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

I have Windows Vsta Ultimate X64 and X86, I should have no problem putting it on the Z right?

 

it depends if u will have all drivers for X64

Geeee thank u man! Really nice review!

btw. anyone knows why UK sonystyle store doesn't have Z model? They have SR, FW but no Z :|

and i think on that page -> http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39029450,49298185-1,00.htm is mistake. How UK shops can sell new Z with DDR2?

 

I have been comparing the following pre-configured Z-models: the $2349.99 VGN-Z570N/B and the $3999 VGN-Z590UAB.

1. I noticed (using the 'Comparison Tool' on sonystyle.com) that when you get a Z-model with the 1366 x 768 resolution (like the 570N/B), the screen automatically has "XBRITE-DuraView™ Technology", but that when you get the 1600x900 screen (like the expensive Z590UAB has), it automatically goes with "XBRITE-ECO™ Technology". You can't change this through a CTO.
Is "XBRITE-ECO™ Technology" much more 'beautiful' than "XBRITE-DuraView™ Technology" or is it display quality wise about the same? If so, I think I am convinced to go with the 1366x768. Getting a scratch on your screen would be terrible!

2. Something else I noticed: the ($3999) VGN-Z590UAB has a slightly worse battery life than the other pre-configured models. How come? What's the cause? The higher resolution screen, or maybe the SSD instead of a HDD?

3. Some pre-configured models come with a "Built-in MOTION EYE® camera and microphone", and others with a "Built-in 1.3 megapixel MOTION EYE® camera and microphone". Are all camera's actually the same and is this just a mistake on sonystyle.com or is there really a difference?

4. Of the pre-configured models, the $3999 Z590UAB, is the only one that has "4GB PC3-8500 (2GBx2)". Is it easy to replace a "3GB PC3-8500 (2GBx1 + 1GBx1)" by a "4GB PC3-8500 (2GBx2)" yourself? I could of course go for a CTO order, but some people her have been arguing that the pre-configured models are more durable and should be preferred over CTOs...

 

SSD takes less power than normal HDD. I think he has worse batter life because of: 4GB DDR3, faster CPU and higher resolution.

Well i hope its this same. All SZ models have 0.3 mpix built-in camera, so all new Z laptops suppose to have 1.3 mpix. But im not sure about that one.

 

i'm starting to prefer the Z over the SR...
I was hoping though the Z had a little more lcd breadth.

but it looks more like a quality laptop over the SR (which is pink in those real-life photo, anything other than white or black makes things look cheap imo).

 

thanks for your impressions Geeee. I get one.

How was the screen compared to the TZ?

 

Wow, Geeee... as they say in Orange County, totally awesome job, dude!

Thanks much. Pretty much what I figured. I personally travel very little these days, and I work from home. Therefore the size and weight don't matter quite as much. But, truth is the FW is probably a little too big & heavy anyway.

Any idea which screen that FW had? (XBRITE-ECO or XBRITE-HiColor?) I'm trying to get a feel for how good this XBRITE-HiColor really is. I might want to work outside (very occasionally, though) so I want a very good screen on my next laptop.

By the way, I too prefer a laptop to be around 13 inches (my current is 12.1"). But lately I've been wanting to sit at my desk less and less, and at the kitchen table more and more, so my 20" monitor just sits there unused. Therefore a larger screened laptop has been calling my name.

Didn't I predict that a few pages back?

I'm still unsure about what size to get... but personally, I'm more attracted to the SR overall than the Z. Everyone's different.

 

Probably because of the faster CPU and 2 SDDs vs. 1 HDD.

That is a generalization that is often not true.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-hard-drive,1968.html

 

Hey guys, check this out...

This is (from what I'm guessing) a Sony Vaio product page on the SonyStyle website for Japan. Is it just me, or does it look like something right out of Wii?

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Special/Vom/index.html

 

Hello, I'm French, sorry for my English

I want to take a new laptop and I discovered the Vaio Z serie but I don't know if it' a laptop for me.

I wish a laptop with big battery capacity, for example, watch DivX for 4h
Moreover, this laptop will use in "multimedia and desktop mode".

Can i play with this laptop? If Yes, with what sort of games?

Last question, the Z serie is it make for me?

Thanks a lot

 

The Z's battery capacity is really decent, you can get up to 6 hours with the standard battery. However, I'm not sure how many hours you can get watching movies. I guess 3-4 hours?

I wouldn't be able to say what types of games can be played on the Z. If you're a regular gamer I think you better look for another model, most likely the FW.


Concerning the fact that the US Z-models come with the 'SPRINT-feature' so importing one to Europe is less attractive; I have been thinking about this issue and got my mind made up. I'll just take a US model anyway. 98% of the time I'll be in a hotspot area here in Europe, and I will probably not be purchasing any 'mobile Internet sim-card' anyway in the near future, and in case I would change my mind, I could just get such an external modem stick (e.g. http://www.myceloteh.com/?p=182). Importing a model from the US would save me close to a €1000!

 

Someone here mentioned the other lines from sony would be updated later on in the year, did any of these ever ship with good graphics cards? if no then what are the chances sony could add these:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/18/nvidias-geforce-9700m-9800m-laptop-gpus-get-quasi-official/

new cards to the new currnet line up, FW, Z, SR and BZ?

 

What about Z's 3DMark06 score?
Can I play "Company of Heroes" or "C&C3" on this laptop? On what resolution and graphic settings?
(I need ultraportable, but, also I wanna play some strategy games).

 

I think you would be happier with either the SR or the FW. The SR has the best battery life out of the new pack. The FW is a pretty powerful multimedia that gets about 2.5hr -5 hrs battery life depending on how your using it. You would want the ATI HD3470 for your needs.

 

the nvidia 9300 gets a 1600 on 3DMark06.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=221306&highlight=VX3

The ATI HD 3470 is a better GPU than the 9300, so I would recommend you check out the SR.

 

I'm interested in buying a Sony Z, but I am wondering how the configurations will affect battery life. How much difference would options such as the 2.4GHZ processor vs. the 2.53GHZ processor, 3GB ram vs. 4GB ram, or the screen resolution make?

Thanks for any help!

 

What HDD will perform near the SSD on the Z series? The 200GB 7200 rpm or the 320GB 5400 rpm? Also relating heat, power...etc.
I think I will go with the blu-ray drive and later on upgrade the HDD with a cheaper SSD. Also the RAID what does it mean? Faster than normal 64 GB SSD?

 

It's hard to say since we don't know what specific drives Sony uses.

But generally speaking, the 320GB is the better choice because it performs similar to most 200GB/7200rpm, while being cooler and more quiet.

Unless the 7200rpm/200GB is a Hitachi, because the 7K200 outperforms all 5400rpm drives.

but better not let Sony pick your harddrives, you might end up with some slow Toshiba drive.

 

the the 2.53GHZ processor is from the T9xxx series which use 35W as apposed to the 25W on the P8xxx series (the 2.4GH্Z).

I dont have definate numbers on the others but a higher screen resolution generally takes a little more power.

 

As far as I can see the 2.53GHz available for the Z-models is from the P9xxx series...

 

Thanks for the reply!

However, I'm pretty sure the 2.53GHZ processor in the Z is a P9500, which uses 25W (the P9400 has the same clock speed using 35W, but is cheaper). In this case, would the P9500 (2.53GHZ, 25W) and the P8600 (2.4GHZ, 25W) use about the same amount of power?

 

I would have pre-ordered the SR in a heartbeat, but as most of you know, sony does not offer the option for a Hi-Color LCD. I mean I can live without the HDMI port and blu ray drive, but the lack of a hi-color screen is a dealbreaker for me.

Since I have not yet seen the SR in person, I might be wrong, so all you out there who have seen the SR, how is the picture quality on the XBRITE-ECO lcd ?

 

Actually the ATI HD 3470 gets a 1600 on 3DMark06 too - http://translate.google.com.ua/tran...ty_radeon_hd_3470/&sl=ru&tl=en&hl=ru&ie=UTF-8

 

Is there any performance difference between P9400 (25 watt) & T9400 (35 watt) that are both 2.53. I wish FW came with P9400 option...

 

Note that that benchmark was run with a Sis chipset.

It gets 1933 on Notebook check: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

Well, thx.

 

I'm confused with the 3GB vs 4GB ram issue;

Windows Vista 32-bit doesn't recognize more than 3GB, correct?
However, then some argue that 4GB of ram (2x2GB instead of 2GB+1GB) has the advantage of a 'dual channel'. But I also read that manufacturers say 'we offer 4GB with Windows 32-bit not because its useful, but because the consumers want it'. Now, could someone please give me a final answer. Is there an advantage to having 4GB of ram instead of 3GB with Windows 32-bit? Does 'dual channel' really give an advantage or is this just bull**** / is the advantage close to nil?

 

SP1 recognizes all 4 GB. Vista only uses a max of about 3.2. the remain memory is available for the use of other things like the GPU.

 

Please note that with SP1 Vista indeed 'recognizes' (i.e. 'shows') that you have got 4GB, however, it will not use any more than in case you have 3GB. At least that's what I heard.

Could anyone tell if this is true or not?

 

Vista itself will run a max of 3.2 GB out of the 4 GB. Since it recognizes and therefore addresses all 4 GB, the remaining can be used by other things or so i heard.

 

Vista RTM and SP1 will use the same amount from 4gb, around 3.3Gb. So both versions do use a bit more than 3gb (only around 700mb are "wasted", not a full GB). SP1 display the amount of physical memory installed (i.e. 4GB) while RTM displays the amount of useable memory (i.e around 3.3). As far as I know, you can only have dual channel (i.e. higher memory bandwidth) on the whole memory if both chips are the same size. If you only have 3gb, the system may be able to exploit 2gb in dual channel, and 1gb in single channel, but it's a gamble as I doubt you'll get this information from any rep.

 

This is a very good question. I think you should ask this in the hardware upgrades forum. That way you will get more good answers.

Edit: I've asked here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3636189#post3636189

 

To ur Gaming questions. On the SZ780 I was able to play Crysis on all low very low smoothly. Battlefield 2 I was able to play everything high smoothly. Does that answer ur gaming questions? It should because if the SZ780 can handle it, theres a very good chance the Z can as it has a newer graphics card and CPU.

 

Thanks

Another question,
what would be autonomy of this laptop watching movie with extend battery:

 

well by the review thats out it should play movies really well. Though as a computer it could use some more ram and you can upgrade to the P8600 cheaply

 

Sorry "for laughing out loud", but movies wont really eat much of ur battery. Thats more of a concern for gaming, in which that case yes it will eat off ur battery a fair amount.

 

I think the extra 3MB cache will enhance Photoshop somewhat (10-20%?).

 

Sorry, I don't understand.
I want to know if I can watch movie during 4h for example?
I don't want to play with it.

 

well 4hrs might be stretching it with the standard battery. Your better off getting an extended battery if you want it to last that long.

 

I'm comparing the VGN-Z570N/B with the VGN-Z590UAB (these are the two high-end preconfigured Z-models);

The first one has "Available Graphics Memory of 1370MB (max.)" and "128MB of dedicated video RAM". The latter one comes with "Available Graphics Memory of 1500MB (max.)" and "256MB of dedicated video RAM".

Now my question is, how large is the difference in performance resulting from the above stated differences? Does the Z590UAB really allow you to play far 'stronger' games and other graphical intensive activities?

 

Yes 4 hours watching movie will be possible if the movie is on your harddisk.

Playing the movie from your DVD drive will not work for 4 hours.

 

Is there a list of what accessories are available online that will be eligible for the $200 off? I'm looking on sonystyle and do not see the $19 stylus you speak of, but I'd like to get the two least expensive items possible. Reason I ask is because I can still get the $200 off doing the order online.

 

Canada is really pissing me off now. We got the FW series, and I hope to God we get the firggen Z, knowing Canada, it makes me wonder. Now the FW series we got is only a basic model. Like fkin always, Canada gets things last, and we dont get as many options as US. I mean this is getting really pathetic now. Why less option for Canada? Why??? Stupid man. Anyways I think u guys should be more patient before making ur orders, ur rushing to much into. They havent even posted there stuff accuratly and ordering. I would wait till they are actually ready to order or till Aug. Cuz theres no point rushing as u wont get it till mid-aug anyway!!!

Friggen Canada, cheers

 

Oh and I will NOT and no one should go for the CTO version. Try ur best to stay away from it like I said before they lack quality and all that. You get people putting it together for you where as prebuilt is from the manufacturer. I know this off first hand experience aswell as from others.

 

CTOs are made by sony if you order then from sonystyle. Its made in their factories in California(for the US anyway). Unless your getting a customized one from some unauthorized dealer, your in safe hands.

 

toronto guy I already posted the expected dates for release of the other units in canada, check some pages back, but the Z series is coming, late august, early september.

 

Thanks a lot

I have just go to sonystyle.FR and I can't customize laptop !!!
Can I get the same configuration in France than in US?
If NO, can I order my laptop from sonystyle.com and send it in France?

 

Sorry sonystyle.com won't send it out of the states. Your going to have to buy one of the models available for the series in france. there are some differences between the configurations in europe and the but mostly its the same. the differences vary by series.

You can get a customized version from unauthorized dealers. This however voids the warranty on the product, so not really recommended.

 

Thanks.
The FW serie will be available at the end of july, is it correct?

 

Depends on where you are. Here in Europe it's already in stores. I believe in US too.