Old (2010) Vaio Design vs. New (2011) design

You are drastically misrepresenting the poll. About 45% of people have said that they "prefer" and would "rather choose" the 2010 designs, NOT that they are "highly disappointed" and "would not pay for the new Vaio." Those are TOTALLY different things.

For example, I "prefer" and would "rather choose" the F2's styling over the F1's, but if Sony switched back to the F1's styling, I would not be all offended and boycott the model.

On the contrary, read up on Chris Bangle. I can't think of a single designer who made more traditionalists mad than he did, yet Bangle-era BMWs were a huge success, and now half the industry uses the "bangle butt" and "flame surfacing." Compared to what Bangle did with car styling, the Bravia-inspired 2011 Vaio line really isn't that radical. It's different than the curvy barrel-hinged 2010 designs, sure, but it's not that wild of a change.

 

This doesn't even make sense.

Most companies will target consumers on the fence about buying a Sony computer. They already have fans and owners in their pocket and for a company to grow it cannot continue to just service its existing customers. It needs to find more customers. how many owners of a 2010 S series can be expected to consider replacing it with a 2011 SA? How many owners go through a yearly replacement cycle like this?

This is not even taking into account previous Sony computer owners who are considering buying a new computer and who are not overly concerned about aesthetic. i.e. they view Sandybridge, the 6630M and switchable graphics as an all round decent compromise for the price.

 

As for music, quite a bit of pro-production work is done on a PC platform. The notion of Apple as end all and be all of any multi-media work is just silly. It reminds of when people were claiming that Mac was the only platform for graphics, except that I was doing color presentations for senior corporate officials on a PC before Apple even offered a color screen.

As for design/style, I just flat-out don't care. I don't care how big the bezel is or whether the case has angles or curves or whatever. I care very much about the capabilities of the machine, the weight (in some circumstances), the reliability and other performance-related issues. As for the supposed style, nothing could be more irrelevant. It matters about as much as the theme that parents pick for a child's birthday party.

 

I know that quite a bit of pro production work is done on PC. I do it on PC and have done for years (before MBP became the force it is today) but I use FL Studio mainly which is not an industry standard. I have two safe options if I want to learn an industry standard - learn how to use Logic or Pro Tools. The increasing rarity of firewire and expresscards on subnotebooks makes MBP13 and 15 logical choices given that you can run Logic, Pro Tools and Windows 7 on them plus you have a decent firewire chipset built in. It also helps that they are built like bricks and can take a few knocks on your keyboard stand.

 

A solid build is important. Running the software (and hardware in some cases) you prefer, also important. Visual appearance, perhaps not.

 

You are up for a lenovo if you ask me...

 

to be honest, after so many years, i think the barrel hinge look is starting to look old. classy yes.

i think that the new design look refreshing; a minimalist look with a subtle touch of uniformity.

if they had went ahead with the PMD idea, and the barrel hinge, i believe it will be hard to design a look that will complement each other.

 

Lenovo would be gold if they offered non crappy display options. X220 has a killer display but 1366x768 resolution is really painful to go down to if you are used to having your DAW spread out over 1920x1080 or higher. Sound production is one of those things where you can never really have too much screen real estate. If I had multiple monitors I'd full screen the mixer, piano roll and tracker on 3x different displays. When going mobile you wanna get as much as you can on one display without requiring you to maximize, minimize, resize windows and scroll all the time. I imagine its the same to some extent when doing graphics work.

After a while it just becomes annoying and eventually you will have a bad day and freak out. Like when they changed Soundforge after v7 so you couldn't drag select and zoom with the mousewheel at the same time. Now you have to drag select, zoom, drag another selection, zoom a bit more, scroll along and drag another selection etc. The amount of scrolling is magnified x2 on low resolution displays. One day it just got to me and I freaked before going back to v7. After that debacle I realised that I don't need alot in a computer. I can deal with slower cpu parts and less RAM and I can deal with an earlier version of Soundforge without VST plugin support (which is huge in itself) as long as I can work with half as many clicks.

 

I don't care that much that the new Z2 is not all in one. I am using a ViDock with my Z1 anyway, so that is just more of the same. What bothers me about the Z2 is it is very plain looking with a huge bezel and a bigger footprint. Sony just compromised too much in the pursuit of thin and light. The Z2 is not striking and they gave up all their signature looks for the new "Hexa-shell" design. I like sharp edges just as much as round, I like thin and light. I don't like extra wide footprint and bezel.

As usual Sony falls short in one key aspect. Last year it was no multi-monitor support on the Z1, this year we have multi-monitor support limited to WUXGA. I thought the Z2 was a MBA competitor, where is the WQXGA support?

The Z2 with the "Lustrous Gold" somewhat makes up for the boring design... except wait, I can't buy it in the US for some unknown reason?

 

Why? Does lenovo offer the highest performance and best build? If not, why would you thing I would be interested in it?

 

Thinkpads have a well deserved reputation for being built like tanks. Like an SM58 microphone, you can watch youtube videos of people doing mad things like standing on it, pouring water all over it etc for no reason other than to see if it can survive. Like the SM58, it usually does.

I don't think performance has ever been a criticism levelled at Lenovo computers though. X220 and T420 are plenty fast. The Ultrabase dock is insane and is pretty much the benchmark of what a docking station should be. Like all Thinkpads they look clunky in a 1980s sort of way but theres a kind of rough hewn beauty in function over form. That said, they ain't designed to look good.

I think the main criticism with the Thinkpads is the rubbishy low res displays they usually bundle with the hardware. If you do graphics work then you'll probably want to pass.

If the X220 has a 1600x900 display option, I'd be all over it.

 

Yes - Lenovo Thinkpad is really built like a tank! It is an industrial machine! I have a T400 and it is really really robust (how many falls.... oh my!).
It is however - ugly, boxy, heavy, impersonal (basically no design at all - just functionality). But you said you don't care about that much, that's why I said that you should be really happy with a Thinkpad.

I would never buy one for myself as I also want style, elegance, light weight and small size, but as a matter of fact they are much more robust than any Vaio ever was or will be. Just an industrial class.

 

But it has only a lower resolution display. If it had FHD, a full-voltage processor and weighed under 4lbs, I would consider it. If it had the specs I want and was well built it could have a bezel that stretched to Montana for all I care.

 

Not sure why you felt the need to bring up a Mac vs. PC argument in regards to who dominates the music production space since this discussion is actually about design aesthetics of the 2010 and 2011 Vaio Z, but since you mentioned it, I'm glad you've convinced yourself that you're right.


As far as the Sony Z, design may not matter to you but most humans in general buy aesthetics first and functionality second. You can argue that all you want but it's true.
Sony has always been about style with every product they make and this is why this thread was created. The 2011 Z is where Sony seemed to draw the line and decided to go for a more basic look which is really a downgrade from the 2010 model. This is their most expensive machine and their flagship model and IMO they could've done a better job in the design room especially for all the time they took to work on it.

 

I didn't bring up "a Mac vs. PC argument in regards to who dominates the music production space" there was already an extensive discussion of it.

Nonetheless, I'm glad you've convinced yourself that you're right.

 

IPHO,

2010 Z Looks > 2011 Z
2011 S Looks > 2010 S
2011 F Looks > 2010 F

The 2011 Z just didn't hit me the same way as the 2010 did. Which is why upon seeing the Z2, I immediately scrambled to look for a 2010 Z.
I almost liked everything about the Z2, especially the thinness. I also liked the idea of the PMD. The ONLY thing that kept me from buying this year's Z was the wide bezel. Surely I'll be missing a lot on the tech upgrades. But baving seen it in person, I just can't live with it. )

On the other hand, its weird that I find Sony's new design trend VERY appealing on the 2011 S. I feel the new design just works for me on the overall dimensions of the 2011 S. Therefore If I were to buy another Vaio Laptop this year, undoubtedly, it would be the S.

Cheers!