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

You're trying hard to find the good side, right? Sony did it again as with many other products...SZ was great business notebook, but it was quite popular among students as well and Sony doesn't like that...because Sony always want to separate classes of products. Now I just think up the case of mobile phone w800i....fist walkman phone with great cybershot camera...how popular phone it was, but from that time they started to separate cheaper walkman phones and more expensive cybershot phones. I feel quite the same with SR....even if someone likes the new design or not, it doesn't look like business NB anymore, where is the stylish black with premium finish? And even if there would be, how it will look like, if your daughter will have the same one in pink?

But still, I believe in Z....fingers crossed.

 

I have good hope we will get some stylish black SRs.

 

Let me put it this way: if you're interested in heavy, heavy gaming, don't buy a Sony product. That's not what it's meant for, and you won't get enough bang for your buck.

That said, I bought an FE in 2007 (Nvidea Go 7600) which can play COD4 on relatively high settings with a reasonable FPS. But again, you're not going to get much gaming out of a Sony laptop. If that's your focus, stick to Alienware, Falcon NW, Voodoo, etc.

 

I was hoping the Sony FW series would come with the P9500 2.53Ghz. processor (same as T9400, comsumes less power) and an ATI HD3870 512MB as an option...

 

Got some insider info today from my nephew who sells notebooks at Best Buy. A Sony rep told him a few days ago that the new notebooks will incorporate screens with a much wider color gamut...this bodes well for Blu-ray playback. Sony will be announcing these new screens as a major feature of the new notebooks. I'll bet the FW is going to simply look awesome when playing Blu-ray. Let's hope they also include some decent speakers and subwoofer.

I've got my nephew on a mission to dig up more info so let's hope for some availability, pricing, and configuration data in the next few days.

 

Let us know about anything that comes up...
Also, the FW series has the T9400 2.53Ghz.(35W)as an option. Do you think they'll offer other option, like the P9500 2.53Ghz. (20-25W)? The P9500 has the same speed. It just uses less power, thereby increasing the battery life.

 

Yup. I was aware of these 2 CPUs and power differences. I'll bet P has lower yields than T and will be more expensive so we'll probably see T offered first. If so, the 2.4Ghz P8600 may be a good compromise (I sure want that 6MB cache though).

 

Every FW comes with P type CPU's. The topmodel FW comes with P9400 2,53Ghz and ATI HD3650.

The reason why it's mentioned as T type CPU is that the new naming of Intel is still not officially announced, and Intel does not allow the name to be used.

 

German data sheets for FW11 and SR19 series:

FW11 SR19

 

Nice as a such (still prefer he SZ) but there is something I don't understand.

Wouln't an L2 Cache of 6MB allow for faster/better calculation than an 3MB one?

Because thats what the SR got according to has Data Sheet.

And 1,9kg - I'm wondering, did they use their magnesium alloy to manufacture the "casing" rather than carbon fibre??

Due to the XP downgrade, it runs either Vista Business or Ultimate - then the TPM and fingerprint, so is this a halfhearted business laptop?

I mean, the SZ is quite obviously designed as a business laptop,although its a bit powerfull for that and would do well with more battery life.

So is the SR meant for all the people who want to claim to own a business notebook?? (But don't want to/can't afford one)
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me...

 

Very good find. Thanks for your effort. Rep +1.

___FW ___________ SR ___

 

In theory yes, in reality there will be very few application that will really benefit from 6MB vs. 3MB cache.

Based on the price, weight and looks i think it is fair to assume this laptop is not made of carbon fibre.

 

I think that it is good to see a variety of colour options. I think though that the SR might be priced a bit to high if it is really meant to be aimed at the consumer market. Some of the features of this notebook do not suggest that it is aimed at the consumer market. These will retail for about £1,000 pounds in the UK. In order to compete with the M1330 and the MacBook they really should be priced around £800-£1,000 max. They should offer a stripped down version without the LED screen.

I bought a 10.6 notebook for my niece recently but i am a bit worried that it might be to small and a bit to underpowered for her so i interested in the pink SR model and a couple of other models right now.

The current magnesium models weigh 1.93kg but they don't come with the LED screen like the SR magnesium models do.

 

At the current pricing the cheapest SR model would be about £950.

A comparable M1330 with Santa Rosa, good CPU, 6cell and a LED screen, would come at almost £900. Add some money for the Montevina update and I think Sony's pricing look very competitive.

 

The silver SR doesn't say anything to me...Better the classic black. Is not strange that we have all these info on the FW and SR and of the Z series nothing? 10 days more for the Montevina release!

 

i think the 6MB cache would make vista itself run better...nagging background programs. And I have to agree that the marketing price looks pretty good especially when you consider its upgrading to Montevina and the other changes that come because of that.

Also the difference in quality (build, screen, look, etc) over dell should help out sony's business.

 

I don't think so. Programs in the background need RAM. As far as I know only programs that depend heavily on calculations (like scientific programs) really benefit from the extra cache.

But i could be wrong here, if anyone knows please post.

Yeah man I hear you. Maybe Z series is so special that Sony really wants to keep it a secret. Their secret weapon. I am especially curious about the weight.. will it be a MBA/X300 competitor?

 

I don't think so. If you compare the specs:
MBA/X300: LV cpu, integrated graphics
VAIO Z: standard cpu, dedicatded (+ integrated) graphics
you'll see, that the VAIO will be heavier. I think it will be as heavy as SZ premium.
I suppose we don't know much about the specs because it will be released a bit later than FW/SR.

 

The datasheets for the maxed out FWs show they are packing 4200 rpm 300GB drives (Fujitsu I presume). If true, that is patently ridiculous. Hopefully, it's a mistake and it's really the new Fijutsu 7200rpm drive.

 

PhilFlow is correct - don't confuse cache memory with RAM. The cache memory is not for storage (think about it - what good is an extra 6 MB gonna do you?), it's for "caching" as the name implies. The memory cache helps increase the performance of RAM read/write operations by pre-loading certain parts of RAM into the cache memory (which is relatively small, but extremely fast to read/write to).

A larger cache primarily benefits programs that need fast access to large amounts of memory like image / movie processing and games. What a cache doesn't help is calculation intensive but low-memory tasks.

Basically a cache increases the CPU's performance in high memory bandwidth situations, mainly encountered in multimedia tasks.

P.S. Personally I really like the new look of the SR, at least in the circuit city pics (the pictures of the pink one were ugly, but that's because of the color). Very minimal, clean design (no frills that only get annoying later), sleek, and functional / practical. Great keyboard, generous touchpad, and what I expect will be an excellent screen.

 

The whole idea of cache memory is to increase expense slightly but decrease average memory access time significantly. Say it takes 10 clocks cycles for the cpu to access something in RAM, 6 cycles to access Level 2 cache, 3 cycles to access Level 1 cache, and one cycle to access internal registers. Now, if you can say what percentage of memory accesses will be satisfied by each of these levels of storage, you can calculate an average access time. Of course, RAM must be loaded from disk, but once the program is launched, this has probably been done, unless you're using virtual memory, in which case the average access time will be increased by percentage of accesses that must be loaded from disk. Cache, too, must be loaded, and since it's smaller than RAM (L1 will be smaller than L2, as well), its contents will likely change frequently in the course of program execution.

Complicated strategies have been invented to manage the use of cache, but by and large, one can say that it all works on the principle(s) of locality. When a memory access cannot be satisfied by cache, it comes from RAM, but some number of other nearby items will be fetched from RAM into cache along with the needed one, on the assumption that they'll be needed soon. So cache miss costs can be amortized over several accesses that will "hit" because their targets were loaded along with the "missed" item.

Generally, there are only broad ways to answer a question like, "how much will this much cache gain me over a smaller amount on a faster processor?" It depends on the applications you run. Some apps - say, graphics or games - are engineered to run more efficient special purpose instructions than, say, a word processor might. This can gain you significantly over and above concerns about cache size.

The best way to answer such questions is to measure performance of the desired apps on particular machines. That said, more and faster is usually better.

Courtesy of Tom from MacForum, I just copy/paste his words

and here is another interesting link from Anandtech 6MB cache vs 3MB cache:
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3246&p=12


BR
Miki

 

Why are they still using Bluetooth 2.0 when 2.1 has been out for a long time?

 

Not only that, but the FW series will also have 3GB DDR2-SDRAM 800Mhz. Where's the DDR3-SDRAM 1066Mhz.?
The FW series does not look good at all:
1. slow hardrive (4200 RPM!)
2. old RAM
3. insufficient GPU (for gamers)

Sony has truly dissapointed us here!
Just look at the Acer 6920 Gemstone Blue (with a 16.4" screen). A cheaper company recently released a notebook with better specs and a cheaper price! I definitely hope that the FW series specs will change when they're announced on July 14!

 

1. Yes I agree, if it's true it would be a strange choice.

2. 800 Mhz RAM is normal for Montevina. The FSB is 1066Mhz.

3. For gamers FW is not the best choice. No surprise there.

 

No LED-screen for the FW either..

What are the chances the Z will get a LED screen?

 

Unless they provide easy access for hard drive upgrade, 4200 rpm is a deal killer for me (I've recently switched my interest from SR to the FW). I might be in luck though since US models are showing 320GB instead of 300 meaning Western Digital, Seagate, or Hitachi, i.e. 5400 or 7200.

To be honest, I think the datasheet is wrong.

 

Well, I can't read German very well but the datasheet is saying something a new screen technology, maximum color (this would be the wide color gamut I heard about) and X-black. So these screens may be killer even without LED.

 

The SZ had an LED screen... (at least Top-modell), it is aimed at business people. If the Z is aimed at the same sort of custumers, it will have the same screen, especially when looking at the price tag.

So unless Sony recieved negative feedback its most likely going to have an LED screen.

At least thats how I see it.

 

If I remember correctly x-black has been around for quite a while...

So do they use the same name for slightly different technologies??

 

I'd give it a 99.9998% chance that it will have an LED backlit screen. Dunno about whether it will be standard or not, but for sure, LED will be optional at the very least.

Its supposed to be a cutting edge notebook, theres no way it wouldn't have an LED backlit screen.

 

Ok, this may be a dumb question, but I forgot the answer and somehow can't find it either;

When will the Z series be released? Will it be the 15th of July as well?

 

Nobody knows yet.

They may - however the general consensus is that it will be released in August..

But we'll see.

 

Well, I can . FW was never meant to be with LED display. Like whole Fx series (FS, FE, FZ) it has enhanced Dual Lamp technology reproducing almost 100% true color (FZ was about 90% color reproduction, hence the enhancement).

As for "old" memory, you cannot name 800MHz RAM old, actually it's quite fast!. If we check Sony's history (SZ or FZ series) one can notice that Sony has many iterations every few months (SZ11, SZ21....SZ61, SZ71 and respectively FZ11, FZ21, FZ31). So my guess would be that Sony will definitely introduce 1066MHz RAMs at some point or offer them as a part of customization. Same goes for HDD, I agree that nowdays 4,200 rpm is lame (default should be 5,400) and those with max spec. should have 7,200, but again Sony will offer this as a part of customization.

BR
Miki

 

Of course will have! Sony's S1 series (SZ was successor of S1) was last 13.3" screen with single lamp technology, and then sony went for LCD screens in so called sub-notebooks category (13.3" and 11.1")

SR is already announced with LED, and now (seeing its spec.) I am definitely sure it's replacement for CR series (with reduced screen, packed with features). IMO Z series will be true replacement for SZ series.

BR
Miki

 

Like I said, Sony computers are not meant for gaming. That's why they have the Playstation. Hell, I once owned an NV-series that couldn't even play games. The screen refused to change resolution.

 

Thanks for clarifying, Miki. Hopefully, the FW screen will be better than the other F models which I found lacked contrast.

I got some availability info from my Best Buy nephew-salesman for FW139 and FW140....Sunday, July 13. He wasn't sure if that means they'll be on store floors or available to order from their website. But that was a firm date.

The SRs don't show in their computer yet.

Wish we knew someone at SonyStyle to see when CTOs will begin.

 

In reference to the Z as "a cutting edge notebook". I really hope it will. But how sure are you that it will be edgy? After looking at those pics on the SR, I really thought that that particular model would be cutting edge as well, but from the looks at one of the posts, its not. I just hope Sony is not skimming on design and quality.

I have an SZ750/Carbon and will be getting rid of it soon for the Z, but I hope that I don't regret selling my SZ and later find out that the Z looks as tacky as the SR. I'm trying to hold off selling it until I see actual photos of the Z.

WHERE ARE THE Z PHOTOS!!!, ANYONE?

 

I have no doubt that the Z will have a LED screen.

 

I think I am gonna skip buying a M1330, LG P300 or something else.

I am looking for a portable 13' which as much horse and graphics power as possible. And I like Sony as a brand, and I think they got sexy laptops.


I just hope X4500 from AMD, will be good. I am scared that it will incompatible with many games and programs, since everrything these days are optimized for Intel and Nvidia products. Its like AMD/ATi have died or something!

 

So the FW will NOT have a LED screen. If that’s the case that sucks!! The CCFL'S get dimmer the more you use them, and you have to wait a bit before they reach full brightness!!

For god sake Sony, The new screen size 16.4” but keeping to the old CCFL technology, Dell M1530 has LED so why not Sony !!?

 

X4500 is the new integrated graphic froms Intel, and it's not suited for gaming. Roughly 3 times the performance of Intel X3100.

The top model from SR will have HD3470 with 128MB dedicated.

 

my 2 year old sony vaio sz has recently gone kaput. do you guys think i'll be ok purchasing the latest sz or would i be wiser to wait until one of the unreleased ultra portable lappies come out?

 

Depends on whether you like the SZ.
If you love it, get it, it'll probably be powerfull enough.

I got an SZ about 1,5 to 2 weeks ago - and I wouldn't want anything else.

 

well i'd say i was just short of being in love with my old one so it looks like i'll be buying another, i was just concerned they'd be releasing something to rival/replace it

 

Both SR and Z could be interesting. Have a look at the first page if it appeals to you. SZ is a very nice laptop but prices will go down when the new models arrive in 3 weeks time.

 

They are, the Z series is replacing the SZ series. PhilFlow is correct, expect to see good SZ deals now and in the near future.

 

How come you can't use it after only 2 years your SZ?No way to fix it?

 

What happened to your SZ after just 2 years? I too have an SZ and I'm waiting to get rid of it as soon as the Z is out. I would wait. I'm sure if you didn't like the Z, you could still get an SZ if you wanted, there's so many of them around if you look online. You may regret on getting another SZ after you see the Z. I imagine it's going to look truly awesome.

 

What's up with this LED? My SZ is LED so are you guys saying that most computers screens are LCD? I can't tell and see the difference. I have an older 4 yr. old Sony (LCD) and an SZ (LED) and I've played DVD's and the resolution looks the same. What up?

 

LED refers to the backlight behind the LCD screen. Your older Sony probably uses a CCFL backlight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlight

Resolution does not have anything to do with the backlight.

Differences between LED and CCFL are usually seen in the level of maximum brightness, LEDs are often brighter. LED backlights use less power, resulting in longer battery life.