Opinions about the Z series hardware(SSD/Bluray/WWAN), input much appreciated

This being my first post I will take the opportunity to thank all those who make forums like these such powerful tools, keep up the good work!


Going straight into it I'll give you my opinion on the situation:

1) The SSD+Bluray thing.
I've looked at various pictures and it doesn't look like Sony couldn't find a way to fit them in at the same time since the HDD location is not in the way of the optical drive, the two devices are quite separated with the card reader between them, so the "DVD drive is smaller than the BD drive and because of it there is room for the RAID setup"-scenario doesn't seem to be true. So that leaves us with two other options:

a)- a marketing/strategic decision by Sony not to include the two at the same time
b)- a hardware incompatibility of another kind

a)I find this to be a very odd and improbable situation as I really couldn't see any reason why they wouldn't want to take our money by giving us 4000$+ configs but big corporations tend to look at the big picture and I couldn't say that I have Sony's strategy all figured out so ... it's a possibility.

b)I can only speculate at this point as I don't have any inside info on the Z design but certain scenarios might be possible ... such as the tiny motherboard having only 2 SATA ports and one PATA for example. In this case the 2 SSD drives (all recent SSD's are SATA designs) would use all the SATA ports, if the BD drive is also a SATA drive (very likely so) but the DVD uses PATA then it would be possible to connect the DVD drive to the motherboard but not so with the BD one, hence the incompatibility. What this makes of the fact that one can't order a simple,single SSD with the BD drive ... I don't know... This seems like a rather strange problem to have because the designers of the motherboard surely knew what was going to be connected to it on the internal ports so that they could have put on an extra SATA port for such a situation but maybe they didn't have the time to polish all the features, after all they were working on Intel's Centrino 2 release schedule and not on their own. Pure speculation I know... If anybody is more knowledgeable in this respect and has any idea as to what the reasons behind the apparent incompatibility might be they are welcomed to contribute to this thread!
Anyways in case you wanted to add a SSD after buying a BD drive config there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to do so.

The situation is totally different for the DIY RAID builder though ...
Look at these two photos:





In the first photo there is a HDD (Hitachi 5k250, SATA, 2.5'', 9.5 mm thick) while in the second photo there is the SDD RAID array.
The RAID setup is not based on 2 SDD's in the classical sense but rather on two SSD PCB's (without the actual drive case). This was obviously done to make it fit inside as two drives (9.5mm + 9.5mm) would have been too thick. This also means that you won't be able to just buy two Samsung or OCZ drives and put them inside.

If we're lucky Sony has only taken two standard SSD, removed the casings and just placed them inside, one on top of the other. In this case one could buy two drives and just do the same but this would obviously void the warranty of not only the laptop (presumed by now) but also the drives.

If we're not so lucky then Sony has tampered with the drives even more to make them fit or had them specially made for the purpose by Samsung (I know it's Samsung because it says so on the memory modules) in which case there is not much that we can do about it ...

OK so let's say that we're feeling lucky, then what? Then we're in for a lot of bad news is what ... First of all the DIY RAID builder will have to fabricate the metal frame that is used to hold the SSD's since this will only come with the RAID SSD model , all others with a "normal" drive with the casing still on (SSD or not) will not have this frame as it is not needed. From the looks of the situation this doesn't look very difficult if another user with the Sony built RAID will care to take it apart and measure the frame dimensions... "IF" ... otherwise there will be a lot of trial and error going on.

But then comes the big one ... the ribbon that connects the two SSD's to the motherboard ... It's a different affair from the standard ribbon used to connect a normal HDD, the RAID setup having two drive connectors (one to the left side of the notebook that connects to the top SSD and one on the right side that goes into the bottom SSD) that link up to connect to a single port on the motherboard while the standard one-drive setup has a simple ribbon with one drive connector at the end (again look at the two pictures). If one orders the non-RAID setup with plans to turn it into a RAID machine, a lot of SSD disassembly and frame cutting will get you nowhere since the laptop will come with the standard one-drive ribbon. I really don't see how the average Joe can get around this unless one has a friend deep inside a Sony parts factory (highly unlikely). If anybody has ANY ideas regarding this please fell free to share!

2) The HSDPA WWAN issue.
I live in Europe. Europe has a lot of things going for it but the availability of reasonable-priced high-spec'd VAIO's is definitely not one of them.

For instance in the EU the Z doesn't come with a Bluray option of any kind (reader or writer), it doesn't come with the SSD option (RAID or single drive), doesn't come with the 2.8 Ghz CPU that Japan gets and to add insult to injury we get DDR2 RAM instead of DDR3, all at a 50% premium over the US prices!

The obvious choice here would be to buy from the US or from Japan but there's a problem ... the 3G HSDPA WWAN module that is specific only to EU and Japan and that I really need. The problem with the Japanese model is that the wireless internet module is locked to NTT DoCoMo, Japan's main GSM provider while the EU versions are unlocked. Since I don't live in Japan, I can't use NTT DoCoMo so that leaves me with the EU models (US models use a CDMA module, totally incompatible with GSM). But here we have the high price and 2nd rate configs to deal with and since I intend to keep the next purchase for a number of years I won't buy it if I can't get what I need out of it (good performance, good mobility,good keyboard, 3G internet access, Bluray(reader would do) and a HQ screen).

I don't want to use an external HSDPA card in the Express card slot because of a number of reason such as:
-the cards add to the bulk of the notebook with the antenna part sticking out waiting to get snagged on something not to mention the fact that they are usually some ugly color such as red or orange(an excellent match to the brushed aluminum of the Z).
-I lose the "stealthy internet" ability that the Z has because a red card sticking out screams "mobile internet on this notebook" like nothing else and there are times when I don't want the people around me to know that I have internet access(most people are not aware that certain notebooks come with integrated wireless internet, they assume that it's an "add-on" feature).
-I lose access to the express card slot if I put a 3G card in and since this model doesn't have another PCMCIA slot like the SZ had I'm out of luck if I need it at the same time(and I do).
-The laptop integrated solution is also better in terms of signal reception. The SZ for instance had 3 antennas, one near the hinge and two in the screen frame. This enables the use of a technology called spatial diversity that uses certain algorithms to compare the signals received by each antenna and determine which is the "true" signal and which is just a reflexion. This is put to great use in urban areas , especially indoors. I can't say for certain if the Z also uses such a technology but from the photos that I have seen of the disassembled Z it does indeed seem to have two antennas in the screen frame area and after all it wouldn't make much sense to revert to an older technology after using it successfully in the previous generation SZ.

Because of this I would really like to try to make the EU version work for me(hence all the SSD DIY stuff above) but I would also LOVE to hear from someone who knows how to unlock a Japanese model!, your help would not go unrewarded! This would take care of most of my problems and since I might be able to wait for a few more months before I buy this I believe that in the near future a Bluray reader-only option will show up that will not have such incompatibility issues with the SSD (but not in Europe, of course).


What I am looking for are any opinions on the matters at hand and if you feel that I am wrong in any of the statement that I have made above please fell free to correct me.

Thanks in advance!

 

I face exactly the same dilemma, although I could live without the SSD and the top performance. I need HSDPA and Blu-ray though.

My contribution: as I said in this thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264339&page=171), you can have the "stealth" 3G if you use your mobile phone or smartphone instead of the internal WWAN. Of course your phone needs to have 3G, and to be able to be used as a BT modem.

 

In my opinion, the easiest (and only) option for the people wanting Bluray+SSD seems to be to buy the Bluray model and then replace the harddrive with 1 SSD. Should not be to hard.

I still have no clue why Sony does not offer this option. It would be interesting to ask Portable One if they can configure a Z with SSD.

 

Yeah why don't you just buy one of the new OCZ 128GB SSD harddrives? They are only 400 euros

 

Thank you arthurclarke to point out some inconvenients we have as europeans. I can't understand that.
Perhaps we shouldn't buy any "2nd class" model to make sony realize we are not that fools.

I'm really disappointed.

 

It is uncertain whether this will have any performance impact.

And Sony is making mistakes with specs at the moment so I am not even sure that the memory in US will be different than in Europe.

 

I agree with that.

 

Can't we start a petition for better spec'd VAIO's in Europe? I love VAIO's but I hate SONY for bringing lower spec'd models in EU ? Maybe we should start a thread on this and see how many people are interested and maybe we can awake SONY.

 

In the FW series we get better specs.

 

I would subscribe to such a thread, but I doubt it would make a difference. I asked the journalist who wrote an article for pc-pro to check with Sony and here is the reply he got:
Tim Danton Says:

July 18th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I’ve had a response from Sony: “There are no current plans to include Blu-ray as an option on the Z-Series. The focus of the Z-Series is as a business PC in the UK, and we don’t see any great demand for Blu-ray from a business perspective at this time.” That’s from Chris Trewhitt, VAIO business product marketing manager.

This is so full of s**t!

 

Another angry European that plans to import from Japan.
Also for me the only issue that is stopping me from ordering now is the WWAN. I remember long time ago a guy that tried to unlock the 3G of a TZ but without solution. I think InTrigger was his name and is somewhere at the "Vaio TZ's Owners Thread".
IMO is better taking an external HSDPA card than purchasing a much lower specs laptop and in a higher price! Boycott Sony from Europe, maybe when they will see that a lot of us are importing maybe they will change attitude.

 

I am in the same situation. We don't even get the customise option from any Sony dealer in the country here in the UK so we have to buy the laptop and then get it modified to something that we actually want.

The Japanese WANN module can not be unlocked at all. It's the same as with the TZ, no one as yet has been able to show that it can be unlocked. Even in Japan NTT is not the best option so people have tried to unlock it but without luck.

My ideal would be:

2.8Ghz
4GB DDR3 RAM
BR Drive
WANN HDSPA

Out of all the options though, I think I will just end up getting it from the UK because:
1. UK keyboard
2. WANN actually works

As far as I know the BR can be added afterwards (although at a large cost), SSD can be added and DDR3 does not give that big a difference to DDR2. 2.8GHz is a dream... lol.

 

Are you sure? The 2.8Ghz has a TDP of 35w versus 25w for the other CPUs. This means more heat and less battery life.

 

That's true but the Speed/Stamina switch would then come in to play

 

True it would prolong battery life, but the 2.53Ghz will give better battery life. And less heat.

Question is though do you use any applications that would benefit from more than 2.53Ghz CPU?

 

I read in this Japanese review (link below) that it is because BD burner needs 50GB harddrive space for buffering and with a 64GB SSD there is just not enough disk space -- why 2x64GB SSD in RAID 0 also cannot use BD is not clearly mentioned. Maybe something about RAID 0 that forces the buffer to be limited to only one of the two drives? I don't know. Still, it seems that if you really want to have SSD+BD it is possible to buy a HDD+BD and then replace the HDD with 128GB or above SSD later on...

http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/0807/22/news071.html

Edit: Read the Japanese again and it says the SSD options just does not offer enough room for the required 50GB buffer, so I guess even a single 128GB SSD may not be enough for self-upgrade -- you have to go for 2x128GB SSD in RAID...

 

Well, that makes more sense now. If you need a 50GB buffer, 64 or 128GB isn't going to be enough room.

 

Yeah, and it kind of makes you just say "duh..." -- come to think of it, I have never seen a laptop with 64GB SSD with Blueray burner option anyway...

Another interesting note in the review is that for the Japanese model that is available with T9600 35W CPU, it would have different fan and heatsink to counter the extra heat -- make you wonder how cool Z can be, quite literally, if you mate those souped up fan and heatsink with a 25W P9500???

 

Yeah, but what would the power consumption of the extra fan and heat sink be? It's made me rethink if I get a Z from Japan to not get the T9600.

Despite the space issue, the RAID would give me that performance I'd love so we'll see ... as I said, I'm trying to see what Sony introduces in the UMPC space before I definitely go with the Z. However, it'll come at the same price as the Z with less perf.

Decisions, decisions.

 

No, it doesn't.

You don't need a 50GB buffer to burn a BD-RE/BD-R, not to mention that most people would format the BD-RE and use UDF2.5 to 'add' files and 'delete' files on-the-go to a live BD-RE partition.

In addition, if the hard drive (SSD) is not fast enough, the blue-ray would pause and catch-up with the buffer. The only issue I can see is with small files. Under small I mean 0-10K files, which in fact will need to be cached, but then -> RAR/ZIP them.

That being said, I am extremely happy with my USB powered BD-R/W UJ-225S for my TZ398U/X for 490$. (talking about power consumption, the TZ's built-in DVD-RW draws power from the USB and is connected to the USB bus to begin with)

I saw the Z5 at the SonyStore today and I am not impressed. I was looking for a reason to return my new TZ398 and get the whatever maximum Z is available, although this laptop is a in a totally different category than 'ultra portable'. The flex of the screen was awful and instead of making bigger keys , the keys are the same size as the TZ, although the space in-between the keys is bigger. Overall, it has a very nice screen, relatively good speed and is an awesome SZ replacement but by no means an ultra-portable.

 

Well, I got the G over the TZ because I wasn't a fan of the TZ. Didn't like the resolution. In fact, I love the screen on the G in some ways over the SZ I had. The G also has a USB DVD drive, but there's the Sony power management driver to turn it off if you're on battery power and not using it. Not a big deal.

I realize that if I consider a Z, I'd get the 1366x768 (128MB) version, which would invalidate a BR for me anyway.

I'd love a G form factor, 4GB of memory, and that 64x2 RAID 0. Don't think I'll get it, though I think Sony will most likely axe the G series and just keep the T in the fall.

 

Well, the G is nothing like the Z either . You will be sorry if you upgrade...

What I don't understand is why Sony keeps on adding more and more crappy series while barely refreshing the existing ones.

I would personally feel great if they change the screen on the TZ with the 11" OLED display they are selling. Everything else is perfect.

For me, the TZ has the footprint, a good core duo, great battery, SSD, 500GB drive if one changes it and the external USB BD drive which works for me, given that people don't have BR yet and I can hook it anywhere. Only this OLED screen...

 

Actually, I'm with you on the OLED. It's an AMAZING display. The TZ is just too small to use comfortably even for my tastes.

As much as I want to kinda love uprgading, I'm having a hard time justifying getting replacing the G right now. Going from the G1 to G2 was easy - I needed the bigger hard drive room and the core duo vs. core solo has made a difference. The Z - I'll have to see it.

 

I guess I am already used to this footprint and don't care using the TZ all day long. If they just put this OLED in it....

For now, I will settle with the TZ398, upgrade the drive to 500GB and swap the EVDO with UTMS EU850D MiNiPCI, since Sprint has pulled some s&it on me yesterday when I tried to move over my plan. Now they say I have a cap and if I want the new ESN activation, I will have to renew the contract which will not happen at 79.99$+tax for 1 year at 5GB OnNet and 300MB OffNet... Given that I was on SeRo @50$/mo for unlimited that is a big no go for me.

 

I would be in the same boat with Sprint, if all of those facts are correct. I have just about completed my 1-year contract with Sprint (SZ670), and I'd hate to think I'd have to begin another contract for a new VAIO Z - ESN activation, plus a detrimental d/l cap, which wasn't stipulated a year back. Though, I've been spoiled by this "everywhere, 'broadband'" access and would be hard to wean myself off of it. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

It's not the footprint. I've used plenty of small laptops. It's the screen resolution. 11.1" with 1366x768 is just not comfortable for me. 1280x800 would have been better. I'm hoping that 13.1 with 1366x768 is better or I'll skip it completely.

 

Do you mean that 1366x768 is an uncomfortable resolution in itself (i.e. its dimensions an sich)? Or do you mean 1366x768 just is a too large resolution for at least a 11,1" and possibly also for a 13,1" screen?

 

1366x768 - to me - is too large for 11.1 and should be better on a bigger screen. 1600x900 I bet will be uncomfortable.

 

Actually when it comes to comfortable resolution, go to the next tech retail store and look at the different resolution screens...

When you find a resolution that you like, not the resolution itself but the size of the pixels then calculate the DPI:
Sqrt(Pix_width² + Pix_height²) / Inch

So for the Z this would be:
Sqrt(1366² + 768²) / 13.1 =
= Sqrt(2455780) / 13.1
= 1567.09 / 13.1
= 119.6 DPI

So if you find another notebook with that DPI you can imagine the feeling on a Z...

The 1600x900 res has a little lower DPI than the one of the TZ (1366x768 -> 11.1)

 

By your calcs, the Z is similar to the SZ. Just a fun comparison:
G (1024x768) - 105.8
SZ (1280x800) - 124.7
Z (1366x768) - 129.5
TZ (1366x768) - 141.2
Z (1600x900) - 151.7

I like the G and SZ; the slight difference between the SZ and the one Z isn't a big jump.

 

Well you somehow messed up...
SZ (1280x800) - 113.5
Z (1366x768) - 119.6
TZ (1366x768) - 141.2
Z (1600x900) - 140.1

And 7 DPI makes a pretty big difference I think...

 

Not as much as nearly 30!

 

Yeah thats true =)

 

Well, I guess the original Japanese report did not say exactly what situation will you need 50GB buffer or if they really mean buffer or just the fact that you have to a 50GB content in your harddrive (which will still be pushing if you only have a 64GB SSD and no external HDD connected) to burn a full BD. Certainly if you are just using BD as a back-up and dump small files in I see no reason that you need a full 50GB buffer in whatever shape or form.

Having not burned a BD myself, here is question that maybe can clarify this: Can you "disc-copy" a full 50GB BD using just one optical drive? And in this case, will you need a 50GB space in harddrive to store the temp. file before you insert a blank BD for burning?

Anyway, your setup with SSD + HDD + external BD burner is probably a better setup anyway, and maybe Sony will offer this option in Z as well...

 

Doubt Sony would offer a config with an external optical drive if it has one already (even if it's just DVD).

 

I really don't see how the average Joe can get around this unless one has a friend deep inside a Sony parts factory (highly unlikely). If anybody has ANY ideas regarding this please fell free to share!

Thanks in advance![/QUOTE]

I think once the Z's come out the average Joe could get around this by calling sony's parts center and just asking for a raid ribbon and that metal casing. I needed to replace a ribbon inside my sz and thats how I did it - they didn't check much if i recall - so you could just call and buy whatever you want.

So it feels we could get around the parts issue, but the question now would be if the bios in the cheap, non raid Z's support raid if we just plugged it in, and also if its possible to disassemble existing SSD's and get them to fit

 

ONLY.. lmfao. You can buy a whole other laptop with that money... that's just pointless at this time. Why not just wait a couple months.. they will be down in price just like everything else does after companies reel in impatient people.

Blu ray is where it's at. They sell blu ray movies now at decent prices just like DVDs so its worth it. SSD?? I personally wouldnt worry about it. Upgrade it later.

 

The reason that they're incompatible is because the design apparently uses 50GB for buffering. SSDs have a limited time that each sector can be written to before they are useless. Vista has huge issues with SSDs because it's far too disk write extravagant (much more suited to tratitional hard diaks). The process of buffering a Bluray disk sounds very write intensive and like it would burn out the SSD very quickly.

Geoff

 

That "only" was in comparison to what sony charges you for 128gb SSD storage (2*64GB in RAID). I Actually bought one of the OCZ's for 340 euro. That way I can have bluray AND SSD

 

Thanks to all the posters in this thread!

Very interesting info I must say ...

I'll take the issues one by one:

1: Sony Europe
Yes it sucks ... we all know it ... but a small thread on some online forum won't do anything about it. We have basically two choices:
a) Boycott their products, buy from the US, buy from Japan, buy from a competitor, buy a desktop ... anything goes.
b) Maybe someone like ... aheam ... Manni ... can ... *cough* ... leak (by accident) the email address of this Chris Trewhitt, VAIO Product whatever, so that we can (accidentally) send him some emails regarding our opinions on the matter. Please?

2: The Bluray drive
What I was looking for was a read-only BD drive since the specs of the writer are not that good (to be expected for a first gen device of this size) to justify the 500$ price tag. In the original leaked manuals there was such an option but for some reason it didn't make it into production (yet). What concerns me is the fact that in a recent review the author said that when playing a bluray movie on the Z the video was choppy (as in skipped frames) and that he thought that it related to the drive spinning up ... I don't know what to make of this... Anybody out there that tried to play a bluray movie on the Z and wants to share the experience?
At this point I must say that if this is the case and I won't be able to play a movie and get smooth frame rates then the best thing to do would be to wait for the BD read-only drive.

3: The SSD thing
Yes I wanted the RAID option... Ever since I visited a friend a few months ago and used his desktop (a RAID 0 SSD affair)... I just couldn't get over how fast everything loaded up ... I must have opened and closed Photoshop a dozen times, rebooted the PC and tried it again to make sure it wasn't some page file gimmick... I knew that the chances of finding a RAID SSD option in a 13" notebook(what I was looking for) was a long shot but then Sony announced the Z. Since I live in Europe, Sony has deemed me unfit to purchase the SSD VAIO so I tried to see if there was a DIY solution.
Well ... times are changing fast in the IT industry ... The 180 MB/s read speeds that they recorded in the Japanese review for the RAID array were surely impressive then but now there are single drive solutions that come close to this and various vendors have announced solutions that reach 200+ MB/s in read (including Intel) that will be available in a few months time. A single drive solution is the better choice if the performance is similar since it eats less power and you can upgrade it by yourself ... now the 1000$+ premium for the Sony SSD isn't looking so good. Also it seems that Sony will not void the warranty if you take down the laptop to change the hard drive.
So all that ribbon ordering through Sony parts will not be needed after all, but I must say that it never crossed my mind that it could be done ... big tanks go out to oxide for pointing this out! (might come in handy later ...). Oxide also made some good points regarding the Z's BIOS and the whole "will it fit" issue ... no simple answers I'm afraid.
All in all I have come to the conclusion that for me it is not worth it at this point to go through all the hassle to get the RAID nor is it a very good idea to get it from Sony even if you can since you might get a better solution for that price in 1-2 months time and it doesn't imply voiding your warranty.

4: WWAN
Well all my digging arround hasn't resulted in much regarding unlocking of Japanese devices ... and I have tried pretty much everything short of learning Japanese ...
BUT there might be another way ... as |SONY| mentioned it is possible to just change the whole WWAN module. There are two main ways of going about this:
a) Order the European module from Sony Europe's parts center
b) Buy another module from whomever you like
The catch is that I don't know what connector Sony uses for the modules (but I think it's safe to assume that for simplicity's sake they use the same one across all models). But if you buy straight from Sony the part will surely fit... this can't be guaranteed for other vendors (Sony doesn't make the modules, they buy them from Option (SZ) or other such manuf.). The standard connector used in the industry is miniPCI but I don't know what Sony is using in the Z. The size of the module itself might be a problem also... so the best bet would be to order it from Sony unless someone has good reasons to believe that another module will work... I didn't find conclusive evidence of this but it surely is possible ...
But if one takes the module from Sony parts and plugs it in a Japanese model for ex. will it work? Will the system recognize it? Has anyone tried this with any Sony model? How about you |SONY| ? have you gone through with your swap?
Manni's advice regarding using a 3G phone as a NAT router of sorts to share the internet via BT is a great idea ... don't know why I never thought of that(thanks Manni! will use this in the meanwhile). Unfortunately this is not a perfect solution because 3G+constant BT operation eats the phone battery like there is no tomorrow and you have to carry the phone with you all the time you want to use the internet. The phone's reception is also not on par with the best notebook implementations...

That's about it for now ... an update on the situation of sorts ...
Thanks again for all the help and looking forward to your opinions!

 

I'm from the UK and I had the same problem you have. I ended up buying from the UK because of the UK keyboard and the fact that the WANN module is the hardest to change yourself out of all of them. Now I have a Z11VN/B:
4GB DDR3 RAM
320GB HDD 5400RPM
Vista Business (I want the upgrade to Ultimate but I'm waiting for someone here to do it first and I don't want clean install!)
2.53GHz (Lower power so I don't really mind about that)

Luckily though I have a cousin in the US who just ordered a Z and I paid for the BluRay drive on her CTO (which she didn't want). She came to the UK with her new Z on Tuesday and we did a drive swap. Guess what - it works! I copied all the drivers across from her hard drive and installed the software for it from her recovery discs.

I think I now have the only Z possibly in the world with an unlocked WANN unit with BR. Now to get SSD... lol

Obviously this won't work for most people unless they know someone in Japan or the US that doesn't want SSD or BR and you can do the swap or you're rich enough to buy 2 and sell the other one with nothing in it on eBay or something.

 

Did you tried it yet the blu-ray drive? Someone in another thread reported some problems, is it working smoothly? Did you have the time to burn some blu-rays?

 

Yeah it works fine although the write speed is more like 1x than anything for BR discs. I didn't get any problems with playback of HD either through the HDMI, it was nice and smooth running Pirates of the Caribbean! I use WinDVD BD and Ulead BD DiscRecorder.

 

Thanks faberge, this helps a lot!

You have the best Z in Europe man, do you sell it?
I would love blu-ray but I need it asap and if I import it I will have it in a month. So, I am stuck to the europeans models without blu-ray or SSD. At least I will have the 3G working.

Why I don't have a cousin in US??

 

Same here exetlaios,

I think I will have to purchase a Z11 instead of Z590.

Did you knew that P1 doesn't offer Vaio Warranty On-Site for Europe? ***?? How do they plan to ship the Z to european customers without warranty? Anyone get this info from Ivan of P1?

 

I didn't really want to import, it's just too much hassle. I can't sell it! I don't think I can ever get such a good deal again. I'm pretty sure my 3 year warranty is gone now. I did it because I knew if I imported it from the US, I couldn't change the WWAN card (can't be done) whereas I can change the drive quite easily. I also get the UK keyboard.

If you were desperate you could see what a US Z sells for on eBay without BR if you catch my drift...

I did have slight trouble getting the eject button on the top to work first time but that was pretty simple in the end to sort out.

 

Maybe we can send emails to Engadget.com asking them to put this as news on the front page. They have a lot of power with this type of things...

 

Do you know someone from Engadget.com?

I mean its a good idea, but is engadget not usually all about new gadgets rather than about opinions of people?
Just curious...

 

You're welcome!

Re 1), I'd do this with a great pleasure, but you have to ask Tim Danton, he's the one who is in touch with Chris Trewhitt... But frankly, I really believe our wait (at least for a Blu-Ray model, possibly for the 2.8 CPU and the SSD) will be over in November... Let's see!

Re 4), that's true, and that's why I like the idea of integrated WWAN versus using my 3G phone, however if you use USB instead of BT, your laptop keeps charging your phone. If you don't like that, you can also use one of these mobiel power packs which give you a universal USB to charge any device (I have a 7200mAh from Socket!) which can keep your phone charged for days without depleting you laptop's battery! Given the fact that a WWAN contract is at least £15 a month, I'm still not sure I'll go for it when I get my European Z with BR, WWAN, 2.8 CPU and SSD in november (just joking!)

 

Hey man, did you hear the news? The japanese Z can be unlocked now! Check this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=298085
Are you sure in Europe we get DDR2 instead of DDR3 of RAM?
What did you do in the end? Did you purchase the Z11?