Successor to the TT?

I'm thinking of picking up a Sandy Bridge laptop, and I was curious if anyone had heard anything. Google yielded nothing useful. I'm a dinosaur, and an optical drive is a must for me.

 

there won't be any because a TT has to compete with a netbook which costs 1/6 of a TT

 

It's a pity that nothing exists between the ultra low powered atom cpu in Vaio X or Vaio P and the ueber powered Vaio Z. I think the Vaio X comes as close to as a successor for the TT as possible regarding battery life and overall lightness. You will probably have to decide if you can live with the power of the atom cpu or rather settle for a beefier corei5 in the Vaio z.

 

Don't forget about the Y. It fits in between the P/X and the Z. Just like the alphabet.

 

The Y serie doesn't have an optical drive.

 

^correct but OP doesn't seem concerned with that (at least outwardly)

 

Neither the X has. Optical drives are doomed and theres nothing we can do about it ;(

 

^they are. It's pretty important to me, but I suppose in a few years I'll give in to the pressure.

 

yeah how could I forget the Y. . Thanks for the reminder . The Y is probably the best compromise between X and Z. How's the battery life on the Y?

 

Here is a good test of the Y21, they found close to 9H (using battery eater).

 

Wrong sadly, I basically want the smallest and lightest laptop that has a non-atom CPU and an optical drive. I'll keep my fingers crossed coming into 2011 I suppose, if nothing else for some more competitors to the Z to give me more options.

 

^sorry I thought when you mentioned the x that optical was no biggie. What about an s?

 

Money isn't really an issue, so if I'm going to pick up a 13 incher I'd probably go for the Z or the S. I've seen the screens of each and prefer the 1600x900 Z display.

 

tough to find anything under 13" with optical any more What about Fujitsu?

 

Small + Light + Integrated ODD + a CPU that's not an Atom = Vaio Z

It has no competition if you see an optical drive as a must. It is THE thinnest, lightest, and most powerful notebook with an ODD. Period. If ODD is an absolute necessity, you better be finding one soon, because the "thin-n-light" category is nixing the ODD's left and right. An ODD is something a lot of people honestly wouldn't miss.

 

I think Panasonic S9 is actually lighter than Z, with an ODD...Toshiba R700, with ODD, can get below Z's weight as well and I think it's actually thinner. Neither has GT300M, though.

 

All of these are below 1.5kg, weight difference is no longer a point (from 1.43 to 1.38kg...)

 

As someone who has bought Sony laptops for a long time, my last two have not. Right now I'm using the (Japan only) Panasonic CF-S9. 12.1", SSD, 8GB of memory, Core i5 2.53, with DVD. I generally get 8 - 10 hours of battery life with doing normal stuff like documents and such.

Having owned the 1st gen Z (the model before this one, and the first iteration), it is/was a good machine.

Except for the lack of an ExpressCard slot in the S9, it's been great. Prior to this I was using the Toshiba R600 with the 512GB SSD. I've liked both of those machines more than the Z to be honest.

If you don't need the ODD, the N9 is the same machine sans the ODD.

I do find it sad that Toshiba can crank out something like a Libretto with a real Core ULV chip, and Panasonic is still making the R series with the Core ULV, but Sony is only using Atoms.

The only thing Sony has close - and I had two different ones - is the G in Japan. Another solid choice, but a bit dated at this point.

 

It is. It's a great machine. I've hd mine since March. It's sub-3lbs with the long life battery.

I haven't compared its thickness to a new Z, but it's not the thinnest laptop I've ever had. Although I'll say the build quality is impeccable and clearly the most solid feeling laptop I've owned to date.

It's very expensive, no doubt, but Power + Portability + Build quality will never be in a $1000 cheapie laptop.

What sealed the deal for me with the newer Z when I was looking at an R600 replacement (and the only reason was I needed more physical memory; for a ULV, it's a snappy machine) was the screen and resolution. I hated 1600x900 on the Z, and mine was a 1366x768 custom order from Japan. The S9 only uses the INtel graphics, but it works just fine. I even do some Lightroom, Photoshop, etc. on it.

Pound for pound, it's an awesome machine and you can even get it with a Core i7 now.

 

Yeah, I figured you are pretty happy because I don't think I've seen you here since you got your S9. S9's price point and general lack of availability outside Japan makes it hard to recommend, though.

Have you checked out R700 at all? Not that you need it. I played with the R705 in Best Buy and it felt pretty good, especially considering its price point.

Even if Sony does want to make a TT replacement, I think it's really hard to find the proper balance to make itself stand out because there are so many choices in the sub- or barely 3 lb category.

 

What's sorely missed is a notebook with business features in the sub 3lb market. A machine that has long-term support (i.e. you can buy an identical model next year), is serviceable by the IT department (i.e. they can change the HDs), has TPM, multi-monitor support, RAID 1 support, (optional) support for "old" technologies like serial, VGA and POTS modem, (optional) support for removing features like cameras and WWAN that might not be permitted, and the ability to buy it with Windows Enterprise for volume licensing as well as XP and Red Hat Linux.

At present, Dell and Lenovo have the best offerings for the business market, but they too don't have much to choose from with the smaller and lighter models. Sony is, unfortunately, one of the worst choices right now, and even their "business" laptops fall into the enthusiast category.

 

I'm pretty sure Panasonic S9 has 90%, if not everything, you want, business sale is their bread and butter. They just don't sell them here in US, for whatever reason.

 

Heh. Well, I've been insanely busy. Right after I got it, I was on the road solid for about 3 months and work has been really busy (which is a good thing when you're an independent consultant!).

The S is a great travel companion. Not too big, not too small and fits well on airplane trays. Unlike the Z and the SZ, I never worry someone's going to put the seat back on the screen breaking it (as it happened to my SZ).

Meh. Between Conics or Dynamism, you can get one. Cheap? No. But laserbullet said money isn't an issue. For the average Joe or Jane, I would agree.

I've been curious. It's around $1000, which is pretty amazing. But at 13.3", a bit big for me. If I was in the market for something like the Z, I would certainly consider it a strong contender. I was happy with the R600 (still have it ... should sell it), but it was just slightly underpowered. I wish they had updated it to be size/weight wise more like the R600. I also am a bit disappointed they didn't carry the 512GB through beyond the R600.

I'll be honest - it seems like Toshiba has picked up a bit of the Sony mantle making small, light notebooks that look pretty decent with things like the R600/R700. I was tempted by the Libretto W100/W105, though. That was totally a machine 5 or 6 years ago Sony would have done, but I realized I'd get it, use it for a bit, and that's that. I really need a more powerful machine. Plus, I still have my Vaio U70P.

I think my problem with Sony these days is that even looks-wise when they make a machine like the X, they're crippling it with something like an Atom? Why? A ULV couldn't be much more in terms of cost (or end price to consumers) and it'd provide a much better computing experience. If Toshiba can do it in the Libretto and charge just over $1k ... I'm just saying.

I think Sony will bring back the T line at some point as it was a mainstay. They'll revive it at some point when things like the X or Y run their course. I would be surprised if they didn't. The old TR series remains my favorite looking laptop.

I would disagree that there are a lot of choices in the 3lb-ish category for serious business/travel machines. I rule out netbooks because they're underpowered - I'd even put the X in that category. So who do we have? Dell (still dislike them; I wouldn't want one for free!), Lenovo (boring, but pretty reliable and reasonably priced), Fujitsu (with the P line), Toshiba (with the R600, R700, or Libretto), Sony (with the Z), and Panasonic with the R, N, S, and C. The new Panasonic C1A is available here, and it's basically the tablet version of the S and N. It's a touch bit heavier, but you also have the ability to put in two batteries. Pretty cool.

I really only have two problems with the S9 (and one isn't that it's not easily available here lol):
1. The aforementioned lack of ExpressCard slot. In 2010 a PCMCIA slot doesn't cut it. I can't run USB 3 or eSATA external drives because of this.
2. It's just a *touch* bit chunky/thicker than a normal laptop. I don't mean it's a brick, but having used Sony for so long and the R600, I was surprised when I got. Having said that, it's made up by the build quality. Sturdiest laptop I've ever owned. It's plastic, but doesn't feel cheap. No weird/loose hinges. This thing will last, and I'm guessing the slightly thicker look helps there.

Although one thing I've found is that has also allowed ths S9 to have a good ventilation port on the side. It really doesn't run hot at all. Can it get a little warm? Sure, but never hot like some of my laptops in the past. So whatever little cooling system Panasonic put in here to cram an i5 with all of this stuff working together works well.

I find it ironic Panasonic put an HDMI out on this thing, though. Talk about relatively useless ...

 

Yeah, that's a shame, because several of their models seem like they would be a much better choice for my users than the box-pusher laptops I currently buy.

That said, there are a few people who travel and present a lot, and could have been well served by dual-HD TTs too, if Sony had still offered them.

 

Look at the C1A.

 

Did anyone see the announcement of the new Panasonic J series in Japan? I think it's the perfect ultraportable!

Here's the performance version ( http://club.panasonic.jp/mall/mylets/open/premium/j_performance.html):

10.1" 1366x768
Core i7-640 2.8 GHz(! - in a 10" model)
4GB standard, up to 8GB supported
256GB SSD
ExpressCard (solves the issue I have with the S9) OR WWAN (appears you can't have both)
1235 grams with the large battery (up to 11 h) and ExpressCard
Bluetooth
WiFi
WiMAX
Brown, Red, or Black (standard non-performance I think also has a white option)

Here's a comparison of the S, N, and J premium editions:
http://club.panasonic.jp/mall/mylets/open/premium/

Also, did you notice they're offering the S9 here now? NOt the total same spec as the Japanese, but still ...

 

Is there a picture of it without the leather jacket? So now Panasonic has completely phase out of using ULV processors on their ultra-portable. Hope Sony can take note of it and at least put a ULV in P or X, or bring out the next gen of TT (or G).

 

You can see it without here about half way down:
Žd—lEƒCƒ“ƒ^[ƒtƒF[ƒX | ƒŒƒbƒcƒm[ƒgJiCF-J9j | ƒpƒ\ƒRƒ“iŒÂlŒü‚¯j | Panasonic
also here:
Œy—ʁE’·ŽžŠÔ | ƒŒƒbƒcƒm[ƒgJiCF-J9j | ƒpƒ\ƒRƒ“iŒÂlŒü‚¯j | Panasonic

This shows how to take off the jacket:
http://panasonic.jp/pc/products/j9/jacket.pdf

I mean, if Toshiba can add a real ULV into the W100/W105, no reason Sony can't do it in the X or P. Although I'll be honest: I'd rather have the full processor, so it's impressive they crammed it in such a small package. The tradeoff is that the J and R are basically closer in weight than the R and S.

And ... they didn't trade battery life to get the full processor in.

EDIT: You can get a J with the i3 ULV ... just not the premium.

 

the specs are quite good however seems to be too thick and heavy

 

The TT generally weiged in around 2.8 or 2.9 lbs, so the J is equivalent with a better spec.

 

I hear you, Fender, I'll pick full voltage CPU over ULV, too.

I see the J actually loses the ribs on the hood design that's been practically the trademark of Panasonic laptop since the beginning. Wonder if that's going to be a trend.

 

I think it's quaint on the S9. I'm so used to Sony, the Panasonic with its unique look stands out. Without the cover the J9 does look a bit more generic, but I care more about what's under the hood.

If they could somehow put an optical drive in the J9 like the S9, and upgrade it to USB 3, it would be as close to perfect as you can get for an ultraportable in size, battery life, and weight. Yes, Lenovo can compete on specs but the stuff from Japan has a bit more style.

I wonder if it'll be easy to swap the SSD/HDD on the J. The S9 was pretty easy.

 

The TT has been gone for a while now. If i needed a laptop now i would look at the Z although i don't really like the looks so much or the Fujistu P770 in white. I'd even still might want to track a TT down.

The Panasonic models would never really interest me. I understand that some people don't want a webcam but i do. They should at least offer this as an option. The small form factor and the specs are decent but it won't appeal to some people like it could because of the lack of the webcam.

Edited to add:
This 11.6/12" MBA that is nothing more than speculation right now sounds interesting.

 

The thing that saddens me is that some sort of T has always been the core of Sony's lines - small, light, but fairly powerful (even with a ULV) and stylish. It seems like they want to make glorified netbooks (P and X) or "real" computers (the Z).

I fall into the "don't need/want a webcam" category. It's also really not marketed as a mainstream consumer device - Panasonic caters to a business crowd more often than not; road warriors if you will. I've been really impressed with the S9 and I'm a Sony person. Much better build quality than pretty much everything except the G, and it's even better than that.

 

the Z have no autonomy ... not interested maybe if the put the new Core i7 "low voltage"