Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

You are absolutely right. I'm assuming SB will use sata 3 for hard drive. Do you know anything regarding that ?

 

Well, it's IMHO. But think about it: almost every sony shop on web doesn't allow anymore to order a series Z withOUT ssd. So it could be for SA... and if Sony wants to put a evident difference between SB and SA, it must costs a lot more.. because, if I can have the SA with same spec as SB but with higher screen at only 100/200€ more.. I would buy it. And "goodbye" series S.

No news... I don't know which channel is in use..

 

About the HDD replacing with a SSD thing: How does it affect the warrenty?

 

I think it's considered user replaceable so it shouldn't affect it.

 

Somewhere in this thread it was mentioned that the SA will be available with an HDD. This info came from a person which has inside views on these matters.

And I don`t think they will sell the SA for just a 100/200 Eur more. There is also the better, lighter carbon housing to consider and who knows what other differences compared to the SB. We will just have to wait and see.

 

if so, I don't see a reason in buying a model incl. a SSD instead of a HDD and replacing it myself by maybe a better SSD and still being cheaper (and having a HDD in addition to that).

 

OCZ are supposed to have made big improvements in testing and reliability for the new Sandforce, only time will tell I guess.

 

For all the guys who want to buy a SSD:
Watch for the 25nm chips; you don't wanna get such of those. Most (all?) of the new SSDs from a lot of manufacturers implement them, cause it's way cheaper for them. One example is the OCZ Vertex2 (which isn't brandnew actually), were they replaced the 35nm chips with 25nm ones, without really telling there customers. You can't tell from the model number or something, so that really sucks. You get about 6GB (not sure about the exact number right now) less of space AND for the most part, the life cycle is way lower than from the 35nm. So basically you get a worse SSD for the same price, just because it's way cheaper for the manufacturer.
Just to keep the Vertex2 as an example, all new SSDs you order now are equipped with 25nm chips (at least here in middle Europe). That's why almost noone (at least those ones who know what's going on) buys a Vertex2 anymore! (don't get me wrong, the "old" 35nm-Vertex2 used to be/is one of the best SATA2-SSDs, those new ones just suck)
From what I've heard of, a lot of other manufacturers are jumping on that train as well on the upcoming new models, so be careful what you get! (although mostly you can't really tell which chips are integrated, which sucks :S)

I've been looking into the SSD market very recently because I wanted to buy a new one for my desktop pc, that's why I'm into this stuff a bit right now.

 

Hopefully it will be possible to get the SA with hdd that can easily be replace but I can't understand why Sony would use custom fitting ssd's to reduce the cost only to the charge so much for them that it is uneconomical for most users who then buy cheaper model and replace the drives themselves. On amazon a samsung 128ssd retails for £216 so £432 retail for 256ssd to put in raid system. Let's assume Sony get them in bulk with enclosures etc for £300 per unit and then want to charge their customers £690!

 

Good luck getting them both in one 2.5" drive bay!

 

I believe OCZ have seen the error of their ways and done the right thing and remedied most of these points. Link below has more details:

http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_issues_mea_culpa_offers_free_ssd_replacements

 

^well, actually that's not the problem what I was refering to. In terms of speed, the new 25nm aren't very different than the old 35nm ones (as your article says, after their channel workaround). I was mainly refering to the lower life cycle of those SSDs.

 

I agree.. in that case, aim to Crucial C300 or Corsair F without "-A" suffix... these drive are with 34nm... or muskin (in Italy there are no muskin ).. When Muskin will decide to use 25nm we'll be sure that 25nm will be a technology welle developed..

 

I think someone mentioned recently that the SSD in the SA/SB is likely not upgradable since it uses a custom connector.

Does anyone know if the SSD in the Z13 is upgradable?

 

The SSD in the Z13 is also custom made.

 

afaik it's not. Because the SSD integrated is a different form factor, so a standard SSD doesn't fit. I think the connectors are different as well (not sure though!).

To be sure just check the Vaio Z owner's thread and the Vaio Z FAQ.

 

Although in theory 25nm ssds have shorther lifespan(3000p/e cycles) compared to 34nm ssds(5000 p/e cycles), in practice I higly doubt it will matter to you over the lifetime.

Anandtech has a very nice article on this.

Basically they used a 25nm SSD for 8 months writing more than 7.7gb on it per day(total of 1900gb). Keep in mind that this is quite a high usage. However over that time they used only 10 cycles of flash out of 3000. Basically they used 1/300th of the total lifespan in 8 months. 8x300=2400 months or 200 years I higly doubt that you will keep a ssd that long

Here is the original article if you are interested.
OCZ Vertex 3 Pro Preview: The First SF-2500 SSD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

Things to remember though:
a) the people who mainly buy SSDs are the ones who will really benefit from them - i.e. write a lot (I easily at up Intels allocated 20GB per day so far)
b) small files can wear out a SSD quicker than large files

Thus the reduced life cycles can easily become significant.

 

You have a point. But I think that the problem is the rate of failure.. which is higher in those company that are not Intel.

 

I highly doubt that that's realistic in any term!

 

At the begining It sounded quite unrealistic to me aswell, but I higly doubt that a site like anandtech would lie and tell incorrect facts.

Also keep in mind that every manufacturer is switching to 25nm flash sdds. Even Intel is switching, who is crazy cautious about reliability as far as ssds go.

 

Intel 510 use chip 34nm..

However, my doubt is: when you write something on ssd.. this one can recognise those cells which have been written more time, and so then decide to use those cells which have been used less? Because, if it's in this way, I think that 5000 or 3000 of cycle life span are really ok for everybody, if it's not in that way, I think that 3000 it's too low.

 

^Yes it's called wear leveling.

 

My 2 cents from someone lurking in this thread... Can we keep the generalized discussion about SSD's vs HDD's out of this thread?

 

In this case, my opinion is that the only real problem, is failure rate, which is not an intrinsic problem of the technology but it's a problem of how much is developed.

 

They anounced that they will be releasing 320 series codenamed 'Postville Refresh' in mid April. It will be a true successor to intel G2 and it will us 25nm flash.

 

b2t:
Will the Z upgrade or the new Z be available with HDD also or SSD only? (I'm not sure if that has already been covered in this thread)
In addition to that: If HDD is an option, will it replace the ODD or is it possible to have both included?

 

Would that be also the same for US customers, or will it be like the Z where the rest of the world gets HDD standard, and we get SSD as the only option?

Can you at least tell us(if you know that is), what the screen quality is on the display.

 

You know, beaups is really the only reason I'm still hanging around on these forums and considering purchasing a Sony laptop.

They really ought to pay you from the marketing budget, beaups.

 

so beaups, now what's the schedule for the SA?

 

So SA will have also the hdd ... I would like to know what would be the price of a base configuration (and which configuration would be)..

 

Are you refering to the next version of the current Z13 (called Z14?) or the completely new, redesigned Z?

 

he's referring to the redesigned z

 

PLEASE READ NEED HELP FOR A DECISION!

VPC-SA1X9E/XI:
Intel Core i7-2620M Processor
128GB Dual SSD (RAID 0)
...
£1,570.97 = ~1826€

Do you guys think its realistic (configurator):
SSD -> HDD -300€
I7 -> I5 -150€

1826€ - 450€ = 1376€

If thats become true i would wait for the SA... would be a great price...

 

It's likely to be real.. That's why wanna wait for it... I hope that somebody help us with this "matter"

Telling the truth, I think that for ssd->hdd it's not 300€ but 400€... In any case the price would be very good!

 

this looks about right, from a 128gb SSD to a 256gb HDD

personally, i don't think it's such a great price because that's in euros.. if it were usd then it would be good... european prices are ridiculous

 

I agree, computers usually go for a lot more in Europe, even if you convert it to USD, they're still a lot more expensive than what we can get from the US. 1826 euros= about $2500, but in the US, I'm sure we can get it for about $2000-$2200

 

Tax included???

Anyway, you're right. Here in Europe, specially in Italy, prices are crazy..
BUT looking at these prices, they're really good, against other competitors (always in Europe)

 

At least in your countries it is available to order and you will actually have it soon.
In my country they didn't even bother to put it on the website, those how answer the phones from sony are incompetent (I am being polite) and it is very likely that it will not be available in the near future (read 1/2 year at least). If it will be available it will have a crazy price for sure. At the end of last year (when the Z was available here) a minimal - medium config without full HD panel was about 2500EUR.
So... be happy and don't complain too much

 

Well wait.. at the moment in Italy it's still possibile to order a Z... and tha start price is 2200€, fool price since there's the new S, more powerfull and thinier.. .. -,-

 

The SB is back on the polish sony website

VPCSB1A9E/B (VPCSB1A9E/B) : Dane techniczne : VAIO i akcesoria komputerowe : Sony

but I just noticed it comes with a normal VGA camera whereas the new 13 inch macbook pro comes with an HD camera. I don't get why sony didn't opt for a HD webcam in the new SB, maybe SA but I don't want to pay a premium for a HD camera.

 

Oh, yeah, they corrected specs, expresscard was deleted, though even now they claim "Waga z dostarczonym akumulatorem i napędem (kg) is 1,75 Kg" - that is untrue as far as the model comes with SSD modules, which means it is only 1,46 Kg.

You are lucky in Poland, look at your Ukrainain neighbours, they got useless WiMAX instead of Gobi.

 

i will have no use for wlan myself since I don't really need it as a student, I'll wait and see if the model comes out in canada, where it might be cheaper and get my brother to buy it there and bring it over.

 

Never thought about that... 1,46 Kg... This means that the SA with SSD would be 1,16 Kg???

 

Crystal1988, no, it will be the same 1,46 Kg. Comparing to 1,76 chassis with HDD.

 

SA will have a lighter chassis, made out of carbon fiber. So SA with SSD must be lighter than the SB with SSD

 

AFAIK 1,7 kg is the weight of the SB and 1,4 kg is the weight of the SA (both with SSD). The HDD versions will be probably a bit heavier.

 

fristi,
emev
am I happy to err, but the difference of 300 g is the diffrence between HDD and SSD. Chassis, I believe, have nothing to do with it. SB model with SSD equals to SA with SSD.

 

Guys I checked and there's no difference between SSD and HDD. Ans SSD varies from 60 to 90 g ... an HDD varies from 100 to 120 g... a difference about 40-50 g, not 300g.

 

You might also want to take note that the proprietary SSD solutions that Sony uses in those VAIO notebooks do not come with the SSD chassis/outer case, which will also loose some weight.