New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

I don't care much for a back lit keyboard, but I do really like the specs of the new Z. It looks like it could be the best 13in device coming out in a while. If I can scrounge up some cash, and Sony doesn't bring out an update TT(or 11in-12in device), I may have to take the hit and get one.

 

FINALLY - a back lit keyboard. Z now retakes the crown.

 

takes the crown because the keys light up? /jk

 

well perfect, the new Z basically ticks off all the points on my 'features i want on a laptop' list.
What remains to be seen is whether the form factor has changed and of course how much of a hole will it put into wallets.

If they still allow for cheaper HD configurations over the SSDs that would make this laptop a serious contender for me over sometihng like the asus ul30vt, even though this will cost at least a grand more.

 

That's something I've never understood either. Then again, maybe people aren't touch typers anymore, and need the lights to hunt and peck or whatever else I'm not really sure. I guess I just don't use my notebook in the dark alot, and if I do, usually the screen gives me enough light to be able to see whatever random key I'd like to hit outside the normal ones.

 

I'm looking forward to the new specs. I know there is a strong feeling one way or another about backlit keyboards, but I'm a huge fan.

I'm also very curious about the quad SSD. I recently purchased, and returned, a Dell Latitude Z which has a back-lit keyboard and dual internal SSD's. The keyboard was great, but Dell administratively disabled RAID 0 in favor of Intel's IRRT, which is glorified RAID 1.

If the new drive is as fast as it sounds like it should be, boot times, hibernation and VM speeds should be phenominal. It'll likely cost a ton, but it's a Sony Z series. No suprise here and I'll be purchasing one immediately.

Now if they could put in a touch screen, like the Lenovo T400s/T410s....

 

Oh, and it would also be nice if existing Z chargers and batteries can be used on the new machines.

 

There will be backlit keys according to this site. Also, I believe, this new Z will be offered with a slot-loading optical drive.

OK. Just for the fun of it, let's see whose prediction comes closest. I don't think Sony cares about the economy when it comes the the New Z. That's why they have the S and the Y. Those models will take care of the economy. I predict the Z to start off at around $2200-2399 approx. for lower specs. Skies the limit from this point on. I don't see Sony pricing these below $2k to start.

There's a site here already preordering a preconfigured New Z model, but no price.

edit: Link

So what does 1699 euro equivalent to in $$$USD?

 

Wow. I know a lot of this is unsubstianted rumors so far, but if even half of these come true... Picking the right notebook has historically been a game of compromises: the perfect features are all out there, just not available on a single machine. So far the Z is looking like an absolute perfect match to my wanted features list.

And we all know that means there will be one big compromise remaining to make up for it: price!

 

Love to see a slot drive, 1" thickness, with the Z screen. I'm sure this won't happen but we can dream before the official specs come out.

UL

 

http://www.sony.com/ces/index.html

One more day!

 

Maybe it is just me, but I am hoping that it doesnt have a slot-load drive. I was hoping to snatch one up and replace the optical with a secondary hdd bay (to run a dual drive config: ssd os + hdd media).

 

The price of 1699 euro is not the price of the new Z. The webshop where they got the information from offers alternatives to the model you're looking at. The Z wasn't priced, the alternative was. Some didn't notice this difference and took the listed pricing for the alternative as being for the Z, I did too at the first glance.

A price of only 1699 euro would be too good to be true. Currently the Z's line starts at 1800 euro...

And a price conversion would be pointless besides that. Prices in the EU are _significantly_ higher than in the US. 1 euro should currently be worth about 1.44 dollar. This would get you price of about 2450 dollar. Sony however still lives a world where euro's are equal to dollars...

Ok, they actually are pretty smart about it. They price their notebooks such that importing them from the US is still slightly more expensive, due to import taxes, regular taxes and then some more taxes for the fun of it.

 

retakes the crown because it looks like sony finally took the hint and implemented the #1 user-requested feature (as opposed to user-reported design flaw fixes e.g battery drain and screen marking)

 

Sony isn't the only one guilty of this.
To be fair, labour costs are higher in Europe.

Regarding the Z price, it will definitely be way higher than 1699 euros.
Seeing Sony again pushing for rather unique features such as the quad SSD it's clear they want to differentiate this laptop with as many performance related features as possible.

My perfect laptop would be using an Macbook/Lenovo body for durability + Sony hardware for performance.

The screen marking design flaw would have cost Sony quite a fair bit of money.
If I decide to keep the Z it will have gone 3 times for repair for exactly the same reason, in less than 2 years.

 

daneel3001, I looked at your last 20 posts and it seems like almost all of them are a complaint about Sony Z's screen flex/keyboard marks.

If you want to complain more please use this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=434622

 

Sorry for being persistant re the issue, it's just a reflection of my frustration.
I will do my best not to mention it too much on this thread in the future

 

I think we will both be right. I think they will keep the price up by only producing SSD models (at least initially.) That would bump the price $400 or more from the previous base price. Currently the base Z on Sonystyle US is $1799, So I'm guessing over $2200 but with a SSD.

Interestingly, Sony has been OOS of SSD models for a while. Could they all be going into new Z's to push higher end users into the new line at a high price point?

 

That seems likely, Sony will first only release high end models to get as much cash as possible from enthusiasts then start the spread the range with lower price points to widen the net.

 

Maybe when the clear out all of their old stock the price will drift down. But I'm curious whether they ever include a HDD option. Some other upscale lines like the X301 only come with SDD I think?

That would be a way to further brand differentiate, squeeze out higher margins and keep end users from undercutting them by buying HDD models and swapping out the HDD for an after-market SDD.

But in the past they did not pair Blue-ray and SSDs.

 

Hey, but is it me or the picture of the model in the picture is different??

Amplify and look especially the cylindrical part..Is not like that my Z!

http://www.expansys.com/zoompic.aspx?type=item&i=193845

Sony in CES is tomorrow or the day after?

 

I really hope this is not true. This would force me into their older model hopefully at a lower price. I hope they at least offer one HD, maybe 320 7200 or 500 7200. They can skip the 5200 ones they offer in the Z today. SSD is just too expensive for me right now. I don't mind paying money for a good computer, hence why I went over what I originally wanted to spend. But I don't like throwing money out the door for something I don't need. I need a light computer that can handle my programming software. That is the Z with a normal HD.

 

It says on the wensite, "Image used is for illustration only. Actual model supplied may differ"

CES is on the 7th, but Sony launches their CES website on the 6th.

 

Is totally a redesign! Look the speakers in cylindical part, and there are 4 button as well. Also the footprint is different! And the space from the keyboard is way different..Notice also the screen, is not the same.


@IzzyB68

Do you think that the website put this image from nowhere? May differ...seems may not! I tell you this the real picture of the new Z! Want to place a bet?

 

I think this is the Sony CW.

 

Yeah, looks identical to photos of the CW.

 

Oops, sorry guys!

Now that I looked the pictures of the CW, you are right...Stupid site, why put an existing laptop as a picture?

 

Just did a comparison to an official CW pic....the pic from expansys looks like a CW to me...

 

I thought it was pretty smart of them

I think the Z will look a lot like the CW.

 

False alarm!

I never saw the CW, is it really so nice looking? Can't wait 2 more days to know official specs and pictures!

 

Ok, we have established that is not the new Z but not one but four of the Sony pre-release laptops share the same picture of the CW. So if anyone had any doubts....
They are just using it as a placeholder.
This has no fingerprint reader as well. I think the Z will look a bit more premium looking.
http://www.expansys.com/desktop-computing/laptops/coming-soon

 

I guess we will see soon enough. I'm just guessing they will be pushing their quad RAID 0 $3K-$4K models first. But hopefully I'm wrong, and they'll offer a full line of more reasonable options.

 

The reason why I mentioned that it may have slot-loading was because, in another thread, someone posted a post about a Z refresh having back-lit keys and slot-loading. This guy's uncle worked at the Sony Service Center in San Diego. So far, he's right about the back-lit. And he did mention it was a redesign.

Possibly. I still think you can snatch one these machines for about $2200-2300 to start. Even the lower specs are impressive compared currently. I'm thinking, if they put spinner HD's on these, that feature may be offered as a CTO. I still think the S will cater to those for those exact features. For me, I'm interested in what this machine will look like. I have such high expectation for the design aspect of it. Also, it may take a refresh of this New Z to get premium carbon. If Sony is going to market this as their flagship notebook, they should just go all out in the presentation of this model. The premium carbon feature as a CTO was first priced at $50, then it became a free option on the current Z. Sony should have called this ZX or Z2 just to differentiate it.

CW

No doubt, and hopefully, one or two affordable ones - if 2K is affordable. Has anyone have an idea as to a date when you can start purchasing?

 

Based on Sony's track record, I would guess by the 3rd/4th week of January, 2010.

 

is this nvdia graphics card better than the current ati's on the sr models?

 

Yes 330m is more powerful than ATI 4570.

These charts are good: http://notebookspot.nl/charts/gpu/

 

I am eager to see some reviews.

The performance doesn't interest me even that much , because it is given that it will peform well with those components.

I am much more interested in the display quality, build quality and how long the book can last with those components.

 

And the new Intel HD integrated graphics are nearly as good as the discrete 9300gs graphics in the current Z.

 

I wonder if the new Z would support USB 3.0? Asus just announced 13" with Intel i5 and USB 3.0 .

 

The guys at Lenovo blogged about the new Intel mobile chipsets and USB 3.0.

Looks like it is up to Sony.

 

Not too far a long. Great News. You think it would hit Brick and Mortar Stores around the same time?

I agree 100%. No doubt this machine will perform well under pressure. I'm interested in the integrity, design, and quality.

When can we expect photos?

 

By the way, given that other Sony models have been 'leaked' or announced, I'm wondering if there really is a new Z? I doubt it since we have not actually heard of one officially. We'll know in a few hours but I'm thinking a small refresh at most, with the biggest change being the i5.

UL

 

Just skimming through this thread... Somewhere on page 3 or 4. Yep - I'm the only fellow here whose Z started showing bruise marks on the screen the first 2 months into usage (during then it just sat on me desk). I started going mobile another month later, and didn't bother taking it into service since from what I read here, they tend to do more harm than good... Will just wait a month or so before me 2 year warranty finishes and then take it in (and hopefully score a new screen). And trust me - I worshipped the darn screen (and still do) but the bruising is a bit bigger than when it first appeared, and in more places...

Regarding the new Z's specs...
I'm rather doubtful regarding the CPU (and the GPU for that matter) on the new Z. The mobo on the current Z is unimaginably small as it is. Unless Sony's done a complete design overhaul on their already mi~nute mobo structure to accomodate the heat that even the lowest specced i5 and 330m give off (which I am admittedly doubting), I would expect the CPU to downclock regularly like the T9800 and T9900 does, that is, remain at its native speed (3000MHz-ish) for just 6 seconds or so before downclocking to something way below what the ads say

I mean, the 9300GM alone (and ANY C2D CPU) gives off huge amounts of heat, so I can't really fathom how Sony can go about getting a 330m, and an i5 to boot, to remain cool enough to use safely and comfortably for extended periods...

With the specs that's being speculated, I would consider using the new Z for heavy-duty full HD video editing / encoding for extended periods of time. Though I would have to seriously question its heat and CPU clock speed management, having witnessed the highest specced 5th gen Z in action with Adobe Premiere 7 (the one that comes preinstalled) - not pretty...

IF Sony does miraculously yank an i5 in a Z sized chassis with a 330m, then I would really, really recommended people to see how other 'uninformed' early-buyers react with its heat management. That, or wait for a review from a well-known review-site.

 

Yes taking into account all restrictions it seems rather unlikely to have a Nvidia 330m in the Z.

We'll have to see if the webshop was right about it. So far it's just an unconfirmed rumor.

 

Actually, it's likely easier for Sony this chipset-round. The H55 Express chipset abandons the customary northbridge and southbridge chipset arrangement and moves the functions to the CPU. This means fewer chips. Since the Intel graphics processor is also on the CPU die, all the better.

In regards to heat, the jury is out on Arrendale CPU's . They may just offer better performance with less power draw.

Link

 

The new chipsets do combine functions into less space, which tells me more heat in less space (or is it less heat since there are less chips overall...?)

Anyways, I would really like to see the actual announcement - the webshop site that leaked the specs does smell fishy in my personal opinion...

I have this gut feeling that the bundled GPU is going to be a 9600GM (which the AW have now) or, more unlikely (though still possible) Sony is just gonna try match Apple's current lineup with a 9400GM but with 512MB dedicated (they always at least try to beat Apple one way or the other).

I do remember reading this elsewhere, but the 9600 was rebranded by nVidia as the 270 something....? Or was that the 9800? Can anyone confirm? Sony might just release the new Z with the rebranded name... Just note, all of what I've written above is purely speculation. A (hopefully) likely speculation, but a speculation all the same.

 

Don't forget about the smaller fabrication size as well. Smaller tends to be more efficient.

 

9300m GS - 65nm - TDP 13 watts
GT 230m & 240m - 40nm - TDP 23 watts

The GT 330m will most likely be a rebranded 2xxm a la Nvidia tradition.

I think they're gambling on the fact that people won't care about battery life or heat - given how switching to integrated graphics takes care of both factors, shoving a midrange card into a 13" lets them advertise their flagship model as having a disproportionately higher amount of graphics power. Which currently can be done on any Arrandale laptop, but they'll want to differentiate their lineup with different graphics chips.

I wonder if they eventually might offer other options i.e. 210m and 220m

 

Someone already pointed out that model no# will change from VGN- to VPC-, so that alone indicates a redesign.

Doesn't CES begin today, this according to the News. I expected photos to surface by now. I'm in the same time zone as Vegas. Wassup?

 

Yeah I'm wondering why sony's CES site (which states that is will be up by today) isn't up...