Sony Vaio Z Series 13.1" 1920x1080 ! Where/When?

Sony has been advertising this incredible laptop for a couple months now but does anyone know when and where this laptop is coming state side?

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-z-series/vpcz11z9e-b

This model is unique because it's got the 1920x1080. I attempted to build to order and pre-order a Z series from their US site but that is 1600x900 standard resolution.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...52921666065650&categoryId=8198552921644569398

The conversion from pounds to dollars meant the laptop above was in the $3300 range (ouch). But that also has the Quad SSD and in reality, besides the CPU, Graphics and LCD, I'd be happy with a basic SSD.

Any assistance would be great!

 

In the US, you must buy the top-of-the-line $4500 Signature edition if you want 1920x1080. Will that change in the future for CTO? Probably once the Signature edition is no longer available. However for now there is no other choice, except buying from overseas.

It's possible that Canada may end up with that screen on CTO, as I don't believe we're getting any prebuilt models with 1920 (which would make it all the more ironic, as Canadian CTOs come from the US facility).

 

Lack of 1080p options may be related with either shortage of new panels (8-bit 1920x1080 13.1" is unique and US market is huge) or marketing. 1080p will likely become available in 2-3 month after considerable number of Signature models being sold.

And for those saying 1080p is high for 13.1". Yes, it's probably too much. 168ppi is slightly higher than 130ppi which is considered as optimal. But Win7 dpi-scaling does its job well (now it only depends on applications) and main reason for getting 1080p is its quality.

Z's 1080p is probably non-TN 8-bit panel which makes it worth getting no matter which resolution it has.

 

I have been considering a Sony Z series laptop. The 1920x1080 resolution is available now on Sony's website, Model number: VPCZ11FHX/XQ, but it is listed at $4499.99. Out of my range. I have put one together with 8gb mem, 384gb hd, and 600x900 res. for $3412.00 with tax, I will go with this.

 

It depends on whether one is willing & able to wait IMHO. I'm very sure that the 1920x1080 screen will be made available as a CTO option in the next refresh for the U.S. market.

 

is full HD on 13.1 inch screen practical for viewing text/numbers?

 

I think that's a good question, I'm also in the dilemma between the 1900 vs. 1600 resolution, but at the end of the day, having more resolution is better esp. for editing pictures and watching moview so i think i will op for 1900 and when working on words or daily use I'll tone down the resolution to 1300 or 1600

 

Unless you use an external CRT display, you really wouldn't want to do that. LCDs become seriously blurry if you run them at anything except their native resolution (or even divisors thereof).

 

Yep, I agree with that.

However, this will be a good time to set the resolution to the "correct" dpi, especially for those who are getting the 1920x1080 screen.

 

I'd like to see the exact specs about the quality of the two panels. I'd be more than happy with the standard 1600x900 on such a small laptop as it will help the graphics card "last" longer when gaming, but I hope it is every bit as good as the FullHD panel as far as color and brightness are concerned. Anyone know if this is the case or not?

 

Eh, hold on. With gaming running at a lower res on the higher res screen isn't going to be a problem. So you can get the 1920x1080 and running at some equal ratio lower without your eyes seeing a difference.

 

It is very visible.... years of Windows XP's lack of proper text scaling is a thing of the past and something people need to get over. For those who want a crisper DPI but still need larger text, you can do that now with Windows 7 and it works well in the native resolution of your LCD. Best of both worlds.

 

Back in the days of CRTs this was true, but ever since I've been using LCDs, they really seem to look best at their native resolution. Lowering the resolution to game lowers the image quality significantly, especially if the display is moderate quality, scaling isn't good, or the content source and/or drivers have poor non-native performance.

I'd still like to see some detailed specification and subjective reviews of the two panels. 6 bit vs 8bit, the technology, gloss or matte, blacks, color gamut etc....should it become available

 

I just saw the new Z series here in Taiwan this morning. The 1920x1080 are going for about 87000 NTD which is about $2650 USD or so (Take or give). That configuration is with 256 GB SSD and the i7 processor. They had a demo with the 128 GB SSD but I did not find it to be very fast. The screen was the one spec below but still quite nice. It was nice but I did not find it to be as snappy as my macbook Pro with Vertex SSD in it.

 

Scaling the DPI => bigger font => less information => defeat the purpose of having a high resolution screen.

1080p at 13.1", are they out of their mind? I wouldn't even want that for 16.4". For that high resolution, I would need least 18.4" and that already pushes it.

 

But if on the 1920x1080 screen I scale the font to be the same physical size as the 1600x900 screen, the 1080 screen has a higher resolution rendering (i.e. more information)

 

As I posted in the other thread, sony support ppl in china are saying that the two screens are the same except for resolution...

The price difference here if you want to CTO one is 300RMB which is 44 USD, so i tend to think they shouldn't be so different, otherwise knowing Sony they would charge a lot more for it...

Anyway I'm using the 1600, I even find this resolution too small...but if I scale it up, some application like sony recovery will have problem like the confirmation buttons can't be seen...so it's a bit of a pain

 

No, if you can make the font size to be exactly the same, you would get the same information, not more. Think about it. Let's say the font is 1" wide and the screen is 10" wide. Under this condition, you would get 10 fonts in one line regardless of the resolution.

Now, if you are talking about the number of pixels, you are right. But I doubt you would notice a difference between 1600 and 1920 in such small screen, especially when reading text at the same font size.

 

I indeed meant information as in "pixels"; I'm not sure why you'd expect anybody to need your other explanation. The higher definition screen has ~30% more actual pixels, which I would say would be noticable.

 

Who cares about it if 1920 panel is superior in contrast, viewing angles and gradients? I'm not sure about that though. 1920 display's quality is yet to be confirmed.

 

maratus...i have been trying to say i think the 1920 is not suprior in quality...i think if it indeed is then sony will charge a lot more than 44 usd for it...

 

If 1600x900 is comparable 8-bit panel then I'd go with it hands downs. I really hope you're correct. But who knows?

 

Is the 1920x1080 screens confirmed to consist of 8-bit panels?

 

Except for what might have been incorrect specifications on an Asian Sony Style site (was it Taiwan?) I don't think any specifics of the panel have ever been mentioned or confirmed. Let's not forget that Sony Style USA calls the i7-620M the i7-620QM, implying quad core.

The best way (without the ability to confirm the actual specifications of a panel) would be for someone with both panels side-by-side and a critical eye (ie. someone with a career in photography or graphic arts) to look at soft gradients and see if the obvious posterization on 6-bit panels is visible on the 1080 panel or not.

 

FWIW, a January press release from Sony Europe ( http://presscentre.sony.eu/Content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=5545)describes the full HD display this waY:

"Whether you’re fine-tuning a presentation or enjoying your personal media collection, you’ll get a better picture with the Full HD 1920 x 1080 (model VPCZ11Z9E) VAIO Display Premium. Measuring 33.3cm (13.1”), this high-efficiency screen with LED backlighting offers exceptional brightness, clarity and contrast. An exceptionally wide colour gamut of 96% Adobe RGB coverage ensures rich, vibrant reproduction of Full HD video and still images."​

Obviously, this doesn't compare the 1600x900 display. But I trust (dangerous, I know) that at least Sony hasn't pulled the same trick as with the F series, on which they offer the matte, full-gamut display virtually everywhere except North America (even while using the same "Premium" label to describe the glossy, so-so display available here).

 

Wow you guys are rich! over 4g in price for a notebook...!

 

What exactly is the point of having a 1080p screen on a 13.1inch? That doesn't make ANY sense. You won't be able to see anything.

 

Are a lot of people still using DOS or something? I really don't get the complete lack of understanding on this.

 

Maybe because someone wants/needs best panel's quality no matter which resolution? And with DPI scaling in W7 high PPI display is more usable than on any other Windows/Mac OS.

 

I'll be doing photo editing, so high resolution is very beneficial. As is the fact (reported by Sony, at least) that the full HD display has 96% coverage of the aRGB gamut. And my eyesight is quite good, so I don't expect to need to scale text for most uses.

 

I just phoned Sony Canada to ask about the HD screen on the new Z - the guy I talked to said he had heard it would be available in early Fall (!!) (maybe that's when the refresh comes out?).

I also called Sony US to see what the warranty coverage would be if we were to buy the $4500 Signature series laptop to get the HD screen. He said the laptop is covered by 1 year international warranty, but no international extended warranty is available. Further, the 1 year international warranty only applies to the countries in this list:

So us Canadians wouldn't even get the 1 year manufacturer's warranty.

-Peter

 

Yeah, I was told possibly summer. Basically I think Canada is going to have to wait until the US gets it as a basic CTO option.

At any rate I'm now content with the 1600x900 screen; it's at least going to be better than my SZ's 1280x800.

 

Well, I have no plans to wait until summer or fall to buy. As a photography enthusiast, I really wanted to get the full HD screen, but I shudder at the thought of paying for the Signature model. Are there any side-by-side comparisons, or at least are there any photographers out there with the 1600x900 screen who can tell me how good it is for photo editing?

 

Hendra, stop posting please. We don't know how else to convince you. If you do not understand by now, then you will not understand. The Font setting affects text only, not the rest of the screen.

If you adjust your screen to make the text .25" on both the 1600x900 and 1920x1080 screen, they will be the same height...*however* (and this is the key you keep failing to understand).... the 1920x1080 uses more pixels to draw that equal height text.... meaning it will be crisper to the eye.

Think about a printer that has 300DPI vs 600DPI. Same size text but smaller pixels of ink produce a sharper image.

 

(Hopefully this is not too off-topic...)

I went down to the closest SonyStyle store yesterday, in the middle of a storm (it was so bad my umbrella got turned inside out, see how much I wanted to get my hands on a Z? ) The display model was a 1600x900, with the fonts set to 125% size. When I first looked at it, I was kind of disappointed it wasn't significantly smaller: I was expecting half the size. I think it's partly due to the fact that I had become used to squinting at my iPhone 3G (not GS) screen, which doesn't have as good a resolution as say the Motorola Driod. So I think going 1920x1080 is the right choice for me

 

I got my first 1600x1200 laptop 8 years ago now, before 16:9 laptops came out and have never gone back to a lower res. It's great that Sony give the option (albeit and expensive one) of an ultraportable with a decent res (1600x900 at least). I would find it hard to go back - besides the photoediting/cg arguements LCDs don't antialias nicely, you kind of have to do it digitally so more pixels always look better (as long as your OS is decent enough to make use).

 

Isn't anyone able to do some screenshots of their 1920x1080 displays - and share with us their experience of its quality - and more important: the size of text etc. Is it readable/usable ?

I have ordered the Z11Z9E/B - which is the European version with i7-620m, 6GB, 256GB SSD and 1920x1080 screen - but want others opinions of the same to make sure it's a wise choice I will be going to a Sony Center this weekend where I can see it in real life but it would be interesting to hear what others think.

If there is such a thread already, please point me to it...

 

^^
There is a review on the following Taiwanese site with screenshots:
http://www.eprice.com.tw/nb/talk/?prod_id=457&tid=3347

 

Here is the youtube video comparing 1920x1080 and 1600X900 screens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPKZ2S_Jm-g

 

Thanks guys - much appreciated.

It seems like my initial order of a Z11X9E/B (i5-520, 4GB, 128GB SSD, 1600x900) has now been shipped to me and will be with me in the next few days.

I would have liked to be able to compare it to the Z11Z9E/B (i6-620m, 6GB, 256GB SSD, 1920x1080) in person...

I'm pretty sure the i5 @ 1600x900 will be more than enough for me - but why get the second best

 

I should know better than to click on YouTube videos demoing the 2010 Z, since the end result's always "yep, I sure do want that laptop pretty bad." It's really neat to actually see what 1080p on a panel that small looks like -- I've always said I'd use the highest rez on the smallest panel they'll sell me, and it really just feels like the 1080p Z exists as an attempt to call my bluff.

Do the litany of "hurr what's the point of this resolution on a screen this small" posts read like nails on a chalkboard to the rest of you guys, too? I'm with lpx, this shouldn't be such a challenging concept. If you don't have a use for a laptop with a crazy jackoff-high rez like this, you're in luck, because there's about 50,000 laptops out there with garbage WXGA and 1366x768 screens. The 2010 Z is a keenly-overpriced shoutout to those of us who are sick and tired of dealing with low resolution crap, and are lucky enough to still have killer eyesight. That's really all there is.

Finally, the posts asking for screenshots from a 1080p Z don't really make any sense because they're not going to tell you what you think they are. If you want a rough idea how screen elements will be sized on the 1080p panel, Google for "windows 7 1080p screenshot", save a bunch of the results to a USB drive, and try looking at them in fullscreen (sized to fit) on any 13-inch laptop. Obviously a whole mess of pixels will be missing so text is gonna look pretty gross, but it should give you a good physical sense of what you're getting into.

 

But for us in the US, the question remains: Is the 1080 display worth waiting for? I'm especially interested because I plan to do photo editing on the Z and have heard/read enough about the 1080 display to want it. What I don't know is how much better it is than the standard display. I'm still looking for concrete information on this comparison.

 

Even without detailed screen specifications even on youtube video where same photos are displayed on both screens you can clearly see that colors are washed out on low res screen vs HD screen.

So if you plan to use Z mainly for photo editing I would suggest to try to get HD screen.

 

Thanks. You might be right, but I haven't seen a YouTube video that I trust to be comparing apples to apples on this point. Do you have a link to one that is specifically comparing the screens with identical settings? One reason for my question is that the full HD display reportedly costs only 50 Euros (or was it pounds?) more than the standard. If correct, that doesn't seem to correspond to a difference in anything other than resolution. Of course, if I could buy a Z with the full HD display today (without paying for the Signature Series and its glossy finish), I'd jump on it.

 

It's even more important for those of us who don't have killer eyesight.
A 2 mm tall font is immensely more readable on a 1920x1080 display than on a 1366x768 display.

 

On youtube video posted above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPKZ2S_Jm-g

Starting from 3:11 you can see bunch of photos compared side by side. Left you have 1900X1080 screen on you right you have 1600X900. If you compare for example skin color of the people on the photos you can easily see the difference.

Yes difference in price in Europe is minimal but I think they are getting it all back by charching additional 700 euros for blurey or 1000 euros for 512GB SSD

 

So true - there is no comparison to seeing it in real life - that is the ONLY way to get a decent chance of deciding whether it is acceptable or not. That was of course obvious to me when looking at the screenshots and videos on my 24" monitor - of course things look readable etc when everything is that size.

Unfortunately I can't get to see one in real life this weekend either, no Sony Centers have any demo models out - so I will have to wait for another week - and possibly accept delivery of the 1600x900 model (that should be with me early next week)...

 

Yeah, this is a really smart point too. I'm actually most-interested in the higher resolution for reading technical PDFs in the "Facing" view, since PDF elements have a tendency to look horrible when you fit Facing view to the width of the screen on a lower resolution display.

I really hope that Dell, Apple, or Lenovo rips Sony off here and stuffs a 1080p panel in their 13-inch offerings. HP finally managed to deliver a 1600x900 panel in a 13-inch machine (Envy 13) after Sony set the bar with the old Z, but that machine was pretty unacceptable in a lot of other ways.

Sony takes a lot of criticism, and much of it completely deserved, but I'll be damned if anyone else buillds a laptop even in the same stratosphere as the Z.

 

Note that they don't sell the Envy 13 with the 1600x900 panel any more.

 

Also, to check the readability you can crop a screenshot of Win7 to 480x320 pixels and watch it in an iPhone, as the dot pitch is very similar to the Z FullHD screen.

Just like this (100% text size, 96DPI):


Save it and watch it in landscape.