New Sony VAIO Z Available Soon? Discussion

Sony has yet to refresh its Z-series high-end ultraportable notebooks, but references to a new model have been popping up at various shopping sites.

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I certainly hope it's available soon --- I've been holding off updating my ultraportable until I see what the new Sony Z looks like...

 

Sadly, I'm not in the market for a laptop (haven't been for a few years now since building my custom desktop), but I'm still excited. The Vaio Z is a thing of beauty and technical marvel!

 

Graphics card? Otherwise it's hardly an upgrade of any sort. The 1600x900 screen is a downgrade (though 1080p isn't *too* practical on a 13 incher). Keeping it at that price is just absurd IMO, considering the measly upgrades, and the loss of the 1080p screen (so there will be competitors other than Toshiba producing the panels). Then again, the VPC-Z11-13 was generations ahead of its competition.

 

From what I've heard they're going to go with an external graphics card option that will probably be miles ahead of anything else in the 13 inch class.

 

Fujitsu already paved that road with the Amilo SA3650.

 

I know that Fujitsu "paved the road" with external graphics, but the Z's GPU will be miles ahead of any 13 inch laptop's GPU.

 

That would depend on the external GPU and the bandwidth of the connection Sony uses.


Llano with a discrete could potentially pack as much GPU power in a 13"...and Llano will also support AMD's XGP connection that was used in the Fujitsu.

 

The prices listed here are lower than more recent EU sightings.
It's been rumored that the Z will use an external 6630 graphics card.
The biggest selling point of the Z was that it was a full powered powerhouse in a 13.1 3lbs chassis.
Sandybridge changed that, the IGP is at a level that's good enough for the large majority of users. If more power is demanded then the external gp can be used.
Also, as i've mentioned before it's as almost if the next gen Z is also filling the X series void. Sony has made the Z lighter and thinner than before by off loading the gpu to an external adapter/dock via the thunderbolt port.
The new Z plus dock will weigh about 4lb. The dock will house the odd, gpu and other ports. The Z as is will weigh about 2.5lbs. The dock will be not much bigger than an external optical drive.


The Z as we're used to also features a high res display.
I prefer the last gen Z, i.e i don't like two part laptops but each to their own.
12.5-13.3 laptops are coming now with IPS displays albeit they're not high res. Sony's premium displays though don't have the wow factor that they used to with more IPS 12.5-13.3 laptops coming on the market.
I think may be with Ivy bridge it will only be a matter of time before other notebooks start coming equipped with thunderbolt ports. This will enable those notebooks to use external graphics without using a monitor.

I wonder how well this Z will do.

 

Does anything in the 13 inch range use a card nearly as powerful as the 6630?

EDIT: Wait a minute.. the SA already uses a 6630. What's the point of the Z if the SA uses the same card but its internal? Just a better screen? I'm confused.

 

LG P330 is suppose to be using the nvidia GT520m in the base models with the GT555m as an option.

I guess the point of the Z would be for those who want a lighter, smaller machine, and based on the previous Z models, better screen quality, and 1080p screen option.

 

just look at the weight/size specs.

 

I liked the current Z because when it came out nothing was lighter, smaller or more powerful. I was hoping the new Z would just be the best of all worlds so I wouldn't have to sacrifice anything for another.

 

I was hopeing for a Z that was the same, but with a better GPU.








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LG P330 will have a nVidia GT 555m GPU and regular mobile i7 GPU.

But yeah, I'm a bit confused on the SA vs. Z as well. Z is just tiny and light but external ODD and dGPU. But if less than 1lbs difference really matters to you?

edit: wups, just saw that someone else already mentioned the P330.

 

We can see the Sony SA is only slightly heavier than the Sony Z13 with the same internal dGPU + ODD setup. The Z2 is lighter and thinner than both.

One problem with the Z2 is the proprietory Thunderbolt implementation. It means those looking for an Sonnect Echo Express desktop-graphics eGPU solution may want to wait for the imminent release of the 13" Macbook Air refresh with a standard Thunderbolt port. The Toshiba R830/R840 and Lenovo X220 are affordable ultraportables that can do a expresscard eGPU setup. 14" Toshiba R840 with a 900P LCD option. Now if the R830 came with a 900P LCD and backlit keyboard ...

($= no internal ODD)

Code:

13" Sony_Z2$	   2.60lbs (1.18kgs). 0.66" thick. 900P/1080P. Raid-0, Thunderbolt port [COLOR="Red"][B]HD6650M[/B][/COLOR].
13" Samsung 9$	   2.88lbs (1.31kgs). 0.64" thick.
13" Macbook Air$   2.90lbs (1.32kgs). 0.68" thick. 900P. [B][COLOR="Red"]Thunderbolt port[/COLOR][/B]. ETA - Jul 2011.
13" Toshiba R830   3.10lbs (1.40kgs). 1.00" thick.
[COLOR="Red"]13" Sony Z13       3.08lbs (1.40kgs). 0.94" thick. [COLOR="Red"][B]GT330M[/B][/COLOR][/COLOR]
12.5" Lenovo X220$ 3.20lbs (1.45kgs). 1.36" thick. IPS LCD option. mSATA.
13" LG P330$	   3.63lbs (1.65kgs). [COLOR="Red"][B]GT555M[/B][/COLOR].
13" Asus U36SD$	   3.70lbs (1.68kgs). 0.75" thick. GT520M.
13" Lenovo X1$	   3.70lbs (1.68kgs). 0.84" thick.
13" Sony SA	   3.71lbs (1.69kgs). 0.95" thick. [COLOR="Red"][B]HD6630M[/B][/COLOR]/900P option.
13" ASUS U31SD$	   3.92lbs (1.78kgs). 1.12" thick. GT520M.
13" Acer 3830TG$   4.11lbs (1.87kgs). 1.14" thick. [B][COLOR="Red"]GT540M[/COLOR][/B]. Poor cooling=throttling.
14" Toshiba R840   4.20lbs (1.91kgs). 1.00" thick. HD6450M/900P opt. HD6450M opt is not switchable gfx.

 

But which GT 555M? One of it's many versions is just an overclocked GT 540M with GDDR5 that doesn't offer the gaming capability of the versions of the GT 555M you see in Alienware, Sager or MSI machines.