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

I am exactly in the same situation as you. Located in Europe where the Z comes without SSD or blu-ray. I made the same thinking of you, if I have to spend a premium I want it to have more features possible.
As for the HSDPA is the only issue that can't be solved when you import. US use Sprint and Japan WWAN is usually locked. Check here:
http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=308&osCsid=c243bb187cb18b0be8f325a69887f981
Btw can you access the portableone webpage? I don't understand why I can't. What prices has for the Z?

 

Yea it sucks, doesn't it. Any chance that Conics hasn't all possibilities listed...? Btw, I can access portableone just fine. They have 4 Z configurations listed, please see the attachment.


If someone from Japan (or someone that knows the answer) reads this, I'd really appreciate it if you could give a definitive answer on this subject; Is it possible in any way to get a (Japanese) model with HSDPA support? Maybe by ordering directly from sonystyle Japan? Thanks.

 

Hi guys,
It seems sony has released different Z models for Europe. To be specific, the Z11 .
Unfortunately, none of them comes with bl, ssd and Sony doesn't offer any optionals for them.

visit http://www.vaio.eu/vaio_prohub.html for detailed features.

BTW, I'd like to take advantage of the occasion to say hello to everyone since this is may first post in this forum.

 

Hello!

 

Yeah, we know that. One more thing. Europe models, at least Z models from UK, dont have DDR3 lol?

 

the product spec of Z540 list DDR2.

 

Here jack, I took a picture for you.

 

Thought about trying a different browser? IE/FF/Opera

 

new Vaio BD-R DL Write is only 2X

 

Where in Canada are you from? Is there anyway you can cross the border through Vancouver or Edmonton for the day. That way you have access to retail shops in the US and get your hands on the model of your choice and still get a better deal. Also, I think the State of Oregon or maybe the State of Washington has NO sales tax - so you'll even save a few hundred dollars right there. Something tells me your way in the heart of Canada for you not to consider this.


Also, for those of you in the US, there's some policy where if you purchase other than your state. Let's say, for example, I purchase from a store in State of Florida and I live in State of California. And that store in Florida has no franchise in California, you skip having to pay sales tax. Something to that effect. But you'll need to check with that retail shop to see if your state is entitled.

I "think" (not sure), but Abes of Maine and J and R are 2 places that you can skip paying taxes for the that same reason.

Abes of Maine: Unfortuantely, they only have Apple in inventory...but check later
http://www.abesofmaine.com/itemList.do?group1=Computers&group2=Laptops

J and R: New models Z, SR and FW not out yet...
http://www.jr.com/category/computers/notebooks-and-tablets/n/4294562521-14636/

 

I figured it was 2X. What I posted was for an internal drive for desktops. It was the only Sony model I can look into to figure out the speeds that's why I posted the model number so no one gets confused by that.

What you just posted, is that the write speed for the Blu-Ray on the Z. If so can you post a link or a screenshot? I'm curious to see all of the read/write speeds for all media of Blu-Ray equipped in Sony notebooks - I'm sure it'll be the same at this early stage. Thanks.

 

Geee, I myself was thinking of heading down to washington or even oregon since I live in vancouver, but US warrenty is no good here, and I'd have to come down to the states for repairs. Plus the FW in the states only has the 3470 like in canada, if it only came with the higher ati, maybe I would hit up a sony store in america.

 

Sorry I didn't read it in previous post.

Yes they don't have DDR3 :S. That's another things that makes me think I should wait for new models. I hope there would be high performance Z models for european customers in the months to come.

Does anybody know why sony launches "regional-dependent" models instead of launching the same range of models worldwide?

 

Does anyone know yet what kind of real life performance improvement DDR3 gives the current generation Montevina laptops? I am looking for benchmarks not theories.

PS. i don't believe DDR3 will bring any improvement if used in the current generation Z because it will be clocked at 800mhz. I'd like to be proven wrong.

 

Why is that? I don't understand why a US warranty would not be good in Canada? Rhetorically, how would you operate your notebook differently than someone who bought theres and live in the States. Does not make sense.

Have you inquired? And to whom did you inquire too? Check again directly with the Sony Repair Center. Here's a toll-free number directly to Sony Repair Center in Texas:
1 (866) 357-6230. Keep in mind Sony has different locations for repair to certain products to certain States.

I'm sure there are many tourists who travel the US shopping for electronics and take it home with them, why wouldn't their warranty apply to their purchases when they it get back home with them? Something is wrong, check again and give them that same scenario.

 

Phil, it's 1066Mhz DDR3 for the Z here. Check Sonystyle US for Z configuration options.

 

The FSB of Monetvina is 1066Mhz but the memory is running at 800mhz. As far as I know.

Just like 800Mhz memory on a Santarosa laptop will still run at 667Mhz.

 

800Mhz an improvement over the last gen notebooks that ran at 667Mhz.

The Z in the US is DDR3 which can run at 1066Mhz. I think someone mentioned that the Z in Europe were using DDR2 at 800Mhz.

 

Hi all,

I've been away for a week. Is there any info on the new TZs? I read the bit of this topic I hadn't seen but I may have skim read too fast!

There is a 'coming soon' model on the UK site but that seems to be the old specs. There also seem to be quite a few new models on the US site but wondered if there was any info in one place

 

Centrino 2 processors for ultraportables like the TZ don't launch until the fall, so no new TZ until then.

 

Sure no one will disagree on that.

I agree it can run at 1066Mhz, but I am doubting that it is really running at 1066Mhz. Sony's specs are not convincing me.

What I meant to say earlier: If you install 800Mhz memory on a Sony SZ, it will run at 667Mhz.

Anyway we will find out because I started this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=274975

 

good going phil. lets hope sony's not lying.

 

I don't believe that they're technically lying because it is really DDR3 that is able to run at 1066Mhz.

Besides that, I am pretty sure there is no or minimal performance gain.

"we found no real difference in current performance of DDR2 and DDR3"
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=8
(not the same platform tested but still)

 

TZ ?

What's a TZ?

 

When I bought my MP3 player from the US via JR.com, the warranty only mentions US only on the warranty sheet. And we did have the same exat player here in canada, except 4 gigs max capacity vs the 8 gig model I bought.

The canadian warranty on another mp3 player I bought here says, "this warranty only valid in Canada"

My guess is the US only tag on the other mp3 player refers to the same thing. Therefore I'd have to repair it in the US or claim warranty across the border since it probably would not be taken in here. I tried looking for the warrenty info on the FW on sonystyle.com and it doesn't seem to be up yet.

again going by this thread I get 2 different answers
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=137364

probably is if I ask at the sony store here, he may lie and tell me not covered if I buy from the US, ie so he can get a sale here, or is telling me the truth since it would not be covered. So hard one to know. Another thing is I don't really like buying off websites since if I don't like it and have to ship it back it will cost me money. I prefer brick and mortar stores. Next the closest US sony store is almost 3 hours from me and they may not even have the model I want in stock and driving all the way to seattle or oregon could get pricey with gas being so high now. Any savings on the laptop would be wiped out with the gas I would need to buy in order to get there.

 

thanks for the info phil

 

Here you go (from the final spec sheet for VGN-Z591):

DVD+R DL Write: 4x max
DVD+R Write: 8x max
DVD+RW Write: 4x max
DVD-R Write: 8x max
DVD-RW Write: 4x max
CD-R Write: 16x max
CD-RW Write: 10x max
CD Read: 24x max
DVD Read: 8x max
DVD-RAM Write: 5x max
DVD-R DL Write: 4x max
BD-R Read: 2x max
BD-R Write: 2x max
BD-RE Write: 2x max
BD-ROM Read: 2x max
BD-RE Read: 2x max
BD-R DL Read: 2x max
BD-R DL Write: 1x max
DVD-RAM Read: 5x max
Blu-Ray Disc™ Support: Yes (BD-R/BD-RE/BR-ROM/DVD±R
DL/DVD±RW/RAM)
BD-RE DL Read: 2x max
BD-RE DL Write: 1x max

 

Yep. I tried with IE7 and Firefox but nothing. So, I just installed Opera and still no connection with this website.
All the time I was browsing in the portable one site and know that I want actually to pull the trigger on a laptop I can't enter. Anyway I sent an email to Ivan from PortableOne to check what is going on.
Thanks Tomassi and rahul for the pics of the Z in the site, I see no SSD option eh? Strange...

 

Does anyone know why this Z seems to be black but the Zs for order seem to be grey? Is it just the lighting or something else?

 

lighting. you can see it if you compare the differnt shots at sonystyle.com overall it looks darker than lighter. but perhaps geee can tell us more.

 

Yep. Where is that Sony press site again with those huge pictures.. does anyone know?

 

Somewhere on here, I think.

 

Thanks but I don't think that is the one. I'm not sure but I thought it was Sony UK.

 

it was at sony.jp i am just trying to find it. i found a video, was that posted before?

http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200807/08-0716/

 

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Z1/

click on "reasons of Z"

 

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

ThreeD, haven't seen that video before. Quite nice.

Yeah saw those, Check out the ones from the press room. They're huge.

 

i love the slideshow, very inspiring.

 

what about this vid?

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/MovieChannel/

 

^ new to me too.

Here's a shot of the Z:


(This image has been scaled down to fit your computer screen. Click on it to show it in the original size.)

More images SR/FW/Z: http://news.sel.sony.com/en/image_l...peripheral/notebooks/detail?archive=0&page=12

 

so phil, will you buy one? or wait for better?

 

I have no idea yet. I might be travelling to LA in september so I'll probably wait for that. I've got my eye on Z/SR/SZ or a 13" Xxodd (clevo, pics here).

What about you?

 

Could anyone tell me if it in any way would be possible to get a model from outside Europe with HSDPA support? Maybe through importing from Japan? Do the Japanese models come with HSDPA support?

 

i thought about buying a laptop in the us when i travelled there in jan 08. but i didnt like the thought of a not-german keyboard, warranty issues and smuggeling through the customs...

 

wow, never heard of that one. too bad it has wxga and 2kg but the price is really great.

 

lot of images of Z series, plus SZ vs Z hardware components:

http://scr3.golem.de/?d=0807/Vaio-Z11&a=61069&s=1

BR
Miki

 

It's probably due to lighting. When I saw the Z at the Sonystore, that aluminum piece that looks black in that pic is gray/graphite. And the color is distinguishable from the black carbon. I thought when I saw that same pic, that it would be offered in 2 colors; one resembling the latest SZ (different shades of black), but not the case. Still very nice though...if you decide on it, you won't have to worry about fingerprints as much if that matters to you.

 

I'm afraid the link isn't working for me, anyone else? Its just not loading up, all I see is a white screen, says "Waiting for gwp.nuggad.net".

 

If you decide to come down to L.A. get your Z here, go to Fry's Electronics and try out the Z. You can take it with you and travel with it for 15days - download whatever programs you like, use it however you would usually use it. And later, if you decide to return it because you know of another place where you can get it cheaper, you can return it for a full refund. Just make sure when you return it to reset it back to the way you got it when you first got it out of the box - full recovery. And of course it must be free of scratches; it needs to look like new just as you bought it so it can be resold.

 

Hey guys, the japan site says the Z weighs 1.35kg, can this be true? I thought it was 1.49kg.
http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/trans...are/Zs/index.html&lp=ja_en&btnTrUrl=Translate

If it's true, considering the MBA weighs 1.36kg I think it's pretty embarrasing for Apple (no optical drive, gimped CPU, no discrete GPU, no express card slot, no card reader, soldered-on RAM, 1.8" HDD, lower batter life, basically no ports.
http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html

 

I'm just curious, if it weren't for the HSDPA, would you have really considered buying the US config. Z570N/B for $2349.99 or the one model Z590UAB for $3999.99.

I'm actually considering the one for $2349.99 and I'm hoping it's out on stores next week. Is there anything on the $2349.99 that you didn't like? If so, what? I'm just gonna buy a stick (2GB Ram) so that I have 4GB Ram total.

There's only one thing I hope the stores have in stock and thats a Z model with Blu-Ray Reader for another $150. I figure I can just buy an external Blu-Ray Reader/Writer later with higher read and write speeds.

Here's a PDF of the top 4 Z models for comparison:
View attachment 21294