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    NEC LaVie Z First Look: World's Lightest Ultrabook Discussion

    Discussion in 'Notebook News and Reviews' started by J.R. Nelson, Sep 13, 2012.

  1. J.R. Nelson

    J.R. Nelson Minister of Awesome

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    Given that magnesium is almost half as dense as aluminum, it may come as an obvious choice to manufacturers looking to shave a few more grams from their ultra-thin Ultrabooks. NEC's recent LaVie Z, clad entirely in a magnesium-lithium alloy, has made us reconsider our own notebook priorities.



    Read the full content of this Article: NEC LaVie Z First Look: World's Lightest Ultrabook

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2015
  2. J.R. Nelson

    J.R. Nelson Minister of Awesome

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    srsly u guys like its super light
     
  3. Pseudorandom

    Pseudorandom Notebook Evangelist

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    Lenovo intends to sell the NEC Z to overseas markets.
    Source: very end of this article Lenovo to restart ThinkPad production in Japan - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

    pcwatch did a review a while back, find it here
    yHothotƒŒƒrƒ…[z NECƒp[ƒ\ƒiƒ‹ƒRƒ“ƒsƒ…[ƒ^uLaVie Z LZ750/HSv—ÊŽY•i‘Š“–”Å `ŽŽì‹@‚Æ”ä‚׃{ƒfƒB„«‚âƒL[ƒ{[ƒhƒ^ƒbƒ`‚ª‰ü‘P
    it refers back to a prototype unit that pcwatch reviewed back here
    yHothotƒŒƒrƒ…[z NECƒp[ƒ\ƒiƒ‹ƒRƒ“ƒsƒ…[ƒ^uLaVie Z LZ750/HSv `13.3Œ^‰t»“‹Ú‚Å875g‚Ì’´Œy—ÊUltrabook

    I skimmed through, and my Japanese skill is not very good. If you happen to be fluent in Japanese/super pro at interpreting whatever crap Google Translate spits out, it would be nice if you could take the time to do a proper translation.

    Key points.
    -Chassis is reasonably rigid, especially considering its weight
    -5-6h battery life
    -keyboard is bad

    The last two are deal breakers for me, but it seems to be a very very nice ultrabook.

    lol
     
  4. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    Seriously 835g? You got to be kidding me, I want one now!

    And how is the build quality? is there any flex? Fit and finish?
     
  5. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    A friend played with it doing a review for a chinese site. said it was beautifully built and no flex at all . did agree key travel was too short but thats an ussue with darn near every ultrabook and thin and light. when her review us done I will link it ( or make her send me a translation )

    but here is engagets
    Spotted at IDF: NEC's lightweight LaVie Z Ultrabook (hands-on video) -- Engadget
     
  6. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    this is seriously the answer to my bad shoulders and back, although they could have put the i7 3667u in there.

    I would appreciate very much if you linked her review when its done, specially the translation, my chinese ranges from nonexistent to nothing at all

    EDIT: Imagine if a review comes up and say that the panel is terrible? Shamefur dispray!
     
  7. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    my chinese is non existent as well, but an i7 3517 can be had

     
  8. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    I saw the other engadget write up, the i7 3517u comes with 256gb and only 4gb of ram, I knew there was something bad that would come up.... I will try to see how rusted is my japanese

    the price starts at 1600 and goes to 2k as far as I could see
     
  9. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    Excellent device for everyone who has had a forearm ripped clean off by the insufferable weight of a 3-lb ultraportable laptop.
     
  10. PinoyBoy

    PinoyBoy Notebook Consultant

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    NEC's LaVie Z Ultrabook has definitely lost weight: just 875 grams and priced from $1,600 in Japan -- Engadget
    The article from notebookreview won't load for me :confused:

    This thing looks amazing. The only thing I dislike about this paper-thin ultrabook, are the directional keys. Sad to know that this machine might not make it to the American market.

    Video of NEC Lavie Z.flv - YouTube
    NEC LaVie Z <-- I have no idea what I just watched
    NEC LaVie Z hands-on - YouTube <-- English hands on :thumbsup:
    NEC LaVie Z Hands On - YouTube <-- Another English hands on, longer than previous
     
  11. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    I dislocated my left shoulder while playing squash (who wouldve guessed that the walls are that hard), the right shoulder was dislocated at a kung fu match, my sparring partner grabbed my wrist and double kicked my shoulder, after I put it back on she gave me a downward kick on the same shoulder. I dont know why my back is bad, probably due to weight lifting

    Ahhh japanese comercials, shaming everyone since mangas were created
     
  12. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

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    Fair enough...the nice thing about diversity in the market is that there's something for everyone. I certainly don't need a laptop lighter than three pounds, but as always, what's right for one person is not right for everyone else.
     
  13. vMars

    vMars Notebook Enthusiast

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    I really wish they sell it in US. Right now the only place I can find is Dynamism, but it's about $500 over the price in Japan.
     
  14. J.R. Nelson

    J.R. Nelson Minister of Awesome

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    It's not quite that much more, but there's definitely a premium. For what it's worth, Dynamism does provide all of their own service and support, though, I believe.
     
  15. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    Hey MM. her review is not up but she was kind enough to yack with me on messenger last night and give me a few highlights.

    1: the screen is VERY good. no she didnt pull the model yet but I asked her to check. its close to 100% sRGB, great viewing angles and contrast.
    2: NO flex anywhere on the chasis but a small amount on the keyboard just to the left of the upper right corner ( near the 8-0 keys )
    3: battery life doing her normal web browsing hunting stuff on the Chinese ebay and skyping was 7h 32m
    4: she likes the touchpad ( nothing too spectacular ). but misses her trackpoint from her thinkpad
    5: key travel is too shallow for her liking but same or better than all the ultrabooks she has tried ( again thinkpad lover )
    6: wished some USB ports were on the left for using an external mouse and not dealing with cords and connector jam
    7: SUPER light and feels super durable. yes she likes it much better than the MBA and even the x1C for packing it around
    8: we are not 100% sure but her friend thinks that the SSD is pure standard mSATA and yes ram is soldered on

    her biggest complaints were removing the darn stickers, port placement and the keyboard travel. loved the size, weight, screen and battery life.
     
  16. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Device Manager should give a model number and then Google might find more details.

    John
     
  17. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    exactly what I told her. I figure for an update today/tonight hopefully
     
  18. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    thank you very much for this!

    1) Well, it would be a terrible joke for nec to launch an awful display. not that they couldnt!
    2) Excellent news! I was expecting keyboard flex due to the lack of thickness or support, I hope its not the same type of flex of the vaio Z and S
    3) That is a extemelly great battery life!
    4) Well apple and the x1c are the ones making this thing right, not so much on the latter according to the owners lounge. If it doesnt go all jumpy and has some basic multi touch gestures, for me its good enough, I wont have an OS that will make a severe difference to have those gestures (OSX)
    5) I was expecting the keyboard shallowness. That is something that I can get used to, well I did when I to changed to apple. Here are the numbers for that: Key Pitch:18mm Key Stroke 1.2mm
    6) I would prefer that as well, again used to apple, and I would probably use only 1 (external HDD)
    7) Well the mba while I think its sturdy, I dislike the metal being used, its just too soft. I dont have a hands on experience with the x1c, I hope I will. But this is also great news
    8) The ram news was unfortunate, but already expected, I think Im going to wait for the v2, I do need at least 8gb of ram. Regarding the SSD, I hope they used instead of the msata the gumstick, i.e. NGFF, AnandTech - NGFF SSDs: Putting an End to Proprietary Ultrabook SSD Form Factors since that would mean that I could in the future change it to a 512gb or even greater sizes, while with msata its just too crowded to make such sizes possible or profitable.


    Im going to talk to my family that still lives in japan, maybe importing that way might be cheaper than buying from dynamisn (yes Im actually considering despite the ram problem)

    Basically this packs:
    1) Good res, great display
    2) Good build quality
    3) Great portability
    4) Apparently if I order one it comes with a cat or a pedo bear, thinking of going with the cat
     
  19. Quix Omega

    Quix Omega Notebook Evangelist

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    I would worry about the durability, there is such a thing as too light. I'd be worried I would break it all the time.

    If you have a serious medical reason for it, I can see the appeal.
     
  20. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    mg/li/al is a very strong alloy actually. much tougher than aluminum. look at the LCD cover of the toughbook cf-30 you can plink .22 short shells off of it with just scratches and small dents
     
  21. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    Indeed and pretty much the only way to get something this light. Aluminuim alone is weak (by metal standards) and polymer can be though, but it also means increased thickness to have decent mechanical properties with not too expensive polymers.