Z12 Available on SonyStyle (US)

Not the answer I was hoping for, but I appreciate the information. Thanks!

 

Yes, that would be nice. Perhaps they will add it after a few refreshes.

 

If they add it on the Z12 as an option no doubt I would buy it.

 

Even if it meant overheating and throttling?

 

Alienware had it on an 11".

 

That is just a "fancy" name given to a new color option. However, IMHO, it is always nice to see more & more color options being offered by Sony.

 

Alienware might have it on the 11" laptop, but the size of that thing is even larger than a 13" VAIO Z.
YouTube - Sony Z Series 2010 Unboxing and Comparison to Alienware M11x

That must say something about the heat of that thing..

 

alienware's 11.6" laptop is also heavier and thicker than Sony's 13"

 

alienware m11x?
I really don't understand why everyone like that

It's big (14 inch size), heavy (closed weight as 14 inch laptop) and small screen.

So those people like it because it has alienware named?

Lots of laptops have more power, similar weight as M11X, like y460..etc..

 

They've had the Z12 available for pre-order in UK, AU and Germany for more than a week. It would be nice if they could keep the wheels moving and add it to the US site. I'm curious what is causing the hold up. The SonyStyle reps seem to have no knowledge of the Z12.

 

Country-specific licensing agreements? Best promotional niche for official refreshes? A US Q3 release with almost all sales in Q4 rather than half in Q3 half in Q4? In any case, it was a good call to hurry the release the Z12 in Australia, as we do not primarily budget by quarters but by the fiscal year, which ends on 30 June.

Whatever the reason, I also hope they get their wheels moving.

 

it's a gaming netbook basically. it's half the price of the z1 and offers better gaming performance than the z1.

 

ive sold my m11x and got the z1, had better gaming than the m11x. the reflective screen of the m11x is stupid. and it is actually too small after gaming on it for a while.

z1 is just plays more beautifully overall with a higher res.

 

The US is where many companies dump their old stock. So it won't happen until the world's supply of Z11's drop to an acceptable level.

It's a good thing. Look forward to all the Z11 clearances. The Z12 isn't much of a refresh. I was one of those who picked up a Z11 a couple of weeks ago on clearance for $1100. There will be more of those coming.

 

Damn man 1100?!
Nice buy!
I paid $2300 in April!

 

Here in the netherlands the Z12 is way more expensive (About 400 euro's aka 478 us dollars) in comparison to an equal Z11 at the time). There almost didn't change anything but the price is much higher.

 

There's a way to make the price drop: we should all stop buying it Oh wait...

 

This can be attributed to a combination of cost-push inflation and devaluation of the Euro. Where you could buy 130 yen for 1 Euro at the start of this year, you now only get 110.

 

This is very far from correct. The US market is by far the most competitive market, and the lowest profit-margin major market for nearly every electronics and computer provider. When it comes time to "dump" goods at EOL, mfr's typically prefer south america and/or the far.

There are no more Z11's "coming" into the US. The clearance models you've seen are simply retailers marking down there existing inventory. It's standard stuff prior to a refresh. There have been NO Z11's available to any US retailer for the past 5 weeks. Any inventory you've seen was already here.

 

Indeed, mostly subsidised by Europe, where the same manufacturers jack consumers for sick amounts of money, sometimes as much as 50-100% more than the US price. When I looked at buying a Z in Germany, they were out of stock at the time, but I was shocked at the price compared to the US.

 

i am noy see ing any z12 in us site what has been changed from z11 any gpu or other changes?

where did you guys see deals on z11 at usd 1100

 

When talking about European prices, you have to keep in mind the difference that consumer protection makes.
In the US, you generally get 0-90 days store warranty, 1 year limited manufacturer's warranty, no reclamation rights, no requirement that the manufacturer carry spare parts for a reasonable time, no TUV approval (unless the same model was tested for the EU market), and misleading marketing is not just legal, but standard.

Add costs due to a much lower sales volume per model (in part due to localization), and the prices aren't really that far off.

 

It's very correct. I used to work with a large Japanese consumer electronics firm. It was common to "dump" their older models in the US. In many instances, "new" models in the US are the "old" models from Japan.

 

But we have basically the equivalent things in the US. It may not be provided through government protection, but by private industry.

Costco provides a 6 month store warranty.
Amex will double the manufacturer warranty.
UL is equivalent to TUV.
Misleading marketing in the US is illegal, send a complaint to the FTC.

In addition I have price protection through Amex. If I buy a product today and it goes down in price next month, Amex will refund the difference. They also offer return protection. If a store won't accept a return on a product, Amex will "buy" it.

So we do have all those equivalent things in the US. Although prices in the US aren't necessarily cheaper than Europe. I'm looking to buy one of the new Sony NEX cameras. As of now, it's cheaper in Europe than in the US mainly due to the VAT refund and no need to pay CA sales tax. That combined is a 27% savings.

 

I dont see it. They still showing the Z11.

 

As opposed to 2 years warranty, and reclamation rights for the expected lifetime of a product?

Not quite. UL will evaluate compliance based on third-party tests and paperwork from the manufacturer, and UL themselves assume no responsibility. A TUV stamp means the product has actually been pulled apart, examined and tested by the certification bureau, who take responsibility for their testing. As such, UL is closer to CE than to TUV.

So when they say $1999 in the ad and the final bill is $2118.94, I can complain?
Or when they say a computer has an 8-bit display, when the hardware is 6-bit and only the driver is 8-bit?
Or when they call a product "juice" when it contains mostly water, and "blueberry juice" when it contains mostly grapes?
Or when they sell you internet access as 10 Mbps that's 0-10 Mbps downstream and 0-768 kBps upstream?
Or call speeds too low for video conferencing "high speed internet", for that matter?
Or when a phone plan with 2500 "free" minutes costs more than one with 500 minutes?
Or when your "unlimited" plan has limitations (like when you call from abroad)?

Or ...

No, here in the US, misleading advertising isn't just allowed, it's the standard. Caveat emptor.

 

As I said, with Amex I do have 2 years warranty on this product. That coverage is free.

UL just doesn't examine paper work. It has it's own lab that does pull apart, examine and tries it's best to destroy products.

None of those things, well other than the juice, is misleading. But I've gotten plenty of "juice" in europe that was just water, sugar and food coloring. For the $1999 versus $2118.94 you are leaving out the tax. That's like complaining about how your $100,000 salary is only $60,000 in the end because of income tax. It's standard to factor in tax separately in the US. All the other things are well specified in the ads. You can't just read part of an ad and skip the rest. It's like only reading a part of a contract and skipping the rest. By that regard then the current Sony promotion in Australia is misleading since it advertises a free PS3 if you buy a Sony Z. If you just read free PS3 and skip how you need to buy a Sony Z to get it, is that misleading advertising? So it's less a case of buyer beware than buyer should read and not assume.

 

Still incorrect. Antidumping laws were passed some time ago that specifically adressed TV's (raised duties).

2 facts here. 1.) PC's are typically not brought into the us at eol. There are other more profitable markets to "dump" old stock. 2.) Z11's are not coming into the us and haven't for the last 5 weeks.

There could be exceptions to #1 from time to time, but I work closely with all the major japanese and korean electronics manufacturers. Also, when supply is light on a global basis, the us typically gets hit the hardest due to the low margins here.

 

No, I am not leaving out the tax -- the company who sells the product leaves it out from their advertising. The price is what a customer pays, not how much the company gets after it forwards the taxes.
Which is why there are laws in Europe that prevents this from happening. If they market towards tax exempt buyers, they can state the price without tax. If they market towards people who have to pay tax, they have to state either the sum including tax, or the tax has to be noted in letters as big as the price itself. To do otherwise is misleading.

Not quite, because without a flat income tax, the company who hires you can't know beforehand how big your tax rate is. And even so, at the end of the year, they have to state both your gross and net income.

Exactly as I said -- it's standard here in the US to deliberately mislead the customer.

Oh, but that's exactly what the advertisers count on the consumers doing! And if that isn't misleading, what is?

It may come as a surprise to you, but this kind of advertising is indeed illegal in some countries. You aren't getting a free PS3; you buy a Z and a PS3 for a combined price.

There's one born every minute, and advertising agencies know this. Especially here in the US, where consumer protection is next to nil, and (by your own admission) you have to scrutinize advertising as if it were a contract. Caveat emptor.

I would love for us to get real consumer protection here in the US too, even if it meant higher prices. But the Wal-Mart and Best Buy buying crowd looking for a "deal" will ensure that this never happens.

 

Who has the best price on a Z11 these days?

 

Raid 0, Yuck

 

Thread jacking! Yuck!

 

Z12 is not available in Canada or US. Yay, back on topic?

 

This is a terrible argument. Tax is excluded because of the difficulty and cost of advertising to every tax rate in the country. You may be unaware but there are 10,000+ different tax levels across the US. First you have the easy tax tax but then many counties add a small part on top of that, then some cities add another tax. Then some states have tax free day. And if you are a business you are tax free in some cases.

You are asking the government to step in and add significant costs in advertising just because you are a moron.

Caveat Emptor, lets not take personal responsibility completely away from the public... we already do that enough


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BTW< real question. The US site now shows the Z11 and not the Z12. Just a short term thing or did I miss my opportunity?

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I agree with you however it's a different market. Gaming market vs productivity market. You and I like the portability and high res.... Frankly the graphics are nice but likely turned off by most of us.

 

2 weeks ago when the Z12 was visible through the sonystyle.com search box, I ordered the following config (which was immediately cancelled by sony through email). Waiting to order one when it finally becomes available.

Product: US-VPCZ1290X-LBOM
Component: Standard Capacity Battery
Component: No Fresh Start
Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Component: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
Component: Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)
Component: No Mobile Broadband Built-In
Component: Adobe Creative Bundle
Component: CD/DVD Burner
Component: No Engraving
Component: Intel® Core™ i7-620M processor (2.66GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.33GHz
Component: 13.1" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)
Component: Black
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Component: 128GB (64GBx2) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology
Per Unit Price: $1,952.99
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $1,952.99
Description: VPCZ1290X Configure-to-Order
Ship Method: Standard
Estimated Ship Date: 06/14/2010

 

I was told that resellers can not reveal anything until June 20th, so I think on 21/22 June, we should see the Z12 go up on the sony site.

 

Wow that is exactly the config I want.

Thanks for the info.

 

I'm a little bummed that it looks like I missed out on the glossy carbon fibre. I had no need of the full HD screen so didn't want to fork out for a signature series for something purely cosmetic for me...kind of wish I'd sucked it up and paid for one now though. That baby looked HOT. Curious if we're going to get some alternative colors (like black) via cto.

 

I hope, cuz silver is just hideous ugly imo [after seeing it in person in a store].

 

It looks much nicer in person.

 

Hey guys, I just have a question regarding the Z11 and Z12. What are the differences between the two?

 

totally agreee with you on that, btw does anyone have any pictures comparing Premium carbon fibre and the glossy premium carbon fibre? havent had the chance to see either in stores.

 

A different label on the lower right hand corner of the screen.

Seriously, not much. A baby bump up in CPU clock and 2GB more RAM. You could config a Z11 to be identical to the Z12.

 

Treofred posted some great comparison photos:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-unboxing-movie-comparison-old-z-690-etc.html

 

1.Includes a free Adobe Creative Bundle:
-Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0

-Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0

-Adobe Acrobat Standard 9.0

2.FullHD screen option for US CTO

3.New Lid: Granite

 

Damn, how is it that Im the most unluckiest guys when it comes to these things
ive called like 10 times to my local store and had my Dad go in and check it out to get the price lower for the 2499 pre-config model the VPC-Z11CGX/X but everytime the same freakin guys tells me that We arent allowed to discount the price than whats given to us, there are no such discounts available. is it easier to get discounts via the Sony Reps from their 1800 number? my problem is that im in UK getting it sent so whenever i try to call the 800 number i get past like 2 menu options and they automated service closes the phone on me. I was hoping to get atleast like 15% discount or something plus if they let me add on a student discount.

please someone help me out, im really not THAT good it stuff like this, haggling of the sort i was hoping to bring it down to like 2000? anyways any help is appreciated

well, I was hoping for is that ATLEAST change the GT330 DDR3 VRAM to GDDR3 since that would make a bit of a good difference and boost over the current DDR3 but alas, I CAN dream cant I?

If I can get a good deal on a Z112 and hopefully I can
I want:
256GB SSD (praying they come out with SATA HDD for a price drop)
Black, preferably Glossy
4GB
i5 540
W7 Professional w/ fresh start
DVD Burner
and still deciding between 1600x900 or the 1080p screen, i really want that 96% Adobe RGB coverage hmmmm, decisions decisions.....

 

I don't think it's ugly, but I know from experience with about a dozen products that no Sony silver paint handles wear well. When the underlying plastic is partially exposed by wear, then it becomes seriously ugly.

 

I like the silver too, my VGN-Z was black so it's nice to have somewhat of a change.

 

First, yes, it is easier to get a discount over the phone than in the store. Your story about the store not offering a discount is not unique.

Second, don't count on being able to combine your student discount with a 15% discount. It won't work. Play your cards right and you should be able to get the 15% relatively easily. I would just make nice with your rep, let him/her know you are on a tight budget when you start talking price, and ask what they can do to help you out. Be prepared to purchase a warranty and some accessories in order to get the discount. The warranty (I've heard) can be returned later if you don't want it. Keep in mind though that even with a 15% discount you're still probably looking at over $2100, possibly more, for the model above. Plus you have to pay for the warranty and some accessories. It's definitely possible to get a 20% discount, but the difficulty of getting that is going to be much greater than 15%. But if you're feeling brave try for it. It can't hurt. Just stay friendly and stay calm.