New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

I certainly wish it did ! No, of course not. But even the 1899 version is pretty full featured, including a 128GB raided quad-SSD, blu-ray player and the 1600x900 screen etc.

If you need a full-featured but cheaper 13" screen among the Sony Vaio products, then you might as well look at the 13.3" Magnesium-alloy S-series, which will come in at a significantly cheaper price (than the Z) at the expense of some extra weight etc.

 

At least in the US, yes, it will only come in 1600x900 (as per the information we have currently). But don't know if the lower resolutions would be available via the CTO process in the US and in other markets like Japan and the EU.

 

Of course not .

For 1899 you get something like this:

Core i5-520M 2.40Ghz (Turbo Boost 2.93Ghz) 4096MB 128GB SSD DvDRW+DL WiFi NIC Bluetooth FingerPrint Webcam Microphone 13.1" WXGA Xbrite nVidia GeForce GT 330M 1024MB Dedicated Windows 7 Professional (Made In Japan) Premium Carbon

Also keep in mind, Sony has not yet confirmed GT 330M although machine presented on CES had it.

 

1366X768 is available in Japan for the old Z. For new version we will just need to wait and see.

 

Thanks very much

I just updated the post to include two more unknowns: does it have USB 3 like the new HP Envy, and does it have the multi-touch trackpad of the new Y and S series?

I am pretty confident it should have the multi-touch, as it would be crazy for Sony to have it on lower tier models and not the Z. As for the USB 3, I'd say the motherboard design would require it, and if they weren't touting it at CES then it seems unlikely.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5714582&postcount=333

 

It's not a native way. By doing this you then have big text font and small windows/images

 

I doubt they touted anything much about the new Z, other than the fluff stuff like Aluminium keyboard base and outer casing and some rough overall specs. I personally would not put anything past the Z, as far as equipment is concerned. Nobody who actually visited CES actually did a decent job in doing some digging into the Z model that was freely available on display at the Sony stand. And now we are having to speculate on what it does and does not come with. Pity !

I would not be surprised to find that the new Z came with DDR3-1333 RAM (even though the current crop of Z processors won't be able to fully utilize it), USB 3 and some other things that will remain unique to the high-end Z line.

Also in your list, if the US version comes with Verizon wireless, it automatically means it will be locked, right ?

 

I doubt it will have usb 3.0.

 

Could be. But I would not be surprised if Sony equipped the Z-series in particular, with USB 3.0.

 

(DPI scaling)

In one word: No.
Starting with Windows Vista, DPI scaling scales both text and everything else for apps that aren't high-dpi-aware (if they are, they are expected to scale correctly themselves).

 

I believe Nixon, a NBR member here who works at Sony confirmed the Z will come equipped with the nvidia 330m GT?

 

After looking over the different specs Drvec posted, it seems all New Z's will have premium carbon. Do you think this lid is the same premium carbon that's on the current Z, and is now standard on the New Z - this would be great? I/m guessing the Glossy Carbon is now the New Premium Carbon Design for the New Z. This Premium Carbon didn't quite reflect that on the YouTube Video (1min.25secs.)

 

well, that's enough for me.

 

dang, i think i should hold off buying a laptop until sony releases this laptop, although the lack of usb3.0 is disappointing..

 

If this had a 335m I'd be sold; the difference between a 330m and 335m is pretty large - 48 vs 72 pipes.

 

Well... On the Sony site they are talking about i5 and i7 processor, keyboard part made of one piece of aluminum, automatic graphic card switch but GPU model is no where to be found. I mean, it's the biggest improvement in z specs, regardless if somebody relay need it or not and yet no word about it

Also preliminary review are inconsistent. You can find reviews mentioning 310M,330M some even saying 9300 GS. From that I can only conclude they don't have a clue about it.

On top of that not one promoter said anything about it. If you ask me punch line for new z should be "i7+330M=1.4kg(3 pounds)" not "keyboard made of one piece of aluminum" that's punch line for MacBook Pro

Maybe they want to surprise us and acuity put 335M in the new Z

 

Isn't the Nvida 330m 128bit-bus? Wouldn't that mean a bigger die (and more heat) in the allready cramped chassis? Even the new range of the bigger S series (13.3) only have 310M (smaller 64bit-bus).

Was checking Sony Japan website and still only lists the old VGN-Z93 models.

 

Z and TT are not refreshed in today's official refresh, apparently. On the other hand, it looks like the new S can only go up to GT310M while Z, CW, and F all get GT330M option.

 

There was a screenshot from a device manager of the new Z from CES on impress.jp. This site was always the best for the newest info about Sony. Also, there is no doubt we can trust Nixon's information.

 

I'm likely jumping ship to Lenovo in favor of the W510, but I've compiled a matrix with most of the Nvidia data points. The data came from Nvidia, Wikipedia, NotebookCheck.net and other places. It helped me make sense of Nvidia's absolutely insane model hierarchy.

Let me know if you can help fill in the blank slots.

Nvidia Matrix
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43563&d=1263783827

 

Yes I saw that screenshot, actually I was using it as proof when telling the others about GPU on new Z.

If Nixon is reliable source, then I don’t understand Sony at all. Why are they keeping quiet about it?

 

Other than the GPU, did the screenshot indicate anything else ? Any other screenshots on the USB type, RAM type etc ?

I agree that it is pointless for Sony to be keeping quiet about it, other than create speculative posts around the internet. Either way, at this stage in the game, the specs are all set in stone - so why keep it concealed any longer ?

 

Nope...


I believe the lack of information is because Sony doesn't believe it's important. When I was buying previous Z from Japanese Sonystyle site, there was some very nice presentation with all the design aspects and cool new screen etc. The info about the graphic card was written in tiny letters in the ordering form. As Sony is not computer company, they take the computers as any other products they sell.

 

Ordered a CTO S-Series about 2 weeks ago and it was meant to be built by today and it's not, there is a sales block on any Series-S in the UK and I was told it may be a few weeks before this is available for purchase.
I wonder if the new S-Series and the new Z will be both available at the same time..or whether the delay of my CTO is just because it's a CTO and not a ready made model.

 

So basically they think I will be tempted to shell out 2000+ euros based on story about keyboard lid made from one piece of aluminum .

No wonder we don't have any decent video reviews from CES.

 

Maybe their reasoning is that the underlying CPUs, the RAM, the USB ports, the HDDs etc are all common across the board, whether one is buying a Lenovo or Dell or HP or any of those other budget models or whether one is buying a Sony.

The thing that differentiates a Sony (or an Apple) are the finer design aspects and some higher-end features like a 1600x900 screen in a 13" laptop or the availability of a built-in blu-ray burner in a 13" laptop that weighs 3 lbs and so on......and that may be what they are trying to emphasize.

Unfortunately, we as buyers, generally are aware that the Z is a great product overall with a lot of whiz-bang design aspects tied to it and now want to get to the un-important underlying specs.

 

I agree that if they put a 335M GT it will be much more appealing. In fact, it's hard to pay 899 USD more over the Allienware M11X to have a much slower GPU.

 

Does the Alienware have a 1600x900 screen, with a built-in Bluray burner optical drive, while weighing in at 3 lbs ? If not, then I might as well buy a y-series Vaio.

The Z is not about bieng used as a gaming machine. You can always find a couple of knick-knacks here or there in a budget machine where one specific spec here or there is better than what is outfitted in the Z. But is the overall package that makes the Z what it is - a true executive laptop.

 

I doubt the Z will be coming out any time soon. Sony just released their Spring lineup here in Japan, and the new Z is nowhere to be found (just about every other notebook they released is up). People on 2ch are guessing that it will hit the Summer lineup instead.

 

I don't need a bluray burner and I don't know why anyone including an executive would need one. The good news is that you can configure and remove that to save money. But even that way it won't be cheaper than 1899, wich lead us to the same affirmation, it should have at least a GT335M, or at least it as an option.

According to Sony Site the release date is 8 february.

 

Sorry, you just don't get the purpose behind a product like the Z. Let me reiterate, why would an executive need a GT335M ? Play games in the boardroom ?

I personally would not buy a product, in 2010, that did not come with a built-in bluray burner. I have lived with machines in the past, where the machine itself was compact, but a bunch of things, including the optical drive, are all separated out of the machine and have to be carried separately. Was a messy process carrying all that crap around. The Z is a dream come true, with all of that built-in, WHILE weighing in at 3 lbs ! I have no desire whatsoever for anything more than a GT 330M in a product like the Z....if it came with a 335M, I am okay with it, as long as it does not cause any other problems like heating etc. I am not a gamer. I doubt a majority of the Z-series buyers are gamers either. For gaming, I am certain there are other laptops around......for much cheaper prices !

 

what would you use the bluray burner to? do you produce movies?

since it's a configurable laptop, why not give the option of a GT335M, just like you have the option of a DVD or a bluray burner? I mean, in a product top of the line like this, you should have top of the line options for everything... GT330M it no even near top of the line... not even the GT335M... but 335 is like 40 or 50% faster... so it would be a much welcome option..

 

Watch movies, backup data onto the massive 50GB-250GB capacity even while on the road, can create bluray HD content from my HD camcorder at home etc.....lots of uses.

Maybe during their testing, they noticed other in-compatibilities in fitting a GT 335M into the Z-series chassis ? Maybe over-heating ? Who knows ?

Note that unlike many other cheaper products (from say a Dell or a Lenovo or an HP etc - I have a few of those at home), a Vaio does not slap in the highest specced components available in the marketplace, into the available real-estate on a laptop.....they test the entire ensemble thoroughly to make sure that the whole package works as a team.

Sure, if you feel you absolutely need the 335M, you need to look at other non-Vaio options. It is a free market !

 

Well, some people may need a more powerful CPU than a SU7300, not to mention everything else that Z has that M11X doesn't. At the end of the day, it depends on what you need. If you only need GPU, M11X is also probably $900-$1000 more than a decent desktop graphics card, right?

 

Wow, it had to appear few moments before as I checked JP Sonystyle before posting about why Sony doesn't inform us enough.

I'm seriously thinking about the new F for family use. What a bit shocked me though, when you try to configure new F, it gives you the possibility of backlight keyboard just for US keyboard, not for Japanese one. I wonder why? I also wonder if it will be same with Z.

To fscussel - Sony will never give you full featured gaming machine as a notebook, they have other products for that use. Also the old Z is already quite noisy if you don't tweak it, I'm curious what stronger graphic card will do and how well they made the cooling system this time.

 

Which country site are you referring to? There is currently no information I could find on the Japanese pages. I understand they will begin accepting preorders on the US site in Feb., but it doesn't sound like they will be shipping soon.

 

I think going by Sony's past history, once they start pre-ordering, shipments will happen immediately thereafter. I am guessing they are just building up stock currently (I am guessing all of it has to come from the Japanese plants), training the personnel in the CTO location on the new-Z's specifics and so on. By early February (if not even earlier), they will start pre-ordering and the products should be in people's hands in another week following that.

When it came to my Sony A900, they were supposed to start shipping by late November, 2008 (as per Sonystyle). I got my A900, in hand, on October 10th, 2008 - shipped out by Sonystyle on October 8th, 2008....over a month earlier than their predicted ship date !

 

I'm just a bit apprehensive because it's not included in Sony's new lineup here in Japan. Usually they release notebooks for preorder here, with the shipping date even a month or two out. It took almost a month to get my original Z when it first came out.

 

I'm also interested in a potential docking station update for the new Z series. Does Sony normally release accessories some time after the laptop itself has been released, or are would they be released at the same time?

 

Where do you see this February 8th date?

 

I don't remember exactly but I think it was on www.sonystyle.com

 

I thought it was mentioned previously that Vaios are typically released in Japan after the US launch, but have more configurable options?

 

VPC-Z11GGX/X Sony Vaio Z VPC-Z11GGX/X Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz (Turbo Boost 3.33Ghz) 4096MB 256GB SSD BlueRay DvDRW+DL WiFi NIC Bluetooth FingerPrint Webcam Microphone 13.1" WXGA Xbrite nVidia GeForce GT 330M 1024MB Dedicated Windows 7 Professional (Made In USA) Premium Carbon

For how much would this configuration likely go for?

 

When I got my new F-series (CTO), they had a booklet with accessories for F, Y, Z and W-series of laptops.

Under the Z-series (probably the new Z), the port replicator part# is shown as: VGP-PRZ10 for $199.99. The part# seems to be different from that of the current Z.

Even the battery part#s are different from the current Z.

The standard capacity battery part# is VGP-BPS20 and the large capacity battery part# is VGP-BPL20.

 

That's usually true...but in this case it's strange, that they released all other new models except for Z.

 

Well, G just got updated today in Japan with Windows 7 and SU9600 options, nothing else. So only T and Z have not been refreshed this time around, so hopefully the next T is around the corner.

 

Wasn't the T updated a few weeks ago?

 

No, it was refreshed in October in Japan. It's just some guy checked SonyStyle.jp a few weeks ago and saw TT was still there and made a big new annoucment saying TT was refreshed and then got copied all over the web.

 

Funny. I looked last night and didn't see it. With the G having a 1.6, things just got interesting

Also one few other notable improvement besides the 1.6 GHz processor: up to 8GB of memory (YES!)

I was acutally considering looking at the new Panasonic CF-S8 (the more expensive one that can have up to 8GB of memory), but with the updated G, I think my prayers may have been answered.

I just spec'd out the G I want and it's about $800 cheaper than a TT and nearly $1500 cheaper than the S8.

 

Here is the press release from Japan:

http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/201001/10-0118/