Sony New Series , when ?

SR isn't SZ.

 

Yeah, but all suggestions point to a new series, so it could be:

SA, SB, SC, SD, SE, SF, SG, SH, SI, SJ, SK, SL, SM, SN, SO, SP, SQ, SR, SS, ST, SU, SV, SW, SX, SY.

 

I'm talking about a price tag: current SZ71Vx costs 2500 Euro, the SR19VN 1400 Euro in Europe.
You don't belive, that Sony brings the SZ price down to 50 percent, don't you.

 

Nice! Where did you get this information from? Did it also come with information regarding the approximate release dates?

 

Wow, new models are here??

 

Search www.acuista.com starting with SR, BZ, FW, or Z.

 

Exactly. Another new notebook I've now added to the list is:
VAIO VGN-Z11WN / P8600 4GB 250GB WVB 2276.71€

 

Anyone have an idea of what WVB and VHP stand for?

 

@nixon: Come spill some delicious goss!

 

Hmm.. That would make this new SR, with todays exchange rates $1941-$2240, US. Nicely positioned to compete with Macbook Air. Thanks for this info!

 

It is highly unlikely that Sony will sell the SR in the US for that straight converted price.

 

My guess:

WVB - Windows Vista Business
VHP - Vista Home Premium

I could be wrong though.

 

Best guess so far.

Thanks!

 

Compete with Macbook Air?

Read good the specs of this laptop (especially what Apple forgot...usb ports, dvd drive, removable battery, ethernet, etc.) and after compare with the SZ or SR. There is no confront beetween them, come on!

 

The MacBook Air is now, whether you like it or not or think it's ill-equipped, the 13-inch notebook against which all other thirteens will be compared. While it may lack a few ports, its weight and form factor reflect a long-term trend.

So, not only will Sony have to shoot for an $1,800 entry-level price on its next SZ series, but it also needs to keep the SZ's weight down.

 

Maybe SR is the successor of "C" class. Remember SONY released the type C before the CR, it's also 13.3". Strange thing is the index SR and Z has already been used by SONY long ago. Actually I like the previous SR seriers very much. It looks aweson and very portable.

 

I am not a 'tech head' at all...in many ways I represent 'Joe Consumer.' I have recently been deciding between Macbook Air and the Sony SZ. No decision yet. I think there are a lot of people like me out there. We love the 13"screen and 3lb weight on the Air, but are lured by the SZ's optical drive for 1lb extra weight. You better believe Sony is losing SZ (Air has lighter weight) and TZ(Air has larger screen/keyboard) customers to the Air, and will come out fighting to get them back. Price may be one way to do it. This is a good thing. I am waiting for this updated version of the SZ to make my decision.

The tough part is.... Apple will probably put out a new version of the Air with an optical drive and an extra USB at some point. The question is...When?

 

My first Vaio was one of the SR series (PCG). I thought I could get by without the optical drive but there were just too many situations where I found myself wishing I had one. With that in mind is the average consumer really going to know what to do with that rental DVD? the new game they purchased from Target? what about the audio CD from the mall? Sorry, I just don't see that as Apple's target market. Aside from the screen size it has very little in common with the current SZ series. Both manufacturers are light years ahead (design-wise) anyway. Also: the optical drive in the SZ weighs less than a pound.

If they need to compete with the Air (it's arguable) I'd say the T series would be a better choice (screen aside). The S series leans more towards the business side of the market and you'd be hard pressed finding only Airs in the office.

 

That may not be a good thing as the MacBook Air contains a non-removable battery. I personally do not want a laptop with a non-removable battery.

Think about the situation where you have a faulty or "won't contain any more charge" battery... Most consumers will be at the mercy of the outrageously high price the laptop company will charge for swapping a new battery into the notebook.

 

What?? Sony is losing customers to the Air? From where did you took this kind of info? I really doubt it. As jack point out, the Air is lacking a lot of features. You can't compare two laptops only because they have the same screen. IMO Air is only for Apple fans that they are proud to have the slimmest laptop and they don't think about serious thinhs that are missing.

 

Specs as listed by a dutch retailer:

VAIO FW11E C2D/T8400-2.4G 250GB 3GB 16.4IN DVD±RW VHP € 919,09
VAIO FW11M C2D/T8400-2.4G 250GB 4GB 16.4IN BR DVD±RW VHP € 1.086,38
VAIO FW11S C2D/T8400-2.4G 300GB 4GB 16.4IN BR VHP € 1.337,33

VAIO SR19VN C2D/T8400-2.26G 200GB 4GB 13.3IN DVD±RW VB € 1.337,33

VAIO Z11MN/B C2D T8400-2.26G 200GB 4GB 13.1IN DVD±RW VB € 1.588,29
VAIO Z11XN/B C2D T8600-2.4G 320GB 4GB 13.1IN DVD±RW VB € 1.964,18

http://www.allesvoorict.nl/index.as...catnaam=COMPUTER SYSTEMEN/PORTABLES/NOTEBOOKS

 

So the FW is going to be the replacement of FZ and the SR of SZ?

What about the Z11 that is the most expensive and 13.1 as well?

 

Hmm, maybe that one is an X300/MBA competitor? I dunno. The processor doesn't really fit for an ultra-thin, but I can't think of anything else, assuming that the SR is a more-or-less direct SZ replacement.

 

Those processors *could* fit into the SZ (and presumably the SR) without problems.

However the original Z series was a slightly larger machine (It had a 14" (4:3) screen I think). It also had this weird wavy design near the side ports which made the unit a little wider than needed. It had decent specs (for it's time).

Personally I think 13" screens are the sweet spot for notebooks so I'm kind of interested to see what they did with the design. It looks like neither the SR nor the Z series have preconfigured models with Blu-ray drives.

 

http://www.hd.nl/p/SONY/VGNFW11S.NL3

On this site they say the notebook is expected in two weeks
So we probably don't have to wait long now

 

I really hate it that the 15,4inch FZ's are going to 16,4inch FW's.... Now I'm doubting towards an Sx, though I always thought they were far too small...

 

Do you hate it because your afraid because of the bigger screen, the notebook will be physically larger as well? It may not be the case.

Such as in the Vaio T series, the TR and T used 10.6" screens, then the TX and TZ used 11.1" screens, but kept the same size, had less bezel around the screen.

Maybe thats what will happen with the FZ's replacement as well. I am interested in this Z series using a 13.1" screen which is entirely new, maybe its also 16:9? Notebooks are slowly moving to 16:9 ratio displays to match HDTVs.

Also interesting about the SR and Z series since Sony has already used these names in their previous notebooks. Some confusion will pop up later on I guess.

Anyways, I'm just as excited about Sony's next notebooks as the rest of you, especially their ultraportables coming later in the fall!

 

Well, if the FW models would 'physically' not be any larger than the FZ models, then I would actually not mind at all! But do you really think a 16,4" screen would fit in a 15,4" notebook? Then Sony must have been waisting a lot of space in the FZ-models if you ask me.

Thanks for keeping my hopes up!

 

This site has the wrong letters, they should be 'P' series processors, not 'T'.

You must be right

 

Whatever happens... I just hope for:

- 13.3"
- No more than 1.6/7 kg
- HDMI
- New keyboard design
- Longer battery life

I think these wants are reasonable!

 

So the SR replaces the C Series? will be thicker and more consumer based

The Z replaces the SZ series.? business model essentially.

Im just wondering if we will ever see a decent slim and light 14.1 model.. Thats what i want most.. 13.3 is ok, a bit small for me, 15.4 generally means a large machine.. 14.1 for me is the sweet spot in between, but ive not seen many people interested in 14.1?

 

For the FW series isnt is the P8400, not T8400, and I thought the clock speed for that new centrino 2 chip is 2.2

I hope there will still be the blu ray writer option for the FW's

 

Both were previously under the PCG prefix. The new models will begin with VGN.

I have no idea what the acronyms mean unfortunately.

 

Any info about the dimension and the weight of FW series? Form factor is very important to me. I would not want to buy FW if it is heavier and thicker than FZ.

How about the resolution? I wouldn't want to buy FW if its 15.4 screen resolution is higher than 1280x800. 1280 for a 15.4" is a sweet spot for my aging eyes.

 

I don't think there is any news about size, weight, dimensions, etc. of these units, we don't even know what they look like. But we should see them being officially announced with all information in no more than two weeks. I am also excited to see what Sony has in store for us, especially their smaller laptops in the Fall.

You are right, a lower resolution makes things easier to view on the screen but in case these models have a higher resolution, you can always increase the DPI, increase the size of fonts, icons, etc. to compensate.

I would like Sony to add higher resolution options like other manufacturers do however.

It is a real shame for example that the FZ has option for Blu-Ray drives to play movies but its screen's resolution is too low to take full advantage.

 

This might be getting off topic, but I think even though the resolutoin is low, it still provides:

- Sharper and clearer images, compared to DVD.
- Allows user to output via HDMI to their 60" TV for Blu-ray.

So inclusion of a Blu-ray drive is a BONUS!

 

Would it be realistic to expect the new FW-models to get considerably less hot and have a considerably longer battery life than the FZ-models?

 

Yeah, I'm quite dissapointed that Sony didn't give the option of the blu-ray drive in their new SR and Z series. But let's wait to see and after judge. Seems strange because Sony won the DVD format "war" and I was convinced that they will put in all their laptops the blu-ray. Maybe 13"3 is too small for HD movies?
I think in the next week at Computex we will see the first images of those.

 

I think the real limit there is that the superslim laptops have the 9.5mm height DVD drives, whereas the FZ have the more common 12.5mm height DVD drives

I dont think they have yet managed to cram blu-ray into a 9.5mm height drive

 

Panasonic announced a 9.5mm drive in December:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/27/panasonic-whittles-thinnest-blu-ray-drive-for-laptops-down-to-9/

 

I was also under the impression that we'd see Blu-ray drives across their product line up. Maybe it was too costly to include as standard for the first batch? (DDR3 RAM isn't cheap) The other possibility is that these are the lower end of the pre-configured models. We'll definitely see them in the S, Z, (and T series) later on but *hopefully* they had the insight to include HDMI ports into the new models from the start. There's nothing terribly wrong about watching movies at 720p but the real value would probably would lie in the ability to output to a larger display.

 

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/storag...ay_Disc_Goes_to_Thin_and_Light_Notebooks.html

The Blu-ray disc drive from Panasonic can boast with 9.5mm height, which provides makers of personal computers easier ways to integrate it into their thin-and-light notebooks. But despite of small sizes, the new drive is compatible with three types of optical discs (BD, DVD, CD) and provides rather powerful functionality. It supports reading and writing on four types of BD media (BD-R, BD-RE, BD-R DL, BD-RE DL) and reading of BD-ROMs. In addition, it is capable of reading and writing on seven types of CD/DVD media (DVD-RAM, DVD±R, DVD±RW, CD-R, CD-RW) and reading of DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs.
Now available to PC manufacturers, the new sample 9.5mm high BD drives were created by combining Panasonic’s own technologies such as the low-profile, 2-lens actuator and spherical aberration compensation mechanism as well as an optimized optical design for CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc laser.
HD DVD, the format that competes against Blu-ray as a potential substitute for DVD, can currently boast with the drive that has 12.7mm height.
Even though the development of a 9.5mm high-definition optical drive seems exciting, its practical necessity today is under question. Nowadays the vast majority of thin-and-light notebooks are equipped with chipsets that feature built-in graphics adapters, which have no high-definition video acceleration capabilities. As a result, Blu-ray or HD DVD movie playback on such computers will have to be performed by central processing unit (CPU).
Even dual-core CPUs can barely handle high-definition video decoding; moreover, microprocessors consume maximum amount of power during decoding, which makes it nearly impossible to watch a whole high-def movie while in a plane. In addition, small notebooks are not equipped with high-quality full-HD (1920x1080) screens.
I really hope that Sony will manage to resolve these issues and fit these blu-ray drives in their new models.

 

I think you'll be happy when the lineup gets announced when it comes to Blu-Ray and their lineup. Patience! I'm sure some other random reseller will leak something early soon, or we'll just have to wait for Sony to do it themselves.

 

Your killing me nixon!!! Saw you as the last poster... clicked on it expecting massive news. Damn, I cant wait anymore...

 

Heh, just keeping the fires burning! A lot of the details have been leaked in some form or another, and of course we're seeing the new series name. Sooooon!

 

Like how soon??????

 

There's news that Centrino 2 may have been delayed from June to middle of July and so all the new notebooks having that platform like the Vaio models would be delayed as well.


http://gizmodo.com/393475/intels-centrino-2-platform-delayed-upshot-no-new-macbooks-at-wwdc

 

there will be computex next week anyway, so we can see the specs of new types but wait til Aug to get them.

 

I do hope the Montevina SFF (small form factor) processors will not be delayed, I really want to see a TZ refresh or new Type T model using Montevina this fall. Even fall is far too long.

 

Same here rahul, can't wait more than September. If Sony doesn't make it untill then, I will have to pull the trigger for the Dell E4200.

Is it official this delay of the Montevina chipset? Seems strange just few days before the Computex. Maybe Intel wants to give a little space to AMD. If is like that I'm afraid that Montevina ULV will be delayed too.