New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

Man it is so hard to buy a laptop right now, the m11x is looking to be outdated right out of the gate with the C2D. I was going to sell the one I preordered on EBAY (because I got alot of discounts through epp) but now i'm having second thoughts and maybe I should just cancel the order.

 

What about 380m? Sorry Nvidia's naming convention for GPU leaves much confusion in what is actually better LOL

 

I am not sure if my remark makes sense:

Apple's 12" PowerBook G4 to all other laptops in 2003

is much like

the new 2nd gen Sony Vaio Z to all other laptops in 2010.

 

I think GT 350M is the top end of the GT 300 series thus far, but it is not really a hard core gaming mobile graphics card.

However, you can play Crysis smoothly (>30 fps) at medium settings and somewhat good (20-30 fps) at high settings with GT 330M.

 

What do you think... if I can only spring for one or the other... the upgrade to the 192gb ssd vs the i7 upgrade?

 

Yea I think I will go ahead and order Sony Z, All this power in such a small package with a beautiful 13" screen this laptop is really amazing, nothing else compares to it that I can find and I doubt anyhting will compare to it in size/formfactor anytime soon. Seems like a good purchase for now.

 

I wish one of the advanced reviews would try installing and running Linux on a top end Signature series or CTO Z. I'd also love to see someone try to take apart and upgrade the notebook - say adding a BD-R drive, or new SSDs. It would make my decision much easier.

 

Does anyone know if it would be faster to order online or just buy it at sonystyle? The closest store is about 20miles from me... And you do get edu discount in-store as well correct?

 

it's not hard to figure out when you know where to look.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

enjoy yourselves.

 

So guys and Gals Engadget has a reeview up and running ..

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/sony-vaio-z-series-vpcz114gx-s-review/

 

This post is funny on SO many levels!

EDIT: Thanks for the heads up! You wouldn't mind reading the last 30 or so posts...?

 

Post #1797. You must have been sleeping.

 

A bump to my previous post in the same thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5868496&postcount=1781

Can someone shed some light on this ?

 

About backups from multiple OSs, Acronis True Image has come in handy on many occasions.
I've cloned a tripple boot system (RedHat Workstation, Win XP and Win 7 Pro 64) running off of a RAID onto a single HDD without a hitch.
Also backing up my Win 7 Pro x64 (incl the recovery partition) from my Z though I never had the need to restore but once every two months I spend the time to check my archives are fully functioning so I just burn the backed up image onto a spare HDD and, replace it inside my Z with a single sata cable and do a boot.
Process has been done over 6 times without a single problem.

 

It makes perfect sense. I think the analogy could be strengthened even further.

Apple had horrible laptops until the 2003 G4 powerbook. The G4 was a real groundbreaker for both the industry and themselves.

Sony has defined the premium small form factor laptop sector for years. Certainly since 2005, when Fujitsu stumbled and Sony walked in with models as small and compact as the TX. Sure, there have been flops along the way (can you say UX?). And perhaps their 2009 product offerings have been less then inspiring. But everyone has a bad year.

Look long and hard, you won't find a 13" laptop with a 1600 x 900 screen, bluray player and i7-620M processor. And the Z has the smallest form factor of any 13" laptop with an integrated dvd player.

Yes, of course, it is expensive, but Sony isn't going after the cheapest to deliver commodity market like Dell. They create the best possible device almost regardless of cost. They create their own market. Something Dell (Adamo) and HP (Envy) haven't a clue how to do. Something that defines what Apple is.

Did I mention they look good too?

 

No Just that the search on this site does not work .. Engadget + Sony Z + Review ... turns up squat..

 

i have a CW sony and the one thing thats frustrating is its battery drain. I wonder how the Z is.

BTW, any discounts on that thing? Thinking of canceling my m11x too.

 

No seems like can only get discount on the old Z not the new one. The battery life would seem similiar or better than the m11x according to the Engadget review. Hard to say until more reviews of m11x out most manufacturer claims for battery life are not very accurate.

 

To be fair, close to 1900 posts and 190,000 views is not a thread. It's almost a forum unto itself. Shouldn't the "Sony Z" have its own forum? Then you could start threads like "Engadget has a reeview up and running" (sic). Then we can just poke fun at the spelling.

Yes, yes. I posted my own brain-dead question about a 100 posts ago

 

Right you are sir!
I even posted my own rant a few dozens of posts ago.
I think this thread is a forum replacement as the Z is a desktop replacement

 

Work_permet

IMO same would go for the owner's lounge section, there are many topics inside of the same thread..

here it's mostly because of all the speculation around this model... I think every single models would need a sub forum.. Just break it down to the lines each brands have.. for sony it would go as follow:

P
W
X
Y
Z
S (would include SR)
CW (would include CS and older models)
BZ
E
NW
F
and that larger one they don't make anymore..

I probably forgot lots of lines but meh I did not follow sony's line up until very recently.

 

I am a bit confused as well. All the internet sites seem to talk about 256GB option as 128GBx2. But my order for 256GB is 256GBx1.

 

This post is funny on SO many levels!

 

Yes, absolutely. Just add the TX for us old timers. Who do I call

 

A question for previous Z owners: Is a cooler needed/recommended? The ambient temperatures around here go from 15-25 Celsius.

It is because it is 1 physical drive, but it is like 2 ssd's crammed into one package, and that's why it says 256 (128+128).

 

Its funny cuz its true...

 

I think you are 100% right with that, is the carbon fiber lid actually made of carbon fiber?(is it lighter/better than the silver finish?)

 

Forgot the G and TT (still being sold elsewhere besides the US).

 

They are all supposed to have carbon fiber lid, well the material it's made of anyway but they seem to have different "covering" on them. Too me I would rather have carbon fiber with no covering! carbon fiber is sweet looking I don't think they have an option like this though

 

I think all the lid, no matter what finishes, are all made the same, from a modified form of carbon fiber (unfortunately not 100% pure carbon fiber, I believe). However, different finishes are given different "fancy" names for us to differentiate them between one another. The main difference between all these finishes is purely cosmetic. Therefore, IMHO, it generally comes down to what kind of finishes (or should we say color &/or design) do you like to have for the top lid of your new Vaio Z notebook.

 

Forum search engines are really bad at most times.... I always find this way better:

seach google:
"sony vaio z review www.engadget.com site:notebookreview.com"

It gets it on the 4-6 result.

 

Sony Style Canada says the CTO version of the Z will be released on the site on March 7th, 2010. Availability of the preconfigured versions is not yet known.

 

It seems like this laptop is never going to be released... how long have we been waiting for it? XD

 

The new Z is going to be the Hardware Duke Nukem

 

There is an intersting Review of the SONY VAIO VPC-F11Z1/E ( http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Sony-Vaio-VPC-F11Z1-E-Notebook.25324.0.html, currently only in German). This system has an Core i7-720QM instead if I7-620M (45W vs. 35W) but in a bigger chassis (16" vs 13") in comparison the the new Z.

Major complaint again: The fan!
Quotes:
"Doch erst ein Stresstest (GPU + CPU) über mehrere Stunden lässt den F11Z1E das letzte Quäntchen Drehzahl herausholen: 48.1 dB(A). Für alle Lastzustände und deren Geräuschkulisse gilt ein unruhiges Auf- und Abtouren in den jeweiligen Drehzahlen."
"Was wir vermissen: Ein ordentliches, konstant drehendes Kühlaggregat. Das hätte den Vaio VPC-F11Z1E zum idealen Desktop-Replacement gemacht."
"Was uns verblüfft: Wieso fällt einem Hersteller ein derart nerviges Kühlsystem nicht selbst auf?"

Short translation of the last quote: "We are surprised that a manufacturer does not recognizes such an annoying cooling systems hisself?"

Let's hope Sony did a better job for the new Z. So far the noisy fan was my main reason for the last decade for not buying a Z!

 

I think you may find it isn't the fan but a sound card issue. I've been following the F owners forum and it has been discussed exorbitantly.

 

Re:TRIM Support

Thank you for your inquiry to Samsung Semiconductor.

Since we do not know what firmware version you have, you can check it with Crystal Disk Info which is available freeware from the web. There´s section shows whether drive supports Trim.

And this is designed with Sony, if the drive does not support trim, you should ask Sony when they can release the firmware for trim because the firmware has some specific feature for Sony, Samsung can not update firmware.

If you have any further questions, please send us more question again or visit our Homepage( http://www.samsungsemi.com).

Sincerely,
Semiconductor Business
Samsung Electronics Co,.Ltd.

 

Previously posted but another reference on the crystaldiskmark 2.1 and pcmark scores on Z

http://www.eprice.com.hk/nb/talk/?prod_id=457&tid=991

 

The carbon fibre lid is not made of carbon fibre. It is made with carbon fibre. Much like the difference between sausages made of beef and with beef.

To my knowledge, all the lids (including "Premium Carbon Fibre") are made out of plastic with a small amount of chopped up carbon fibres added. This allows Sony to do injection molding without the lid costing a fortune to make, like with "real" carbon fibre weave. It adds stiffness (so the lid can be made thinner), at the expense of some tensile strength. As a lid isn't going to be stretched anyhow, that's not a weakness you're likely to notice.

Personally, I have no problems with Sony using chopped graphite in their plastic mix, and think it's a jolly good idea. What I have a problem with is Sony marketing it as if it was equivalent to what people think of as carbon fibre, and what's used in e.g. air planes and sports equipment for strength, i.e. woven fibre mats.

 

No, not really. Sony's own V505 in 2003 easily match or trump the 12" PowerBook G4 in every aspect and Sony is not the only one that has similar products in the 12" thin-and-light category, IBM (yeah, it was still IBM at that time) and Panasonic all have good offerings at an even more expensive price than Sony and Apple.

IMHO, Sony's own 505 Extreme (aka X505) to all other laptops in 2003 or the introduction of VGN-S series in 2004 to all other laptops is more akin to the 2nd gen Z in 2010.

 

Ahh yes, the Sony VAIO V505. I bought mines in Nov 2003 and it lasted all these years. If it wasn't for the hard drive breaking a few months ago and the need for another new battery, I'd still be using that one as well. That notebook along with the TR series released around the same time were the cutting edge in ultra portable notebooks back then. I got the V505 due to the ATI Radeon 9200 graphics card with 32 MB of video memory. And that screen...absolutely beautiful. Okay, sorry about being off topic. Okay, the upcoming new Z.....very lust worthy.

 

I agree that it's a good to have thing (though I don't see myself using it in the near future). But on the Dutch CTO page, it costs 700 Euros ($950), which is as much as another laptop. So I'll surely go with the DVD drive, which I don't use very often either.

 

Wonder what the weight of these new machines will be, because unless it is under 4 lbs, it is not a match with the Z. i7 alone does not allow it to match to the Z.

 

From HPs site:
Starting at: 4.6 lb / 2.08 kg (weight will vary by configuration)

As far as Im concerned, I'd do well without any CD-player. There are excellent external (cheap but good) players available. I'd rather save money and space and weight without it. Just my personal opinion.

Question: Does anyone know what LAN card will be in Z11?

 

Seems like everyone is ok now with the somewhat fugly palmrest?

 

I actually started to like it

 

I looked at these last night, they look nice but are bigger and heavier and with crappy GPU's not really in the same league as the Z IMO.

 

I am interested in the previous model Z (not quite ready to make the jump to SSD ). I have not been able to find anywhere they are sold. Do you know of any?

 

I have not been there but supposedly they are on the Sony site. Was told you have to call them and get a login info for the student website with discounted prices and the old z is on there not the new one though. I think though if you want to buy old Z probably can get a real good deal on EBAY seeing as how the new one is about to be released. Just have to be careful, only buy from 100% feedback.

 

If I were you, I would buy if the old Z model is heavily discounted, because the new Z has a much better bang for the buck, even with the SSD. I came across one Sonystyle store in Canada that is selling the old Z model for around $500CAD less than regular price.