UK Vaio Dealers

I am desperate to purchase the Sony Vaio Z, but i am hesitant to order from overseas (my only current option is notebook.de). Sonystyle currently doesn't list the Z.

Are there any UK Vaio dealers that [it is expected] will be stocking the Z?

I'm just looking for a few that i can keep an eye on, and potentially compare prices on.

Many thanks in advance.

 

AFAIK there will be no models that you would like...with SSD and blu ray...

That will probably come later, maybe september 2008...

 

Dabs is already showing the SR, but no Z.
http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...ode=1&NavigationKey=11105,42880000,4294952415

 

they will but probably late like the ps3 (fist in japan then there ltr on!)

 

I'm not bothered about Blu-Ray but would like to see the 128GB SSD option offered in the UK. It's slightly irritating that you can't get CTO options here, but I still expect the fully loaded Z to be a bit cheaper than the fully loaded TZ... and more powerful of course.

 

I'm actually not too fussed about blu-ray or SSD after seeing the premium being charged for them. But i'll keep an eye on Dabs.com is there anywhere else that should be stocking them?

 

sony style...

 

Maybe Insight

 

...As I said; I've already been on sonystyle and am looking for further retailer to keep an eye on / compare prices.

 

retails will have cheaper prices for sure.

hang on a little longer and you will find a good deal

 

I hope so. I'm getting desperate as i have no lappie at the moment. (I know they won't ship til mid to late August but I'd like to get it ordered)

I'll bump the thread if I notice anything crop up on one of these sites then hopefully the British will have a better chance at getting a fair deal.

 

Probably places like Micro Anvika, Misco.co.uk, laptopshopdirect.co.uk,dabs.com and technoworld.com which are some of the main big laptop shops will stock the Z range.

Empiredirect already list it and one model appears to be shipping now-
http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/list~subdept~laptops~page~2~brand~Sony.htm

 

Woohoo! Hope is not lost.

Thanks; genuinely big help!

 

Empiredirect prices are usually pretty decent price wise. They have the FW listed for the cheapest price that i have seen it being listed so far in the UK. The normal selling price of the laptop that you want theringmasta appears to be £1,649 but it is currently £1,567 now that is really quite expensive.

I wonder what the top model will cost probably retailing for £1,700 at least. I doubt that we will see Sony add in a carbon fibre lid with these type of prices that we have already.

 

Do you think that this model of the FW will be available in the UK ? Being that this model will have a Mobility Radeon HD3650 256 MB and not have writable bluray and 2.53GHZ CPU !

Sony Vaio FW Model Number : Sony Vaio VGN-FW11J !!

Currently selling in Germany !
http://vaio.sony.de/view/ShowProduc...11J&site=voe_de_DE_cons&category=VN+FW+Series

A website states that there will be 6 models of the FW avaiable but it does not state the whole of europe!
"While the first model of the mark to have a screen this size, the FW11 will replace the Vaio FZ, in the range of portable Sony. It will have six variations of this series, from 1040 to 1710 € € for the most expensive."

"The FW11E standard model will have a Core 2 Duo P8400 clocked at 2.26 GHz with 2 GB DDR2 800 MHz, a SATA hard disk of 250 GB drive and a combo DVD Blu-ray/graveur double layer. For the following models, it will mount a memory as storage capacity, with a map Mobility Radeon HD3650 256 MB for the model FW11J or FW11ZU."

Taken from above
http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...search?q=FW11J&hl=en&cr=countryUK%7CcountryGB

There are currently 5 models available in the UK!

 

You can order it from germany too, no problem with that dude.

 

Sony lists all the Zs as Carbon Fibre chassis on their site. Is that subject to change?


I notice the specs of the Z on empiredirect are not listed apart from in the title description. Do you reckon that the option to purchase is perhaps a mistake?

 

I think that these current Z models have a carbon fibre chasis but not a carbon fibre lid. The lids i believe on these models are standard pretty much like they were with the Sony SZ/B range.

I don't know with empiredirect if it is a mistake or not you could always give them a call. I did wonder about it being a mistake but it is probably best to give them a call and see what they say. If you look on saynoto0870.com you can find a cheaper number to call them on.

 

I think it wil be available, if you give it some time.

Usually European countries get the same models.

 

Vaio Z series is now available on Sonystyle UK.

https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/b2c/display/(xcm=PCM_b2ccrmstandard&layout=15_116_61_50_117_121_2&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=48867705D6F90083E10080002BC29B85)/.do

Unfortunately, the Z11WN is way over my £1500 budget.

I suppose i was being to optimistic.

 

Cheers for the tip - I checked Sonystyle UK last night and it wasn't there...

I chuckled when I noticed they're still listing DDR2 memory though - obviously they copied the specs from one of the incorrect listings.

 

It is very strange as well what Sony UK have listed the up to battery life for as well that must be an error.

Probably some of those shops that i linked to before will sell these models next month for at least a £100 less than what Sony is offering it for.

You will probably find it on Ebay in a couple of months as well for less than a grand as well.

If you need one now then maybe look elsewhere or consider getting another Sony model.

 

Yeh, i think they're a bit of a shambles. I rang sonystyle the other day to find out when it might be available and they hadn't heard of it . their advice was to keep an eye on the website (and i guess they'd then be doing the same)

I do need one nowish, but i'm on vacation for the next fortnight so i'll check the status then. I've checked Laptops direct, dabs, micro anvika, and technoworld and they're not yet listed, however i'm sure there will be a slight price difference (i hope) and then i'll buy from there on my return.

I notice that none of the Zs are available with blu-ray or SSD yet (are they not some of the main selling points for the top model?)

 

They aren't being released in the UK with either option and there are no plans to release them either. Apparently the Z Series are aimed at a business market here so no BR. I have no idea why no SSD though. Probably because we don't have CTO and if they were to make it standard the laptop would be £2400+

 

I've ordered my VGN-Z11WN/B + 2 years extra warranty.
Looks like it will take two weeks before I can put my hands on it.
Another thing I want to add, although Sony UK customer service is always available by telephone I don't think the guys on the other line are not customer support trained, sometimes it feels like I am talking to a mobile phone salesman where I expect "mate" in every other sentence.
The reason I called them was because I swapped delivery and invoice addresses.

 

The Z series has now appeared at PC World Business. The blurb states: "STOCK DUE 24/08/08".

 

I cancelled my original order when I heard Sony was offering free 3 years warranty as long as you register the laptop within the first 30 days.
I re-ordered the same laptop and this time with accidental damage insurance for £90 for 3 years IIRC.

 

I will be getting the VGNZ11VN/B.CEK. It's currently £1,749.00 inc. VAT and delivery from UK SonyStyle

Spec as follows.

Operating system Windows Vista® Business
Microprocessor Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53 GHz)
Language version English
Main usage Ultra-portable
Weight range (Kg) 1Kg - 2Kg
Standard memory (MB) 4096
Memory specifications DDR2-SDRAM (1066 Mhz) (2 x 2GB / max. 4 GB with 2 x 2 GB)
Cache memory (L2 - KB) 6144
Hard disk drive capacity (GB) 320
Floppy disc drive Not Supplied
Display size 13.1" (33.3 cm)
Laptop Screen Resolution TFT colour display WXGA++ 1600 x 900 X-black LCD
Graphics chipset NVIDIA® GEFORCE(TM) 9300M GS
Speaker Built-in stereo speakers
Modem Built-in modem V.90/V.92, K56 flex, Fax/Modem
Lithium-ion battery VGP-BPS12
Battery life up to 4.5 Hours
Dimensions (W x H x D mm) 314 X 24.5 - 33 X 210 MM
Approx. Weight (g) 1.499
Bluetooth(TM) Supplied
Wireless LAN Integrated Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n
Integrated CCD Camera Motion Eye Yes
Guarantee 2 years in AT/BE/FI/GR/NL/PT/SE. Others: 1 y

TIP : I ordered myself a Amex Platinum which will give 5% cashback and hopefully another 5% back using quidco.co.uk.

Anyone know if i can get it cheaper in the UK?

Also, with the extended Guarantee, do i have to register it for 3 years before 30th Sept 2008 to get it.

 

Wierd, SonyStyle says on the homepage,

Sony Z "Ships with 3 years standard warranty"

The products details says

"Guarantee 2 years in AT/BE/FI/GR/NL/PT/SE. Others: 1 y"

 

I put in a similar preorder yesterday. I opted for the VN/B model though. The rep gave me 5% off the laptop if I took the insurance (which to be honest I wanted to buy anyway, if not from Sony then from somewhere else), so it ended up pretty good value as you say... at least as far as anything is ever good value for the latest gadgets from Sony in the UK.

Now we've just got to wait...

 

bbasra - yes, you need to register your new Z within 30 days from purchase and before 30 Sep 2008 to get the extra 2 years free warranty. Valid only in the UK.

Here's a copy of the official blurb from the PCWorld Business site:

http://www.pcwb.com/pdf/FOC 3 year RTB warranty.pdf

As for where to buy cheaper... it seems Sony only offers the top model through Sony Style. Most retailers showing any Z are only listing the WN/B or MN/B models. So if you want the VN/B, I fear Sony Style is the only option. Of course if you wait a few months the price will inevitably drop...

 

Thanks for the reply.

If i wait, i would then have to pay for the 2yr extended warranty which i want to get so probably work out the same price then afterwards.

can you negotiate with SonyStyle?

 

I'm sure you can negotiate with anyone if you've got a gift for such things.

I haven't got any such gift, so I just accepted the offer of taking accidental damage insurance to get 5% off the notebook...

 

Hi bbsara you went through a lot with Dell. This laptop is quite an expense I hope that this laptop lives up to your expectations when you get it. I will look forward to reading your thoughts on it when you get it.

 

I hope it really does too. Reasons i'm going for it is because of build quality, size, resolution and power, but It's a lot of money and any discount will be good.

If there are any faults, ie Dead Pixel. Whats the returns procedure with Sony Style. As this price, i will be really fussy.

 

I remember reading on here that Sony do a 30 day back money return policy but i am not certain if that applies to the UK as well. Maybe you could call them to double check?

I have only ever been able to talk Sony into giving me free warranty over the phone for a laptop and i negotiated £200 of a TV in a Sony store but buying a TV is a bit different from buying a laptop. Still though I do think though that if you wanted to try and get a discount that you would probably have the best chance of doing so in a Sony Sonex store.

I did notice that a lot of shops didn't actually carry the top end SZ model so that will probably be the same in the case of the Z. A lot of shops mostly carry the middle model and the lower end model. It is these models that you will most likely find being sold for a little lower than the Sony rrp. The top end model you might have to pay full rrp to Sony and like you are doing try getting the best money of discounts that you can get.

 

You might know this already, but generally any supplier won't agree that a single dead pixel is a fault as it's within their 'manufacturing tolerances'. I understand some retailers allow you to pay extra for a no-dead-pixels guarantee... but from what I can tell it's not an official arrangement with the supplier but rather they'll just give you another box and attempt to resell the 'faulty' one.

As with everything, your mileage may vary. I think often even the manufacturer's policy can be interpreted in different ways... so they might take back a display if there's a hot pixel right in the middle of the display but maybe not if it's in a corner.

 

Spoke to SonyStyle UK and they said they can do 5% off, but thats it. Can't throw anything else it like a case or anything.

I also spoke to Sony Store in Lakeside, completly useless, rude and arrogant. Would not even offer any discount even though Sony Style said they can do it. The manager even had his name badge on the wrong way.

Anyhow, My Amex 5% Cashback card is also on it's way

If i order it now SonyStyle UK, they can ship it 28th as i missed the 21st batch.

So it works out to £1578.47 for the Top UK Model.

 

I understand that all of the Sony Centres on the UK highstreet are actually just branded franchises and not really 'Sony' other than the official branding and the fact that they sell exclusively Sony stuff... so their customer service is just the same as any other UK highstreet electronics box shifter - i.e. not great. For instance, a company called Raresupply is behind the Sony Centres in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby Westfield, and probably others.

Sony Style Europe (who run the web site) are based in France I think and seem to be more closely linked to Sony than the highstreet shops. For instance, after I placed my order I got a query about it from an email address in the eu.sony.com domain.

Sorry to hear you missed the first batch. I was especially impatient as I want to take mine on holiday at the start of September. Fingers crossed it'll arrive in time!

 

Another Quick Q. Where is the \ key on the keyboard?

Please say it's next to the shift key on the left? I hate changing keyboards.

 

Good question! I've just had a look on Sony Style UK web site and I'm still not entirely sure...

The press/marketing photos show a large left shift key next to the Z key. But only the bottom-left of the keyboard is shown and I have a feeling they are global marketing shots - not specific to the UK.

The "3D view" applet shows what appears to be a UK keyboard (with shift-3 being £, shift-4 being $ and alt-gr-4 being €) and on the 3D view, the shift key is smaller than in the press shots with a \ key next to it (shift-\ being |).

I guess we won't know for sure until UK models start shipping, but the 3D view on Sony Style is certainly promising.

 

I really hope so.... this would put me right off it and go back to dell.

 

I called SonyStyle today and they say initial shipment of pre-order Z series laptops will be circa 21st.
Fingers crossed!

 

I emailed today and they told me to expect delivery on Tues 26th. Makes sense as they previously said they were expecting to receive them on 21st and it would take a day to 'process' them (presumably this means stick parcel tracking labels on and get them sent to the courier). With the Late Summer Bank Holiday on Mon 25th, the first day for delivery would be Tues 26th.

 

That's a shame.
Can't wait for my laptop, I have been laptop-less for a couple of months now since I decided to get a refund for a Asus U6sg.

 

I'm just about to order the Z11WN from PC World Business.

I notice it lists the screen res as 1600x900. It also lists the same resolution for this model on Sonystyle.

I was under the impression that only the Z11VN had 1600x900 resolution. Am i mistaken?


associated link:

http://www.pcwb.com/catalogue/item/SONB0280

 

You're indeed mistaken.

The VN/B is the top model with P9500 CPU, 320GB/4GB.
The WN/B has slightly slower CPU, with less cache and 250GB HDD (but still 4GB RAM).
The MN/B is the entry level model with slower CPU again, the 1366x768 resolution, without HSPDA/Everywair and with only 200GB HDD.

Only the MN/B has the lower res screen. The other two are both 1600x900.

 

I knew about the difference in harddrive and processor, but i didn't realise the WN and VN had the same res. Brilliant news.

 

can someone post UK vaio z keyboard layout?