VAIO TZ 10 Year Anniversary Japan Official

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1.06 Ghz => 1.2 Ghz (Core2Duo) : + 99USD
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1024 Mo => 2048 Mo : + 189 USD
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60 Gig Hard disk => 80 Gig : + 99 USD
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60 Gig hard disk => 100 Gig : +189 USD
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60 gig hard disk => 32 Gig SSD + 160 Gig HD : +449 USD
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60 gig HD => 32 GIG SSD + DVDRW : +459 USD

http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-VAIO-TZ-SE...QQihZ003QQcategoryZ140084QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The top of the line TX in the US is about $3k. Really not much difference if you ask me.

And the memory thing has been answered - it's one stick, period. Nothing soldered onto the motherboard. So whatever you stick in the slot is what you have.

YOu can get a 2GB DIMM for under $200 yourself these days so you have to figure out what it's worth to you to get it from Sony.

 

My preferite combination is SSD+DVD, 2 GB RAM, and Standard battery.
The laptop on its own is 2999$, plus the upgrade the RAM 299$, plus the standard battery 99$...total: 3397$.
Do you thing that in US this exact modell will cost more than this price?
Something about the battery again. The site of Dynamism says that the lightweight battery is 3 hours in real world!

 

No, I'm quite sure it will be cheaper when it comes over here to the U.S.
But its being said that the SSD and 160 gb hard drive won't be options on the American version of the TZ.

 

Is being said?? Is it just an ipothesis or is quite sure that we will have only the slow 1.8" HD? If is like that i really don't understand Sony..
Dynamism says: This Model Only: 3 Year Dynamism Warranty. Does it include accidental warranty? And is it international warranty or not?

 

Don't quote me on this, but I don't think the warranty is international, you'll have to ship it back to Dynamism and they'll take care of the repairs and all the support. And I am not 100% sure if the SSD and 2.5" hard drive will be available or not outside of Japan. We may get them later, I don't know, its not confirmed yet.

 

You may want to keep your eyes on this link also.
http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=533
Nice pics there too by the way.

 

No one knows for sure what the US version will cost or will have. But do keep in mind that Sony does have exclusive models for specific regions. Which means we might get the same version as Japan or we might not. We will probably know more by next month.

 

I configured the same specs I configured on dynamism (32SSD + optical + standard battery + 1GB RAM) and it came out to be $2911 vs. $3100. thats about a $200 difference, and it looks like they also have a number located in NYC which is where I'm based, but won't be shipping til June 21st. From the config list, you have the option of a US qwerty or French azerty, so this may be the Euro version. Its a good sign that the US version will have the SSD option as well.

Cheapest specs I configred was 160GB with no optical lightweight battery, 1GB RAM for just $2148, so for those of you that are on a "budget", this is definitely an alternative way to go vs. dynamism. But as far as their customer service or reputation, thats another story, I haven't a clue.


BTW, you can get 1 stick of 2GB RAM from newegg for just $140

 

Did you also factor in the operating system?

Geekstuff4u only has Linux preinstalled.

 

The top-of-the-line TX model in the US ( http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...tegoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_TXSeries) is $2899 - right now it's $200 off ($2699). It always has been in this price range. So I don't think a new top-of-the-line TZ when introduced in the USwill be much cheaper.

If the US doesn't get the SSD + HDD version, an extra little bit from Dynamism really doesn't matter. $2949 from Dynamism is more than a fair price if you ask me, and as someone says above, you can get the 2GB DIMM yourself. The only tweak I would consider if I was getting a TZ would be swapping out the light battery and upgrading to the VGP-BPL11 for an extra $99 (note that this is NOT an option in the USA and you'd have to spend the list price to get the battery). If you get that $140 2GB module you're talking about $3200 - not cheap, but no US release date or specs yet and only a bit more than it really would be here to get it now and arguably cheaper if you want the bigger battery.My guess is the US won't get the SSD + HDD config.

As for Dynamism's warranty, it's Sony's standard 3 year warranty, not the accidental wide warranty. You'd have to inquire to get the wide warranty. If something goes wrong, you do have to send it to Dynamism but they deal with sending it to Japan. I've had to do it a couple of times (once for my SZ, once for my U70) and both times were great experiences. Sony Japan turned it around quick and I had it back in under a month including all shipping times (consider the fact you're shipping it half way around the world and back).

 

No I did not as I was planning to get Vista Ultimate and install it myself. However I just read further on their warranty policies. Basically, you only have the manufacture's warranty, so if its sony which is in Japan, they will actually provide free shipping to and from there at no cost to you as long as you're still covered by sony, thats pretty good. HOWEVER, if you install your own OS and erase the hidden recovery partition, they will NOT honor the warranty. that kinda sucks because we all know sony installs tons of crap on there.

Question, is there anyway to install the OS from scratch but keep the recovery partition?

 

No, but the best read on the correct OS strategy is to peruse the Dell guide sticky on this topic.

 

For those that plan on the 32SSD option, will you be installing your own OS or format and reinstall the OS with no partition? I'm asking because since its only 32GB to begin with, the OS and the partition will take a big chunk out of it leaving you with even less.

I found Vista Ultimate OEM for $200 which is a pretty good deal, so I figured if I'm gonna pay $200 to get business, why not just get ultimate and start from scratch and eliminate a lot of the junk stuff and only install what you want.

 

I'm so glad that Geekstuff4u cleared up the battery confusion!

So now we know what the letters stand for in VGP-BPX11 (X is variable):

S(=standard) is Lightweight
L(=large) is Standard
X(=extra large) is Enhanced

This is a good memory trick to remember when visiting that screwed-up Dynamism page.

 

Maybe Sony will have mercy on SSD buyers by giving them an option to install the apps separately. I think that would make better sense anyway, so you may be able to do an "in-place" upgrade of the OS, although we all know that a clean reformat is best, which would allow you to keep your hidden partition.

I assume that Vista will take at least 16GB, leaving you with 16GB for apps and documents, which is a pittance. After Microsoft Office, how much do you think would be left?

 

Not true. Sony Japan serviced both my SZ and U70 when I did the OS myself AND swapped out my HD. I no longer even had Dynamism's OS build (which, BTW, does not have the recovery partition).

 

Hehe, I'm answering my own question. Microsoft Office 2007 is less than a 1GB, so that would actually leave you with a fair amount.

 

I was not talking about dynamism, I was talking about Geek4U which is stated on their warranty page that if you erase the hidden partition, they will not honor the warranty by shipping to and from Japan. Of course you can ship it yourself, but you'd have to pay the shipping fees.

 

My bad ... but a good reason to get it from Dynamism

 

Does Dynamism provide a US-style QWERTY keyboard or is it the cramped one with Japanese characters?

 

Their keyboard is US qwerty.

 

Again a for me crucial question: 32 GB SSD - is that sufficient for running Vista, Word 2007 and other "regular" programs, or will it turn out to "reach the limit" of what is a comfortable daily use? And: Anyone who knows about when a 64 GB SSD is due in these wonderful Sony TZs?

 

Considering that the only 64GB SSDs are available for industrial use right now ... I'd say not anytime soon. SanDisk announced a 64GB one, but I'd say it'll hit the market later this year and will most likely be 1.5 - 2x the price of the 32GB one. It won't come cheap.

Unless you consume a lot of disk space, 32GB should be fine for average users. It's if you want to store your entire media collection, etc. - that's when you'll run into issues.

That's why it's better to use the 32GB for your main OS drive, and another drive for your personal things if you can go that route.

 

samsung has only begun to produce 64GB SSDs so there are none out as of right now. There will be express card 34 versions of SSD coming out soon so you can always have that as an option for more programs. I do believe 32GB is enough for vista and office programs. I remember my old dell had just 30GB and I still had room left. Remember this is an ultraportable, most people buy this as a second computer, not as a primary one.

I am curious, which colors are people most interested in? its tough to buy something when you can't see it in person first. I was interested in the bourdeu color, but you can't go wrong with blk or carbon either. I do believe most will go with blk or caron and bourdeu would tend to stand out a bit more without being too tacky or distracting.

 

Thanks for interesting answers. Regarding colors, I hope there also will be a white or "white-like" model available, like the Mac. And what about a blue one?

Regarding 32 GB SDD or 64: Can there be a possibility of putting two 32 GB SSDs in the available space?

 

If you replace the 160GB 2.5" with a 32GB SSD 2.5", yes. Otherwise, no.

Blue usually gets released in the USA (i.e. the TX29). I haven't seen that color in Japan on the T series.

 

Anyone that lives in Europe and thinking of taking TZ from Dynamism?

 

Just to compare with a product (htc shift) that will be launched i Q3 and that has 30 GB HDD: http://www.america.htc.com/products/shift/default.html

Perhaps 32 SDD isn't that bad after all? And, for me, with a dvd drive in addition.

 

I think black looks the best.

 

hi,

again,

someone known info about next step of sony vaio UX Series micro pc?

thanks..

 

my last two laptops were black, wanted to try for something different now like bourdeu, its a bit subtle but not too attention grabbing like red or yellow. but you can never go wrong w/ picking black, it goes with EVERYTHING.

 

Is it possible to have Vista, Office and other frequently used applications to run on the ExpressCard 34 SSD while storing other files on a 100GB 1.8" hard drive? Will that improve average seek time?

 

don't you need to install drivers for the express card slot to work? and I always thought the OS needs to be installed on an integrated hard drive system and will not let you install on a removable drive.

 

Wrong thread ... best if you start a U thread.

 

Just out of curiosity, how does the change from a cold-cathode fluorescent light source to an LED light source have any effect on the blackness of the screen?

At the end of the day its just a more efficient, lighter and durable back-light source right? I was under the impression that the blackness is due to the TFT/LCD layer technology, not the type of backlight used.

 

I just saw Lexar's Expresscard SSDs and the main complaint is how slow they are. But how about when the storage space grows and other kinks are worked out, could they work just like the 32 gig SSD drive? Would Expresscard SSDs work, maybe not now but later on?


Someone here just ordered one from Dynamism right? When do you expect to get it? Will you do a review?

 

I'm now fully in the SSD camp. This is a trendsetting drive and that's what I like to do: start trends.

But add Vista to the bloatware problem. Windows XP takes up 5GB on my ASUS W5F, while Vista Ultimate takes 10GB on my VX2. The OS bloat has skyrocketed from 23,000 files to 88,000 files.

Now that's what I call grossly inefficient coding!

 

I don't know about anyone else but I def plan to do a review once I get mine, but that will either be from sony usa or geekstuff4u by the end of June.

 

Nah i am gonna keep on looking around (Mostly on ebay) until i can get a better price. The best price i have found was someone on ebay who is from Japan and sells all sorts of electronics and i was quote $2450 or so with a 100GB HD and 2GB RAM. So that looks like the best deal so far, so once i have sold my TR3A i will purchase my TZ.

 

Looks like the 32 GB solid state plus 160 GB HD with exterior DVD Super multi drive would do it for me. But I can wait till it hits the states. I remember paying that much for a 10 lb Sager Desktop replacement with 333 Mhz Pentium-III CPU but that was years ago.

 

Do you thing that Sony would give an external optical drive if you take the combination of 32 GB SSD + 2.5" 16o GB HD?

 

If anyone is looking for reviews of what is IMHO is the most beautiful Ultra-portable ever check out these 2

Vaio Ethics

http://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl...l=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=MLr#more

CNet Japan

http://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl...100&hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=Ogz

Probably a good idea if you hide the credit card 1st.
Not personally gonna be buying from Dynamism. Pricing is the main issue. I appreciate the work that Dynamism have to do but i can do that myself.

I am from Europe (Ireland to be exact) and we get completely screwed for everything. Top range TX is €3600 over here.

Japan price €1250 (standard 12hr battery)
Dynamism €1700 (light-weight 6hr battery)
Thats for 1.2C2D/160gb 2.5/1gb/Wlan-N/BT/

I'd rather have a chat to customs than the bank manager anyday.

 

For me the problematic point is exactly the need to carry around an external device in addition to the TZ. And is there in fact a suitable external optical drive available?

 

sony giving away something like this for free? not in a million years.

 

hahahah good joke.

 

The PCGA-DDRW4. Those of you who owned the older U series might remember the older versions of this drive. The PCGA-DDRW3 was the last one sold in the USA.

And no, Sony's not going to give it away. Thanks for the laugh.

 

Well first of all CCFL fluorescent lamps have a diffuser thats distributing the RGB light evenly across the viewing area. During black images/transitions the light distrubution is still being diffused over that area thus creating a charcoal like black.

LED backlighting gives far better control and extends the RGB gaumet to over 100%. The LED RBGs create a whiter white than what CCFL's can ever achieve. It also creates blacker blacks and the end result is a higher dynamic range. A top end Sony XBR has the greatest dynamic range of any consumer monitor to date and these new LCDs will come extremely close to matching them.
So when theres an area on the screen thats required to be black then it truly will be because that area wil have zero light emittance.

To give you a better perspective 1 CCFL lamp would be the length of the screen to produce even light throughout.
LED is simular where its required to extend the whole length of the screen but LEDs as you know are tiny lil bulbs.


This new LCD technology is still very new and quite expensive. The big makers NEC and Samsung are slowly making them a lil bit affordable but only so far in small laptop screens.
High def is here with resolutions thats more than enough. The next logical phase is true life realism and high dynamic range is whats next.

 

Compared to upgrading to an SSD for an additional $500, the 2.5" 160 GB + external DVD drive actually is the best way to get performance, since external DVD drives are rather cheap compared to the SSD upgrade:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...10100420%201036506653&bop=And&Order=PRICE

 

See, while I really love the SSD drive option for the TZ, I just dont think 32GB is enough for even normal computing and music. The OS will take about half that, not to mention all the extra spamware that will come bundled with it. When you add just 5 gigabytes of music into that... it gets very cramped.