Z3 Watch

The officially unofficial thread of speculations, hopes and wishes about the expected IB Z.

I'll confine my speculations to what is reasonably realistic -- no backward steps to an integrated ODD/dGPU, no quad-core, and no radical overhaul of Sony's management/direction/design sensibilities.

The IB will be somewhat faster than SB but uses the same basic architecture tweaked and shrunk, it's an evolution not a revolution. For those who want an reasonably current overview of how Ivy Bridge will compare with Sandy Bridge, Inside the Intel Ivy Bridge Microarchitecture | Hardware Secrets

An interesting article speculating on 2560x1600 13" IB notebooks can be found here, From IDF: Retina Quality 2560x1600 HD Panels on Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks by VR-Zone.com

 

heat is driving you stir-crazy, Louche

 

WQXGA on 13" panel awesome, I wasn't hoping for that so soon.
That is still less PPI than my UX, so I know it can be done.
UX 4.5" 1024x600: 263.74 PPI
Z3 13.1" 2560x1600: 230.45 PPI

want want want

 

Mother of Mud! Didn't take you long to scope that one out.

 

Nice article. I am very excited at the thought of a 13" laptop with 2560x1600 or higher Retina display with 16:10 aspect ratio.

 

I would definitely buy it!!!

 

We can expect many "the text is too damn small" threads.

 

^ And if Sony decides to keep the design trend, "Bezel is too wide" threads.

 

i think on current Z2 sony can easily but 14" since bezel is very wide

anyway 1600p even 1440p will do wonder : )

 

I haven't opened the Z2's panel (yet), but if the screen is anything like the Z1, there's only approx 1/8" border around the screen. The bezel can be much smaller, or, like Ung said, they could fit a 14" in there.

Methinks Sony went for the wider foot print due to the mainboard.

Personally, I'd like to see them trim it back down for the next version while retaining the thinness

Regardless, SONY MUST PUT A LARGE TRACKPAD ON ANY NEW SYSTEM

 

^^ people won't think the text is too small if Win8 get's better PPI scaling up and working With this "Ultrabook Retina," push, I'd expect it to.

 

So, let's see if we have a tentative list for the S Corporation:

1. Higher resolution screen w/ more vertical pixels.
2. Vaio Assist button dedicated to sending Sony complaints about small text.
3. Larger trackpad.
4. Improved build quality.
5. PMD optional.
6. Better drivers for the PMD in case anyone wants the option.

 

better drivers? how about use Dell's driver thinking for the m17xR3/m18x? Both have different forms of switchable GPU (actually, all three generations of switchable GPU exist across the three - on the m18x, that means going into the BIOS to disable the SLI/CF GPUs), but all share the same driver framework (m17xR3 and m18x users used to mingle their drivers to get the "latest" ones). Despite that, the latest nVidia and AMD drivers can simply be downloaded and they will work.

 

We have not been able to update the drivers on the Z2. Nautis is on the case, but it has been rough going.

Louche, what needs better build quality?

 

SD card slot, for one...

 

^That was exactly the issue that triggered the build quality remark.

 

fair enough

 

Windows 8 doesn't have that yet, but then again it is pre-beta

 

Yeah, hopefully Sammy's tablet 2560x1600 (EVEN though it's still Pentile RBGW, still a good increase in effective PPI) is only a harbinger of what's to come.

 

I've been out of town with not a minute to play with NBR and saw this wonderful new thread. Still don't have time to weigh in, but I'm really glad that:

1) "mother of mud" is getting traction; you gonna be famous one day, Zoinks.

2) Louche had the foresight to get a jump on the Z3 thread - or was it just that Z2 stuff is boring if you don't have one? This may become the longest in NBR history, judging by the length of the "Z2 Speculation Thread." (743 posts, 101 pages, started on 2/15/11 in case you were interested - you were, right?)

 

oops 10char

 

On the advice of counsel....

 

Maybe that's the reason for the downtime Tues/Wed. Somebody didn't sleep for a while

On the MoM comment, don't care about credit. I'm actually more offended nobody laughed at the video I posted in the owner's thread

Sony, because Caucasians are just too damn tall.

 

^ love it 10char

 

The entire move was genius

 

LOL good one Zoinks! In any case... yeah, this thread could get massively long... the Z2 has been out... 4 months?

 

Damn, I poignantly want a blue Z21...
I guess I'll get one by the end of the month and never look back again for ZX and even computers in general, until my Z21 is definitly dead

"Hey isn't that what you said for your VPC-Z11Z9E ?" "Oh ehm maybe, but this time it's the good one "

 

No problem - they will supply a fresnel magnifying lens as standard issue.

 

Would that I was nearly that talented (locked myself out of Windows)

Hysterical!

But I still think you underrate the gem of an expression you coined. Not to worry, I plan on immortalizing it, and I will always give you credit, Mr. Zoinks - or is it Mr. Zoinks _________ ?

 

Then we will welcome you to the few but proud owners of the "blurple" laptop!

 

The perfect screen for the next Z is now available, qHD Super AMOLED.

 

Wait for the Nexus Prime

 

I take exception to everyone's love over these AMOLED displays. Outside of the "punch" they offer, I feel like it's a step backwards in real image quality. Black text on a white background looks awful IMO vs. say, the iPhone 4 display. AMOLED's got a long ways to go.

 

The visual halo on that, lol. Yeah, it's a bit wierd to see some x:0 contrast ratio, but that's just the interface designer's fault.



But I don't see AMOLED moving into laptops until the ~2000 hour lifespan of the blue units get better (other 2 colors are *much* better at longevity). Cell phones, we can get away with. Why? The screen is not likely to be in use over 6 hours a day, and the interface can be made to avoid using certain colors (like MS' WP7 Metro UI). However, with laptops, burn-in would be a serious problem... especially with our static, full color interfaces in current popular use.

 

Even text on the amoled cell phone displays don't look as good as a high quality TFT. On full white (which is what we are used to on PC's) they use a large amount of power, so much that the total display typically needs to dim. Much like a plasma TV. IMO they will make great TV's, but like plasma the image quality for text and consistency in the image across different content just isn't going to make the cut.

 

My interest was in the qHD rather than the Super AMOLED aspect of the display.

 

Quad HD(QHD) or quater HD (qHD)?

Because one is used in cell phones, due to the low res, one is... still comming, in "4K" displays.

 

TFT's are actually easier to product at these higher pixel densities. Isn't the smaller 3.5" iPhone running higher than qHD already?

 

Ooops. I bet you're right. I thought they were referring to quad-HD but, in retrospect, probably not. Since it's only a phone, it doesn't matter. All I care about in phones is that they have a dial.

 

On a technical fab side? Probably not. However, smaller elements, especially for OLED, need to be run brighter to compensate... and will burn out sooner as a result. Also, until VERY recently, all AMOLED displays used Sapphire as a base, while TFT used normal silica-substrate (aka, "glass"). Samsung finally found a way this month to use normal glass. So pricewise in one raw material aspect, it should get cheaper to produce, over time. How much in relation? I dunno. TFT still needs at least one more layer - the backlight layer (and for a remotely even backlight, another layer is needed after that). As for size, you can custom order from fab design/lic companies an extremely high res display. It just won't be cheap for you.

can we find space for at least a web browser?

 

What do web browsers have to do with phones?

 

practice..

 

Phone with dial, phone with dial - hmm....is this what you mean? Dial Phones

I give up; what do web browsers have to do with phones? Is it that you can use a web browser to see a picture of a phone? (see above.) Otherwise, I think you're mixing apples and oranges, er, I mean Apples and PCs.

Better question: what does any of this have to do with the Z3?

 

Don't forget about Sony's foray into oled monitors.

Sony | Monitors & Displays | TRIMASTER EL? series OLED Monitors

 

Jeez, you guys are becoming like a bunch of Apple speculators

(Mind you, Sony actually delivers in terms of tech more than them)

 

Sony is more cutting edge, but Apple stuff is almost always more refined.

 

'More consumer expectation focused' is how I'd put it, instead of 'refined'. There's nothing refined about Apple's engineering.

 

so many companies shamelessly copy apple and its products like HP with the HP envy ( i own a envy 14 lol ) and dell with XPS 15z and google with Android and even samsung with some of there laptops and phones.


but i have never seen sony copy apple designs.

when companies started using the one button clickpads, sony stuck with the traditional touchpad.
when companies started using the metallic unibody for their laptops , sony stuck to its own designs.

 

EDIT: edited a few things out. This isn't aimed at you^^. Just against some, if not all, of Sony's design decisions in a recent laptop series

(Specifically about the SA/SB/SC/SD line here, partially applies to the SE, too).
When apple started using the silly hinge exhaust system, Sony only copied it half-assed. They made the hinge exhaust method even more useless than Apple's implementation. Silly chiclet craze may not of been started by Apple, but it's getting annoyingly close.

And to be honest, I'd rather have the single oversized touchpad, because done right, it's rather neat, and has more useable area than the traditional layout. It's also better than having to get 3rd party drivers with hacked on two finger scrolling support. Of course, the fingerprint scanner would have to be relocated...

At least Apple puts a TB port (or even a DP) on their laptops (seriously... the kind of people willing to spend this amount on a laptop with this kind of resolution would likely have displays, at home or at work, with higher than mere 1920x1200...)... doesn't put the microphone under the left wrist, doesn't limit the system to a single TRRS jack that I have never been able to get a mic headset working on (even with those that work on Samsung, Motorola, and HTC phones perfectly well. Even the Apple headset was tried), and doesn't use annoyingly loud click buttons in the touchpad.

Also, doesn't load their system with more SW bloat than a garish double ugly Alienware laptop. Only remotely useful piece of SW that isn't tied into the notebook function? Remote KB for the PS3. Everything else? PMB, Vaio Gate (*so* not an OSX copy right there), background data analyzer... all wastes of system resources.

Only saving grace of Sony, they didn't copy Apple's tendancy to not have Page Up and Pa- huh? nvm, looks like that was nicked recently, too.

Not even going to mention display quality (because the SA's saving grace, for being a 1000usd+ laptop, is purely based on resolution).

The real only saving grace of Sony? It packs more power than a 13" mac. Oh, and it doesn't have a glowing, bitten fruit on the back.

Yeah, despite everything I'll probably keep this laptop for at least a good year, until the Ivy Bridge Z refresh comes out. I like Sony enough to do that, at least. *maybe* I really did buy the wrong laptop for me, and should of went for the Z, up front. Otherwise, I'll seriously consider the MBA13/MBP13 Ivy Bridge versions.

I'm sorry to have quoted your post, it doesn't seem right, given the context of my post

 

You know, a phone. It's how you connect a computer to the internet.