Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

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Sony VAIO SA Series: Hands-On | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
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http://forum.notebookreview.com/7032124-post77.html

 

That is interesting & from the sounds of it, the VAIO Z successor is gonna be impressive. Unfortunately, the one negative for me based on info from that link is the implementation of non-user replacement batteries.

 

Wow, this might be it.. I wish they posted some pictures of this thing. My refurbished Z1290 CTO is arriving tomorrow.

I actually prefer integrated battery compared to the wiggle room of current Z. Also it'll give more space to put higher capacity battery. I hope it'll be priced below $2000.


Sony press conference will be 5pm PST today.

 

I'm actually happy about it. I never remove the battery and would rather they cram a slightly more capacious non-removable battery. Performance over flexibility says I

 

yessss, this might be the "one" I was waiting for.

usb 3,0 , beefier graphics & a better processor

I'll be ready with my american express to order :]

although the "sealed" battery is kind of a downer, but nevertheless it is exciting!

does ces start today (wedn.)? I thought it was on the 6th

 

I don't see this one as a Z replacement imo. Having both old VGN-Z and relatively new VPC-S, I prefer Z by far. Hope they'll update Z series as well.

I agree about non-removable battery, kinda let down for me, as if battery degraded you can't purchase new one without sending it to authorized dealer for replacement.

Any pictures of SA?

Cheers,
Miki

 

All the article said was that the "battery is no longer LATCH-removable". It never actually said yet that it wasn't removable, nor gave the details that they were going to be retarded like Apple and implement some sort of draconian battery replacement policy. Let's hope Sony have the sense not to copy Apple for the sake of copying Apple (contrary to the raving by the Apple-cultists, I find Apple are SO backward in many ways). If Sony still make the battery user- removable by screwdriver (while also giving a much-needed larger battery capacity) then I'd support this move.

On another point, I hope Sony updates the entire Vaio range with a decent set of speakers. For a company like Sony who likes to sell itself as having a good reputation for audio, the quality of speakers in all the Vaio laptops is disgraceful.

 

In my opinion, Sony's been getting more 'Apple-fied' over the past few years. The VGN-Z to the VPC-Z being notable; the 'unification' of the keyboard and hinge into a single piece to me is going towards the MacBook Pro design. Though granted, the Z looks awesome unlike the Mac.

To me, the Japanese-inspired design was at its peak in the VGN-TZ era. It was rather strong with the VGN-Z as well (though not as much), then the TT came out which was a downer for me, then the VPC-Z..... But as I said, that's my opinion.

I would be interested in knowing how this new battery implementation works. Most batteries work via latches today, and indeed making it permanently built-in does take away that 'customisable' aspect of a laptop (cough Apple-and-its-persistance-to-prevent-users-doing-what-they-want-to-their-own-stuff cough). If it's anything like the X series, well, if that's the case the SA will be most interesting indeed....

 

looks like they took down the webpage, oops?

 

maybe they're refreshing page with some more info/images? Would be nice.

 

The page was working normally 15 min ago, so either sony asked them to remove it or they are updating it, my guess is the former not the latter. but I could be wrong

from the article, the vent is moved to the rear, optical drive to the left, same 13.3 inch screem 1600x900, a tad heavier they said, a few ounces at most.

The sony press conference is at 5 pm local time, so 5pm PST or 2 am CET

 

To me, this looks like it's an S incremental, and not a Z replacement.
I.e. a consumer and not enthusiast model, and successor to this model

 

So in other words, a Z incremental may be 'ZA' with a thinner body than the current Z.

 

This is the Z replacement.

 

How many hours to go till the announcement?

 

If it doesn't leak then until 5pm PST

 

about 7 now... and i guess they removed the page

 

If true, not my cup of tea.
Well, all I can hope now is decent replacement X series spec.

As I said before, personally I will not buy anything bigger/heavier than current Z. Only "downsizing" will work for me.

Cheers,
Miki

 

Little comment on a non-removable battery from my side.

One of the key issues you have with batteries is degradation due to heat - I think most of the degradation on my SZ's battery comes from heat.
So when a home and planning to run your laptop on full load for quite a while it might be a good idea to remove the battery.

At least on the SZ the heatsink design heats up a small part of the battery quite a lot. Obviously, it's not so much an issue under normal load, but full load, yes. Considering the SZ and Z were made for both heavy work and stamina, a non-removable battery wouldn't be an ideal choice.

 

tell me about it! With all those "battery care" options (most of the time I use 50% eg. SUPER battery care), my Z battery degraded for 28%, 25 months old. And I did use it mostly on battery power.

 

Look at the bright side, at least the battery won't be loose like it is on the Z

 

Filling my SZ to 80% my battery degraded by about 10% within 1,5-2 years, I haven't checked since.

Most of it due to heat I believe - interestingly enough I actually noticed the first significant degradation step after the battery was heated a bit...

 

I'm sure if you really wanted you could place some very thin foam padding between the battery and the case which would put a bit of pressure into the system and stop the rattling - just a tiny amount, so that you don't need force to replace the battery but enough to stop it from rattling.

If anybody here has bought a Sony eReader, I mean the stuff it was wrapped in

 

wow.. my Z11 hasn't reached its 1 yr and another new one is replacing it? hope to see more pics of the new successor..

 

I didn't read the article! Did they say any specs??

 

They quoted a few specs, but some are misleading (ie quad core), in any case, just wait for 5 p.m. pst when Sony has their press conference at CES (in about 6 hours )

 

Ok, perfect.

Maybe is time to replace my first gen Z11 (2.4 GhZ core 2 duo, 4 GB RAM), with the new Z! But why SA? Seems strange to me, maybe as someone else said is the succesor of SR.

Any ideas of a new P? Or a tablet?

 

Is this a common problem? The battery in my Z fits like a glove and doesn't require any padding to stop it rattling.

 

There is rumours that a tablet is due at CES, not sure about a new P

 

Not to the SR, but the S -- the redheaded stepchild that has had limited marketing and availability.
Specs were relatively comparable to the Z, but with a 13.3" display, slightly thicker and heavier, WiDi included, and half the price of the Z.

 

So is Sony announcing this tonight???

 

I have first gen VGN-Z and no issues with battery rattling. However after only 2 months, most of they keys (keypad) got worn out, losing this nice "sandpaper" feel. Quite disappointing for premium brand and premium price.

Second gen. VPC-Z suffered similar issue with palmrest.

To be honest, I prefer the way cylinder hinge was incorporated inside body of new Z, not like an extension (as in old Z) but don't like those extra buttons (Assist, Vaio...) quite useless to me and spoils the premium feel, and of course aforementioned palmrest cover, as it doesn't look like a part of Z, more like it's attached on the top.

Regardless of already said, I still believe Z will get its own replacement.

Cheers,
Miki

 

Sorry, I should have said that I've got a VPC-Z.

 

How does the ATI/AMD 6630 Graphics compared to the old VPC-Z (Nvidia GT330m) and VGN-Z (Nvidia 9300m)

Hopefully faster? I want to get my mobile gaming on.

 

omg where are the pictures?

The wait is killing me...

 

I prefer this too.

 

Sony VAIO SA with Intel's latest processors primed to take over for the VAIO Z, VAIO Y picks up AMD Fusion -- Engadget Very nice looking.

Bronsky

 

There are pics that shows an integrated optical drive. I am not sure if that's the SA. Looks kinda big too, since there's an extra column of keys at the right side (more like a 14"). Also, why is the optical drive placed on the right? There are speculations that the SA's optical drive is now placed on the left.

 

Pictures on Engadget are the current S (which is continued) and YA/YB, not SA.

 

Sony VAIO SA Series: Hands-On | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Works

 

Looking at the liveblog on engadget, there is a 3D VAIO. i7, but looking at the images it's big. It's a F series successor (well, it's called the F 3D).

Getting back on topic...

No offence, but those in the know here might have it mixed up with the S's (and SR's) successor? They're pretty similar in size so it's possible... My reasons as why I doubt:
- The name first of all, the 'S' being in the name.
- The resolution of the screen (1600x900) despite it being bigger at 13.3 (which again is a size used on the SR).
- Graphics processor (and some have mentioned CPU as well) are ATI (made by AMD). Again, these have only been used in the S and SR series.

Ok, let's just say the SA is the Z successor; where is the 1080p? Heck, the screen's bigger so why not? And this is CES, you'd expect the company to show off their best offerings in development. If I remember right the S and the SR peaked at resolutions of 1360x768, so an increase to 1600x900 for their successors does sound logical.

I have this gut feeling we're yet to see the beast in hiding that is the Z's successor. Either that, or Sony decided to overhaul their lineup and naming convention altogether...

 

My take is that they've decided to ditch the Z line (outside Japan, at least), because it doesn't sell as well as hoped, being seen as very expensive.

The SA is a vamped up S intended to fight against the MacBook Pro, but definitely the consumer grade S series. No 1920x1080, bigger, heavier, and cheaper than the Z.
Since there's no continuation of the Z line, the SA is the closest to what the Z was. But it's no more a replacement for the Z than the X is a replacement for the TT.

 

engadget has changed the whole article now "removed SA part"

 

From the updated Engagdet article it does actually now suggest that the SA is the model that is in picture and that there will be a premium and more consumer non carbon fibre model like there was with the SZ.

The specs are very solid. Moving to 13.3 may have allowed for a better video card. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony offer the 1080p display as an upgrade.

 

Wow, you're right, and still now pictures. Was this a double embargo bust by PCmag and Engadget?

Still no mention of the SA from the Sony pressroom, only Y and S Series:
http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/computer_peripheral/notebooks

For those who missed the Engadget article before it got rewritten, here's what it said about the SA Series:

 

According to PCmag, the highest resolution SA is 1600x900:

"For those who don't have the budget for the SA series, there's the S130. Though there's not a single trace of carbon fiber on this unit, the S130 is made from the same magnesium alloy metal found in the YB series. The 13.3-inch widescreen is two sizes bigger that of the YB and matches that of the SA series, though its resolution tops out at 1,366-by-768 (the SA can scale to 1,600-by-900)."

 

Man.... that is a gigantic bummer... the 1920x1080 screen is the main attraction I had to the Z because then I wouldn't need to buy an external monitor when I go off the college next year....

 

Don't fret, PCmag are notoriously inaccurate. I'd say 1920x1080 will still be available on the SA Series.

 

Hopefully you are correct.

If it IS available, I am definitely getting the SA. If it isn't, I might get swayed towards the refreshed X201 depending on what it has.

 

From the SA article:

I'm guessing the SA series design will have a screen hinge resembling the just-announced new F Series shown here:
Won't be as fat of course!!