Sony Vaio Z Series Refresh?

I'm curious to know if there have been any news about the Sony Z series getting a refresh sometime soon. I'm looking at purchasing one but I'm willing to wait a few months if there looks to be a newer one coming soon?

Thanks,

Qusai

 

Oh, I did not know that.. I saw a review on Engadget that was posted on February 2010 so I thought that was when it was released.

Just so I'm clear... Model Number: VPC-Z1390 <-- is that the one that was released a month ago?

Thanks,

Qusai

 

^Correct. And Z will not refresh again.

 

Why do you say that?

 

Because the Z isn't going to be refreshed again?

 

Are they discontinuing that series? Or is the design set in stone? Care to elaborate?

 

^I can't really elaborate, just know your purchase is "safe" and nothing is coming down the wire any time soon.

 

Hey, wait a minute! I was waiting for the Sandy Bridge Z to be released early next year, so that I can finally spend my money
If they don't refresh the Z, I hope they'll have something better to offer.

 

Sony refreshes are simple to understand. Since they announced the Z series in January and it became available in Feb/March 2010. This is the first batch on Z series so it would be VPC-Z11xxxxxxxxxxx then 3 months later they came out with another refresh called VPC-Z12xxxxxx then 3 months after that they came out with the VPC-Z13xxxx. usually there is a reason why they refresh, meaning like the 1st refresh that happened (the Z12) was because I think they stopped the 192GB SSD and 384GB SSD options and came out with the 1080p screen as well. the 2nd refresh(Z13) came out with the new processors like i5-460, and the i7-640 and I think new colours as well?
unless they introduce anything new withing the next coming months its unlikely we'll see another refresh until around March.

Now, this confuses many newcomers about the refreshes, so let me explain . within the VPC-Z1 series, there will be no design change, if there was to be a design change they would come out with a new model entirely but the design they have isnt need of a change at all since nothing in there is outdated like the GPU on the old Z nor is there a huge design flaw that they need to redesign the whole series again.
also a point to be noted is that I dont think the GPU will be changed anytime soon, if not at all in this series. the last Z had 256MB GPU and it was really low powered and not at all up to-date with current GPU's. so the GT330 has 1GB DDR3 VRAM which is more than sufficient for business folk and consumers alike. at this size and portability I really dont know what more people can ask for . Its able to game to some extent and if people want a more powerful PC there are far more different PCs out there that have more gaming capabilities than the Z. so to cut all the BS short, the design will stay the same for the remainder of the series.

Sorry, last last note , I highly doubt this series will be discontinued anytime soon, i think it will run for another year maybe a year and a half more? who knows that just my 2 cents

EDIT: the only things they usually change in a refresh are and can be, RAM, Screen(quality,type, company), CPU, and SSD or i guess HDD for some countries,

 

Until now, there was a new refresh coming out every 100 days (approximately).

Source: amazon.de
VPCZ11X9E listed: 27 February 2010
VPCZ12X9E listed: 8 June 2010 (+101 days)
VPCZ13Z9E listed: 20 September 2010 (+104 days)

If this trend would continue, the Z14 should be released early January next year. But this is just my speculation, according to beaups maybe there will be no Z14 (in January).

 

Why wait? No Z14 is coming. Sandy Bridge (all mfr's) for DUALCORE (ie i5, i3) is not for sale until late Feb/early March. If a new Sony platform were to be released with that technology it would not happen before that time. That's all I can say here.

 

Obviously he means to say that the current design will be discontinued and replaced by a new Z model, just like this VPC-Z replaced old VGN-Z line of Sony notebooks. There will be similarities, I'm sure (like switchable graphics, 13" screen, and small footprint) but it's otherwise, that would a totally new design

 

I'm still using my old Vaio and I can wait until e.g. April with the purchase. So I'd prefer to buy a laptop with the new Sandy Bridge platform (I was thinking that it'll be available in the Z21).

 

Heeeeeeeey wuz up wow I'm simply amazed that there is such an awesome cult following for this amazing machine!!!!! I'm a proud new owner of one an I just bought it couple of hours ago but anyhow to the main subject that lex me to u guys I've been actually tracking this product for about iono let's say three months or so back when the hd screens weren't available for the model and just so happens when I tried to buy mine tonight I couldn't this is where it gets iffy an iono of this is site maintenance or whatever but when I tried to configure my z it led to to a promotional page with different numbers an it did this for at least an hour an I could literally or anyone for that matter not purchase a z so I took to the iPhone an see if I could configure it an I did nut just not on the main pc I found this kind of peculiar I thought maybe they stopped giving away the nice adobe bundle but I was wrong!!!!! When I tried the last time before getting redirected to the configuration page a copper underbellied and silver lid slim z pic came up it may look like Sony might be making a different model of z to compete with the new MacBook air or totally change the design but it looked like a larger x series this might not be nothing but it might be something just thought I'd share sorry so long but I reeeeeeally can't wait to get my new z see ya guys around

 

Hahahah so much for college right lol

 

Sorry but I am physically unable to read your post. Try punctuation. I remember first learning about it in 1st grade and thought it was the coolest thing since Eggo waffles.

 

I can just make this out if I read it out loud with an Ali-G accent, innit, aiii!

 

>.> Just so I can read it.

 

Sorry I was using my iPhone k. Hahaha why I bought the damn thing lol.

 

Just called the service repair center in my home country in Europe, asking for the rubber feet that I lost. I told them that I have the VPCZ, he told me this is old. I became more precise said VPCZ11, he replied we are at VPCZ13 now, everytime there were some evolutions and in the next one they will change the chassis. So probably there will be a big upgrade coming up

 

So to sum up, the next Z will be in a new chassis, and it will have Sandy Bridge processors, and it will probably drop in February. The real question is what they are going to do for the GPU.

The Sandy Bridge processors have integrated GPUs, and they are apparently twice as powerful as the GPUs on the current generation of processors; they rival the current generation of lower end discrete GPUs, according to Anandtech.

So, if the processor has the equivalent of a 320m built in, is Sony going to be tempted to drop the 330m-level processor they've got built in, or are they going to try to put something even better in there to maintain the raison d'etre for having both GPUs onboard?

I sure hope it's the latter; I'd be pretty disappointed if the next generation Z actually lost graphics power. If they DO replace the GPU, what are they likely to replace it with?

I'd bet it would be the Geforce GT 420m, which I THINK has about the same wattage envelope, and is slightly more powerful.

 

I doubt Sony's gonna integrate a quadcore into such a small chassis, it's not like they gonna just jump on first available sandy core right away, so nothing will happen until at least March, perhaps even May

 

Yeah, I 2nd this, but you need to understand that it is going to take Sony a few months to develop a new chassis for the Sandy Bridge CPU AND a good cooling system for a new GPU, as thats part of their reputation. the current Z model has 1GB of DDR3 not GDDR3 which was abit if a disappointment for me as having the GDDR3 gives it a good boost in performance and power wise over the DDR3. if they came out with something like the GT445 GDDR3 that would be AMAZING , but its up to them.

However, all this is still theoretical, since we dont even know if Sony will make a new model EXACTLY WHEN the Sandy Bridge is announced, for all we know they might release a new model this time next year. Sony is known for being late in producing things sometimes, but when they do they make sure everything is complete and to their standard..most of the time, well for their high end models.

 

Why is everyone so certain that the new chassis will be Nvidia?

 

because one of the Z series selling point is switchable graphics from Speed to Stamina, since its meant for business line, most of them want longer battery life and not many do graphic heavy stuff, on the other hand some businesses do graphical stuff, not too heavy but enough that a dedicated GPU is needed in a very portable and thin and light package.
AMD has yet to announce any type switchable graphics on the go,(not that i know of) so nVidia is the way to go

 

Ati has switchable solutions. Also, sandy bridge machines (in general) will use 5xx series Nvidia gpus, not 4xx. Ati bumps to 6xxx as well.

 

Well if it looks like anything from the machine I saw for a split second it will look amazing. Just weird that it would have a very glossy copper colored bottom an like a silver plastic like lid. That's all I could remember from the picture but looked sooooo sweet if it were to ever become a reality

 

you should of taken a screen shot if you ever find it again that would be really cool to see what you're talking about.

@beaups: I didnt know that , maybe coming of Sandy Bridge will bring a change for Sony as well I guess we will have to wait and see what Sony comes up with, Sony has a way of surprising us with high end models sometimes

 

I don't have to wait to see ... I was just wondering why automatically assuming Nvidia. Guess YOU will have to wait and see! )

 

nah im not gonna wait around and see, i was going for the Z but moved on.

 

Dude it was weird it was on the actual Sony site an when I hit stop the image went away. I been trying to find anything online about it or if anyone has seen anything like it. So far all I've seen is the cs from the UAE Sony site but not Evan that looks nearly as good as the one I saw. Another thing I thought was weird is why would they stop selling them for almost an hour an than put it back up again. You could buy all the other models but yeah that's what led me here, to see if anyone had the same experience.

 

There might be a chance that Apple will purchase Sony.

then...

i might say good bye to Z series.....

 

thats highly unlikely and could never happen or maybe i think that cuz i despise apple laptops

 

While I hope it doesn't happen, it's within the realm of possibility. Sony's market cap is under $40b and they lost something like $40m in their last fiscal year on something like ~$360m in revenue. Apple has ~$51b in cash and no debt.

Doesn't seem like a very Apple thing to do but it's possible.

Anyway, a full refresh of the Z series would be nice. Something like standard 1.8" SSDs (I know it's too much to ask really), Nvidia 430m or better in the same form factor would rock.

 

Haha thanks man, repped