New Vaio F Model

I definitely belive there will be new AW vaio with core i7 i8 ...
but in 2010 and I think sony they will change AW to AY,AX or AZ and that will be TOTAL HIGHEST END FROM vaio Laptops

Hey Guys if there are somebody with vaio AW series you can talk and ask

Just what I can see only vaio Z questions are here .. I actually didn't open this thread here wil be discuss about vaio Z series only .. if somebody wants to talk about vaio z go to official vaio z thread ..

 

They probably will have i7 upgraded models for the AW and the like. Can't imagine Sony will be the only major laptop maker without i7 offerings.

 

They're not.

i7 CPUs are not that special right now in the laptop industry. I'd rather Sony work on other things than how to squeeze an i7 CPU in their laptops.

 

I hope they're working on a FW series update to release it soon, I've been thinking of getting one but everytime I check www.sonystyle.com there are less options to configure to order and pre-configured.

 

Agreed. I have been eyeing an FW series CTO too but the only optical drive available for the past 2-3 weeks is a CD/DVD drive. How lame is that, especially after putting in all the bells and whistles, including a 1080P resolution screen ? At the very minimum it has to be a Blu-ray burner, which was readily available till very recently in the FW-CTO series.

I have no intention to splurge on such a laptop with a CD/DVD drive, in this day and age.

 

I have the HP envy and if you get one with a good screen (mine has horizontal lines that hp swears are not there) it is a great laptop.

the Envy does not get that hot with the latest bios updates,

the battery will last you about 2 hours, if you use the slice batttery you can get a solid 5 hours of heavy use.

It does not have a built in optical drive ( actually not a problems since it comes with a great usb drive) This is why it is thinner than the FW

It does support dual Intel 160gb SSD drives.

It does support 16gb ram

it does have the i7 and as pointed out the thermal cost is not as bad as many of the c2d processors.

But like i said earlier I find the screen unusable with the horizontal lines in them.

i am now looking at a FW as a temporary replacement until either the i7 refresh processors with lower tdp ratings. usually that is about 18months after primary launch.

cheers,
John.

 

Eagle,

Thanks for posting your last comment which happens to be about what’s on my mind. I currently use and love my Sony Vaio AR790U/B. I’ve been using Vaio’s since 1998, nearly a new one every year or 2. I jumped over to HP once and the heat on the palm rest was too much for me to handle.

I am going to keep my AR as a 2nd PC but I’d like a new primary PC that is a bit smaller than my AR (17” 8lbs). I thought about getting a fully loaded FW last year but it seems the specs have changed on Sony style. Less options and the 2 colors I wanted are now gone (Glossy black or white). I like and want style as much as I want performance and that’s why Sony has got my business so often over the years (there was a year or two, when Sony had nothing but ugly designs; 2004ish).

So I like the design of the FW series but the specs of the HP Envy 15 Beats is by far much better and future proof (as much as can be in tech) with 16GB RAM possible. I really like the sleek design of the Envy (the glossy black beats edition) and my only concern currently is the heat issue which I had for a minute after upgrading my AR to windows 7. I don’t want to deal with a palm surface that is too hot to type on. What to do? Wait for a new FW like Sony series or new FW specs? Jump ship for an Envy? Keep loving my AR and wait for something new?

Ash

 

Sony still has the black option for the FW. The only colour option that's gone is the white but they did introduce the new all black with chocolate brown FW which looks absolutely amazing. I would suggest you get the FW but don't get a laptop that's "future proof" because there's no such thing.

It all depends on what you do with your laptop. Do you really need 16 GB of RAM? 4 GB is more than enough for laptops these days (again, depending on what you do). Same with the current Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, they are more than enough for consumers.

I'm pretty biased towards Sony but lets face it, you know they're good and problems are few and far in between. HP... I'm skeptical...

 

Wolf04,

I agree! I love Sony notebooks the way some people love macs.

Isn't the current black a matte finish rather than the former gloss finish? After 3 and 1/2 years with glossy black AR series, I'm still in love with this look. I agree about future proofing but adding more RAM could be a benefit down the road. I really just want something sleek, powerful, good looking with a 15” to 16” screen.

Speaking about Sony colors, I really don’t understand why Sony, HP and others, keep on bringing out high end machines with designs/patterns, splashed across the lid. Most people who can afford higher end machine are adults and this is one adult who doesn’t want patterns on my lid.

BTW' for years now I've checked the Sony Style page just about every month or two. What I've noticed is that, just before new models or a refresh come out, the options and model choices start to become less and less.

 

Exactly. And that is precisely what I am hoping for. That they are about to announce replacements for the FW and the AW series.

The FW CTO no longer offers even a BD playback, let alone a BD burner. They don't even show "out of stock"....the options have just disappeared - which means a new model is just around the corner.

 

I usually check out the Canadian site since I'm in Canada but I just wanted to see the options available in the US and everything is on sale for the FW.

In Canada, they still offer the grey colour and BD read/write option and at MSRP, no sale here. Who knows, maybe the FW is due for another refresh.

 

The current FW is very nice but my AR is also nice still. And even though that black Envy 15 beats edition looks good inside out; I'm going to just hold off and keep my eyes open because I agree with Roweraay; new sweet Sony's have to be on the way.......

I think I'm going to start checking Sony Japan site as I think I remember first seeing the AW on the Japan site just before the press started to talk........

 

BTW' my name is Ashton and I'm new to posting here. Hope to be visiting often. Nice to meet you guys!

 

Checked again (US Sonystyle) and the BD playback/RW option is still missing from the FW CTO. The FW may be on sale but without the BD RW option, I personally will pass.

 

just to clarify from my other post,

I use photo shop and use anyware from 4 - 8gb ram while editing. I also like the option of using a ram drive for scratch disk to use for processing speed.

the i7 processors have new features to make the processors much more effecient in most situations. That being said I think the i5 mobile processors will be just fine with lower tdp rating than the current mobile i7s. This is what I think sony and apple are waiting for.

a newer video card with support for photoshop acceleration in a new system would be nice.

all said I think there are some good reasons for a refresh and from what I have read in the sony forum compared to the dell and hp forums I think I wold be very happy with a new fw or aw.

I would have purchased a lenovo w700ds but it is just too big an bulky for me. even the giant aw is still portable even though it is still heavy that doesn't bother me that much since I use a netbook for light travel anyway.

I will pobably use this envy for a while until the new vaio line comes out then I will be one of the first to move to it... money is not really an object since the laptop plays such a big role in my business.

so just to be on record I have the envy and though I can use the extra memory and processor I would not recomend this laptop to anyone as it is still filled with bugs.

 

But as withall new sony products you pay ridiculously high premium for a tiny % increase in processing power.The new chips will be keep intels shareholders happy and will be great in the new AW but the 32nm i7 chips wont offer much performance advantage early on in its product cycle anyway so why cough up the premium?

Another problem that Sony should address for CES is the lack of competitive premium laptops that the vaio range with top quality components that they excelled at years ago. Unless you're a professional with infinite cash who blows $1500+ on an average spec vaio most buyers look elsewhere.
They need to concentrate on the core/mid range offering bluray across the range and a competitive premium 15-16 inch notebook, the spec and price of the $750 Samsung R620 would be the best example .

 

The things is, the theoretical gains in an i7 over an Dual Core, QuadCore are quite high - same for an i5 if it has the turbo mode - the on die GPU is quite powerful too - beats the X4500 and is pretty much on par with the integrated NVidia cards - it depends on usage in the end, but you can be sure it won't be a step down.

Also - the price is pretty stable.
The first SZ had cost 2500€ in the top model - the last SZ has cost 2500€ in the top model - there was a short space when the top model was 2800€ - I think it was the SZ3 - but else, pretty constant.

So on the premise of price - if you are willing to pay more than 3000€/$ as roweraay is (guess at price) then a small premium - 200/300$ may be very much worth it fro future proofing - my guess is however, if Sony uses the new processors, they will incorporate them in the same models, thuse keeping prices constant.
If they release new models prices could increase.

On the other hand - the new processors might result in some decent competition from other manufacturers.

 

Anybody know if there's a chance of an FW update on the way?

 

Going by the discounts being heaped on the FW series, and also the fact that it continues to plod on with ancient DDR2-800 RAM, I would wager that a replacement is just around the corner. Probably with higher specs (better memory, better processors etc) and the same price.

 

The new Vaio laptops will be coming out on January 9, 2010. Check out this

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=FDD&um=1

 

Boo, that's almost at the end of CES.

 

Well, the fact that the link was talking about CES 2009 probably deserves more booing... Happy New Year, guys and gals.

 

If there is a refresh or a complete replacement of FW, I hope Sony do away with ECO screen and only offers HiColor screen at both 1600x900 and 1920x1080. I have been spoiled with HiColor screen and wouldn't buy any laptop which screen is less pretty than HiColor.

 

From the other thread:

 

First picture of the new VAIO F. Thx @ Phil & Resinman
http://www.cld.gr/index.php?page=sh...keyword=vaio&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=178

 

Another VAIO F (black):

http://www.cld.gr/index.php?page=sh...keyword=vaio&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=178

 

Thanks for the pics!

I remember when I used to have the FW and wished there was an all black option.

 

Cool thanks for the links! Can't wait to see the price.

 

What is that?! That looks horrible. How can Sony go from FW to this monstrosity? Hopefully my FW lasts long enough for the successor to the F series.

 

The picture is rather unclear, so I would wait with passing a final judgement

 

I am sure the new F will look alot better in official high resolution press pics.

 

Sure but I can tell you the official press pics won't make much of a difference. The numeric keypad alone ruins the whole design of the laptop.

 

i dont see whats so evil about the keypad

 

Yup, exactly as I surmised. The new F series comes with DDR3-RAM as I expected.

 

that's the old add for when the Vaio P series came out

 

I tried all the links and while some of them are loading, none of the pictures are. Could someone please post pics of the upcoming FWs? It would be really appreciated. Thanks!

 

Here are some new pics of the F-Series:





Specs (VPC-F11Z1E/BI):

Intel Core i7-720QM (with Intel Turbo Boost)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM
500GB HDD (5400 rpm, SATA)
BD-RE Blu-Ray Disc/DVD±RW DL/RAM
VAIO Display Premium 16.4" Full HD (1920x1080)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M (1 GB VRAM)

 

Thanks so much for the pics. Wow. Those look like AWs to me.

 

It looks more like the CW, especially with the palm-rest design. Either way, I don't know why Sony wanted to squeeze in a numeric keypad on the F, it just looks out of place. On the AW, it looks because the size and space of the laptop allows but not so much on the F.

And now it seems Sony stopped using ATI videocards altogether and decided to go with those crappy Nvidia cards. I'm curious to see the temperatures on the F.

 

I'll need to see it in person before I pass judgement. Were people asking for a numeric keypad? I don't seem to need one.

As for the switch from ATI to Nvidia, I'm not too surprised. Sony had a preference for Nvidia in the past. Maybe Nvidia's problems are behind them? Anyway, it will probably be a good seller for Sony just like the FW.

I'm still looking for a travel/backup notebook so maybe a refreshed Z with a Core i5-520M might be the ticket? Actually, if I got that refreshed Z, it would have better graphics performance with its Nvidia GT 330M than my FW with its ATI 4650.

 

Nice specifications, It looks like bland business oriented FW rather than a multimedia desktop replacement.

 

are there any extras such as maybe a backlit keyboard?

 

i kinda like the look of the new Vaio F, it has a minimalist design.. NOT bad at all.

any idea when this sucker will be going on sale?

 

lets wait for it to be announced first

 

That's the best way to describe it. The FW is nice and sleek with a distinct style, which can easily become part of your living room and your entertainment system. This F looks like a boring Thinkpad which I would hide from people. I guess it's F for "FAIL"...

 

Let's wait till we see pictures of the other color.

 

yeah

cuz, its not too different from the current FW depending on how you look at it

 

Not sure if this was posted before:

 

Yay they finnaly have numeric keys. I always use an external keyboard but I think it makes it look way better now, finaly you got a look of the nice aw series witouth the big size.

edit: I hope those specs aren't correct, a 5400 rpm hard drive in 2010? comon sony...you know we want 7200rpm, this is not the stone age.

 

I think hard disk RPMs are not that important with 8GB of RAM. Especially if you are running linux (like I am/will be), most of the memory will be used as disk cache so drive speed is not that important. In addition, it should be possible to also specify a different hard disk from this default one when ordering.

Cheers
Erik

PS. Can't wait for the F11Z1E... my A215M (jan 2005) that I am using to post this message is getting a bit old (one of the hinges is broken already).