Sony Vaio Z13// Newer Z model anytime soon?

Hey, how recently did the Z12 come out?

I am very interested in it but the price is obviously outrageous, so I'd only be willing to get a brand new one (to ensure it will at least expand its life span a little)

It would very much upset me to down 2k and then have a newer model come out a month later that is cheaper/more efficient >:C

So, any news on the amount of time it will take??

 

They refresh quarterly and the most recent refresh was at mid-late June. Sony doesn't often make many changes between quarterly refreshes so I wouldn't worry about the Z13 having something fantastic the Z12 doesn't.

The only changes i'm aware of between Z11 and the Z12 was 1080 screen, 2 extra colors, and possible (correct me if i'm wrong) different SSD controllers.

PS. The price isn't really outrageous for what you get.

 

The SSD story seems to be unclear, there are now two different kind of SSD that can be found in Z12 : the Samsung one that is found in Z11 and a new Toshiba one.

The disk used in Z12 depend on the configuration. The performances don't seems to be different under raid0 configuration.

 

My non-CTO Z12X9E/X came with 2 more gigs (6 total) of memory and a fingerprint reader compared to the previous Z11, . Just enough to maintain the price level.

 

So I can expect the next Z installation September?

I'd rather wait the two months and get it first day, even if it is a $50 decrease in price it will be worth it, no?

Or even something minor that becomes customizable in any way,

I mean, it'll never increase in price or lose customization...

 

Actually the CTO Z12 is more expensive than the CTO Z11 (i.e. backlighting was free and SSD upgrade is more expensive now, but RAM upgrade is now cheaper)

In your place, I won't wait. (assuming there will not be any major upgrade)

 

Aggree to that. The biggest difference between the Z11 and Z12 was that there are more CTO options available for the Z12, although it seems that this wasn't a price advantage (e.g. for the backlit keyboard).

I believe there will be no Z upgrade until the Sandy Bridge CPUs hit the market in early 2011. Till then, the price for the current models won't fall much I guess, so I also would pick a good offer rather than waiting for the new models.

 

The 1080 screen was available on the Z11. The only differences between the Z11 and the Z12 are the colors and the stickers. Other than that, you could have configured a Z11 to match a Z12. They just raised the base config a little. So when's all said and done. The Z12 wasn't even really a refresh.

 

Z12 is much more expensive than the Z11, especially because of the SSDs. In Europe some SSD options are 2x more expensive in the Z12.

The next model should come around mid/late September, but I'd be surprised if there would be any significant changes.

I'm curious to see when the Z21 will be released and what the changes will be (I suppose Sandy Bridge among others). The first number after the Z stands for Chassis, so besides HW upgrades, there may be "visible" changes, too.

What I'd like to see would be a nicer, simpler, aluminum palmrest and standard (2.5" or 1.8" SATA) SSDs.

 

Sorry I should have specified, in Canada I don't believe the 1080 was available and in the US the 1080 was available on the signature series which was over $4k .

I do believe the 1080 was available in Europe and Asia though. What i meant to say that it is a normal option for CTO now whereas it wasn't in the Z11.

 

I had my Z11 customized with the 1080 screen w/o problems here in europe. It was selectable for additional 150€.

 

why does europe have such ridiculous prices for laptops? i think ill quit my job and start buying laptops here and selling them there

 

Why is dinner in Bangladesh cheaper than in the US? Because things are priced according to what the local market can bear.

I travel a lot and thus run into Europeans all the time. I always try to convince them to order online from the US. Most don't believe me. Some do. Case in point. I ran into this German dude in Malaysia. He was planning to buy a Thinkpad back in Germany. It was 1700E back when the Euro was worth something. I showed him that it was only $700 in the US, about a third of the price. He ordered it online and had it bounced to Germany. There are reshippers in the US that will rent you an American address and then reship it anywhere in the world.

 

If the Z13 isn't really that much different from the Z12 (which I assume would be the case) I would wait for the Z13 to come out and wait for the clearance sale of Z12's. At least here in Canada, when the Z12 came out, the Z11 had a $200 discount.

 

Hi,

I'm really thinking of buying a Z, but I haven't got enough information for the Z13 to choose between it and Z12.
So have U got any fresh news on Z13 ?

Thanks !

 

In Korea, the first Z13 will be shipped on 9/28/2010 and estimated delivery day is 9/29/2010.

 

Thx vavabavava,

any technical or price information vs Z12 ?

 

There's a Z13 thread.
Only CPU refresh (i5 580M and i7 640M available)
Better to go now with discounts on the Z12

 

Hard to decide because there's no discount policy in France !

 

I was looking into this and found quite a few companies that will ship anywhere in the World but after paying 17.5% VAT and exchange rate charges there isnt that much difference to justify the hassle.

The way I see it is only worth buying in US if you can avoid the VAT charge which is unlikely.

Regards

 

same here no discount.

 

Right, no discount in France...

The refresh from Z11 to Z12 increase the price of my laptop by 100 Euro (CTO i5 540M, 128GB SSD, large battery, 4GB RAM)

Your choice... (maybe free 620M upgrade will came back on sonystyle...)

 

I hope they manage to bump up the SSD specs for the base model, but that is unlikely any time soon

 

What is the likely hood that z12s will fall about 300-200 in price come end of September? Paying $2500 for a config right now is out of the question. It's a bit depressing to think I might have to go with a r700 portege instead because of that.

 

^ you could check for z11's in the outlet