Vaio FW, SR, Z and BZ on SonyStyle Japan

Finally their on SonyStyle Japan. Main reason I'm interested is because the Vaios are much more customizable there than in North America at least. I think in Europe, you cannot custom order at all correct?

Out of these four models, I'm interested in the Z and its available in black and in three other cool lid designs there.

They also have cool flash presentations for the models. Check it out guys.


SR Series
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Business/Vaio/Product/S/index.html
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Biz/Products/SR1/

Z Series
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Business/Vaio/Product/Z/index.html
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Biz/Products/Z1/

BZ Series
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Business/Vaio/Product/Bz/index.html
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Biz/Products/BZ1/

FW Series
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Business/Vaio/Product/Fw/index.html
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Biz/Products/FW1/

Comparison between Z, SR and SZ series
This will be useful for a lot of you here. It compares things like dimensions, features between the models....
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Business/Vaio/Compare/Zs/index.html

Reason of Vaio Z Special Feature
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Business/Vaio/Special/Z/

 

^yeah but the Vaios here are much more expensive than their American counterparts.

 

Nice skins for the Z

 

These are already available in sonystyle USA.

 

we know. the point was to see if the new vaios were any cheaper in japan, and they're not (sadly).

 

Darn, looks like FW Japanese models come with remote control and US models don't. That's a bummer!

Can you also upgrade the Japanese models with Radeon HD3650?

 

Great find, as usual, Rahul!

I love the Gothic Arabesque and Line Forest designs. Very nice! Too bad it's only for Japan, but I'm sure Dynamism will carry them.

 

Why do they list the Z as 1.35KG?

Edit: just found it: without the standard battery pack (S) selected.

 

I believe the price difference is because of TAXes and everything else. Prices in europe are also a lot higher than in USA, but..what can we do. USA almost have no taxes and in europe we have taxes up to 21% (maybe even more in some countries).

Also, because the $ is so weak, people just calculate € -> $ and get a very cheap price... while manufactures use a different formula

 

come to the USA you will love the gas prices jk

at least VAIOs dont run on fuel!

 

some have started to pop up in the Uk as well, but the stupid, stupid ppl only offer a 4200 on the FW ( well a 5400 on the "slower" models)

 

Yea..I am also sure we would love gas prices in south america

 

A good 4200rpm can perform better than a bad 5400rpm. So it does not say much.

If you want real performance get a WD 320GB 7200rpm:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15079/4

Building it in the FW will be easy I expect.

 

Why there is no possibility to choose blu-ray...but in the specs before there is....does it mean that all Z in Japan will have blu-ray drive in it?

edit: OK, my fault, I didn't read....you have to put at least 2 GBs of RAM and the higher resolution to be able to put Blu-Ray....

 

Not that it really is a good processor choice anyway, but I am disappointed that the Z in Japan offers T9600 as the top end processor while US model does not give you that choice.

 

Here's the main Z info page for Japan.
http://vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Z1/

Note the specs can be a tad higher (i.e. 2.80 proc).

Configure your own:
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Ownermade/z90/index.html

 

What I really love about the japanese version is, that it has regular Enter key

 

Just for fun, I spec'd out some configs I would consider. One reason to get it from Japan is stuff you may not want or need (i.e. Motion Eye, 256MB graphics card), you don't need to get. Here's what I came up with, and the Japanese configs come out cheaper for what I want.

Z90 Japan Config 1
Vista
2.80 GHz Processor
4GB
Graphics card with 256MB
320GB HDD
Blu-Ray
No WWAN
No TPM
No FeliCa
No Motion Eye
US Keyboard
Large battery
No software
3 year Wide/accidental warranty
353800 Yen [XE converts this to $3388.20]

Z590 US Config 1
Vista Business
2.53 GHz Processor
4GB
Graphics card (no choice)
320GB HDD
Blu-Ray
WWAN (no choice)
TPM (no choice)
Motion Eye (no choice)
US Keyboard
Large battery
No software
3 year Wide/accidental warranty
$3589.98

Z90 Japan Config 2
Vista
4GB
Graphics card with 256MB
128GB RAID 0
DVD
No WWAN
No TPM
No FeliCa
No Motion Eye
US Keyboard
Large battery
No software
3 year Wide/accidental warranty
457800 Yen [XE converts this to $4384.08]

Z590 US Config 2
Vista Business
2.53 GHz
4GB
Graphics card (no choice)
128GB RAID 0
DVD
WWAN (no choice)
TPM (no choice)
Motion Eye (no choice)
US Keyboard
Large battery
No software
3 year Wide/accidental warranty
$4289.98

 

Japan's always done it this way. When I got the SZ90, I got it from Japan for a reason

 

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=8198552921644569397&parentCategoryId=16154

I started to think about replaceing my TZ

 

Definitely Japan offers better options especially from Europe. I bought a TZ from Conics and I was very pleased by the hole operation and price. I will do it again for the Z soon. Any ideas when Conics or Pricejapan will add these models in their site?
Nice configuration Fender, is hard to choose from the 1st and the 3rd...in a few words 128 GB SSD or blu-ray drive. What would you choose? I have a SSD in the TZ and I'm impressed, but on the other hand I watch a lot of movies.

 

I'm trying to hold out for the ultraportables this fall. I'd love an updated G with the 128GB RAID 0

But if I had to go for a config, I'd most likely go for the SSD config, and I'd probably bump the graphics card down to 128MB since I only watch movies occasionally and things like VMWare don't need a better graphics card. The BluRay option is nice, but having used SSD for the past year, I don't want to go back.

 

BTW, here's a fun comparison:

 

As the owner of two TZs (a TZ90 and TZ198) and a MacBook Air (sold), who is consistently butting his head against size constraints (32GB, 64GB), I'm going to blow off this SSD trend for a while and return to the 320GB hard drive with plenty of space!

BTW, I don't know if you guys are trying to unload your SSD-premium lappys yet, but the resale market for these devices (which only the aficionado can appreciate/afford) is the s...t. I had to unload my MacBook Air for $1,900 and I'm having major problems unloading my TZ198, don't even want to think what it will take to unload the TZ90!

 

I'm not saying I don't have space issues ... don't get me wrong. I just like what SSD brings to the table in all other aspects. Resale value on any laptop is crap. I have a ton I need to unload and I know I won't get anywhere near what I paid. Right now I'm happy with the G, but the Z is intriguing.

I have an external 320GB 5400 and it's pretty much as fast as the 200GB 7200rpm so if I went the traditional route, I'd get the 320GB one.

 

Tell me about it! I refreshing their sites every 5 min! I will see which resailer offer more CTO options and then I will finally pull the trigger. I expect by the end of the week they should start appearing the new models.

I can't enter the site of portableone...updating maybe??

 

Fender, what makes it worse is that I'm in the SF Bay Area, which is already brimming to the top with used gear, so that makes it difficult to unload used laptops, although there are far more gearheads around to balance that inequity.

 

I hear ya. I may wind up just donating to a good cause - at least I'll get the tax writeoff.

My concern for getting a Z now is that Sony will do a cool ultraportable a la the G in the fall.

Trust me, I struggle with the SSD. The extra $1000 may not be worth it. If I could do SSD + BR, it may be a different story.

 

Especially if the new SSDs by OCZ are fast and reliable, I think it will cause huge pricedrops in the SSD marktet on rather short notice.

It may be interesting to wait a bit with the Z.

 

OCZ's OEM I believe is Samsung. Good thing I don't need a laptop soon (technically lol).

If Sony's only ultraportable winds up being the TZ, chances are I'll wind up with a Z at some point.

I hope Sony works out the SSD+BR thing so both can be had in the same machine.

 

They are on Conics!

Two models at the bottom of the page, one SSD, on Blu-Ray, fully configurable.

I'm thinking of going for the 2.8gz BR model, anyone has feedback about Conics (especially how they deal with Warranty claims)?

http://conics.net/catalog/index.php?cPath=22

 

horrible horrible horrible. I went to the computer store here (in Japan) and they don't have none of the new vaios

 

I got my G2 from Conics. It was a fine experience. Haven't had to exercise them for warranty work yet.

 

Yeah man, I saw it. Decent prices, but for sure better than Europe.

I was thinking about the SSD model but is way too expensive for me. So, I am considering the BD model now...Is it worth the extra money for the 2.8 Ghz (does it consume 25W or 35W)? I was leading for thr 2.53 Ghz, extended battery, 4GB RAM, and Wide (it should mean accidental) Warranty. What about you?

 

I really like how honest Conics is. They even tell that 4GB will only be 3 in Vista 32. Well done.

and HDSPA: Bad choice. NOT recommended.

 

Could you please elaborate on this statement? What do you exactly mean? Is having HSDPA support in your Z not useful in your opinion? Or do you mean that you think that it's not smart to to import a Japanese Z-model to Europe, with the hopes of unlocking the WWAN so you can also use it in Europe?

 

Exactly from the site:

"IS there internal HSDPA?
A: internal HSDPA option is not recommended; we provide NO support, NO software for it.
the device is locked to NTT DoCoMo, we can NOT unlock it
(you will be better off with a HSDPA express card)"

It means that yes you can order it with the built-in HSDPA but they quite tell you not to, because is locked to a Japanese provider and is very difficult to unlock and make it work in Europe.

 

Yeah I got that message from Conics:

"HSDPA is an option, it does have a SIM slot, but unfortunately as with previous TZ models
- customers who ordered it reported they did waste their money as it does not and will never work on networks other than NTT DoCoMo (in Japan)
and even if you are going to use the computer in Japan we recommend other company data service such as E-Mobile (it's faster and cheaper).

simply put - Sony's HSDPA is locked to NTT, NTT is not a good choice even if you were to use it in Japan.
it is not possible to unlock it as far as we know.
but, if you really do want it, we can get it (option added, but strongly discouraged)"

 

sony ssd price is ridiculous, so I was considering the br model, but I'm now tempted to wait for the december refresh, hoping they will introduce br models in the uk. I want to have hspda and there is no satisfactory solution at the moment for Europeans (who want BR as well). The T9600 is 35w tdp, not 25w so I'm ruling it out. The 2.53gz BR model is cheaper at portable one, but like philflow I really appreciated Conics attitude: helpful and straightforward. I'm waiting for portable one to reply to my email to make up my mind.

 

Just found a first model on PriceJapan (64 or 128ssd).
http://www.pricejapan.com/front/e_good_info.php?code=667&category=6
Let's see if they offer a br model...

 

Price Japan will deliver anything you want. Just send them the detailed configuration of your choice from Sony.jp and they will give you a price quote.

I had a good experience with TZ with them.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll do that.

 

Did you get any warranty for your TZ PhilFlow?
And how long took the delivery?
Did you have to pay tax/customs afterwards?

Just asking cause the 64GB option with shipping and all is still cheaper than a 200GB HDD option...

 

BTW Phil, 1.35kg is WITH the battery, it's because the SSD is lighter, and you can configure the japanese model without WWAN card etc.