead of this SPRINT thing)? (I haven't seen any European specifications anywhere yet, are there more differences??)

And concerning the usefulness of this feature; of course this depends on personal preference, but would you prefer having a SSD or HSDPA support if you'd be living in Europe. I don't know, I don't think I'll be puchasing such 'Internet, anywhere, anytime access' in the near future anyway. I think Wireless LAN will just do, especially with more and more hotspots appearing everyday. From the other hand, I'll hope this notebook will last me for a somewhat 'longer' future.

Btw; Would it be possible in anyway to still get such 'Anywhere anytime Internet access' in Europe with a US Z model (in case I'd change my mind)? Would there be some workaround?

 

Really ?

 

That sux. Why we can buy new Vaio only in USA with SSD or Blue-Ray I think i'll have to buy this laptop in USA and ship to UK. Im thinking about one with 2.53 CPU, 4GB DDR3 and 2x64GB SSD. He should be fast as hell

 

OMG.

I only just noticed the one thing that's responsible for the crazy $3999 price of the top-notch Z-configuration; that SSD-thing! Customizing you're notebook with the highest capacity SSD (128GB) costs $1320!!!

I do know a bit what an SSD is but really wouldn't be able to 'value' its advantages. Would you experts say that 128GB SSD would be close to 'worth it' (in case the money is available)? Even if it would be somewhat faster, and less noisy/'heaty', wouldn't 128GB (-30GB space needed for Vista software!), be just really small compared to a normal HDD? I'm flabbergasted! Justifying a price of $1200 over the price of the 320GB 5400rpm HDD; man, the SSD must be perfect in every other aspect... :S

 

If you can comfortably afford the SSD option, why not get it? I would have to sell a kidney to afford it and so would wait until SSDs are "reasonably" priced. A 2.5" HDD is fine for me considering I'm used to my 1.8" 4200rpm HDD.

 

Having now had two laptops with SSD, it would be painful to go back to HDD.The problem is capacity, though. That $3999 is cheap because if you price it out separately, it's MUCH more expensive in a CTO. My other issue with the USA configs is you get a bunch of stuff you don't want (at least I don't) which also adds to weight.

 

Check out the Z guts with SSD and DVD:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2008/0716/sony1.htm

Direct pic:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2008/0716/sony1_1.jpg

 

In what way(s) do you really feel an SSD is superior to a normal HDD?

Could you please give examples of what you mean? SPRINT being one of them probably, but others?


BTW: Does anyone know (about) when the Z-models will be released in Europe? Probably not mid-August as well, are they? :'(

 

I don't know where everyone is from, but here in California, USA we actually have SonyStyle Retail Stores (not the online store where you CTO), but anyway, I just happened to call them and I was told they have all Z, SR, and FW on display. She told me that they did not have them for sale yet. I didn't bother to ask her when because I decided to drive down there to take a look for myself and ask my questions. I'm really curious as to the overall design up close and personal and ask questions on some of the issues you all had concerning these rubber protectors and resolutions.

If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, I will post all the information I get from them later when I return. Unfortunately, I'm only interested on The Z, so all my questions will be regarding that model. I'll ask about the hinge, the material of the hinge, this issue with 1600x900, 1366x768, carbon or not, etc. etc., SSD and Bluray why you can't get it together when you CTO.

So for those of you here in the USA, especially West Coast, drive down to SonyStyle Store to take a look at the new line of notebooks, because they are out. At least the Store at South Coast Plaza has them, but you may want to call first to check if they're out at other SonyStyle Stores.

BTW, I doubt the Sony Reps at these store will have info. on questions regarding releases and configurations for models released in Canada, Australia, and Europe.