Whats Next for the Vaio?

Hello All,

After returning my SA due to some problems and disappointments and passing on the new Z2 since I dont want to separate my optical drive/gpu, Im curious if anyone knows whats next for Sony?

There are no longer any speculation threads here but thought maybe someone here has some insight into how they plan to go forward and if anything is in works...

I was told that the SA may eventually be released with a 1080p screen which would be ideal unless they decide to offer an "all-in-one" model of the Z. Has anyone heard anything along these lines?

Im on the never ending search for the cream of the crop light-weight 13" PC that has everything I want and the Z would be it had they decided not to offer the dock.

Look forward to some comments...

 

I'm afraid it is the wrong time of the year to be asking this question.

Try again at the end of the year / beginning of next! This is when hardware manufacturers announce new technologies and laptop manufacturers announce how they plan to integrate them.

At the moment, those who you expect to be designing your next laptop are drinking cocktails on the beach with the money from your current laptop

But to be honest - if Sony doesn't make a reasonable "come-back" with a better design and innovation - I think I will stop asking your question very soon. I dislike their 2011 production.

 

There's only one more new chassis coming this year.

 

Agreed! I don't like the Z2 very much, I still can't get myself to buy it. When I saw the Z1 last year I HAD TO HAVE IT.

I'd like to see them get it right with the Z3... but like you said it is way to early to be talking about that.

2011 is the year of boring designs and too many sacrifices in the name of thin and light.

 

This is exactly how I feel about S!
When I saw it last year I thought - "THIS is my laptop!! Love it! Want it!"
When I saw the SA/SB this year I was like "What?? Are you kidding me!??? Is this a Vaio?". And now that I read about it and saw it live I am still on the same opinion. Seems to me Sony interpreted "Learn from your mistakes" as "Make mistakes from what you learned"!

 

And this is how I feel about the F series.
The 2010 F1's are sleek and beautiful. The F2's are larger and just don't seem as appealing w/ all of those sharp angles and edges.

 

But the new F's have nicer screens. Some people like me like sharp edges.

 

I saw the Signature Burnished Brown SA in the store and it was OK, I wasn't to critical of it because I am a Z guy. I haven't really compared the 2010 S with the 2011 S. I guess it is the same for both the S and the Z.

 

I know that the F2's are superior to the F1's. No doubts about that. I just really don't like the aesthetic of the F2's.

 

Yeah, what's wrong with the new F?? I saw it a few weeks ago - I first thought this is a very old model they have there! Thick display, ugly look ...
Did Sony get excess radiation this year!? Or are they really trying to go down

Fair enough. I just hate the mediocre - and cutting an edgy parallelepiped out of plastic/metal can't be anything different than that to me.
Besides that, as I wrote in another thread - the barrel hinge, the power-on button on the side, the ergonomics (palmrest) were the Sony "signature". This year all of that is gone. Left is a Toshiba/Apple with a Vaio brand on it.

Really don't think the world needs more of those under another brand - actually quite the opposite.

 

Well put. What I feel is, that Sony has enough income streams from their other media and entertainment businesses that they dont care about this laptop business. Maybe the margins here are too low for every computer maker (other than Apple) that they dont care about the finer points.

 

I know that the hybrid PC with Chrome OS is due out in the autumn. Someone also posted about there being a Sony TT replacement. They said that a staff member at a Sony store informed them a replacement would be released in the autumn. I'm not sure if i can really see that happening but you never know.

 

The most rabid Sony fans have pretty much pronounced the 2011 models to be disappointing.

Local laptop experts without allegiance to any given brand have given the new Z generally positive reviews while noting some drawbacks and shortcomings.

Independent reviewers have liked the new Z while exclaiming, "Will you look at the %$*# price tag!"

My take is that Sony is transitioning from traditionally-styled laptops to ones which reflect new consumer priorities (lighter, less need for ODD, etc) as well as positioning themselves vis-a-vis different types of current and forthcoming competition (MBA, tablets, etc).

There are bumps and missteps on the road. No design is going to satisfy everyone, particularly those who view past designs as near-ideal. That aside, I expect the Z22/23 to be a bit smoother and make up some lost ground while keeping to the new ethic.

 

Hmmm....

char10

 

Well.... considering the constantly increasing technical issues Vaio laptops have - I wouldn't call them "finer points" anymore...

It is either going to be a premium brand for the premium price... or it is going to be a cheap quality, no-design brand for a corresponding price range! There can't be anything in between - not for long.

I am not a fan of MacBook for the same reason to start with - the impersonal, cold edgy look. BUT for the high price you at least get a reasonable quality.

2010 was an year in which you could get awesome designer laptops from sony with some typical technical issues in some models (the hinges in the Z, the FAN in the F, etc.)

2011 - bad look and even worse quality and serious technical issues for the same price !?

I really wonder what 2012 would be like for Vaio. It can either be a "come-back" or their end... at least for me.

This is very well summed up.

 

I actually don't mind the new look of the Z2. It's the F that saddens me. If I could afford it, I could get a better spec'd F2 2d for the same price my current F retailed for. FHD display vs. 1600x900, better GPU, for about 1150. Of course, I'd have swapped over my 8GB of RAM, SSD, and blu ray drive, so would be choosing the cheapest options on the new machine.

 

However, without being a pro, I think the best way to compete with the competition is to be better (or at least be as good in the same price category) BUT different! Apple is the most expensive company in the world because they were / are different!! If they were to build a Nokia-alike phone but just with an apple symbol on the back and more issues for nearly the same price - they wouldn't have made it at all. If they were to design a Lenovo laptop, but with a white glowing apple on the lid and worse construction - no one would have known them by now.

And exactly this was what I loved about VAIO - they WERE different, they HAD style, they WERE classy.... they were unmistakable! Not once did anybody ask me what brand my laptop is - I always hear the same "Ohhh that's a Sony Vaio, isn't it!??".

And it was me, the Vaio owner, who asked the question "He? What brand is that? Asus? Toshiba? some cheap Lenovo series?" when I first saw the SB in the store. Embarrassing!

So to sum up - I wish for much better (personal innovative and practical) design... and definitely better build-quality especially for the business series like S and Z.

 

Or they just saw "VAIO" on the lid.

 

I saw it on the SB too a minute later - I just though it's a practical joke

 

You still rocking an F12 with the whining fan? That drove me nuts and I downsized to an SR. Much less powerful but silent and small/light. It had a flimsy build though and the hinge buttons no longer work due to opening and closing the lid. Thats Sony for you I guess.

Recently picked up a beat up Z11 at a bottom of the barrel price but I had to return it because it was so beat up it gave up the ghost in less than 10 days. A real shame but I got the impression that it was built to look pretty and feel nice, but not to last.

As much as I'm trying to avoid going to an MBP 15 for cost/size reasons, that thing is built like a tank and AppleCare is worth spending the money on. Coming from Sony's terrible after sales support, I must say that its a rare pleasure to be able to really "use" your notebook with no fear that anything you do to it will be considered accidental damage and outside the remit of the warranty.

 

Hey buddy!

No, I've got the F11. Never had fan issues, or another of the other typical F issues for that matter. I do regret not being able to afford the better screen/GPU. My game performance is lagging for it.

 

You had the 1600x900 display and the 310M? :O

I had the 1080p EU matte display and 330M. The display was lovely. If thats one thing I'm missing in Sony's 2011 range its a decent screen outside the insanely priced Z series which is ludicrous in the UK. £1600 to customize a Sandy Bridge i5 without PMD. Yikes.

 

This may appear self-serving, but I have never had a problem with a Z1 (all 5 of them!) and I've had two MBPs in the past month (for kids going to college) with god-awful weak wifi cards (a known, chronic flaw) and the vaunted "Applecare" refused to even offer advice, under the provision: "we do not provide service or advice when a non-Apple product is involved. Since your router and your wireless printer [both of which were out of range beyond 15 feet] we can't be involved at all." When I told them they sell the same HP printer I'd purchased elsewhere at the Apple Store, the answer was the same: "we can check to see the printer is functioning according to its specs and likewise the MBP, but we take no responsibility for them connecting wirelessly to each other" !!

This is a taste of what we can expect as Apple dominates every single segment of hardware, software and entertainment media. It's called: "We're effectively a monopoly, and we don't have to care!" (Up against the wall...[Apple and it's parentage ]

 

Apple who?

 

Will Sony Ever Stage A Comeback? - SlashGear

A quote sums it up:

"What has happened to Sony? The company was once at the top, or at least near to the top, in every electronics category that mattered. But nowadays, it’s falling short in so many ways that the number of Sony products I actually recommend to friends and family is dwindling."

Pretty good perspective on Sony's sorry state of affairs. Having once worked for "Sir" Howard Stringer, the most remarkable thing about him was his abiding belief that "new media is rubbish" (this was in 1996!) and that TV shows, movies and records were both the past and the future of media. What a shocker that they have fallen so far under his leadership. Nice guy, by the way.

 

Very true indeed! I remember how much I adored my first Sony product many years ago - a small CD Stereo System! I loved it!! It is still somewhere and I just don't want to throw it out as I have great memories with it!

I now also have a Walkman MP3 Player and a TV-DVD-Player from Sony - they are all fine... but at the same time to be honest - not what I would expect from that price range. There is something missing - namely that "Special" thing about them. The thing that would explain the premium price and make each a true Sony as we know it from the past!

Vaio more or less had that special thing until this year... This year - it is just another laptop among many

 

^I think it's really a case of "to each their own". I find the new Z and S series, from strictly an aesthetics to be much more appealing than the models they replaced. Specifically I felt the VPCS1 (your notebook) looked cheap and round and plain, while the SA looks cutting edge.

 

^I will add, though, that in your avatar your S looks fantastic...but then any notebook would look fantastic in that particular pic

 

I actually really prefer the F2's lines to the F1. I didn't at first, but it grew on me.

The F2 has a palmrest, and neither of the other two issues really affect daily use.

What problems has the F2 had? I've been following it, and I haven't seen any. I remember reading about the fan issues from the F1. But I don't think I've seen any serious complaints about the F2 (except for people wanting a more powerful GPU or more battery life, but that's not technical issue like a cycling fan or whatever).

I feel like I keep coming back to the F2 here Superb screen for half the price of the Z.

 

I think it is that attractive lady using it that makes it look so great.

 

I think you guys have to realize that Sony has outsourced all their designing of vaio. Starting with new F series. If you think that the new Vaio have degraded aesthetically as well as functionality (Z). you are absolutely correct.

 

^Sony has not outsourced all their designing of VAIO. That is simply an inaccurate statement.

 

LOL exactly my thoughts

Anyways, I do not think that 2011 Vaio models are a step back in terms of design. Overall I prefer the 2011 designs to the 2010 ones. I particularly did not like the last year S and F design.
I know many will disagree, but overall Sony still has the best looking notebook range of any brand this year IMO. I am really not a fan of the macbook pro design but I would put Apple in the same league as Sony.

 

Have you seen the thickness of the screen of the F2 ?!? It's thicker than my first notebook - 10 years ago

And you can't really compare F to Z you just can't say it's cheaper... because it is a totally different class of product

The closest model to Z is S. Both are business series.

F is just a big multimedia desktop-replacement that was never meant to be portable, light, durable, compact or anything else in this direction.

 

Well I'm guessing he compared the F to the Z only with regards to the screen quality. And he is absolutely right with that.

 

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I don't know guys... I guess it is really a matter of taste and what you expect a laptop to be. I love the idea of a notebook looking like an actual "notebook", and those are never sharp-edge cut (maybe the cheapest for children).

I have a leather-like LID protective skin on mine (not visible on the pic as it wasn't there back then) and it really looks like something you take out of a drawer in your big wooden desk, open and start writing with a fountain-pen.
I definitely can't imagine any leather elements on the new S or Z - it just wouldn't fit - there is no elegance to go with it. They look more high-tecish but IMO there is already enough of that on the market. I wish for something with a little bit more class.

Rolls Royce will never build a "modern" looking car - they have their classy design which many people love, because there is enough of BMW, Audi and many others out there.

Not saying I'm a fan of RR, just an example.

Be different Sony! That's all I'm saying! Even if you can't keep it classy - be different and individual (in a good way of course). The individualism is absolutely gone this year and no one can convince me in the opposite, no matter whether you like the new design better or not. It is just mediocre.
As already said - Apple wouldn't have become what they are if they started with a Nokia phone with an apple on the back! The world already had that!!

 

I respect your opinion Gracy but as you can probably make out from the poll results and the posts in this thread, the 2011 design is just as popular as the 2010
And I personally believe that the 2011 models are unique designs and are a cut above the rest, like Sony Vaios have always been. And this is reflected in the reviews of the 2011 range as well, the design is very highly praised by almost all reviewers.

 

Yes, it's very thick--I have seen it in person (inspected it on three separate occasions to make sure I really like it; I'm planning on getting one as a Christmas present to myself this year). But to a certain degree, I have to say "so what?" It's a 16.4" laptop...it's not meant to be an ultraportable. What does an extra 0.5" of thickness really matter? Does it affect how I'd use it on a day-to-day basis? For me, no. I suspect that's true of most people looking for a multimedia-and-gaming-friendly desktop replacement.

Well of course the Z and F are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of what they're intended to do. But remember what I was responding to:

"If thats one thing I'm missing in Sony's 2011 range its a decent screen outside the insanely priced Z series which is ludicrous in the UK."

The comment to which I was responding was about the entire Vaio range, not just Vaio ultraportables. And there are two Vaios in Sony's 2011 range with awesome screens...the Z and the F. And only one of them is "insanely priced."

 

What about old hardcover books, with 90-degree corners and, when you close them, a zig-zag edge to the pages? I don't know what this is called, but it's true particularly on books from the early 20th century, where pages get slightly narrower, then slightly wider, then narrower again, then wider again, so that when you close the book the edge of the pages is a zig-zag surface instead of a flat surface. I think you can see a bit of the F2's design inspiration in that. I think you can see the laptop as a monolithic, futuristic, 21st-century reinterpretation of that old-school book design. I'm not sure if that's what it's supposed to be, but I think that's one interpretation.

I dunno, that looks pretty modern to me.

Some might call the F2 ugly, and I can disagree but that's totally subjective. However, I think it's hard to argue that it's not "individual." There's not another laptop on the market that looks remotely like it.

 

The F2 is basically a Bravia with Windows and a keyboard.

If you look on Sony's product pages for the new line of Bravia televisions, they all seem to introduce the "monolithic design" concept. Given 3D HD video quality was a much-advertised feature of the F21, I think this is one of the prime reasons they gave it the glossy black and also-monolithic, slab look.

 

Well, while F2 might be considered "unique" (I personally dislike it), here are 2 pictures.... find the differences apart from the brand

Very unique indeed! Embarrassing! At least the Toshiba has the exhaust on the side and ports on both sides... no design but functionality at least.



Both look equally impersonally whittled to me.

But as you say - I respect your opinion - that's why I created the other thread - wanted to see if I'm the only one who finds the 2011 design absolutely mediocre and dissatisfying for what Sony has been through the years. Glad it turns out there are many that think like me

 

^^
I really don't understand how the Vaio SB and that Toshiba notebook look similar ????????
Toshiba one looks like crap compared to the SB. SB is way more classy and modern looking. And there are more differences between the two design wise than similarities from what I can tell.

 

I also fail to see the similarities...

 

I fail to see the differences on my end. Both look edgy. Both look impersonal. Small details here and there but to me this is the same machine or let's say 2 versions of the same design. Replace the brands and I'm sure many won't find anything disturbing (besides the ports and exhaust)

But let it just be me then.

 

^The only similarity between the 2 that I see is the they are both black and Toshiba stole Sony's island keyboard.

 

The optimists call it half-full, the pessimists - half-empty...

But please show me a model as similar as the toshiba to the SA, but to the 2010 S or Z ? You will never find one... They were uniquely designed.
And this is just another Toshiba sub-model with negative Apple influence on top.

But let it just be me

The new F is however still unique! Repulsive to me... but absolutely unique. That I must agree.

 

You have co-opted Amassaic's thread to serve as a vehicle for your opinion on Sony's new aesthetic direction, one which you have asserted repeatedly on this forum for months now. You have made clear that nothing can or will change your mind. Ok you made your point. You don't like Sony's new aesthetic direction. Now what?

 

I haven't co-opted anything. The thread is to discuss the overall VAIO state in 2011 and what we are all looking and hoping for in the future. Well one side of it is design. And as no one else has started a discussion about anything else - design it is.

We can discuss the build quality and I would once again have to say that it has decreased a lot in 2011 too (based on all threads about problems in the SA/SB/SC mainly) and what I have seen myself. This again wouldn't be new, as it has been discussed in other threads as well... and for months too.

So let me know what new thing you would want us to talk about here?? Color choices?

 

I have to agree with Gracy. When the first pictures of the Z2 were leaked I couldn't believe how bad it looked. I just couldn't believe that stupid looking thing was the new Z. It is not just limited to the Z, it is the whole line. Here we are, nine months in to this year and I haven't purchased any new 2011 model. I might buy the Z2 just because it is a Z... but I am not pleased with it.

I am really quite concerned, if Sony doesn't make that special breed of computer... who will?

 

You aren't discussing anything though. You are asserting your opinion in a very disingenuous way i.e. by saying that the R830 looks like an SA. Several people have said that they don't see any similarity other than both having a keyboard, touchpad and lcd display.

In responding you shift the goal posts by asking if there is a laptop that is "as similar as the toshiba to the SA, but to the 2010 S or Z?". This in turn is a rhetorical question which you answer with the response you are supposed to get: "You will never find one... They were uniquely designed."

Hopefully you can appreciate that there is no room for discussion when people use specious arguments like this. Its just people flinging their opinions at others and hoping that if you throw enough, some of it will stick.