New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

Thread. CES begins tomorrow.

 

well yeah, guess it will be up later today then (I was referring to the sony.com/ces holder page that said the page would be up on the 6th).

 

just sold my Z, now the pain of waiting to find out exactly what I sold her for and how long until Sony starts shipping the new Z!

 

The sony presentation at CES should start in about 2 hours.

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357773,00.asp

Hands-On with the Sony VAIO Z Series

01.06.10

Hands-On with the Sony VAIO Z Series
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The Sony VAIO Z Series gets an upgrade with Intel's new Core i5 processor.
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by Cisco Cheng
CES 2010

Las Vegas—Before it lost serious ground to netbooks and CULV laptops, the Sony VAIO Z series was the most elegant, the most powerful, and naturally, the most expensive ultraportable in the market. Well, not much has changed. The new Sony VAIO Z890 still has its predecessor's bragging rights, only this time the innards gets a major overhaul with Intel's latest Core i5 ecosystem. And yes, its price tag ($1,899) can buy you at least four netbooks but worth every penny.......

 

Nvidia 310M.

 

Yeah 330m did not make much sense in the Z.

 

Grrr, no backlit keyboard, and only ssd options?!?! Hmmmm. Price is attractive though.

 

New Z webpage, does have backlit keyboard and up to Core i7.

 

"Working late tonight? The all-new backlit keyboard of the Z features LED illumination for a remarkable view of the keys. Perfect for typing in the cabin of a plane or in bed with the lights turned down, the lights shine through the characters themselves as well as between the keys—framing them with a pleasant glow that helps minimize typos. "

 

Here's some great pics of the new z:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/sony-vaio-z-hands-on-the-ultimate-full-powered-ultraportable-coming-this-spring

 

Wow, starting at $1899 ! People were speculating $2300+

 

boo, was so hoping for the 330m-ish level graphics might have to downgrade to a CW D:

 

No WWAN?

 

LATE SPRING?!?!? UGH - can't wait that long!!

 

where else does it say 310M? im not trusting pcmag since they were just making stuff up about the backlit keyboard

 

" Other perks include 3G mobile broadband from Verizon, a backlit keyboard, and zippy solid state drives choices ranging up to 512MB. The Z will be available in late spring starting at $1,830."
http://blog.laptopmag.com/sony-vaio...full-powered-ultraportable-coming-this-spring

 

If anything, the screen/keyboard rub problem would be better, with the extra bumper on top of the screen. Although that bumper and the new palm rest design really takes away some of the simplicity in the style in the current Z.

 

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...198552921644649998&N=4294954789#/main/spring/

It says preorders begin early February. ^

 

Also, seems like the F-series will include the new Quad-core Intel chips (i7), according to the presenter.

 

Why does that pcmag.com article read like a glowing product description?

 

The dynamics graphics thing is cool...

 

Yes, the new F-series is available with i7-820QM, DDR3-1333 RAM and bluray burner

 

I was really hoping for a chassis design - I'm a bit dissappointed.

The new aluminum cover looks nice but the machine is very thick compared to other notebooks.

 

Too bad Sony won't offer the Z in a lower priced model with an i3 cpu and the same gpu.

 

http://news.sel.sony.com/assets/CES_2010/Digital_Images.htm

Very Hi-Res pics

 

yeah this is lame.
The new chassis design looks thicker/bulkier if anything.

Sony vaio Z & TT are too far apart.

Sony need to make a Z which is slimmer, lighter, intel i3 cpu as coldmack says.

Some people just don't need this much power

 

Do we know the claimed battery life on the new Z?

 

The bulge out the bottom is dissappointing. I thought Sony were passed that. Ughhhh. Otherwise, I like.

 

That bulge is ugly

 

I compared the current Z and the Z above. The new Z seems a tad thinner. What do you guys think?

 

There's some hidden text on the page at:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...atalogId=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=z_press_page10

It states:

<!-- /stableStorage --> BATTERY UP TO 3.5HRS DVD Playback UP TO 7HRS Max. Brightness UP TO 7.5HRS Default Settings

This isn't directly visible on the webpage (for me on Firefox, XP), but can be copied and pasted.

With the formatting of the text it's a bit hard to interpret, but is 7.5hrs too good to be true?

<!-- /zPressPageMidSection -->

 

The 310 vs the 330 may be the difference between my buying the new model vs trying to get a deal on the old Z.

The 310 is a decent low end chip that can play most games at medium settings (some at high.) The 330 is a strong midrange GPU that would help to squeeze a few more years out of this purchase.

Not that gaming is all that important, but if I'm going to pay twice the going rate on a laptop I'd like to think it will serve my needs for many years. IMO the 310 in 1.5 years will be what the 9300GS is today- up to the standards of the newest INTEGRATED graphics.

As for the price, Geee, you owe me a beer.

 

I hope that is the standard battery. The 3.5hrs of DVD play sounds pretty much in line with the current models, if not a tad better. So this is good news.

Overall, since the new intel integrated "HD" graphics is about as good as the old Z's 9300GS (3dMark in the 1850 range), I might just look for a business class 13" ulltra-light with integrated graphics. Hard for me to pay a premium on an old Z when the newer integrated graphics are just as good as the old Z's speed mode. And hard to dig deeper for the new Z (compared to non-hybrid graphics thin and lights) if the main upgrade is only a 310 (3dMark in the 3600 range.) the 330 would have been worth the extra IMO.

Still very tempted though. 3lbs w/optical drive is amazing.

Also, don't want to be forced to pay the premium for an SSD.

 

I think I might've just found myself a new laptop

 

Looks like the battery. Maybe this one is the extended battery or maybe extended battery comes standard...

 

OK, so right now we know that it has a backlight keyboard (from Sony site), we know the battery life, and we know PC Mag is full of it. So I would wait to find out which graphic card it has, since there has been no word from Sony on the graphics card. Our only source is the PC Mag article which we already know is wrong about the backlit keyboard.

 

"The Z Series comes exclusively in solid state drive (SSD) models—up to 512GB. Faster and more durable, the SSD unit provides a rapid boot-up and quicker access to applications than is typical of standard hard drives."

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/notebooks/release/55906.html

 

I am disapointed in this. I would rather be able to downgrade to a normal 7200 HD and upgrade the CPU and not break the bank. The starting CPU is low in my opinion, so it will be interesting to see how much upgrading the CPU will cost. Because now I have a decision. Wait for the new Z and know I am going to pay more or just get the current Z which I was going to pay $1,899 for.

 

was going to sell my ul30vt and get this z but if its only the 310m which is basically my 210m i will save a grand and pass. with overclock tho you can get the 210m to 3900ish range in 3dmark06 if any one was curious about 310m. i have su7300 too so with a better processor in vaio z could probably do much better in 3dmark

 

According to Sony's press material, the new Z does come with an i7 processor, which could very well be the i7-620M that people have been mentioned for the past couple of days. That means it will be faster than the fastest CPU option in the current Z.

Moreover, the new Z will not be available for another month or so, based on the time-frames mentioned in the Sony site.

I am seriously interested in the new Sony F-series, which obviously is a totally different class of product, being a 16.4" laptop. But it has even faster performance than the Z, much better processors, better screen etc., and obviously costs a lot less. That is available for purchase, right now. I might just go for it.

 

The new Z seems to have the 330M, as it can be seen from the device manager screen from the Japanese PC Watch site:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/event/20100107_340889.html
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/pcw/docs/340/889/html/04.jpg.html

 

excellent first post, thank you very much! nice catch!!!!!!

 

Thank you man, I couldn't believe sony would fail me that hard on this one

 

Hell yes!

 

Well thats interesting. Hopefully this is reflected across the whole series, with a 330 for the S and the CW.

 

I think I just jizzed in my pants...jk

this is prob the best ultraportable pc on the market soon

 

I bought the Z890 in December, because I was only in the states for a few weeks, and therefore couldn't wait around for the new model to be released.

While I would love the new specs (i5 and 330m gpu), I've got to say that I really do prefer the more simple design of my Z over this new design. It's just more elegant...the new design has those new bulges on the screen and arm rest, as well as that new grouping of indicator lights and short cut keys at the top right.

At least I have some conciliation for buying the last generation... ;-)

 

waaoooww! graphics will be much better!

I'm curious what the story is concering heat dissipation on the new Sony Z.

Something tells me the new Sony Z doesn't come with a firewire port, is this true? And does the new Sony Z have USB 3.0?

 

It does come with a firewire port....as per Sony's press material.

They mentioned USB 2.0 for the F-series but have not explicitly stated which USB format is employed in the new Z. Historically they have not scrimped when it came to equipping the Z....so you never know.