Z3 Watch

I wonder why nobody mentioned Optimus yet... Ivy Bridge + Optimus GPU built in to the notebook + cheap dock with extra connections and DVD drive. Optimus could also fix all the driver issues, since nVidia is pretty good with supplying fresh Optimus drivers...

 

Dual purpose, nice thinking

 

That's going to depend on whether Sony keeps the PMD or not in future refreshes. I'm all for them going back to Nvidia, but Sony didn't update the blended driver on the Z1's either. Nautis and the community self-helped on that.

I'm not sure which way I want Sony to go in this regard. Whatever they do, I'm a proponent of keeping optical drives out of the main chassis.

 

or any scratch resistance, just for the novelty of it. Packing up my Z by first carefully wrapping it in a felt pouch is a quaint but time consuming ritual. But then again, that's another reason owning a Z is like no other.

 

I've got a fix for the scratching problem. Details to follow

 

I would like to see 16 GB in the Z3, I'm skipping the Z2 because of this.

 

The best clearcoat products for automotive paint finishes work great on gloss or semi-gloss Z1 lid finishes. This includes the silver Z1 and the glossy CF finishes. You can protect them with polish/sealant products and can rub out most scratches with rubbing compound, followed by coat of polish/sealant. The only downside is it will make the surface glossy, and you will need to apply it over the entire lid for it not to look like a bad patch. On the silver Z1s it looks wonderful and fear of scratches on the lid are a thing of the past.

Unfortunately, I don't think any of the above applies to Z2s which, to my knowledge, are all matte finishes.

 

Nothing that complicated and I was referring to the palm rest scratching problem.

I am working with rubber bumpers. I think the ones on the lid are deep enough, they are just poorly placed. Move them in towards the screen edge while keeping the the right depth, no more scratchies.

I haven't found a good bumper yet, but i haven't been to the hobby store either. Clear or black would work fine, just need to make sure they aren't taller than the included bumpers. Too much and the screen could crack.

I still have the wrapsol film on the top and belly. Very happy with it

 

Any recent news on the Z3 yet? This will be my ultraportable laptop! Yay!

 

The issue if Sony/HP/Dell, etc making drivers was one of the main advantages of Optimus. The Intel and nVidia drivers can simply be downloaded from downloadcenter.intel.com and nvidia.com, and installed seperately. All the middlemen are out. No need for community drivers, no need for vendor provided drivers. It's the ONLY thing I miss from my old m11xR2. Even the latest Verde beta (which match the desktop driver/beta releases) drivers were avalible. No need for the AMD mess of drivers, much less beta ("hotfix") drivers. It was simply a clean, and effective setup. It's why in the world of laptops, I fully agree nVidia drivers>>>>AMD drivers. It's gotten so annoying at times (AMD driver difficulties in compat or upgrading), that I'd daresay Intel IGP drivers may be better.

 

I would like to see:

Notebook:
-Intel Ivy Bridge
-faster raid 0 SSD (since TRIM for Raid 0 coming soon.)
-4k Display resolution.
--increased font size by default.
-8 hours battery life without battery sheet.
-3x USB 3.0.
-1.3cm thickness
-600g in weight.
-Bluetooth 4.0
-1x HDMI

PMD:
-Nvidia graphic, minimum x60 (eg. GTX 560m).
-Blu ray/dvd.
-4x USB 3.0.
-3x HDMI
--the battery sheet must be use to power the docking station.

very slim Battery sheet:
-8 hours additional battery life.
-0.5cm thickness.
--more reason for people to bring around.
-100g maximum weight.

 

Are we still talking about the Z? 600g is in the ipad category

 

i'm skipping the z2 because it dose not have the dedicated graphic card build in, makes it less portable !!! it is really a very bad idea making a "light laptop" not really portable LOL

 

Does anyone have any news?

 

Why not go with SA? Very similar in shape to the older Z, but more powerful.

Screen doesn't compare, though.

 

I will almost certainly switch to a Lenovo or macbook with my next purchase.

I love my Vaio Z128GG. The HD screen and responsiveness it great, the inbuilt DVD drive and keyboard fantastic. But (and a very big but) I don't like having to baby it.

I want to be able to throw it sans case into my briefcase. What's the point of having an ultralight notebook if I have to carry around a carrycase or leather case (I have the Waterfield case and the Sony Vaio leather case) because I'm afraid the screen would crack?

I want Lenovo x220 durability with the Vaio components and screen.

 

Now, I haven't owned one myself, but the Vaio Z supposedly has very high durability. The screen is made flexible in order to not crack, I prefer that to a screen made completely rigid.

I treat my laptops quite carelessly, but then, I never expect more than 3 years of life out of them. My (3 year old) M1330 is dented from heavy use & lugging it around, small flimsy pieces are missing/falling off, but it still runs flawlessly. It's hard to damage the inner hardware unless you actually spill liquid on it, or leave it on your bed to overheat.

Haven't owned my SA long enough yet to see how it handles similar wear, but I'm fairly sure it will. I expect it will look worn soon, but I also expect it'll still run.

I doubt a laptop made out of metal alloy or with a rigid glass screen would hold up to such wear, you need flexible plastic/carbon fiber.

If the laptop breaks from normal handling I'm pretty sure the warranty should cover it?

That being said, Lenovo is a brilliant choice if you want a durable laptop.

 

You guys are hard on the Z2... I bought it thinking it would be a POS from the threads here.

It's a damn good laptop.

 

I thought the purpose of speculation threads was to give foks something to post about in the absence of news.

 

Yes, my car passed its MOT!

 

It's worse than the machine it replaced, therefore it was never going to get an easy ride here. Plus the external GPU is the worst idea ever! Poor show by Sony. Then there's the speakers which are horrendous.

Z2 is an interesting concept that is gimped.

 

If you're in the market -now- for the lightest laptop with the most power on the market, there is simply no alternative to the Z2.

And, while I had a Z1 and it was fine, not having to fiddle with all kinds of external solutions for multiple monitors is a blessing.

 

Can't see how it's worse.

I have two Z1s... haven't used them since I got the Z2.

With my i7 config the Z2 performs better than Z1 in "speed" mode for the tasks I use it for and the PMD, while somewhat gimped, performs very well.

At the end of the day I have more power, more portability and a longer battery life.

If the question is: on a cost/benefit scale, is the Z2 a good deal? That certainly is a discussion, I will admit.

 

The concept of the original Z was to have everything: great screen, great battery life, high end cpu, great graphics, and all that in one tiny frame. Extremely portable.

The Z2 no longer is what the earlier Zs were, by separating core components of its original concept and putting them into the PMD. I'm not saying Z2 is worse, I personally like it as it would fit my needs, but in my opinion it's not really what Z was all about. Hence the widespread disappointment.

The SA is now what the Z used to be, only the screen is ****. For the tasks I do I'd rather own a Z2 than my SA, but can't justify the UK price for it.

A round trip to New York + a Z at US price would cost me as much as only buying the Z here. Yay.

 

Only small dent on the Z2 beauty, is the AMD graphics. I hope, Sony will get back to Nvidia as soon as possible..

 

Haha yeah, there are two groups of opinions here... those that wanted the Z1, but better and those that were open to Sony's new design.

I hope so too, Optimus is MUCH better than AMDs whatever... my friend's Vaio CA acts up occasionally because the driver thinks he should be gaming on HD3000


In any case, does anyone miss the barrel hinge? I thought it was iconic Vaio... so sad when they removed it... although I guess they had to to make it thinner.

As for specs, I hope Sony will make the SA the complete Z1 successor (screen res and quality too!) whilst they make the Z3 a Z2 successor with (hopefully) a displayport/thunderbolt connector (so we can use eGPUs better) or... make the PMD host a stronger GPU (gaming class please)

Oh! and 1600p pretty please!

 

Well put! Never heard it said better. +1 for doing that!

 

Haha I get that and yeah... pains me to see Apple with better hardware... but i tell myself if that's what it takes to get others to innovate... I'm still waiting for some phone manufacturer to put some GPUs that can compete with the iphone and ipad's dual PowerVR SGX543 cores... it's pathetic that even Tegra 3 falls behind in GPU prowess... it's sad because how many people need QUAD-cores on their tablet... especially when the UI is still laggy and choppy? *sigh*

got info from here:

AnandTech - ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime & NVIDIA Tegra 3 Review

albeit, take it with a grain of salt as these tests probably aren't optimized for Tegra 3's GPU, charts are on page 3

 

If I remember correctly VPC X is around 600g