Z3 "coming soon" says sony rep??

i7-3612QM?

 

About 50 posts ago:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/646789-z3-coming-soon-says-sony-rep-10.html#post8397526

 

Ahh. Thank you. I knew it was somewhere.

Although it's probably not going to happen any time soon, it is an intriguing idea, particularly if they included a 16GB RAM option.

 

^ They'd almost have to.

Give us a WQHD display, with some touch goodness and a Kepler GPU. Add a larger touch pad too, kthbye

 

Sold. ........

 

That will be $5,000, please. No PayPal accepted!

 

In regards to the screen and the almost silly resolution, I sure hope Sony pays attention. Apple will have a close-to-retnia density panel for Macbooks soon. I have an iPod 3, and simply adore the screen. If anything would make me jump vendors from Sony, this is it. I would have to run Windows on it of course, I'm not crazy.

This said, a FHD AMOLED would be cool too. Better battery life and the purest blacks possible.

If they somehow figure out how to do a WQHD AMOLED, well, sign me up. Cost isn't a problem. The first of these will likely come from Samsung, but one can dream.

 

This thread is bad for Sony sales. I started out wanting no more upgrades than an IB quad core i7 and 16GB of RAM, now I may refuse buying anything without AMOLED screen, Kepler GPU and probably a bunch of stuff I hardly knew about.

 

When I put my new iPad next to my Z screen I find:

1) little content that takes advantage of >1080p images and video
2) colors on the iPad seem washed out
3) reflections drive me nuts - definitely rather lower res and matte than this - unless in a dark room

Given that Samsung eseentially owns AMOLED and PLS technology, I think you're right. But consider: Sony has sold it's display business to a consortium that includes Samsung; they may get first dibs.

 

Sold! That's probably a thousand less than I would expect it to be with qud-core, 16GB RAM, the super high rez screen, new gen Nvidia gpu, and 512GB SSD.

I don't really expect such a machine to be sold soon at any price. But given some hypothetical possibility that it could be offered as an attention-getting halo product (hey financial analysts, ignore those unfathomably huge losses over there and lookit this really super cool laptop over here), it would be silly to expect it to cost less than a very large sum of money.

 

^Just kidding. That's a thousand less than I expect it would be with a 256GB SSD.

 

I'll buy it from you when you are ready to replace it

 

Intsead, I'll sell you my obsolete Z2.

 

That dinosaur? With only a 1080p display and not even 1000 Gb/s SSD read speeds, what would it be good for?

 

Nice discussion has developed here

I, myself, don't care about IPS/AMOLED tbh: I am quite happy with the quality of TN panels Sony has been using, I just want higher resolution. I wouldn't mind a good IPS panel, as long as it's matte.

The thing that saddens me is that we are likely to see a 1440p/1600p 12/13" screens first half of next year. And I hate to update my laptops that often, especially since I'm in a country where high end models are either unavailable or twice the price (compared to US/EU), so I go through the shuffle of importing them without having a chance to see them first hand (unless I am lucky and run into a shop that has them on display on my travels).

I.e. even if I wanted to get a Z2 today, I could not get one with more than 4GB of RAM here, and we all know RAM is soldered to the board. :/

 

Данило
you can get one with 8GB RAM (this is the spring update of Vaio, Z23) for sure, I see no problem with high-end models in Ukraine. Check the stores.

 

I was being sarcastic in my earlier post (banter with Louche); I think the present Z2's screen and power will be more than sufficient for 95% of users for the next 3 years, just as my 2009 HP DV8t is more than powerful enough for all my needs today. It happens that the Z owners tend to be cutting edge power users, so there are likely more who can use the incremental capabilities of each year's upgrades than the "average" person.

 

You can't go wrong with the current Z2's screen. At whichever resoution you pick, it's the best of any ultralight laptop going. The super hi-rez screen would be nice tho.

 

I am not in Ukraine. They are not available in Serbia.

 

I just talked with a Sony webshop representative. I was trying to order a Z23with the 512Gb SSD option and it was out of stock in Finland. I called and asked about this and he said that they are getting a new model of the Z –line next week Thursday. He also told me that it will be an Ivy Bridge variant. He did not have any other specs to give me at this point.

I got the impression that deliveries are actually starting next week so I am definitely going to wait for the refresh. This information is from one sales guy and I cannot confirm the facts from any official material yet, but I wanted to let you know about this if you did not know already…

 

^hope this is true, but I'm skeptical

 

He returns! He speaks! Welcome back, Zoinks.

 

that would be sweet, hopefully it's true

 

wow nice!!!

 

For the last time, RAM on the Z2 are not soldered. If any of you are spreading this FUD, please stop it. RAM can be upgraded but you have to use Sony proprietary model (the part number you want is: A1835658A). If you can get the 4GB model for cheap, buy it and buy the RAM modules from Sony to upgrade later.

 

Does Sony is selling 8GB Modules? or they just have 2GB and 4GB. Maybe the Z can handle more than 8GB?

 

Oh, that sounds cool: I did try looking through different tearing apart videos, but could not come up with anything to reject the rumours.

Proprietary format is not very helpful either, but at least it means there is an option to upgrade later on, even though it might be harder than finding a preconfigured model. Though, it means I won't sweat at taking a 6gb version because I can live with that to begin with, and can take the time to find the A1835658A.

Thanks for the input, very useful.

 

This is what is says on my Z2390 shipping info:

8GB (4GB x2 fixed onboard) DDR3-SDRAM-1333

What does "fixed onboard" mean?

 

means soldered to the motherboard.

 

Now, as second sony rep confirmed the Ivy Bridge. I can order on Monday with a 10 day delivery time. I also found this translated chinese page that already talks about the Z Ivy Bridge model... It seems that this is true after all...

Google Kääntäjä

 

???? 10 char

 

It means you're not going to upgrade the RAM.

 

The fixed onboard could mean that it is soldered to a small PCB that can be replaced.

 

That would still contradict Avalon's contention. Seems like there should be a way to get a definitive answer. 4GB i5 Z2's are going as low as $1,200 and it would be nice to know if it would be possible to go to 8GB without soldering.

 

Both origin and maingear have a 11.6" lappy with a quad-core ivy, so it's not impossible (although these are built for gaming, ie. Alienware M11x)

EON11-S Custom Gaming Laptop Product Features and Details | ORIGIN PC

From what I've been able to deduce from Beaup's comments, the Z3 or the Z23 (the ivy bridge refresh of the Z) will just simply be a mobo or CPU upgrade with the same chassis, which means we'll prob have to wait for haswell

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/603509-sony-vaio-z2-photos-teardown-5.html#post8414797

 

since the screen specs are lower than the current model, I'd have to guess they are just throwing things out there.

 

It's definitely possible (judging by the above teardown photos and https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.c...5jr0ujxr1))/sony-part-number-A1835658A.aspx): there is a 4GB RAM chip that can be bought independently, so it must be installable without soldering (or Sony would only be selling full motherboards with RAM soldered on, even for parts).

 

And I guess the fact that Vaio Z pages give 404s or similar on sony.co.uk web site (both shop and model pages like http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-z-series/vpcz21c5e) indicate that the new models are due any day now.

 

That's probably still one of the screen configs you will be able to choose, but it's pretty strange they claim an optical drive is built-in. They also say nothing about the SSD, which beaups hinted would be massive.

So I don't trust that page at all, the other part sounds much better, that Finland (very close to Sweden) will be getting them soon. I might just call Sony Sweden on Monday.

 

Interesting. Thanks. 'Course 4 lbs for an 11" notebook doesn't quite work for me but your point remains true. It is possible and its not the RAM jacking up the weight.

An IB Z with a baby (35w) quad-core and 16GB RAM combined with those SSDs (even I can't claim they need an upgrade) should make for a nice little 2.6 lb notebook.

 

All I want from Z3 is: Updated Z1! I hate the external GPU/BDROM idea! Only thing made Z series great was having every best options in one small package!

 

I'm with you on that one.... I have the Z1 and i find there are many times I use the blu-ray player on the road. I think getting rid of the built in CD/blu-ray player is an excellent idea but once one can easily stream blu-ray quality content over broadband. I guess we could consider the SA, which I may closely at since I need to upgrade in the next few weeks.

 

any more news on the Z3? can't wait to see if there's any upgrades to the PMD...

 

Perhaps there will be a complete redesign when W8 comes out.

 

So we expecting details this week? Next week? A month from now? I'm so excited even though I probably won't end up buying this model. My Z1 isn't in good shape from all the mad repairs I've attempted on it, but it still functions! I wonder how much faster this Z will be than the Z1 and Z2.

 

Just called Sony Sweden and they confirmed there will be a new IB CPU to choose from "soon". He also said there would probably be no big announcement about it, just a new CPU to choose from in the configuration page.

So I wouldn't expect anything to change other than an IB CPU (3612QM?) and probably a larger (1TB?) SSD option. The 128GB SSDs are out of stock so I guess they'll just bump the sizes 2x.

 

My understanding is that the announcement for the Z is at the end of May (around 28th), along with the rest of the IB refreshes.

 

Yes, it's a bit earlier than I thought too, but I doubt Sony UK will stop selling Z for two weeks?

 

^^^ Unfortunately Sony UK have stopped selling the Z series, DOH! I was all ready to order one this past weekend and when i went there, there were none