Z11Z9eb Sold Out Everywhere in UK!

So the special offer i7-620M confirmation email came back just now with an identical estimated ship date to the i5-540M I ordered the day before - 15th-22nd April, so maybe they do have availability of the i7 now.

I've also just noticed that you can now place an order for an i7 again - albeit without the special offer - which re-enforces my theory that offering the i7 on the special offer was an error, but at least they're now taking orders again...

 

A bummer. Timing-wise it seems I have little choice but to pass-on the sole Z9e and go with X9e's.

 

Thanks to dpwaddell's eagle eyes, I'm typing this on an i7 Z11Z9E/B I've just picked up from the PC World at M6 J9 They only had one in stock (in addition to the one he saw on display) despite their web site and telesales team being adamant that none of their UK stores had stock of this model. Turns out that a few PC World megastores (such as this one) have additional purchasing options outside of the main PC World range - hence why they had one - my tip would therefore be to find & call their other megastores directly and see if any of them have any stock.

Needless to say I've cancelled my Sony Style orders...

Thanks again to dpwaddell reporting his sighting - it's an awesome laptop.

 

Hi James,

Im glad you got it! Where did you travel from?

I know the PC World store has a lot to do with bran reps i.e. Sony - so maybe they order a couple in to keep people happy?

They also have a display model of the previous Z Series... thus showing its not the fastest moving of lines

Enjoy!

 

As an update ive sorted the mobile broadband... I can confirm the UK version is not locked a network...

Ive just got O2 mobile broadband sorted... takes a bit of tinkering - i.e. Network an login details... but easily done after a bit of googling!

 

dpwaddell what package you got with O2? I want to get a SIM only pay as you go package? I looked at all the providers and I cant seem to see one.

Any help is appreciated.

 

Just a quick update on my Z11. I am liking it more and more as I use it. It just oozes quality from the keyboard to the trackpad. You can tell Sony went out of its way to source the best material for this baby everything just feels well made and top material is used.

People may think it is still overpriced but in this case I really think you get what you paid for and that is a portable premium notebook that performs like a desktop replacement.

I dont think anyone will be disppaointed when they get theirs.

 

Hi Kit,

I just brought a basic O2 pay as you go dongle and sim for 19.99.

I havnt looked too much into the tarriffs, but its £2 a day - but with O2 you get free access to wifi BT Openzones and The Cloud...

If you need any help setting it up let me know

Cheers,

Dan.

 

Just to point out the obvious.... im just using the sim - not the dongle... just works out cheaper to by the package...

 

Hampshire - 4 hour round trip, but glad I did it - although I almost decked the PC World chap who brought out the wrong model when I arrived - it was a 15" F series! He explained that they have their own Sony rep who does buy additional models outside of the usual PC World range (hence why their web site or telesales knew nothing about this model).

I also just stuck in my vodafone SIM instead of the supplied Orange one and once the vodafone APN was configured it worked straightaway - I then just uninstalled the Orange software.

 

kit9t9, could you update me how does the mobile sim card work on the Z series.

Can I use any sim card (Vodafone, Orange, 3G, T-mobile) to use it?

Any configuration needed? just plug and play?

Which is the best provider for using 3g plan?

I plan to get a contract to use unlimited 3g online a month. Currently my girlfriend running vodafone on contract she can go online anytime any where with 3g and it is unlimited. I plan to sign a cotract too.

 

Hi Bryan,

Ive tried and tested, O2 and Vodafone and they work fine - Orange must work as it comes prebundled. Im 99.9% sure its for use on all networks - but cant confirm 100%.

All you need to do is insert the sim card, then in your wireless network settings input the networks APN details - you can find these online or by calling customer service.

As far as the best provider goes, this will obviously depend upon local coverage by the network - so just put your postcode (or main locations) in the networks website to check coverage/signal strength.

Im pretty sure all of the networks offer a pay as you go option - except Orange, they only have a monthly contract at the moment.

If your prepared to have a contract then you could use anyone... depends on what you want out of the service. Personally I like the idea of O2 as by using them you also get free access to their WIFI access points in locations, i.e. BT Openzone and The Cloud networks based in coffee shops etc. This is WIFI so a lot quicker than mobile broadband.

I hope that helps

Dan.

 

So i still need to do some setting to get it work? is it difficult in doing it?

So you mean if I subcribe a contract with O2 I am entitle to use their WIFI access point too without any charges?

So let say Im out of wifi zone I can still use the 3g network connection right?


Thanks for your resond. cheers

 

Hi Bryan,

Yes, there are couple of settings you will need to add, simply 3 things,
1. APN Address
2. Username
3. Password

These are readily available online - the setting up would take a minute or two

With regards to O2 and their WIFI networks - yes you get free access to these (I havnt tried this yet, but where I live there is a BT Openzone which the computer is automatically connecting to from time to time - so it must work!

Yes, if there is no WIFI you use the 3G Mobile broadband.

You would use O2's software for the WIFI element and the inbuild windows stuff for the 3G

I hope that helps

D.

 

The Z11 network card is not SIM locked so it will work with all networks. It be silly for Sony to work exclusively for Orange as it would put some business users off who have company contracts. My company has a contract with Vodafone so they supply everything.

I am with O2 for my iPhone and in big city centres like Leeds and Birmingham I often get BT OpenWorld connection but speeds vary and 3g tend to be better.

Regarding the Orange connection at home I am only getting 3 bars (out of 5) which is not as good as my iphone 3g (full bars). I dont know if this is because I havent registered it.

I am definately looking for a pay as you go SIM as I dont see myself out of the house that much with my machine to warrant a monthly contract. I probably go with the £19.99 package.

DP - did you get your package from O2 shop or online?

Bryan - I read on egadget that Apple will bring out their updated Macpros on 13th April - you can see if they are worth it.

 

thanks kit9t9, I think the macrumours cant be reliable because the news has been out since last year. i wanna try mac but it not coming out soon.

If it is out i may cancel my order. do you think sony charge if I cancel my order when it is on delivery stages?

 

Hi Kit,

With regards to signal strength, both my vodafone an O2 mobile phone signals are very strong - however when a sim is used in a laptop the signal is only 1 bar.

I just picked it up from an O2 store - but for the O2 connection manager (for WIFI access) make sure you ask for this on CD... as its normally installed on the dongle. This was free.

Anyone know what to do with a spare dongle!?!

 

Bryan - I cancelled twice with Sony and they did not charge me so I dont think they will even if it is in delivery stage. I use to own the pre-aluminum Macbook Pro and sold it after a month because I couldnt get use to the OS. Not having things like two buttons for the mouse (I think they have now), a delete button and right clicking to have options come up really got to me.

I think it may be due to the fact I am PC through and through. My mate is a proper Macboy and he loves them but I think more for the fashion value then anything else.

What I can say the Macs hold their price really well as I did not lose much selling it after a month.

DP - sell the dongle on eBay, I am sure someone will take it off you. I will check out O2 shop tomorrow and see what I can get. Thanks for the advice on connection manager, I make sure I get the CD.

 

Thanks for the heads-up, I missed this one! I'm waiting on my order for ages (ok, "only" 3 weeks ) and it seems that not a single unit has been shipped to Portugal yet...
If the new MacBooks show up this tuesday and are relatively comparable to the Z11Z9EB, I might not resist much longer!

 

I was going to see if the new MacBook pro was going to be any good if I didn't manage to find one at a Sony centre and might have been tempted too.

However the comparable Mac model in terms of spec probably will be the 15inch Macbook Pro and that is no where near as portable as the Z11. It is really super light and powerful which was exactly what I was looking for.

I may be wrong and the 13inch macpro maybe just the same then it would be a good substitute.

 

By the way I have been playing around with the fingerprint scanner and it is a very useful tool. It is the first time I have used one and I am surprised how easy it is to use and Im really glad I got it. I thought it can only be used within the system but you can use it to login into websites which means no more not being to login because I have forgotten the password!

Sorry if most of you knew this already

I checked out the Mobile broadband SIM cards and T Mobile has a good PAYG offer at the moment. £8.99 for SIM and dongle and you can get daily packages from £2. I'm just not sure how the signal is with T Moble. T Mobile did win the 2009 mobile provider award.

I read a review of all the providers on PC Pro and it looks like Vodafone has the best coverage and speed as well the highest price (as expected). As DP pointed out O2 has the added benefit of Cloud and BT Openworld but their T & Cs restricts usage by not letting you use VOIP, P2P or anything that require constant streaming i.e. Video streaming. Other network vary and apparently 3 is the most generous with usage as they have no T&Cs on usage

I noticed on Ebay there are quite a few sellers just selling the SIM cards which would be ideal. There even one seller offering a 3 SIM card with 12gb credit that last for 1 year for £29.99 which is a good deal but they have the worst coverage.

 

The 13-inch is still a boat anchor, and it won't match the Z's ekeing runtime. The Air i the comparable model in terms of weight: The Z11's weigh to all intents and purposes the same as the Air. Putting the two side by side, it truly shows the waste of time the unibody process is, since it's bendier than the Z11 to boot. I do wish Sony would take an engineering leaf from HP's apeing of the Macs though.

 

If anyone is interested there a review of the Z11 in new edition of What Laptop. It got 9 out of 10

 

I bet it didn't get 10 just because of the price

 

Clearly a magazine which doesn't care about the design

Re: Fingerprint readers, does anyone else find them largely redundant, especially as fitted in consumer/prosumer laptops esp: Sony's? I find that I can type a password quicker than the sensor becomes available after a wakeup for example, and the level of security offered isn't high enough to actually make it a viable part of a serious two or three-factor authentication.

I usually leave the sensors out in my Dells for example, unless they're standard in the deal.

 

Yeah, clearly they spent less than 1% of the time looking at the sides and the bottom of the laptop... just like most users . But there's already a thread discussing this, isn't there?

 

Yeah I was right the Macbook refresh did come ou Tuesday (US at least). I had a brief look at the specs and they have strangely stuck with the Core 2 Duo with the 13" model. The 15" and 17" model both have i5/i7 and the same GPU as the Z11.

I am quite happy about this as it means I made the right choice on the Z11 and how well Sony did in getting all that hardware into a 13.1" laptop and keeping it light and cool at the same time.

Bryan, have you looked at the MBP yet?

 

hey kit9t9, I called up apple but there no display on the Macbook pro yet and they are unsure when will they receive it. only pre-order.

Yea, now I am happy with my sony Z (Not receving yet) because the spec wise is still higher , versatile and compact. I tried match the same spec with the sony vaio Z. It is much cheaper and I need to purchase again the orignial software of Mac so still not worth it. Plus I love the feature of Z with the WWAN. I can go online everywhere and compact

how your Z going still running pretty fast? Have you tried to slow down SSD degradation?

 

I just looked at the Apple Store website properly for the 13" and 15" and they are so expensive for what you get. I costed up a 15" MBP that matches similar to mine with 8gb RAM but no Hi Res Screen and WWLAN and it came to £2760!! Now that is overpriced.

Bryan - My Z11 is running great and still fast as when I first got. However I havent filled it up yet to see any degradation (I have actually been deliverately not filling it up with stuff to avoid degradation). I think it only affects Write speeds so Im not too concerned.

By the way I definately recommend the Hi Res Screen its really nice and Window 7 & text scaling works great.

 

How do you guys get the hi res screen?

 

It comes as standard on the model I bought (Z11Z9eb) and its a £50 upgrade option on CTO models.

 

Is this UK only or can I get it if I live in US? Also how much did it cost you?

 

I read through several US threads and the HD Screen is only available on the Signiture model in US and I think that cost around $3500.

My model cost £2250.

 

Where did you buy it from and can it be imported to the US? I want the 1920 resolution but I don't want to pay 4k+ for the US Signature model

 

is almost the same price to $4K if your purchase and hip it there.. You can check at the sony.co.uk

 

FYI - You can get a 1920x1080 VAIO Z in HK for around US$2600!!

http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/ss/product/vaio/z117/spec.jsp

i7, 256GB Quad SSD and 8GB RAM....

 

I got mine from a Sony centre store. I'm sure you will be able to find a UK online store who will ship to US. Even better if you have a friend in UK who is willing to ship it for you.

 

but Kit9t9, I dont think there in stock for most of the store maybe just few display unit. maybe he can ask a friend to help to confiqure then send to US.

 

I'm unable to continue past the "buy series" button in the US sonystyle.com...? Am I the only one who can't buy a Sony Vaio Z online at sonystyle atm? Is an update on the way...?

 

Omg!! Can I order it from there and ship to us?.

 

AFAIK, you need a HK address and a HK credit card. Not sure if they have stock thou.