shall i get the vaio z now

I have waited enough now, and sony announced s**t in the ces. I love the current one, when are they going to upgrade the processors on this one. And how is the sony's warranty. I am going to be spending £3000 on it. Will i get the peace of mind.

 

Well according to our resident psychic of all things Z-related, beaups, the SA-series (which was at CES, but all news articles have been pulled about it) will be the Z's temporary "successor", it's real successor will come after that. Here's my deductive timeline:

 

I'd say yes go for a Z now. The true Z replacement will come in a few months and you might as well get the new Z with Ivybridge when it comes. That will be a better choice as if you wait for Sandybridge Z, in about 5-6 months Ivybridge will be here.

So get a Z now, stick with it for atleast a year and then maybe go for IB Z

 

Then you will buy a Z14, really really lools like the Z13 :
http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sony.jp%2Fvaio%2Fpre_include%2Fhtml%2FZ14%2Fspec_vom1.html

SSD up to 1 To (256 Go X 4, ouch !) on this model and HDD up to 750 Go (5400) , that's all...

So the true next Z won't be marketed long before...

 

i'd say that the z replacement should be available in march after cebit, then ivy bridge will come in Q1 of 2012 (according to intel roadmap), so if you can, wait until march to get the new model, don't bother waiting for ivy bridge, it will be 9 months later

 

and beaups clearly stated that the SA will be out in late february.

I would wait.

 

tough choice. Having old VGN-Z, I would say it's better if you can wait for few months and see where Sony is going with Z successor. So far, it's only speculation: March, April...Q3/11. If you cannot wait then - the choice is kinda obvious.

As for Ivy Bridge, I don't think it will come any sooner than Feb/March 2012 (shipping laptops), so quite far away.

Will you get piece of mind? There will always be better/faster...but then again if you just wait...what's the point? You should compare your current laptop (if any) with what you "gain" going for current Z, or waiting for SNB.

Cheers,
Miki

 

Go for the Z. It's still arguably the best notebook on the market today and it doesn't make any sense to wait for the SA (which is nothing like the Z series if the prototype models are anything to go by).

And why are you going to spend £3000? Are you going for a custom config?

Home - Play.com (UK) - Free Delivery

Sony VAIO Z13M9E 13.1 inch notebook (Intel Core i5 460M 2.53GHz, 4Gb, 128Gb Dual SSD, DVDSM, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Win 7 Professional): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Sony VAIO Z13V9E 13.1 inch notebook (Intel Core i7 640M 2.8GHz, 6Gb, 256Gb Quad SSD, DVDSM, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Win 7 Professional): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Much less than £3k even if you bought the warranty on top!

 

Can i get glossy carbon fibre and 1080p display in pre built models

 

Personally, I would very strongly advise against 1080p on a 13" screen. 1600x900 is the perfect balance IMO.

 

Week 1 of March now. Everyone keeps calling the CES models prototypes, they weren't

 

I second that! IMO an overkill...

 

Depends what region you're in. In the US the Glossy Carbon Fiber lid only comes with the top of the line pre built config that retails for $4700.

 

+1

Pixel density is too high for most peoples taste although I like the fact that Sony is offering this crazy high resolution on such a small screen . But then again the Z is a crazy showcase of technology anyway.

1600x900 looks great and is a good balance.

 

This is a personal preference and the OP should try and compare the two resolutions side by side in a Sony store if possible. I did and decided that I preferred the 1080p screen. I bought it and don't regret the choice for a second

 

I think it really depends what kind of person you are - if like me you want to have the latest cutting edge and can't stand the thought of you're model about to be superseded then STOP. The urge to buy will be strong, but you know a new model is around the corner!

On the other hand, the Z, particularly the latest generation is stunning. The gremlins will come in the form of is it the best and will a better graphics card come along.

If none of that bothers you, what are you waiting for?

I'm thinking myself of upgrading - and I can see alot of choices ahead. For me it's time to pause because I know alot of new stuff is coming, and the first launch might not be the best launch - ie the new f21 sounds cool, but that graphics card is lacking already.

Lots of people are talking up the SA, but no one is talking specs. Does anyone know what they are btw?

 

I'm in a similar situation except my current laptop xps 1330 is on it last legs due to graphics card failure. While new model would be nice given that core 2 duo 2.2 is giving acceptable performance for most things the z13 is really a luxury so the current model should be more than good enough.
On price one option I am looking at is importing from the US there is a store on eBay that has pretty fully spec'd vaio z13 for $2800 with delivery which works out about £2150 with uk import duty
Black Sony Vaio VPC-Z13SGX/BJ i7-640M 256GB SSD 8GB RAM on eBay (end time 23-Jan-11 23:49:52 GMT)

 

Thats quite gd, what shop is tht and will the warranty work in uk.

If they are going to replace z with sa then i will buy z now as sa imo looks S**T. Are they goigng to do any processor upgrades on the current model of Z

 

It called computer upgrade king if you search for vaio z13 on eBay it should come up in the international retailers. The warranty is us but I know it comes with 1 year international service repair
Which should cover it.

 

I say: why not? But atleast get the z14 or a good discounted Z11/12/13.
Even with Sandybridge, the Core i7-640 and i5-680 are FAST processors.
Don't forget that the hard drive is most likely to be bottleneck in most laptops and with a QUAD SSD the Z might feel OVERALL speedier than a sandybridge with a slower drive. People forget how fast the Z truly is.

 

I used computer upgrade king to buy my vaio f - I was really impressed with their great customer service and speedy delivery. The pc was as described and shipped in excellent condition. thoroughly recommend.

 

I'm surprised that the Z14 still doesn't support USB 3.0.

 

End of the line refresh I'm afraid - then the z will disappear until the marketing cycle comes around again to give it a rebirth in a few years. Sony tend to do this and part of the marketing involves looking back to it's greatest days before. I'm wondering when the vaio U will resurface.

 

i found this one still available at a lot of local Frys. Doesnt look too bad.. Not that it effects anyting real world, but anyone got a WEI score on the graphics below?

SPECIFICATIONS:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 – 640M, 2.80GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.47GHz, 4MB L3 Cache

Display: 13.1” LED backlit display, 1600 x 900

Graphics: Hybrid Graphics System featuring NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU with 1GB dedicated video RAM & Intel® HD Graphics

Hard drive: 128GB (64GB+64GB) Solid State Drive

 

What price is it going for at Fry's Electronics?

 

$2099.. lot of my local Frys show it in stock.

 

Oh, I see. You're talking about the VAIO VPCZ13SGX/BJ (Sony Signature Black with Infinite Stripes Design) model. $2,099.99 is the exact same price as when it was first released. Is it a good price? This will probably be something only you will be able to answer. Good luck.

 

ahh... appreciate the tip. saved me from wasting money. that should be at least a couple hundred less at this point. and im not thrilled about the graphics anyway.

 

I went to SonyStyle too look at the 900p screen..it actually doesn't look that small, I think I can handle the 1080p. They didn't have any in stock so I guess I'll have to wait for my order to come

 

I'm just curious & if you don't mind me asking, what VAIO Z model did you end up buying & from where?

 

I bought a pre-built model from buy.com, but I'm going to upgrade to the 1080p screen myself, the LCD should arrive at about the same time. In case your wondering, I'm having it shipped to an NBR member who lives about 3 hours from me, then he's forwarding it to my PO box.

 

hey dude, i heard at Sony Style store everything costs even more than other normal stores. Is that true? And did they stock any high end laptops in store? I have a Sony Style store 30 mins from me..

 

Well Sony Style only sells complete computers. Parts have to be purchased online. The laptops they have in the store are always MSRP, so compare MSRP to whatever other places you're looking at. It's fair to say that other retailers would never charge more than Sony's MSRP, so in a sense, the Sony Style store will have either the same or more expensive prices than other places. My local Sony Style store carried a few Z computers but they were the entry level spec. The rep told me they had the $4700 Signature Z in at one point but they took it down because too many people were playing with it (don't know if I believe him or not but whatever).

I saw your post on the other thread. I would say, if you're interested in getting the Z (or any other big ticket item) it certainly doesn't hurt to do a little homework and visit the store to see the product(s) in person. It also seems like every time I walk into the store they are offering a buy two accessories and receive a free year of warranty or some sort of "special" along those lines. I don't know if that means anything to you, but thought I'd just throw that out there.

 

I want to upgrade my Z13 to 1080p too, but didn't know all you have to do is replace the LCD. Tell me how it goes after you're done and good luck.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread but I have a brand new 1080p screen for the VPC-Z for sale.

 

Any idea whether it'd go in an SB? That would be a wicked upgrade...!

 

Z is 13.1" SB/SA is 13.3".

 

I'm perfectly aware of that, my question related to the similarities between the hardware: LCD controllers/drivers/backlight power connection, and such. Fabbing a new screen bezel is far from an insurmountable issue.

 

Ok just wanted to make sure. I think even if it were to work, the result would be less than pleasing aesthetically. (If you were to somehow fabricate a new bezel, it would look oddly disproportionate to the chassis)

 

The SB has an oversized bezel anyway, agreed it would look a bit weird with an even smaller screen in there but would you really care about that if it gave you double the pixels?

Not an upgrade I will be doing for a while if at all (I try to restrict myself taking my brand new gizmos apart for a while), was just curious as to the potential compatibility, since the Z screen is one of the very few/possibly even the only 1080p LCD in 13".