Sony VAIO FZ Santa Rosa Notebook Announced

<!-- Generated by XStandard version 1.7.1.0 on 2007-05-09T15:05:25 -->

The Sony VAIO FZ Santa Rosa based notebook has been officially announced today. The VAIO FZ includes a premium and standard model, with the premium version offering Blu-ray high-definition content.

Sony VAIO FZ (view large image)

Following are the basic specs on the VAIO FZ:

• Intel Centrino Duo (Santa Rosa) platform
• 15.4&quot; widescreen display with XBRITE Hi-Color
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate
• Blu-Ray (Premium model only)
• HDMI (Premium model only)
• 802.11n wireless
• Built-in camera
• Weight: 5.75lbs
• ExpressCard slot
• S-Video port
• MemoryStick card reader

(view large image)

Above the keyboard is a media control center with. With the push of a button you can go straight to your CDs, pictures and watch movies without ever booting up the operating system, a la HP's QuickPlay.

The premium version of the FZ with Blu-Ray and HDMI out port will cost about $2,000. For more details visit Sony.com.

 

 

The one with the black keyboard is ugly IMO. Any word on the graphics offerings?

EDIT: Nevermind, it's got a Go 8400M.

 

Agreed. Black on white doesn't work, but the top picture is hot

 

if sonys gona copy the powerbooks, why not do it all the way? leaving that ugly black keyboard is terrible. the first series of pics appear to be of a hot sexy lady...then you get to the last pic, and its all "Funky Cold Medina...Sheena was a man!"

I find it hard to repect anything sony does

 

can someone give me a direct link to this on sony's page? I cannot seem to find it!

 

Thats probably the best looking Sony I've seen till date, especially the exterior.

 

Wow, the premium version with blue-ray burner is a pretty good bargain.

 

I agree, this is the first time I've see a notebook with a Blue-ray drive go for under $2,500. I really like the looks of the new Sony FZ, it's one of the most stylish notebooks I've seen to date.

 

Don't know if it's just me, but I very much prefer the Toshiba Satellite A200 design over the Sony VAIO FZ. It just... doesn't do it for me.

 

Well I have to give Sony credit for not doing with the flow on design. Everybody is running to the glossy black lid look. I really with Sony would get there act together on the keyboards.

 

Yes, I agree, this is the first time I've actually thought about buying something blue-ray enabled.

 

Any word on when these will be available?

 

that would look so much better in all black.

 

Agreed, closed it looks great, open it up and wow. Not much to bring the colors together.

 

sexiest notebook from Sony i've ever seen
now i'm interested in Vaio again , but why can't they make the GPU better?

 

Still better than Lenovo's T61 GPU I would say. Makes this laptop more appealing to me. So far all the available Santa Rosa laptops don't seem much for gaming.

 

Apparently in the next week or so. Can't wait!

 

The link is right here : http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcategory/notebooks/fz-series

 

i actually like the black white combo =/... i guess i just have odd taste... because i like my grey/orange c seiries and a lot of people HATE how it looks.

Blue ray for 2k though... damn thats a bargain.

 

The black/white one doesn't look all that bad, but the completely white one looks sooooo hot....
The fact that it is nearly the same weight as the MBP is pretty sweet too. Just like the VAIO C is the PC MacBook, I think this is the PC equivalent to the MacBook Pro.

Does this have LED backlighting? I see something about a better backlight with 90% color reproduction...

 

Actually, Vaio has shown it's class to Dell again. Those Lalitude models have only a joke of a GPU called Quadro !

 

They use the workstation cards, they always have...The NVS140M in the Latitude D820 is just an 8400M with a BIOS reflash, so its essentially the same as the one in this FZ. Besides, the Dell consumer models will have the regular versions of the graphics cards.

 

well the Quadros are 2D built chipsets so they are not quite the same as 8400

 

How powerful is the 8400? Because, Notebook check did a benchmark of the 8600GT and they said it's slightly more powerful than the 7700 so I'm getting some pretty bad thoughts about the 8400

 

are you sure? According to some review i read, the 8600M GT is way better than Go7600 and Go7700. I think the 8400M would be close to Go7600

 

Ok well what you just said makes the VZ a more promising buy for me. Here's the link of the review and the benchies.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/CeBIT-2007-Review-Samsung-M60-Notebook.3165.0.html

 

Vaio FZ is now available for purchase on sony.com. Seem like you can choose the color of keyboard regardless if you want a blu-ray or not. I am thinking of ordering one now. Any suggestion for spec?

 

Wow, available... drueling on myself here.

8400GT huh, how much memory is in this card. Off to find some benchs.

 

From Sony's website:

So I would assume that means there is 256MB dedicated and the rest is virtual (for 8400M GT. Would like to see some benchmarks on this before I buy one.


Edit: Do you think this will be a decent gaming rig? I know not top dawg, but decent?

 

1280x800... dang, looks like I am still waiting for a laptop to buy.

 

Called Sony, it's 64MB dedicated VRAM... ick! So much for considering this for gaming.

 

Called again since that didn't sound right... now they are saying 256MB dedicated which sounds right considering the old one had a go 7600. Still don't like 1280X800 but I would settle for it, but they won't ship right away so hmmm. Guess I'm still waiting!

 

256 is much more likely...I don't think nVidia will make an 8400GT with only 64MB. The lower end 8400M models are more likely to get 64MB, because they will be used in smaller packages.

A better question is if the 8400GT will be able to use that much dedicated memory efficiently; the Go7400 didn't ever use that much, and only the higher end Go7600s had that much memory.

EDIT: w00t! 1000th post!

 

NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT. This is the card that sony is offering on FZ.

Here are the specs on the card.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8400M.html

 

Does anyone know if the FZ has turbo memory (Robson)? If so how much?

Also, does the FZ use backlight LCD display similar to the carbon fiber sz4 series?

I trying to decide between the FZ or SZ5 series (hopefully with santa rosa).

Either way both notebooks are way sexy

 

Right, but notice it says "Maximum Memory", indicating 512MB is not necessarily on all 8400M GT cards. Also, per Sony's website, if you get 1GB of ram, your total ram for the GPU is 380 something, so we know this FZ has less than 512MB of VRAM.

I also asked this when calling Sony, they said no.

 

Geez guys ! you can buy with only $1,589 all of these :

Keyboard White
2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 1 GBx2)
100 GB Hard Disk Drive
DVD+-R Double Layer / DVD+-RW Drive
15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
Large Capacity Lithium-ion Battery (BPL8)
802.11a\b\g\n with Bluetooth

my only doubts would be the DDR amount on 8400M GT and ... anyway, what's the difference between HC and EEBR versions of the LCD ?

 

All i know is that the HC( XBRITE-HiColor) is 50$ more than the EEBR(XBRITE-ECO).

 

Any ideas if you can add/upgrade the computer with turbo memory afterwards? Does the large capacity battery stick out of the back of the notebook, or is it flush? It is too bad that sony does not offer 7200rpm notebook hard drive option.

Any news if the sz5 will have santa rosa and 8400M?

 

If I buy this laptop I will get only 1 stick of 1GB ram so I can sell it and buy 2 sticks of 1GB for less than Sony wants to "upgrade" to 2GB. Same with the hard drive. That Hitachi 200GB 7200 RPM drive sounds nice.

 

How much differnce in price between what sony is asking for the 2gigs of ram with buying it afterwards? How about the Hitachi 200 gb 7200 rpm hd? What is the power consumption of this hd?

I think I'm going to buy this notebook in the next couple of weeks if I don't see news on santa rosa sz5 series.

 

It was more, looks like they changed it. Now it's only $110 to go from 1GB (2 sticks) to 2GB (2 sticks). However, they want $1,000 for 4GB! It's $400 on newegg.

They want $160 to upgrade to 200GB 5400RPM. The hitachi 7200 200GB is suposedly consuming same power and putting out same heat as a 5400. It costs more, but I think very worth it.

Yeah, I keep wanting to buy this notebook too. However, one thing to keep in mind is that while it is one of the few santa rosa notebooks you can buy now, remember sony doesn't even have them in stock, so you could wait a while before they ship it.

With that said, I'm thinking of buying one and if something better comes up before it ships, cancel the order. Sony says they don't bill until it ship. Shipping is free on this laptop right now.

 

Thanks for the tip on buying the notebook. What is the price for the 7200 rpm 200gb Hitachi drive and when is it coming out for sale?

I was thinking of buying the Hitachi drive and taking out pre-existing hd and use it in a external usb2.0/esata enclosure. Both of these drives are 2.5 inch, correct?

It is too bad that the 8400M GT card is not 512 meg dedicated. But 256 will do... I just need to find out some reliable info on the sz5 in usa/canada. I recently bought and returned the sz450nc notebook. It was nice in size, weight, and design. However, it lacked performance especially the graphics card - 7400 go was only 64 meg and slow hard drive.

I don't see the FZ on sale on the sony.ca website yet...hopefully it will appear soon... Trying to decide between black on silver or the white on silver.. but blu-ray is for sure... is the motion eye webcam 1.3 mp? How come there is no finger print reader on the premium FZ model?

Sony.ca is clearing out some there notebooks with discounts and half off accessories.. the new models must be nearing... can't wait

 

It's already out, but I haven't seen it anywhere. It retails for US$249 ($276.61 Canadian).
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3702

 

hmm when will sony start shipping these?

 

I called sony this morning and I was told by the end of this month, so I'm assuming after the long weekend.

 

Hi, I'm new to the forum and know I'm not as computer savvy as mosty here. I'm wondering if anyone knows why Sony isn't putting gigabit ethernet on these? Is gigabit something in the near future that will be common? How important is it in general to get a notebook with gigabit capabilities?

 

Most people these days use wireless, but you still have the option of using ethernet if you need it. I have no idea about gigabit ethernet in particular though.

 

It's not hard to get GigE on notebooks. It is great for transferring large files (100MB or larger) across a network. With GigE, the transfer rate will be limited to your hard drive speed, not the network. Even with 802.11N file transfers will be limited by network speed. In my opinion GigE is the best local area network for the cost. But I am a power use and do a lot of such file transfers. Some people just use their laptops for email and Internet and small file transfers. For them GigE doesn't make as much sense because they can use external drives or wireless to transfer their files. But if your like me and transfer gigs of data to/from computers, GigE is perfect.

 

cant wait for this to be released,

surprised there is such little interest in it...