New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

The reason why it's cost effective to have car plants here in the US is because of tariffs. If the car is built here, there won't be an import toll. Which combined with the saved shipping costs just tips the scales in favour of still manufacturing some types of cars in the US.
If you wonder how expensive labor is in the US compared to the far east, consider that American fisheries send fish to China and Japan to be cleaned, prepared and frozen, and then shipped back again. Shipping back and forth across the Pacific costs less than the added costs of labour in the US.

I saw a short film once, which showed how over-the-counter pain killers got to the store in the same city they were "produced" in. Just for the packaging, chlorine was exported and plastic imported, then re-exported to a third country who made the bottles and a fourth country filled them. I think more than 7 countries were involved, and only a fraction of the work happened where the medicine was "made". The funniest part was that once the pills were in stock at the plant up in Boston(?), they were shipped across the country to Houston, and back again to the local store. Because that was cheaper than local distribution...

To sum it up, pretty much everything is done in the cheapest way possible, and what's cheapest may quite often defy logic.

 

Almost all the Dell notebooks for the US market are being assembled in the Malaysia (a southeast Asia country) assembly plant where labor costs are definitely lower than Japan &/or the US. I would like to think that any kind of assembling to be done in the US is not low-level or even worse than that in Japan as what you're saying is that any kind of assembling done in the US is of the lowest level. That's why I'm saying that I believe it is possible Sony did all the assembly of the CTO Vaio notebooks for the US market in San Diego. The thing to note is that an assembly plant doesn't always mean that all the assembly are being done by robots. It can also be done by specialized assembly line workers with specialized skills &/or tools.

Of course, when I say all the components, I do not mean miniaturized components, like you're describing. Most of those miniatures will of course already be soldered onto the standard motherboard when assembly are to be done in San Diego. Things such as motherboard, CPU, RAM, HDD, LCD, LCD lid, LCD bezel, bottom assembly, palmrest, keyboard, etc. are what I'm talking about when I'm talking about assembly in my previous post.

If you think the CPU can be put in just by removing a couple of screws, I'm afraid that you're wrong. If the new Z is anything like the current Z series (which already looks like it is), people who have done CPU swaps or even a HDD swap on the current Z series notebooks can tell you the amount of trouble one has to go through to do that. A HDD swap in the current Z involves taking apart about 1/4 of the notebook. A CPU swap involves taking apart about 1/2 the notebook, so if these are just a simple snap on as you say in terms of playing around with only a couple of screws, I'm happy to know that the US assembly plant workers are simply "world-class" assemblers, who are able to do the assembling job with just a couple of screws.

 

I understand very clearly what you're saying. While I was living in Asia for a few years earlier, I've seen electronic companies do what you mentioned in a similar way. However, I'm not going to go into the specifics of what they do because spilling the beans is not going to do me any good & may get me into trouble.

The thing I'm trying to say is that labor costs in Japan for doing the same kind of work in the US is not really a lot cheaper. If one is comparing labor costs for doing the same kind of work between China & the US, then I can see why a company wants to do what it does.

I agree with your last statement & it is precisely what I'm saying. At least to me, it seems that doing the CTO assembly of a premium notebook series like the Vaio Z here in the US (solely for the US market) will be cheaper or even of similar costs than doing the same thing all in Japan. I mean if it isn't cheaper, then Sony will have done the same thing for the US CTO market like what it does elsewhere (such as the European market) where the CTO orders are fully assembled in Japan as well.

 

If you go back and re-read my post, it never talked about a CPU swap...

 

I agree completely. It is a mistake to lump all of Asia into one bucket when calculating labor costs. Japan is uniquely different from say cheaper labor cost markets like China or Taiwan or Malaysia or Thailand etc., where Japanese corporations have setup assembly locations. I think South Korea is the newly emerging "Japan" and are already nipping at the heels of the Japanese.

For precision assembly and attention to detail, there is none better than Japan, IMHO, anywhere in the world. Nobody assembles in Japan to save labor costs. If anything, the labor costs should be higher in Japan than even the US, made even more acute by the devaluation of the USD, over the past several years.

 

Oy how much longerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?!

 

i have a friend in china who visits japan regularly, would there by any advantage of him buying me one then sending it to me? or is there no real difference (in terms of price, quality, components etc.). Thanks

 

if it makes you feel better at night. regardless whether it is made a 100% in japan or the other asian countries, it still have to pass a rigorous QA/inspection at any Sony plant. So by standard it is the same.

 

Not sure what the advantage would be, but wouldn't it then have a Japanese keyboard and a W7 OS in Japanese?

 

Advantages would be, that you could really choose which component you would like to have (even possibilities like no webcam, no fingerprint reader, premium lid patterns ...) and even CTO would be "Made in Japan". It also could have the English keyboard as Sony offers it. The OS would be in Japanese, so for easy language switch you would have to choose Win7Ultimate...

The price would be probably higher though...

 

I was only being a bit sarcastic. The discussion, while informative, was getting a bit serious about this country and that country. I'll buy whatever the best option is at the best price point. I love all my VAIO's, whether they are CTO or preconfigured. My V505 was a CTO made in the good old San Diego plant and lasted for 6 years so I was never worried at night.

 

You really need to get your facts checked. There is a reason that US is the only country in the world that you can get every single VAIO CTO component separately (although very expensively) through official Sony part store -- you can't even do that in Japan. Just go ask around people who have done the HDD to RAID 0 dual SSD on Z and TT themselves, or swap TT's optical to harddrive, or add bluetooth/WWAN.

 

If the question is: Is the US CTO location re-assembling an entire Z-series (or F-series or S-series) laptop from scratch, from a CKD kit, after getting an order with the choices made by the customer, then I would say that the probability of doing so, is closer to zero.

If the question is: Can the US CTO location, re-assemble a laptop from a CKD kit, if pushed to the wall, then the answer is probably yes. But then the assembly quality (especially in a relatively specialized product like the Z), would be spotty (hit-or-miss) and nowhere close to the consistency of what we are actually getting. A product like the Z (due to its very nature) simply cannot be slapped together in a non-specialized assemble-to-order location - while maintaining assembly consistency.

As an aside, in Sony's dSLR lens range, there are quite a few lenses that the Sony repair facility (in Laredo, TX) will merrily disassemble and repair for a US customer. But certain premium lenses are always sent into their original assembly location, the specialized plant in Japan, for any kind of repair - Laredo does not even attempt to mess around with those - other than to confirm the customers' complaint before forwarding to Japan.

 

Well, first, let's clarify what you mean by CKD. Is motherboard with everything on it, not including the child boards, considered one component and this level of tear-down is considered CKD? Or they have to actually do soldering work and you are saying they only receive transistors as CKD? I think few would expect San Diego to do the latter, so I am thinking you didn't mean it either. But if you did, your statement is correct.

Now, does San Diego receive motherboard, casing, screen, etc. separately and then assemble them together? Yes, they do. Sometimes the motherboard may already be in the bottom casing, sometimes the screen may already be in the upper case, but that's not because of Sony thinks San Diego lacks the skill, just the ease of shipment and inventory management. And honestly, you can do it, too, just go order the repair manual and every part from the part store and build it yourself. Like I said, US is the only place where you can order your Z (and really any CTO) in parts and build it yourself (maybe China will soon, but I am pretty sure right now US is the only place), and it's exactly because they already are assembling it here and receive parts in bulk.

As for the built quality of US CTO, I have said earlier, sometimes you may get a person that really take pride in his/her work and thrive for perfection, and that one will be excellent, but overall, they are good enough. This has been shown time and again on many series, including current and past flagship products like TZ and current Z. More users have reported minor build quality imperfections on US CTO than prebuilt from Japan or Japanese CTO, but overall it's still a very small population.

 

This thread is becoming excruciating. I hope Sony comes out with real news soon so this thread can mercifully end and the owners lounge can open.

 

Agreed. But I think the transition is starting. Sonystyle is down to only one processor offered for the current Z. I saw the same slow eliminations of options when the FW transitioned to the F.

 

Sony just called me and said they won't release the new Z until you all stop bickering.

 

do you think the Intel® Core™ i5-520M is it replaceable?........is it using a socket like the P processor in the old Z or it is welded on the mother board ?

 

I would assume that at some point they should lower the price of the old Z when the new one comes out or when they are just getting ready to be released. While there is only one processor left as an option, there is Red, Black, and Carbon Fiber left as casing. So I am thinking that they have those casings they would like to get rid of.

 

I think I agree that this topic is going down a circuitous path.....

Just humor me on the following:

At times there are cases where weeks at a time, a specific CPU (say the Core2 Duo T9900 etc) may become out-of-stock for the Z-series, while freely available for the FW-series, in the CTO process. Then WEEKS later, it suddenly becomes available again for the Z-series. At times you can ONLY couple a black CW-series with a T9600 CPU for a couple of weeks (while in the prior weeks it was possible with even white or blue) and then suddenly from the following week, that restriction goes away.

Assuming that the CPU and such are inventoried separately from the rest, how is that even possible ? I am assuming that the T9900 CPU used in the FW-series, is not different from the T9900 used in the Z-series, right ? And that the T9600 used in the CW-series is not different from the T9600 used in the Z-series or the FW-series, right ?

Which goes back to what I stated......the near-finished version of the laptop, including the CPU, in certain specified colors, are stocked in some pre-forecasted quantities. The "fast moving" and easily pluggable things like RAM etc are stocked separately and then fitted onto the appropriate "near-finished" version, prior to being shipped out to the customer - after going through a pre-shipment QA check/scan.

At times, specific combos: like say a black CW-series with the T9600 CPU may go out-of-stock, while a white CW-series with the T9600 may be in-stock, which is then indicated within the sonystyle CTO site as either available or not-available....and so on.

 

Sorry, having a tl:dr moment: When are these actually due in Europe?

 

According to Swiss webshops: 10-15 March, and according to a British one: late Feb/Mar.

 

It is replaceable.

 

CPU is the same, but Z uses a different heat-sink/fan assembly for T series CPU, so if that thing is out of stock then you can't build a Z with T series CPU. Period. In fact, if I were Sony, I would keep a separate inventory of T9900 for Z and have that number equals to the same number of heat-sink/fan assembly for T series CPU I have.

I thought we are talking about CTO Z, not CTO CW.

I have said that depending on other reasons, components can be pre-assembled, like motherboard into bottom case. We all know pre-built CW are from China, so everything is cheaper. Sony stands to gain profit by maximizing the "pre-assembly" and minimize the CTO labor here in US. I would not be surprised if CW is pre-assembled much more than Z, just because of economy.

What you were arguing, however, was difficulty in assembling will force Z to be more pre-assembled before CTO begins in San Diego. I think the difficulty in assembling has reduced the options that we have in the CTO (dropping the 1366x768 screen in current Z, for example), but for the options that we do get like HDD and ODD, they still can only be accessed after you take off the entire keyboard, and that's the farthest you can go in terms of pre-assembly.

 

I think I stated a couple of examples above. This T9900 (or any other CPU for that matter) scenario is applicable across the board - whether it be the CW series or whether it be the SR-series or whether it be the FW-series or the Z-series or whatever. The heat-sink or any such argument might be valid in case of one single model but not across the board.

Bottomline, you are sticking to your theory that the CTO location in San Diego does the assembly of Z-series laptops from scratch. Based on my experience in industries that do all kinds of manufacturing (assemble/configure-to-order, make-to-stock, make-to-order and engineer-to-order), my position is that, such a possibility is pretty remote - or as close to a zero possibility as you can get to.

Seems like our arguments are going to be along the same theme and we are not moving from our pre-set positions. I think we should leave it at that.

 

It is very difficult to detect sarcasm in writing because of the lack of facial expressions unless of course i know you personally.

 

I'm not going to get into more debate about the amount of assembly the San Diego plant is doing on the Vaio Z notebooks for the USA market. However, I just would like to point out that Sony (including their engineers who were being being interviewed) are doing such a great job at marketing the company's "flagship" notebooks that most people were given the impression that the Vaio Z notebooks can only be assembled in a very specialized manner.

Note that the following paragraph is based on the current Vaio Z notebook series. However, I believe the new Vaio Z notebook series will follow the same pattern:

I just wanted to point out something, which is that if one is to purchase a Sony extended warranty for his/her Vaio Z notebook here in the U.S., it is interesting to know that the extended warranties are being handled by a 3rd party called Service Net Solutions, LLC. It is even more fun to get an "Onsite" extended warranty than an "Express Ship" extended warranty because when a repair/service is needed for the Vaio Z notebook, Service Net will dispatch a technician to the notebook owner's house for service. If things like the HDD, optical drive, & even the motherboard needs to be swapped out for a new one, the technician will bring along the necessary parts to the service requester's home & do the swap (there are a couple of true life stories being posted here at NBR regarding service repairs of the Vaio Z notebook if I remember correctly). Emmm..... maybe the Vaio Z notebook does not really require a very specialized assembly process? Or maybe the Service Net technicians are more proficient at dismantling & reassembling the Vaio Z notebook than what the specialized Sony assembly technicians can do?

Anyway, despite what I've just discussed, does it really matter where the Vaio Z notebooks are being assembled? Or does it matter how much assembling are being done at the San Diego plant? Although I did chip in quite a bit with the debate on the amount of assembly, I think I agree with the rest that this isn't what matters to most of us. I do sincerely apologize for partly bringing this thread out of point.

What we all want is for Sony to release the new Vaio Z notebooks ASAP. At the end of the day, IMHO, this is just another "premium" notebook from Sony (& not a "premium" camera lens) that is designed "Like.Nther."

 

Well, I stopped off at Bic Camera on my way home from work, and took at look at the available Sony (and other) machines. The new Sony models that were on the showroom floor were the C, Y, and F. The only machine that impressed me was the least expensive Y. The build quality was excellent and the keyboard was great. It also used a Synaptics trackpad, which blows away the horrible trackpad that was on the F and C models (as well as my own Z). I really hope the new Z won't have the crummy insensitive and delay-ridden Alps touchpad.

Another thing I checked on all the notebooks was the network adapter type - the Y and other cheaper notebooks had the awful Atheros that's present in the X (no 5Ghz channels, single-stream performance, etc.). The higher-end models all had the Intel 6200, which also disappointed me, particularly for the most expensive F series. Sony doesn't seem to be offering the 3-stream 6300 even as an Owner Made option. My Z was custom configured with the 5300, so I know it's possible for Sony to do this...

The only other computer that impressed me today was the Thinkpad Edge, which had a very impressive keyboard and of course the Trackpoint. I hope the new Z can improve on ergonomics! Does anyone know if it will use an Alps or Synaptics touchpad yet?

 

So when can we order CTOs in the US and then start to argue over best configurations?

 

I think we are far away from that. Pre-orders for the pre-config models begin next months sometime. My guess is early next month, but who knows when CTO options will be available.

 

Here is something we can discuss.
How will we distinguish when we are talking about The old Z as opposed to the new Z?

Some people do not even know or care that a new Z is about to be released and just call their Z the new one because they just bought it.

And of course it wouldn't make any sense to keep using the "Z owner's thread" for the new one as they are two totally different machines...

 

same way they do in the owners lounge for the CW, the i5/i7 Z series!

 

I think we are talking about warranty repairs done by a technician, right ? Sure they will have to do it and will simply have to follow whatever is needed to dismantle the product, do the repair and put it back in together. And anytime someone takes apart a machine completely and puts it back together (ESPECIALLY true in a product like the Z with extremely tightly packed componentry in a VERY tiny amount of space), there is always a chance that there will be small differences from the way it was done at the factory. The kind of post-production QA checks done at the factory, on a product, will simply not happen with a field warranty repair and that is par for the course, IMHO.

For instance, whenever I have had to get body-work done on my cars, I notice at the end of the repair process (even if done by the best shop available), that there are panel gaps etc that the original factory product never had. The repair shop (being one of the best) have probably followed all the repair procedures laid out in the manual. Unfortunately, one has to live with such compromises when a repair to the product is unavoidable !

Bottomline, the CTO models are not "assembled from scratch in San Diego" as some people seem to think. A few/minor plug-ins are done in the San Diego location (based on the choices made by the customer) on an otherwise 99% fully assembled product, but that is pretty much it.

 

Going by what they have done in the past, and also with the brand-new F-series, when they open it out for orders, both the pre-configured models and the CTO options will be available simultaneously.

 

Alright, let me do my closing remark and we are done...seriously.

First of all, the idea that Sony can only build it from scratch (which you have never defined nor clarified) or build it from almost complete kit and you only stick in RAM and HDD and then close the back cover is just plain silly, and this is what I have the most problem with. Such simplified and generalized description is simply misleading, and down right laughable in some cases.

I have ordered US Sony CTO since 2002 and have my first VAIO in 2000. If you have ever tried to just install a single RAM into the addtional DIMM slot in a PCG-Z505, you will know that poping a CPU into VGN-Z is like walk in the park. The old VAIOs are ridiculously difficult to disassemble, yet Sony was offering CTO option on CPU, HDD, RAM & more eight years ago. It just simply doesn't make sense to pre-build it to "just pop in the RAM or HDD and any quick ones" -- because there is no quick one to install, everyone is just as difficult as the other. Putting laptop 99% together, sans HDD and RAM, and then take the laptop to 50% to put in HDD and RAM is just plain silly.

So, there is no doubt in my mind that Sony can and have built difficult-to-assemble laptops from a low pre-assembly state that you consider impossible or improbable.

Are Sony still building them in a low pre-assembly state in San Diego? To me, it depends on multiple reasons, but it will not be because Sony don't know how to do assemble it -- they have done more difficult assembly than Z. Easier access to components and cheaper labor cost in the location of pre-assembly can certainly lead to a more pre-assembled laptop before it begins CTO here in US, like CW.

In fact, CW is the least premium (and most mainstream consumer) VAIO that still offer CTO -- no CTO for NW here, so it would not surprise me that when Sony asked ODM to design it they have already mapped it out how to make the CTO process cheaper for Sony by giving easy access to CTO option and to have a more content pre-assembled in China.

But our question here is Z, not CW. It is still not clear how the VPC-Z is in terms of disassembly difficulty, but the current Z certainly takes some effort to get to HDD and CPU. So what makes the most sense is that, at best, Z is pre-built to Block 3 (out of 6) in the Repair Manual before CTO process begins here. In Japan, they may need to start from Block 1, really from "scratch", since they offer many options that US doesn't have. Can US Sony do it? sure they can, they have done similar difficult assembly before. Are they doing it from Block 1 now? I don't think so, because it's just so costly to do that and if there is not enough market to support that you might as well limit your offer to where you can start from Block 3. However, do I think they receive VGN-Z in Block 5 state and goes back to Block 3 to stick in HDD and RAM? Nah, that's just plain silly.

As for your even more generalized "examples", sorry, I have not seen anything like what you have described -- not that they didn't happen, I just only seen situation where T9900 or P9700 ran out on Z that I know have components that are exclusive to Z so it really doesn't have to be because of what you have described. In fact, performance upgrade promotions are always offered across series so that's an indication of a separate inventory to look at these components as a whole -- however, that does not mean that Sony does not reserve components to individual series and when it runs out they don't allow "borrowing" from other series. It's easier to track when there are other components like heat sink assembly that is unique to one series, so you need to track CPU sales of each series separately anyway.

In the end, I think Sony US certainly can do Z assembly from Block 1 like Japan and what is stopping them is cost and market, but not a lack of skill. I also think what you have described -- 99% pre-assembly -- can certainly happen and I would not be surprised it is true for CW, but I don't think you can make general statement that all Sony US CTO are done that way, or extend what you have observed on CW to claim Sony US CTO lack the skill to put together Z.

So now that I am done complementing Sony USA CTO, let's hope they actually release it so we can enjoy their good work...

 

Please, please, continue this discussion in a new thread, or take it to PMs.

Please.

-Peter

 

I found it interesting to read

 

One thing I found just now that I don't recall reading before is the possibility (maybe?) of 3 SSD drives in RAID0, instead of just 2 or 4. Check out the specs of this model.

Nothing groundbreaking, but I hadn't heard of a 3-SSD config.

-Peter

 

You mean instead of just 2 or *4*, right Peter? Thanks for those new specs; nice find.

 

Last comment from me on this topic too...

I think what is throwing you off is that you are treating what I called as the "99% pre-built Z", as a normal Z's Block1 to Block6 assembly. On the contrary, what is happening here is that the pre-built versions are literally assembled almost like say a Block 5 in your analogy, just that the "pieces" (or sub-assemblies) are "held in place statically" in a manner that allows the assembler to "plug in" the choices of the customer, into the relevant spots, before removing the mechanism that is "statically holding the sub-assemblies in place" and then "tightening the hatches back". A variation of the factory Block 1 to Block 6 flow that you referenced.

In other words, they won't have to go back and undo all the screws etc., to take it from a Block 5 to a Block 3, to "plug in" the customers' choices, and then re-do everything before it gets back from a Block 3 onward to a Block 6, like you are envisioning.

We employ this same method, in our configure/assemble-to-order parts, in the type of parts where this is required. Hope it makes sense. Over and out.

 

According to this link:

http://product.yesky.com/product/592/592108/param.shtml

There will be a Chinese Z with a 1366×768 screen.

 

Somebody please put me in a 1 month coma...:SLEEP:
I feel like Cartman waiting for the Wii.

 

They said early February for those two models, right? So does that mean some people will have the Z within two weeks?

 

Hey, I happened to revisit the site that first showed a bunch of models and configurations...and the site now has pricing info. I'm guessing it is MSRP (not wholesale) since the VPC-Z11LHX/X (looks like the signature model specs without being the signature model) is listed at $4449.00, which is only $50 less than the signature model on Sony's site. That said, the url for the site seems to be targeting dealers...who knows?

I reformatted for easier perusal. Enjoy!

Code:

VPC-Z11GGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  4096MB  256GB SSD  BlueRay   $3,339.00
VPC-Z11HGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  4096MB  256GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $2,829.00
VPC-Z11JGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  6144MB  512GB SSD  BlueRay   $4,199.00
VPC-Z11KGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  6144MB  512GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $3,669.00
VPC-Z11LHX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  8192MB  512GB SSD  BlueRay   $4,449.00
VPC-Z11MGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  4096MB  384GB SSD  BlueRay   $3,619.00
VPC-Z11NGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  6144MB  384GB SSD  BlueRay   $3,779.00  
VPC-Z11PGX/X  Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz  6144MB  384GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $3,219.00  
VPC-Z11QGX/S  Core i5-540M 2.53Ghz  4096MB  256GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $2,700.00  
VPC-Z11RGX/S  Core i5-540M 2.53Ghz  4096MB  512GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $3,319.00  
VPC-Z11SGX/S  Core i5-520M 2.40Ghz  6144MB  256GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $2,800.00  
VPC-Z114GX/S  Core i5-520M 2.40Ghz  4096MB  192GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $2,249.00  
VPC-Z116GX/S  Core i5-520M 2.40Ghz  4096MB  256GB SSD  DvDRW+DL  $2,449.00 

 

Here is the new Z series. Click below:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...atalogId=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=z_press_page10

 

Looking at the specs, we can maybe infer some prices for the CTO models:

$280 for upgrade from 256Gb to 384Gb SSD
$620 for upgrade from 256Gb to 512Gb SSD
$560 for upgrade to BlueRay
$250 for upgrade from i5-520 to i5-540
$130 for upgrade from i5-540 to i7-620
$330 for upgrade from i5-520 to i7-620

Obviously, these are only very rough estimates.

-Peter

 

Yeah, this was shown several dozen pages back but thanks anyway.

I have been visiting that page at least 2-3 times everyday for the past week or so, every time hoping something has changed since my last visit.

This wait is excruciatingly painful.

 

I would say those estimates about the SSD are pretty far off. Even in the SR-series, where there is none of the Quad-SSD etc type of arrangement, there is a $400 jump in price, when the SSD capacity goes from 128GB to 256GB.

So if we take a perfectly linear price increase for the SSD, based on capacity, and using the SR-series' price as a guideline, then we are looking at a $400 price rise when the SSD capacity goes from 128GB to 256GB and another $400 when the capacity goes to 384GB from 256GB and another $400 when it gets to 512GB from 384GB.

So if one opts to go with 128GB, instead of going with 512GB, one can save around $1200-1500 (a significant amount of money !)

The CPU upgrade prices may be close enough, based on the F-series upgrade prices.

 

Yeah, I agree. Pricing a laptop is not as simple as Sum(cost of parts) * ProfitFactor. My guess is that the midrange models have inflated prices to push a consumer into going higher end. So the (for example) 256Gb to 384Gb upgrade looks more attractive. But all we have are the prices from one website and lots of time, so why not speculate?

That said, I'm curious what the pricing difference might be between Sony's housingless/dual SSD drives and a "normal" SSD drive.

-Peter

 

I am probably looking at the following configuration:
Full-HD 1920x1080 screen
i7-620M
128GB SSD (more than enough space to house the primary applications and a decent amount of data)
Blu-ray burner
330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
8GB RAM

Should come in at around $3000 or so, IMO.