New Z model with Intel Core i5 CPU

Everyone sees the issue through their own lenses. To play devil's advocate, the video shows the absolute best-case scenario for SSDs - sequential read/write of a large file.

What about smaller, random writes (which one might argue occurs more frequently in general daily use - think of temp files that are constantly created/deleted by the OS)? These charts show that even a 4x increase in the speed of a Samsung drive (the max speed increase by using quad raid0) will still be quite a bit slower than a single high-end SSD drive.

So, the comparison video does only show a small part of the big picture.

-Peter

 

You can't place the order in this case; they're sold out of those particular components at the moment. For some unknown reason, they are sold out of the glossy lid, for example. You'll have to try the order later, I'm afraid.

 

So, for me this is all about understanding. I come on here only to understand and to cut through hype and such.

I looked at your chart and I found Samsung on there (near the bottom). It appears to be an ssd drive. It also shows others, as you point out, that are much faster (more than 4 times faster in that particular category) So is it that the Samsung drive in that chart is equivalent to what we sill be seeing on the Z?

 

Sorry if I misunderstood you, but the phrasing of your statement about the bollocks led me think that you were saying the design was bollocks when apparently you were alluding to the comparison with that particular drive as being the bollocky thing.

Would you agree though that even if compared to other faster options, that the Z ssd's would still be faster than those, or are you saying that it is not all that fast when you compare oranges to oranges?

(seeing as how my current Sony TX has a 4200 rpm drive, they probably all look like the EVO to me)

 

Thanks dimension6. I was expecting something like that.

Even more strange thing is you can order backlid keyboard or fingerprint sensor but if you choose both then you get "arrival of goods is pending" . Seams like keyboard and fingerprint sensor are one part.

Well I guess I will not see my new Z before end of April.

 

Does anyone have a pic of their old Z with the engraving? Trying to figure out if I should get it on the new Z...

 

Pulled the trigger...

preordered,

VPC-Z116GG/B
Available in Black with Black Palmrest
Processor: Intel Core i5-540M Processor 2.53 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.06 GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
Memory: 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM (upgradeable up to 8 GB)
Flash Memory: 128 GB (64 GB x 2, Serial ATA)
Display: 13.1″ wide (WXGA++: 1600 x 900) TFT colour display (VAIO Display Premium, LED backlight)
Graphics Accelerator: NVidia GeForce GT 330M GPU with CUDA – 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM (SPEED MODE)
Optical Drive: DVDRW Double Layer
Bluetooth: Bluetooth standard Ver.2.1 + EDR
Fingerprint Sensor: Fingerprint
Camera: Effective Pixels 640 x 480
Weight: 1.38 Kg (including the supplied battery)
Warranty: 1 Year Warranty Sony Indonesia

at US$2160 with Bonus Sony Walkman http://www.sony.co.id/product/nwz-e436f

Should be getting it in a week.

I was playing with their demo unit... it's showing me SSD capacity at 70% full... I wonder if the bloatware is that bad or they installed more stuff on it... the sales rep didn't have a clue.

 

I went to BicCamera today as well, just to find out Vaio Z will be on display on Friday (5th), as you said. So ordering CTO with a rep in a store gets you a discount? Thats good news.

Why didnt u go for Wimax contract? Do they also block peer-to-peer? Wimax also offers 30,000yen cashback... even standard fiber-internet contract (Frez hikari) gets u 25,000 cashback, by the way.

I looked around BicCamera at all other models, and none attracted my attention, unfortunately, it seems I am doooomed to buy Z in the near future... I just have no confidence at swapping HDD with Intel SSD later on, so I'm probably going for the RAID thingy... dou shiyou

Anyway, congratulations!!!

 

You can simulate this when you pass an order in Japan sonystyle website. Don't know for the US though.

 

Thanks

I thought about switching to the Wimax provider...but I would need to cancel my emobile 3g subscription wich is inferior of two years (so at least ichi man).

Also, I am on the road outside Tokyo every week end and the emobile cover is really good in my opinion. I checked the wimax cover with 3g emobile one and except Tokyo wimax cover is really inferior.
Maybe in the future, but it's going to take a while, they expect Wimax to catch up by 2012! Maybe in 2 generation of Z .

 

I see. How about the speed? Is the advertised top 7.2mb (for Wimax) good enough? I've never used wireless internet, always hooked on hikari here, so I wonder how fast I can download using wireless... heh.

Also, did u go for Japanese keyboard? And I assume u opted for Windows Home Premium, therefore Japanese Windows? I wonder if the price premium for the Ultimate just to get other languages is worthy...

In any case, language issues can be solved later on with upgrades... I'm thinking about doing clean install anyway, but don't know how to preserve the necessary drivers. Any experience with that?

Sorry for so many questions...

 

In my experience, it's not too difficult to get used to Japanese OS and Japanese keyboard.

I am not fluent but with an intermediate/advanced level it's no problem to understand Japanese windows message...and you already read them a million time in english so quickly figure which one it is...It's a good way to have fun AND improve your Japanese skill...Don't worry the BSOD are still in english

At the beginning you make a few mistakes but you learn quickly and it's not problem to switch back.

It's like driving, once you're use to left and right side, it's easy to switch.

I am not sure I will spend money on another windows 7 licence... Except the OS all the softwares will be in english or my native language so it doesn't matter too much.

I am a big fan of emobile. Contrary to wifi connexion, once you get connected it's very stable. I had no problem to play world of warcraft a do some raiding in a starbucks in Tokyo.

I lost my modem in Tokyo and they sent me a new one within 2 days with a "second hand" price (I didn't took insurrance).

My download transfer will depends where I am but when it's good it's over 200 ko/sec and when bad it's only 60/sec.

In Nasu, in the middle of the mountain I could enjoy internet in very old Ryokan...sometime it doesn't work but it's really improving.

For me it's enough speed and the most important for me is the cover...I go surfing in Chiba a lot during summer and it's working on the coast for exemple (kujukuri).

I am not saying Wimax is not good, if you spend most of the time in Tokyo or major cities by all means it's better (you can reach 2 mbytes/sec and dowload you games from Steam etc)...

My LG P310 has korean keyboard and english OS -> I have zero problem.

 

I think if you choose two components with a 4-week lead time, then it becomes unavailable.

 

From my experience of pre-ordering during the past few days, the arrival time of different components changes from day to day. What was unavailable yesterday is available today and vice versa, e.g. iLink lead time changed by one-month (from early May to to early April).

I think SonyStyle in Japan is quite cautious (cultural predisposition?), and rather shows later dates if not certain about the delivery...

 

If you choose metal shield lid and blue ray you still get estimated date for April, so it's probably not that.

Further more if you choose only TPM + fingerprint sensor estimate date will still be March.

If you choose English keyboard + TPM + fingerprint sensor your estimate will be still in March.

If you choose English keyboard + backlid keyboard your estimate will be in April.

But if you choose English keyboard + TPM + fingerprint sensor + backlid keyboard then order is unavailable.

Only conclusion I can draw from this is that English keyboard + TPM + fingerprint sensor + backlid keyboard is one component or something is wrong with CTO form.

 

Yeah I know, but I want to see a real photo.

BTW, does anyone plan on buying any sort of physical protection for their new Z? Like screen covers, chassis covers, lid covers, etc.? If so, what are you buying and where?

 

I thought all the keyboard options were backlit..!?

 

Could you? Who would the buyers be? We're talking 1.8" drives without the mounting case, and with a ZIF-style connector instead of the standard SATA one.
Never mind that they're Samsung drives, which may be hard to sell on the basis that there hasn't been a single Samsung SSD so far that has compared favourable to the competition (Indilinx, Sanford, Intel).

 

Keyboard: QWERTY, 82 keys with 2.0mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch - Bilingual
Backlit Keyboard: Yes

Well, that confirms it... Sony is still using the horrible bilingual keyboard concept that manages to irritate both English *and* French speaking people, and they actually backlit the thing. Illuminating tiny buttons with four lines of even tinier text on them just seems like a bad idea.

So, I guess that leaves CTO for those of us that want English-only. Hopefully.

 

Sony style Japan have more CTO options then anywhere else in the world. So for example you can choose keyboard with or without backlit.

 

Uneducated consumers maybe. As long as you sell it at a rather low cost most consumers that dont know anything about SSDs probably wouldnt know any difference except "This ones a good deal! Look at the price!"

Of course, that route takes a mighty conscious.

 

Pardon for the dumb novice question (although I've tried to read every page of this thread to the best I can!), but for those of us in Japan with a CTO option to include only the HDD and no DVD, would this be an easier operation? I'm assuming that the HDD would be in the otherwise optical drive slot, along with any necessary brackets to hold it in place? We would then just need to open up the Z (hopefully with advice from nutman!) and replace the HDD with say an Intel X25? Are they the same sizes?

Many thanks for everyone for the help and insights!

 

Why not people who went with the HDD option (which lacks SSDs and optical drive), that way they can have both...

 

Perhaps, but im sure they would rather buy their own SSDs than those Samsungs.


Question. All this talk about using one SSD for Boot and apps and another drive for storage. How on earth do you go about that? What the hell are they talking about? Is there literally an option in your menu that lets you set these things or do you consciously do this manually?

Ive tried searching it in google but I really couldnt think of how to word such a question and thus my search was a failure. So I come to you. I keep hearing it and all I can do is my head slowly.

 

But their own SSDs wont fit in the place where the Sony/Samsung ones go...

 

The SSDs are (up to) 4 discrete drives, which Sony has configured as RAID0. If you remove the RAID configuration you instead get (up to) 4 drives of 64GB. If you speak in DOS terms, a C:, D:, E:, etc.

For example, I install Windows on C:, and I generally have a P: for programs, an R: for my coding, and an S: for storage. I do this on all machines by partitioning, but each could instead be a different drive.

 

Grrr! Anyone read Japanese?

http://www1.jp.sonystyle.com/Product/Computer/Vaio/Z/VPCZ11AHJ_VPCZ11AGJ_VPCZ11AFJ/

It looks like they have the option to upgrade to the 1080p screen!

Is there anyway to configure this with a US keyboard?

Also, does this mean: 2.5型HDD 約320GB（5400回転/分）

That a standard 2.5" drive will fit in this?

 

Yes, in Japan you can upgrade to full HD screen for only 5000yen (cca 50USD).

And yes, the cheapest options have 2.5" HDD (320GB or 500GB) but without optical drive (SSD + DVD combo are the lower options, SSD + Blueray are the upper options)...

By the way, for those of you who would like to easily read Japanese text in Firefox, just install the following pluggin, then only by moving your cursor over the text automatically brings up English/German/French/Russian (depending on the disctionary you install) translation in a small pop-up box
http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/

Really cool application especially for students of Japanese

NOTE: it works only for text, not for flash or pictures

 

Yes you can choose 1080p screen and yes you can have regular 2.5'' HDD but without optical drive.

@yobitake you bit me to it

I am using google chrome for translation. Only problem is SonyStyle Japan want let you go through order process with google chrome

 

The lack of the 1080P screen option in the US (in anything other than the $4500 signature series model) is what prevents me from buying the US version of the Z-series. Everything else about it is very attractive to me.

 

You can just go to www.conics.net if you want to see all the japanese options in clear english.

They use the japanese sony style to build your machine and will send it to you, and ensure you have an english OS, and take care of any warranty claims within the 3 year standard japanese waranty. They do of course charge a commision for this service, but their prices still work out pretty good as you can customise exactly how you want it.

 

The grass always greener on the other side...

I don't want the 1080P screen here in Japan, but I want the US prices...

 

I still don't understand the wisdom behind providing FullHD without embedded blu ray.

I mean...are they thinking that everyone's going to be ripping their hi def videos into the storage [be it HDD or SSD] to view? Or downloading them off the net? [*laugh* Sony of all people who's complaining about media piracy since they own hollywood]

 

You will not find the grass green down under here in Australia.
They're selling the VAIOs at higher prices and lousier options.

It's only greener when you look at US from Japan or vice versa.

 

Hmm.. I guess it's because Australia is a pretty dry country?
Or perhaps marketing and foreign exchange rates are more to blame...

 

In Serbia there is no grass at all . Sony is not selling vaio laptops here.

 

Sorry, I don't know what the connection between the availability of a FullHD screen (which would be useful for editing/rendering video and/or editing RAW images and also playing/rendering Bluray videos via the available Bluray burner), and "embedded blu ray" is ?

Care to clarify ?

 

The 1080p screen is an 8-bit display, suitable for running apps like Photoshop / Lightroom.
The higher DPI is also a great asset for DTP work.

Neither would benefit from a BD drive.

 

hi duck, where do you pre order your z, is it in mega bazar?, i was there this night and the price that is offered is 2199usd. I'm also interested getting this, so can you give me contact info to get cheaper price.
thx

 

I am more than happy to document the steps I take to get to the insides of the new Z for you all.

Options I want to explore:
Maybe remove the Blu-Ray and have one or two SSDs in place (depends on the type of connector.
Also, due to the larger dimensions of the optical drive it may be possible to connect two physical naked (without casing) SSDs with a PhotoFast Evolution Raid controller http://www.photofast.tw/2009ENG/products/ssd-evo.html
IT allows for RAID 0,1,JBOD so with the latter option TRIM or other maintenance can function properly.
I am also interested to see if the 1080p panel, being of the same physical dimensions, can fit into the VGN-Z so I can order one as a spare part and upgrade my old Z. Would make a fine Photoshop Colour Grading notebook.
If you come up with anything you'd like me to try, let me know.
I said it before but I'll say it again, soon as I get my Z, I will make a thread asking what you'd like to see/try and also guide you to the insides.

 

I just realized why I follow this forum for so long and so many times per day... I guess that left by myself I wouldn't be able to justify spending so much money on a notebook I really dont "need" but just "want". All of your "orders" (and pre-orders) give me courage to do the same... herd behaviour, perhaps? Which leads me to a conclusion, that all big consumer-goods companies must have some insiders on the big forums, whose job is to encourage others to purchase. Now confess, who is working for Sony here?

NOTE: my suspicion would fall on guys claiming to purchase the premium 4K models, so that the rest of us would feel that the 2k models are actually a great bargain!

 

Does anyone have an idea weather we will be able to manually add single 2.5" SSD to the HDD option? My understanding is that they remove optical drive and put HDD with bay into the same slot, making the slot that is used to connect SSD available. But i guess we will not know until somebody is willing to take a risk and open up one after it become available.

 

Thanks, you are the man! I'd be afraid to even attempt a "simple" swap on the HDD model with a single SSD, as some people suggest, as I've never opened notebook before. Your advice will certainly be appreciated by many noobs like me

 

Whether = this or the other
Weather = sunny, cloudy, etc...

If that was true, then we'd see a configuration with 4xSSDs and an HDD.
Which is what I will attempt to do.
Think about having 4x128GB plus a western digital 1TB HDD... redundant redundancy anyone?

Yobitake I somehow feel that comment is laser-focused on myself... Getting two 4.5K Zs.
The idea (besides the fact that one will go to my girlfriend) is that I can open both up and keep the one intact as a guide of where the pieces go once I tear apart the other.

It should be noted that early on I have discovered Sony wouldn't provide cover for repairs in Greece (not until 2005 or 2006 I think) and since I have purchased my first vaio in 1999, I had to repair it myself if the need (opportunity) presented itself. So as a precautionary measure I have made a habit out of opening up every laptop I buy, in the first day or two to make sure everything is put well together and to see what the problem areas might be.

The one time I had to return my SZ to sony UK (because I snapped the display connector on the mobo) I managed to put everything back together without a sign that it was opened.
Sony replaced the parts in a few days as standard procedure.

EDIT: looking at the published pictures, it appears so as the new design is tidier than the old Z so chances are it will be easier to open up.
Also, while trivial, I should go about describing how to make tools to open up the case without leaving any marks. If I forget, please remind me.

 

Can anybody comment on build quality?

 

No I don't think you are an insider working for Sony, because you wouldn't tell us how to open up their machines... or would you? Hmm... open -> destroy -> no waranty + new purchase... OMG, it all makes sense now!

Btw, lucky girlfriend! I also wanna such a nice present!

 

Nutman, if you have time, maybe you can offer your services to us fellow forum members who are overwhelmed by the idea of breaking open the Z (of course with proper compensation). Kinda like a car mod shop .

Also, I think most, or some, of us would love to know whether we can switch the original SSD for some naked x-18m's.

 

Build quality with Z laptops are very good.

 

Wasn't this always going to be the case? This generic, entry-level Z is the bare bones when it comes to the options that are being offered in both different markets and hopefully to ours (all the Canucks on the forums are anxiously awaiting Sunday/Monday). I am French bilingual and would appreciate the keys but from what you say Sunfox, it probably looks ugly.

We've been kept in the dark about what exactly will be in our new $2k+ Computers, and how much it's going to put us back. I'm really frustrated it's taken Sony Canada this long to figure it out. I feel like driving to their HQ on Gordon Baker and screaming.. but that would be completely useless and land me a visit with the Toronto police. and They're not the friendliest bunch.

Of course none of us will get our hands on them for another 3 weeks *sigh* even if we order on Monday. That's another 3 weeks without portability.. stuck at home working as usual. /end complaint

Sony and proprietary formats.. in keeping with their difficult stance on Warranty policy I believe they designed these SSDs knowing how difficult they'd be to replace. Like it's been alluded to, I believe it's a modified 1.8" case-less design and if any of the more talented engineers around here are up for it, MAKE A TUTORIAL ON REPLACING THE SSDs!! You'd get a ton of hits over the next few months, until of course Sony sends you a Cease and Desist

 

Build quality is awesome! I've had my new Z for a few weeks, it is now mid April and I have put my laptop through all kinds of trials.
I can tell you the thing will withstand a Category 5 easy!
One thing keeps bothering me though... The Glossy Premium CF lid is a fingerprint magnet. And like a magnet it disrupts the data on the SSDs whenever I close the lid.
No wait, hasn't sony started shipping these yet? Oh well, I guess we are all not waiting anxiously for our orders to get shipped...
Hey, maybe you made that post from the future? If so, have you heard anything about TRIM?