Sony SA Series Discussion Sony's next new 13.3 laptop

It has launched in US.

 

If I buy the SA with just a single HDD, can I replace it with a standard SDD? I have an ocz vertex 2 sitting around. Would I have to do something special or could I just slap it in there? My Z had dual SSD's Raid 0 and they perform fine. Why is it such a bad idea to have raid 0 ssd's? I thought sony used some proprietary trim system that works automatically on the Z.

Does anyone have any idea when there will be new info on the new Z? I really need to see something concrete before deciding on an upgrade.

 

Yes, it's a straightforward direct swap.

Good luck.

 

Speed, you have a Z. Are you considering upgrading to an SA? Are you going to wait for a new Z? I really want to get a big boost in GPU power. People say the SA is only 15% more powerful (GPU) than the Z. That really doesn't seem like much. I still haven't been able to get any info on throttling / cooling, but hopefully when someone gets their SA they'll post about it.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not upgrading to either a VAIO SA or the upcoming VAIO Z notebook simply because I only bought my VAIO VPC-Z13 notebook about 3 weeks ago.

 

You can return it

 

Unfortunately, I can't. I did not buy from the SonyStyle store so I don't get their very generous 30 days return policy.

 

here is the deal, I would advise you to re read where you posted those questions, they were already answered, not only for you but for others as well.

 

Don't feel too bad, I just recently bought a refurbed z not too long ago. I feel great about my purchase. Even if I did return it and get the SA I would be downgrading from a 256GB raid ssd to a normal 7200rpm hdd, I'm not sure I'd be willing to make that trade-off. Also, the Z weighs 1/2lb less, which is always cooler. The Z is still a great pc

 

No, I don't feel that bad at all with my purchase, although I would have to admit that at this point in time, it is damn stupid to pay more than $2,000 for obsolete tech.

However, I had actually made this purchase on purpose because I wanted a notebook with the "silly" looking cylindrical hinge (with that fancy & huge green power-on button), a built-in dedicated GPU, a built-in Blu-ray burner, at least 256GB SSD, & a FHD (1920x1080) screen. I would have gone for either the VAIO SA or the upcoming VAIO Z notebook, but none of them fits those criteria. Had I waited any longer, I would not have been able to find a new VAIO VPC-Z13 notebook of the config that I wanted.

 

what is fresh start?

 

It's sony's no-bloatware install. It's almost worth the $50 not to have Norton et al pre-installed.

 

it cost 50 USD?

 

Fresh start option is free.

 

it's only free if you get Windows Professional (+$50)...so def. not free.

 

It's free if you grab the drivers from Sony's site and reinstall Windows 7 yourself

That reminds me, there shouldn't be any problems running Win 7 Ult x64 on the SA/SB
with the drivers provided for Home premium / Professional, right?

I don't think there should be any major issues, but has anyone heard of problems
arising from installing Win 7 Ultimate on the SA/SB?

 

Correct... I was referring to the $50 upgrade charge that is required to get win7pro in order to be offered the (free upgrade on top of that) to get fresh start.

 

Ahh, didn't know that. I always get pro.

 

I'm not up with Apple. When are they launching the new MBAir w/ hi-res?

Where did you end up getting the Z13 with those configurations?

 

Launched in UK: S Series : VAIO & computing : Sony

 

SA in UK comes with 2620M by default. With sheet battery UK version is 60$ more expensive than US version ($1830 vs $1770). The sheet battery currently costs $35 less than in US.

 

I see that prices for the BD drive for the SA/SB has jumped up on the UK website. I've not checked anywhere else yet. It's now £350 and it used to be like £150 about a month ago. I'm not sure what BD that they're using but it might be a UJ242A. It seems that if i purchase this i would at those prices do my own DIY BD upgrade mod.

It's long overdue the release of the SA in the EU.

 

Just checked out the specs. The screen is "VAIO Display Plus". Bit of a step down if you are a Z owner. Shame.

 

The upgrade prices for the BD drive and SSD drives are disgraceful. It's almost like Sony doesn't want the business.

 

I think we all knew it wasn't going to be premium, quite a few sites said the screen is "Display Plus". But since it's a different resolution, it might not be as bad as SB's screen. Some people have heard that it's actually comparable to Z's.

 

I can't believe its on the site after the lies various sony employees have told me.
I woudl like to wait for a screen review but it been so long I might just have to bit the bullet today.
The BD is strange given it was only £100 yesterday and the ssd price for 256 is comical given that it will take a standard 2.5" drive
At least with the new z sony will have you over a barrell, with the SA why not just stick the intel 510 as an option chargeg £500 and I think a lot of people woudl take it.
The only question I have left is whether I shoudl get the intel / m4 drive?

 

Is it possible to buy from UK if you live in another EU country? Does anyone know?

 

Sony SA available in the Netherlands

1.478,99 € for the config below

Intel® CoreTM i7-2620M 2,70GHz
Legitieme Windows® 7 Ultimate
500 GB Serieel ATA (7200 rpm)
4 GB 1333MHz DDR3-SDRAM
DVD-station
33,7 cm LCD, 1600x900 + camera
AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6630M 1GB
Beveiligingsfuncties
Draadloos WAN
Standaardbatterij
Office 2010 Starter
Geen bescherming
Premiere + Photoshop® proef
Zonder Adobe® Lightroom 3
Geen Imagination Studio Suite

 

SA available in France

 

Germany, France, UK, Italy is so far what I saw. I guess it is almost EU-wide.
Prices difer quite much. Thats why I was asking if it is possible to buy from another country. How is the warranty handled?

 

So I think I'll buy an SA in the UK. Seems decent pricing except for the SSD. If I take the basic HDD and put in an SSD later, I think it will be cheaper. A few questions:

1) Is the SATA interface in the SA SATA3? If so will this SSD work: OCZ Vertex 3 240GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive. It says it has a Maximum Read: 550MB/sec and Maximum Write: 525MB/sec. This is quite fast no?

2) Will I need to buy a fresh copy of Windows 7 if I am installing my own SSD?

3) The install is simple yes? (I've build desktops before so have an intermediate level of assembly knowledge).

Thanks

 

Just bought one in the UK delivered with 3 year warranty and 8gb ram for £1192 so with 256ssd sold seperatly will be under £1600.

Don't think sony will deliver outside of the specific country but if you did get one delivered to say a friend then under EU law they have to honour the warranty in any country.

 

1) I think all Sandy Bridge laptops have SATA3. I would buy Intel's SSD because its controller is supposed to make speeds degrade less. They are also said to be more reliable.
2) You get a copy of OS with the laptop.
3) I have no experience with SSDs myself, but I've searched a bit before and it seems the same as swaping HDDs. The only thing you need to do is tweak your OS, but even that is said to be handled well by Win7. Linux kernel also has support for SSDs while Mac OS X doesn't (yet).

Anand's article explains very well how SSDs work. It's from 2009, but it's still relevant.

 

Jesus ... will somebody get one of these already and end the display speculation. My guess is that the Z display will be premium and the SA will have slightly lower contrast, brightness, etc.

Bronsky

 

Went to SonyStyle yesterday to look at the SA. The build quality seems a shade better than SB, none of the plasticky feel of the SB. However the screen quality is still not good. They just seem to have bumped up the resolution but still use the display plus and not the display premium. Definitely not getting the SA.

Apart from the display, i liked everything else in the new SA, even the large bezels since they mean that the palm rest area is bigger and comfortable than the Z. Also, as for the heating, I was with the sony SA for a half an hour with light browsing and didnt see any overheating or noisy fan (the power setting was set to balanced).

 

Are you sure the brightness was set to high?

 

@oltx1008: whats different in the build quality? Other materials?
And did you see the screens side by side?

 

The exterior shell of the SB had a more rough plastic texture, whereas with the SA it is smooth. eg. The LCD lid and casing from the SA resembled the material used in Z.

There was a slight color different between the body and the keyboard on the SB (body was a couple of shades lighter), however with the Z the color of the body matched with the color of the keyboard. Not a big deal, but something that says the SA is more polished than the SB.

The screen quality, brightness and saturation of the SB and SA were the same from my side by side visual inspection. Disclaimer - I am not a screen expert, however having been using the Z for a year now, I can say that this is definitely not Z quality. In fact it seemed more closer to my $300 Lenovo netbook than the Z.

I used the base black colored models for the above comparison. I wish I had done the viewing angle check, but remembered only after I left the store

The SA model at the store was the 22GX with DVD, 640 GB HDD, Gobi 3G, i5 2410 and Win 7 Pro for 1369. All BluRay models delayed by a couple of weeks.

 

Yes. I did. Infact, my initial reaction was that the brighnesss must have been too low by default, however I saw that the store had already maxed out the brightness.

 

So... not a real Plus display.
Damn.
There's no ultraportable laptop with powerful GPU, i5 or i7, long life battery, thin, light and with a good screen. No one.

 

The SA has the Display Plus and not the Premium display. This is very, very significant but only those who have owned a Z will be able to call the SA's screen bad. Those who have never owned a Z won't know any different, so I wish people would stop getting so hysterical about it.

Plus the SA is nearly 50% cheaper than the standard Z from 2010 so people should stop expecting so much from a mid-range machine.

 

crap, now i'm considering cancelling my order. The key component of a good laptop for me is a good screen. After being spoiled by the screen on the VGN-Z I dont think I can go back to a lower quality

 

I can't see it being a bad screen. I just think the Premium display was so good, it would take some time to adjust.

According to the Sony display spec sheets, the additional features of the Premium display are:

Ultimate colour saturation: The most realistic and intense picture possible

Extreme Brightness: Gives supreme image depth and definition

Adobe RGB Colours: Wider colour coverage for professional photo enthusiasts, printers and producers

Display Plus and Premium both share the following features:

Wide Viewing Angles: Do not need to be in front of the screen to see sharp and clear images

Low Reflection: Makes images easier to see in outdoor environments

Tough Coating: Resistance to marks and scratches

High Contrast: Images are more realistic and true-to-life

Real Wide Screen: Watch movies in their original format with reduced black bars

 

The problem is another one:
Even the SB has a Plus display but it's not like the previous Plus display of sony vaio laptops. It's not a comparision to Z display (which is premium). The fact is that the previous Plus display had a complete RGB colour gamut cover, a good contrast of 1:500 and a good black. Now it seems that Plus display regarding these features, are like any other normal laptop or cheap laptop (apart view angle).

 

Talking about that high contrast: SB has Plus.. but the contrast is tha SAME of Vaio Display or other low level display ... -,-

 

if the screen quality is lacking...hmm....old Z vs new SA....idk....it's one of those things you have to see for yourself....i really like the new technology...but screen quality is important....decisions decisions ...hopefully, we'll get an offical review soon.

Some people can wait for the Z..which im sure will have a great display..but im personally not feeling the external GPU/ODD.

 

I dont know how you can say that the SB had a plastic feel, fiddling with one yesterday and I got to see that its indeed made of metal, no plastic feel anywhere

 

I just got an email that my SA has shipped and is supposed to be here Friday!

 

GREAT! Now everyone expects a full review, including pictures and video from YOU on FRIDAY!

lol. =)

 

I tried to cancel my order before it shipped, unfortunately i was late by a few hours and my laptop had already shipped. It is expected to reach me this thursday. I also have a 1 year old Z12 and a 2 year old SR290. If you folks are interested I can do a comparison video and upload it. Are there any reference images that you would like me to use for the comparison? I was thinking of one of the default Win 7 landscape backgrounds (US-wp2).