New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

They didn't actually have the specs online at the time I made the pre-order. The model number is still the same as on the one listed on Sony's website (the only one available in Finland), so I'm pretty sure it's just a mistake. As is the 2x128GB SSD configuration - it should of course be 4x64GB.

I guess I'm going to have to contact them just in case.

I need the DVD-drive from time to time, and blu-ray would've been a nice option too, especially if it was a BD-burner that I could use to backup my photo catalogue, but I would certainly not pay much (more than... 300 € maybe) extra for it.

Sorry but I don't know about the colour calibration. I have myself a Spyder 3 Pro colorimeter, we'll see how good job that does (it's only about 130 €, which is not that much if you're interested in accurate colours).

BTW: Did they give you an estimate when they would actually have the Z's available?

 

also, with a lot of products the warranty becomes an issue when you import.

 

This has propably been posted before, but if you go here: http://presscentre.sony.eu/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=5545 you will find some nice high-resolution pictures of the new Z.

 

Question about VAIO preconfigured versus Customer Configured

On the UK Sony Style Site there are 2 models

The first is the preconfigured option VPCZ11Z9E/B

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vnp-z-series/vpcz11z9e-b

The second is the customer config route VPCZ11X5E

The second I have configured with the following spec

VPCZ11X5E
Intel® Core(TM) i7 Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate
Premium carbon
256 GB Ultra SATA Flash SSD
8 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Blu-ray Disc(TM) writer
33.3 cm LCD, 1600x900 + webcam
Wireless WAN
Fingerprint and TPM
Battery life up to 6.5 hours
Headphones
3 USB Ports

Also Included
English QWERTY keyboard
SD and MS card slot
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M 1GB
1 AC Adapter
Wireless LAN + Bluetooth®
HDMI(TM) output


I have a couple of questions the preconfigured option specifically mentions
Quad SSD (RAID 0) 256, Whilst the other says 256 GB Ultra SATA Flash SSD

Why the difference? is the Qaud SSD only availble in the preconfig option or is it just a mistake on the site?

If you compare the specs there are wording differences between the two?

Im thinking of ordering a laptop but dont want to miss out on something becuase I customize the laptop

Mappy

 

Your 256GB SSD option is actually 2x128GB SSDs, which in turn are 2x64GB double-SSD units. Therefore, you effectively have 4x64GB SSD drives...

Though you are right; it's odd how RAID is not mentioned here...

 

Here is an update from Sony UK

Dear Sir,

Let me first clarify the situation for you, the Custom Built and Ready Made are exactly the same. They have the same chassis, same parts but the only difference is Pre-Configured are already made with a set configuration but CTO's are made according to your choices and that is a reason we give you limited options and not unlimited because there is only few things that you can tailor to your requirement.

The SSD is the same but when you go into the pre-configured ones on the website and you look at the Technical Specifications, we have to give detailed specifications where as when customers are choosing the specifications for custom built machines we do not want them to get confused with difficult technical details.

I am stressing the same again that the Ready made models and the CTOs are exactly the same only difference is that you can pick and choose in CTO but you cant do this when it ready made boxed up.

2ndly, VPCZ11X5E and The Ready made model but are brand new and no one in the UK has got either of the 2. We start taking order for CTO's 2 weeks prior to the ready made model as there is a lead time of 4 to 5 weeks for a custom built machine.

Hope this clear the confusions in your mind.

Yours sincerely
Haris Mehmood

SONY UK Sales Centre
Telephone: 0845 6000 124
SONY UNITED KINGDOM LTD
Sony United Kingdom Limited, a company registered in England and Wales.Registered office: The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0XW
Registered company number: 2422874

 

Did they give you a date when they are officially released..?

 

No USB 3.0 or eSATA?

 

They said that 9.3.2010 they should have the new Z, but i come back from Thailand 14.3 so there is no rush.

About display colour calibration, does anyone even think that you should do this to full hd display model? Im not an expert on this issue, so i dont know how good the factory settings really are...

 

Calibration is definitely necessary, at regular intervals. Factory settings are generally bad.

 

For those ordering from Japanese import sites and such.....

Are there any issues with power supplies?

like different transformers ("bricks").... or does the standard "brick" have multiple windings, allowing it take any input, but still drop it to whatever DC voltage the vaio needs?

Really like the price and configuration options on conics, I already have a nice ssd, so am looking at the 320 standard hdd, and drop in my ssd when it arrives. This saves almost half the price of the standard ssd, (to me loosing the optical drive is of little concern nowadays anyway). Only thing stopping me is the issues of wasting money having to buy a local transformer to feed it.

anyone with previous experience importing???

 

Generally speaking EACH AND EVERY monitor needs to be individually calibrated if accurate color reproduction is a must. I guess that's because of small manufacturing tolerances etc. I think some professional (I mean really, professional) monitors are factory calibrated, but even then they need to be re-calibrated on a regular basis (about once every 1/3/6 months, depending on how accurate the monitors need to be), and I'm fairly confident no laptop manufacturer calibrates their monitors individually with colorimeters.

EDIT: Of course, the calibration is only necessary if you really need accurate colors. A monitor can look reasonably good to the naked (unprofessional) eye but still have errors in color reproduction. So if you don't plan on doing some serious photo/video work on your Z, I'd not worry about the colour calibration.

 

Update

Dear Sir,

If you order it today, it is most likely to be delivered to you by the 20th of March to 25th of March.

Yours sincerely

 

Sony Vaio power bricks can operate at 100-240V 50-60Hz so all you need is to find a plug adapter.
Even professional displays used for color grading for cinema require calibration.

 

correct.

but really, anyone who wants to use their display for watching videos, looking at photos, or printing pictures should buy a basic color calibrator. again, if you're spending $2000-$3000 on your laptop, you can spend another $180 to make sure your display is as accurate as possible.

Eye-One Display 2. ftw.

 

not ready.

failed technology on its way out.

 

Say if i would buy basic color calibrator, do i need some skill to use it to make a proper calibration or does it do it almost automatically?

If i knew some guy from Finland who could do this like a real pro, i could buy this service instead. I have to run my business, so i hardly have much time for these things.

 

You just plug the calibrator to a free USB port, place the calibrator on the screen as indicated on the instructions of the calibration software. Follow the instructions of the software and save the display profile for future use.

 

it's automatic.

install the software, sit the calibrator on the monitor (it hangs from the display), push "next" and let it work. it will find the calibrator on the monitor/display, run color patterns in front of it for maybe 5 minutes, then create your color profile. the color profile that will automatically open whenever you boot your machine up. it's something you'll want to run monthly to maintain the best colors, as monitors/displays change intensity over time.

and the good thing about the Eye-One (and Spyder as well) is that you can download free software and use it to calibrate your HDTVs as well. I recommend the Eye-One mostly because their quality is well known...whereas the Spyders seem to be a little more inconsistent from one unit to the next.

I used to think the color calibrators were more hype than real necessity. I was wrong. everyone who cares about the colors on their screen should have a calibrator. it's too simple and useful to not have one.

 

Eye One does the trick and is no larger than a mid-sized gaming mouse.

 

@Mappy Do people in the UK really have names like "Haris Mehmood"?

 

@Glashub, Im talking to him now trying to get past this 5% discount limit !!!
He's a hard nut to crack!

 

@Mappy lol. Good luck. Tell him you're a longtime Sony customer, that you've had bad experiences but have remained loyal. Ask him, "Do you think you can help me out with the extra 5% to make good on the bad experiences I've had It would go along way towards keeping me loyal." If that fails ask for the supervisor.

 

If the above fails hang up and call again for someone else.

 

I'd placed a CTO order (fully loaded) but ended up canceling it b/c I wanted the 1920x1080 screen (after reading this thread). Anyway, I called SonyStyle to instead order the top Signature model (the only way to get FullHD in the US) and they gave me a 10% discount (US$450 off). I'm not a student or otherwise eligible for a special discount, so wanted to pass the info along. Thanks for all the helpful discussion, everyone.

 

If you don't have much time, I'd recommend against buying a "Spyder" colour calibrator, even though it's relatively cheap. It takes forever to do calibrations, and you can't just walk away either, because you need to adjust settings whenever it asks you to.

Easiest to use (and cheapest) is allegedly the Pantone Huey. But it's also not in the same league as the others, I hear. It's probably far better than nothing, though.

My recommendations:
If you use Photoshop Elements or Gimp and a basic photo printer, get the Pantone Huey.
If use Photoshop CS / Lightroom and an 8-colour printer, get an X-Rite EyeOne 2.
If you don't mind spending a lot of time fiddling, and the Huey isn't good enough and the EyeOne too expensive, get a Spyder.
And if you're professional, get someone to do it for you with even more pro equipment.

Note that my experience is with the EyeOne, EyeOne 2 and Spyder 3 only.

 

Agree. If I were in the market for the new Z, it would come with the 1920x1080 resolution screen, and no other.

 

@Mappy - tell us how you get on - I might be doing the same very soon....

 

In a Japaneese Configured machine, basic 128 SSD or 7200 rpm 500GB? It is down to the last decision and I wanted to solicit your views. Is the performance that much better that is is a must have? Will I be able to put an SSD in the one configured with the 500BG HD? If so, will that SSD be better than the 128 installed by Sony? I would like to run the machine off the SSD and use the 500GB as an internal back up.

Bronsky

Yes. I have read this thread (almost had to quit my job and make it a full time occupation) but think the issue is less than settled.

 

The only problem with this is that, as far as I know (I just checked a few of the biggest retailers), the Spyder3 is the only one available from Finnish retailers. I guess you could order from abroad...

 

Just rent a high-end calibrator for 2-3 days from any company that specializes in photography/video equipment.

 

Hey guys, I think we have way better deals than japan, I just configure a model in japan similarly to one in the US and this is what I got, you'll be the judge:

Japan CTO

Product: JP-VPCZ11AHJ
OS: Win7 Home Premium
カラー / デザイン (Color/Design):Carbon Black Premium
パームレスト (palmrest color): Grey
プロセッサー (Processor): Core i5-540M [2.53ghz]
ディスプレイ (Display): 1600x900 dot display
メモリー (Memory): 4gb [2gbx2]
ドライブ (Drive): SSD 128gb [64gbx2] + DVD drive
ワイヤレス (WAN): Not included
ワイヤレス (LAN): IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n （MIMO 2×2）
ノイズキャンセリングヘッドホン (Noise Cancelling Headphones): x1
指紋センサー＆TPMセキュリティーチップ (Fingerprint+TPM chip): x1
FeliCaポート(card sensor): Not included
Webカメラ《MOTION EYE (webcamera): x1
USB / i.LINK端子 (USB): USB x 3
キーボード (keyboard arrangement): "Normal"
キーボードバックライト (keyboard light sensors): yes
バッテリー (Battery): Standard
ACアダプター(AC adapter): New Shape AC adapter
インターネットセキュリティーソフトウェア (Internet Security McAfee): 60 day t
動画・静止画・音楽編集ソフトウェア(Adobe photoshop): 30 day trial
日本語入力システムソフトウェア(japanese Input): ATOK 2009 30 day trial
VAIOアプリケーション (Vaio Apps): None chosen
長期保証サービス (Warranty): 1 year international

販売予定価格：223,800円(税込 [Expected Sale Price, tax included: $2,506USD]

NOW LETS COMPARE TO A SIMILAR MODEL (configuration) IN THE USA:

Intel® Core™ i5-540M processor (2.53GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Premium Carbon Fiber
128GB (128GBx1) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
CD/DVD Burner
No Fresh Start
Microsoft® Works
Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)

No Engraving
No Mobile Broadband Built-In
Standard Capacity Battery
No additional Photo Editing Software
No additional Video Editing Software
None
None

Please note that some features are standard in the US such as fingerprint sensor, backlighting keyboard, motion camera, noise cancelling headphones. (keyboard color also is gray).

Price after configuration BEFORE tax: $ 1,899.00
Price after configuration including tax (depends on state, lets say 7%): $2031.00
-10% discount (yes you can get it!)= $1,827.90 AFTER TAX.

Its actually $475 cheaper in the US!!
And $650 with the 10% discount!!

The only difference is the SSD, instead of 2x64gb in japan, the US has a 1x128gb but everything else is exactly the same!!

If you want the HD screen in japan is an extra $56.00
if you want the BD in japan is an extra $560.00

NOW LETS COMPARE A SIMILAR MODEL IN CONICS:

Sony Vaio Type Z VPCZ11AGJ
- 1st AC Adapter Option Std, long cable Adapter
- 1st Battery VGP-BPS20 (5200mAh, 315g)
- Bluetooth Yes, Internal
- Colour Premium Carbon
- CPU Core i5 540M 2.53GHz
- Docking Station None Required
- Extra AC Adapter no extra Adapter
- Extra Battery no extra required (1 only)
- HDD/SSD/Optical Drive 2x64GB SSD(RAID 0), DVD-burner
- Head Phones Sony, Noise Canceling
- Keyboard Japanese with backlight
- LCD 1600x900
- Memory 2x 2GB (4GB under 64bit OS)
- Palm Rest Colour Gray (for Black / Carbon colour PC ONLY)
- Security Fingerprint sensor & TPM
- Unlock the Modem not yet possible for this model
- USB / iLink 3x USB (2.0)
- Warranty 3 year warranty
- Web Camera 310K Pixel Motion Eye Internal
- WiMAX or WWAN[3G] WiFi (a/b/g/n) MIMO 2x2
- Windows Version Windows 7 [Home Premium] English 64bit

Price after configuration: $2725.60

Same model as in japan they just added an extra $219 to the price (please note that they include the 3 years warranty as well so its not that bad). but still I think is way way cheaper in the US. plus you have to pay for shipping as well in all 3 sites.

so even if you want to order a base model directly from japan because of the HD screen vs a normal screen in the US, that is gonna set you back $450.00 USD
ohh and I forget, since most of us dont live in japan we have to pay around $200 extra for an importer like conics or dynamism or anyone else.

I dont know you, but if it was me I would stick to the US price, plus we know we can get a 10 % discount and an extra 5% if we decide to get an extended warranty. Theres a couple of people now that have gotten the discount since I posted that you could ask for it.

Anyways, unless you definitelly want the HD screen and want to burn $500 bucks extra for it, then I recommend go ahead and do it.

For those who are smarter and believe like me that this machine is going to be like a dinosour in 3 years and is not worth spending that extra premium for the screen because in 2 years they will most likely include OLED then save your money and just buy the basic config like the one above.

Also the processors difference in speed is only 5% and its $150.00 diference.





US CTO

 

No issues whatsoever. They are fine. The only issue you may have is if you live in a country where the Japan/USA/Canada plug configuration won't work. You just need a cheap adapter to change the plug type. Otherwise, you're good to go.

 

hi
last week i preordered my new z and in a couple of weeks i will join the owners lounge ^^ can`t wait to get it!!!!

went with:

i5-540m
4gb ram
full hd
in silver
and hdd

am i right that this is a normal 2,5 hdd (because its without an optical drive)
and therefore i will be able to build in a 2,5 ssd in the future!!??

Right?

And will it be hard to open it and change the hdd for a ssd?
any experiances by some of you?

Thx Dave

 

not yet...no-one has one

 

When i have time, i must try to seek someone. Thanks to everyone from colour calibration advices.

Off-topic: Tomorrow Olympic ice hockey Finland vs Usa.

 

I'm pretty sure that Newegg has all three.

 

@Mappy:
My wife is going to blame you for me buying a new laptop at this rate. I'm a Brit abroad and "need" a UK keyboard, but the UK prices are 10% higher than the rest of Europe so I'd convinced myself not to bother. Now they're closing the gap by offering a 5% discount I'm not quite so sure.

So thanks, I think >

 

............

 

I placed the order in the end, here’s what I got

Quantity : 1
Product ID : VPCZ11X5E
Description : Laptop VPC-Z11X- Configurable
Optical Drive : Blu-ray Disc(TM) writer
Hard drive : 256 GB Ultra SATA Flash SSD
Wireless LAN : Wireless LAN + Bluetooth®
Processor : Intel® Core(TM) i7 Processor
Ports : 3 USB Ports
Display : 33.3 cm LCD, 1920x1080, webcam
Graphics : NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M 1GB
Microsoft Office Suites : No Microsoft Office Suite
Finishes : Premium carbon
Memory : 8 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Battery : Battery life up to 6.5 hours
Keyboard : English QWERTY keyboard
Memory cards reader : SD and MS card slot
Connectivity : Wireless WAN
Headphones : Headphones
Anti-virus : McAfee® - 60 days protection
AC Adapter : 1 AC Adapter
Adobe Acrobat : No Adobe® Acrobat® Standard
Adobe Creation : No Adobe® Creation
HDMI(TM) output : HDMI(TM) output
Adobe® Lightroom® : No Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom
Security features : Fingerprint and TPM
Operating system : Windows® 7 Ultimate
-
Plus
VAIO Plus 2: +2 year warranty extension

5.something % off the machine
And the warranty free
Plus I bought a sleeve

I don’t want to write here what I spent exactly because I’d rather not think about that
I’m sure you can work it out by speccing the machine yourselves.

This is going to replace the 2 year old m15x that I have now which weighed a lot and ( is always breaking ), hence the massive warranty period on the new machine. I always use a large external monitor at work and at home so Im not fussed about the screen size just power and build qaulity

What’s the build quality on these Vaio Z’s?

 

I notice that the sony (shop in europe) site is down at the moment, They better not be introducing price reductions.

 

I don't suppose you know which headphones they are? Good news on the free warranty, too.

 

Damn this thing is a bit expensive and wow just wow 1080P resoluton on this small screen impressive, finally sony is stepping up their game, hey how much battery life will you get with the core i7 620 and intel hd, at least this has a dvd, cd drive!

 

Update - Ok just to be clear
I bought the machine as a UK Ltd company - Sony seem to have a policy where they don't charge the VAT to companies.

What I paid was the price with no VAT ( underneath the big RED numbers )
and then 5 % off that total
Plus the 4 year warranty

Its still expensive !

 

Probably the noise canceling earphones.

 

Hmm upon speaking to a sony rep it seems even if I did opt for the built in Verizon on the Z, I could deactivate it at any point and use my own service of my choice externally. Should have went ahead and done it, what a shame.

Not a huge loss, why am I so anal about external devices?

 

The details on the headphones

Headphones
Noise cancelling headphones reduce ambient noise and provide a quieter environment to enhance audio entertainment.



No headphones [- £ 30.0 ]

Headphones
Sony Style exclusive

 

MDR-NC021LP/ BM2
This is the model number of the noise cancelling headphones I gathered from the HK Sony page. A quick google didn't reveal anything except that it was also included with the Sony P series netbook.

 

That's what I was after, thanks. (Sony make an awful lot of models, so just saying "noise cancelling headphones" means nothing).

 

So what is everyone doing to get the full HD model right now? And is the lesser resolution still HD, just not as much?