Sony VAIO FZ Santa Rosa Notebook Announced

dude we already have 6 pages of thread in just few days !

 

According to the site, my model will begin production around June 11th. Such a long wait, but at least it gives me time to consider other options that might appear between now and then.

Is the FZ series just an updated version of the FE series? I'm just wondering to see whether I can assume most of the FE reviews apply to the FZs.

 

noooo!!!

whats your model... please be the premium one and not the standard one

 

I´m gettin one when we can get them in our internet shops here in Sweden.
They are usually sheaper than Sonys webshop! ^ ^

 

Are the graphics integrated though? Because the website says up to 768mb......or something turbo cache??

I want dedicated graphics. And I want a better LCD screen.

Come on Sony!

I would buy it right now........

 

There are two versions, the lower end models come with the x3100 integrated graphics (better than previous integrated graphics cards but not good for gaming/3d apps) and the higher end models come with a dedicated 256 mb geforce 8400M GT DX10 (this card can also use turbo memory on top of the dedicated memory if needed..pretty nice card for games and 3d apps).

In terms of the LCD, the xbrite lcd model is pretty nice from what I've seen and heard. Only problem is that most new models with santa rosa do not offer turbo memory (robson) ..oh well I'm not sure how much it really helps as initial benchmarks show no performance improvements.

I want to order the customizable FZ...june 11......maybe I'll find out more info on the new sz5 series by then..

 

Unfortunately if you live in Europe, you ll only get the X3100 version... where the heck is that 8400M-GT..

 

Hi kaikki (all)

I have customized and ordered a FZ in 13rd May and they set mine as partially ship, the case deliveried to me already but not the computer.

When i ordered, they have the infor saying that *Plz allow us 5 to 7 biz days to complete our product, the bill only counted when the product ships*, according to the website. But from the order status they wrote *currently out of stock* and the configuration is that everything is instock but not the computer. I called the service and they said *we dont know, we will inform you when it's ready.

For all of that messy chaos, now i dont know for sure when the product is shipped to calculate the day should it be in my hands. Currently out of stock here means they are working assembly in my laptop or they just ... dont have it ? Have any ideas about the time for completing an order from Sony ?

Thank you

 

lunateck, the other FZs in Europe are out begining of june (according to sony-style sales dep), they are only pre-order at the moment though.

https://shop.sonystyle-europe.com/S...s&carea=43BAE0537FEF00AA000000002BC29B85)/.do

 

I wonder if Portable One will be carrying this model, they usually tend to throw in extra upgrades for free.

 

he he .. sure they will !! they super transformed the A8Js in the even greater MX series !

 

So...

When is this laptop coming out in the US?

I've heard reports ranging from late May to mid June.



Anyone got any info? rumours? anything?

 

What reports? Which one? The Vaio or the Asus? Vaio FZ is already in pre-ordering for a week, while the Asus is expected next month.

 

Today I made 2 phone calls to sony to ask about when would they start shipping the FZ-CTO. One of them said they will start their shipment around the end of May while another guy said around June 15th. However, both of them mentioned one thing in common that the cause of the delay is the Hi-color screen option, and they suggest me to go for pre-customized one or at least choose the ECO-Xbrite screen if I want my computer shipped earlier than what they said. So since I will have to wait for a week or two anyway, I will better also wait for HP to release the dedicated GPU with their new DV6500t and compare it with FZ in term of both spec and price before making decision.

 

whats the point in putting a 1280x800 screen on the BR capable one. 1280x800 is such a low res

 

Biggest point to me with the blu-ray player/burner is that the notebook has an hdmi out.
On the notebook screen u can only watch 720p and/or 1080i (wich really is enough)!
If u hook it up to an +50" full-hd screen u can get higher and benifit!

But on an 15" u can´t se if the resolution is 1080p, 720p or 1080i!
It´s even hard to se the difference on big screens such as +50"! So what´s the point really?

 

well your head is usually not much more than a foot from a laptop while you would sit 10+ feet from a big screen tv. I can definately tell the difference from watching 1080p and 720p movie trailers on my z96j (wsxga+).

 

trust me, you can tell between 720p and 1080p.

i dunno if there is a 1080p capable 15.4 inch lcd, but honestly 1680x1050 would of been nice, not so much for the movies i guess, but just space to work in. 1280x800 doesnt give you much real estate at all.

1680x1050 really should be the norm on 15.4 inchers

1920x1200 15.4 inch would be superb, the tiny pixel pitch would make things look sublime

 

Sony seem to have many orders out of their control for the FZ CTO model. As i check today, they have the text: ! Sorry, this item is no longer available, plz choose another one ! when i visit their customized page. Sounds like there are serious problems with the new models, or at least with the Hi Color Screen as someone mentioned.

Again, could somebody explain for me: wat is the different between the Hi Color and Eco one ? Are they so much different between two models ?

Thank you

 

acording with some reviews ive seen the 8400GT is in between the 7600 and the 7600GT

7600 = 128vram
8400GT = 256vram
7600GT = 256vram

 

! Sorry, this model is no longer available, please choose another !
anyone knows when sony is coming back with the customized FZ190??

 

Agreed... 1680X1050 should be the norm with 1900X1200 being a premium.

Newegg has a ThinkPad Z Series Z61p (9450A1U) NoteBook with a 15.4" 1900X1200 screen res. That is the way I want to go if I end up with blu ray.

 

Hi-color has 2 lamps, ECO has only 1 lamp. So Hi-color will be brighter. Hi-color is used in SZ premium and ECO is used in regular SZ. I remember there are photos side-by-side comparison of FE series with Hi-color and ECO somewhere in this website.

I have no idea about the resolution whether they are the same or not, somebody pls fill me in.

 

Here is the webpage for Hi-color and ECO comparison in FE model I talked about :
Link
Thanks to bmdoubleu for the photos.

 

Thank you so much. That is obvious, the Hi-Color is a bit advanced than Eco one. I have seen the screen of Vaio C460, it's terrible one coming from Sony so that i was a bit worry about the Eco thing.

Wait, wait and wait for the order coming up ....

 

This is the newest "Official" news from Sony:

"Production begins on or about Jun 13, 2007. Please allow 5-7 days after this date for production to complete." That's it, my order can only start from that day.

This is not only with the Hi-Color Models but also with the Eco ones.

 

Well I just configured one with the ECO and X3100

and it says:

Please allow 5-7 business days for production to complete. Your account will be billed when product ships.

 

Are Zepto notebooks the only offering PC 6400 memory so far ?

 

I can get that one right away in a webshop here in Sweden. Chipped within 1-2 days! Im waithing for the premium one to come out first though. Maybe some reviews would be nice to have read before the deal.

 

I've heard many times that laptop shopping in Swenden (or other electronic stuff) is much more less expensive than the rest of EU becoz of something about tax calculation. Somebody has mentioned the laptop there could be as the same price as in North America ???!!

@Keeperian: could you introduce me some websites or stores from Sweden ? i wanna take a look on the price they have. i live in Finland and that would be nice if i can buy something from Sweden when i have chances to visit there. Or i can order and ship to my place since Sweden and Finland are in the same EU and Baltic countries , i guess ???

Thanks in advance

 

So I guess we won't see a full review with real pics until the end of June ?!

 

Well, the FZ has been at best buy in the states since at least last Saturday. I saw it myself. So maybe someone here will do a review shortly.

 

I think the delay is either blu-ray or 8400M GT, or both. If you get the X3100 and no blu-ray, it's available.

 

I just order the Vaio FZ 190 with bluray CTO (T7700) today. The premium FZ models are delayed while the other models can be purchased immediately from sony, CC, BB, etc.

I want 4gb of ram but couldn't bear mustering up $1k for it. I opted for 2gb and will buy the 4 gb afterwards from newegg for $360. In addition, I decided not to upgrade the harddrive as there are no 7200rpm options, only 4200 rpm on larger drives and 5400 rpm on smaller drives. I will get the 200gb 7200 rpm Hitachi hard drive when it is readily available. Has anyone seen this hd unit for sale anywhere? I also went with the Hi-Color display as the pictures seem much more brilliant than the ECO-Color display. I choose the white keyboard option as I like the silver/white combo. The black keyboard option is also nice as well..just personal preference

The shipping date is on June 13 with 6-8 days of ground shipping (free). I'll let you guys know how the notebook is when I receive it. Can't wait!!

 

Yeah, $1k is rediculous for 4GB of ram. Hey, that 4GB at newegg looks good, but I noticed that if you buy two 2GB sticks seperately (rather than two 2GB sticks as one product), you can find individual sticks of 2GB DDR2 667 for around $150, lowering the price from $360 to $300.

As for the hard drive I'm leaning toward a Seagate momentus 7200.2 160GB drive.

Congrats, hope you really enjoy that fine piece of technology!

 

I got the notebook Fz160 from the local sony store and hopefully upload the pics and the review shortly. It was a tough call between the N and this but i figures i might as well go with the best i can afford.

 

Yeah, there are a few different manufacturers for the 2gb pc5300 sodimm. I've seen a couple 2 gb pc5300 ram sticks for about $130. I'm not sure exactly if each will fit nicely into the notebook and the exact specs (timing, etc). I live in Canada, and have not yet seen any Canadian distributors that carry the 2gb sodimms nor new 7200rpm drives.

I too was looking at the Seagate 7200.2 160gb drive. Do you know if they are available yet? If so what is the price? Is there huge performance gains over the 5400 rpm models? How about heat and energy usage?

I will take out my 2x 1 gb ram and try to sell it on ebay and probably buy an external casing unit (usb2.0/esata) for the 80 gb 5400rpm drive. Sony doesn't specify the manufacturer of their hard drives..anyone know which drive is in the FZ ?

Too bad that the Santa Rosa chipset for this notebook does not include turbo memory (Robson)...maybe next generation models will...I believe that the IBM T61 has that option... I wonder if you see signifcant performance improvements.

I can't wait to test out the 8400M GT graphics card. It would have been nice to also include the x3100 card as well (to save battery life) similar to the SZ line.

 

Congrats on the purchase!

I'm sure that you will enjoy your new notebook. Please do post pictures and write a review as it would help other people that are interested in this notebook.

Did you think about upgrading vista from home to ulitmate version at one point? I was stuck with that dilema for days... the $150 upgrade could have went into purchasing an OEM copy of vista ultimate (have to pay an additional $100). In the end I just decided to do the upgrade and only receive the sony recovery disc with vista ultimate and not buy the OEM copy.

 

Ok, I see they've changed the website design... impressive but... where is the 667Mhz memory now ? They only offer 533Mhz now ? That's rude !

 

Bluray and normal dvd-rom's difference is 10 euros.. lol..

http://www.notebook.de/sony-vaio-vgn-fz-serie-g-621/

 

Someone should have one by now, so we can get some reviews!
Don´t have to be the premium one, cause I´m moore into knowing the general build quality!

 

well I just got back from BestBuy and they had one on display. It had the crappiest keyboard I've ever seen (the same one on the sz) and flexed quit a bit. The screen wasn't that great but it only had the ECO screen. The vertical viewing angles were horrible and the whole screen would wash out by moving the screen back and forth a few degrees. It was also kind of dim. The screen seemed kind of flimsy, would twist easily, but no ripples. The palm rest also flexed under slight pressure. Despite the Best buy employee harping about what a great model it was, as you can see I was rather disappointed

My frame of reference is based on my dad's asus z96j. I thought sony's were suppose to have better build quality than this? I also looked at a standard sz model and I was given the impression it would snap in half if not handled very tenderly.

 

Someone once mentioned the FZ might be available with a Nvidia 8600M GPU. Was this just some ill informed guess (after all the FE came with either 7400 or 7600) or can we expect an update for June or July?
There seems fairly little information out there about the 8400M GT. Anyone's guess how it would handle Flight Simulator X?
Also, does anyone know whether the FZ would take any PC5300 memory stick? Upgrading the memory to 3GB with one 2GB chip from Newegg for $135 seems suspiciously cheap.
Thanks!

 

Beautifull laptop (the all-silver one), too bad it doesnt bring anything decent in performance and will most likely be expensive as hell.

 

many things wrong with this post:
1) There is no all silver one
2) then what is decent in performence?
3) its suprisengly not very expensive

 

1) There is one that is white/silver, i think he meant that..

 

Its pretty decent....The 8400M GT is almost as good as the Go7700. And no, its actually pretty inexpensive.

 

I haven't heard from any reliable sources that the unit will be available with the 8600M GPU. I don't think the unit will be updated in June or July as the premium FZ models (FZ190) will not be built until the middle of June. The 8600M GT would be a signicant improvement compare to the 8400M GT (however, the 8600M GS is not much better the 8400M GT). You have to remember that the higher the specs on the GPU, usually leads to higher notebook weight and lower battery life.

In regards to the 8400M GT, there hasn't been too many benchmarks out there. However, what I have seen, the 8400M GT is about the same or slightly better than a 7600/7700. It should be a very capable card to play games. But not the best card though (really should be using a desktop if you are a hard core gamer).

The FZ model uses PC5300. I ordered the FZ190 about a week ago with 2 gb of pc5300 (667 mhz) phew . For some reason, I just found out that they changed the memory to 533 mhz on the website (not sure why? availability, or shear cheapnest perhaps). Either way, you can take out the sticks and upgrade it yourself afterwards as the $1000 for 4 gb is way too high. I would check to see if the memory is compatible with the notebook before buying. I am planning on upgrading to 2x 2gb pc5300 as well. I have not yet determine which memory will suit the fz. I have tried the kingston memory locator with no prevail. Let m know if you have any luck finding suitable memory for the FZ.

Also, I just ordered the seagate 7200.2 160 gb 7200 rpm dirve. I read many good reviews on this hard drive and for me, it was a better option than spending money to upgrade the 80 gb hard drive from sony as all of their drives are 5400 rpm and slower.

I can't wait for the notebook to arrive!

 

I was wondering if you can get your audio connected to an external audio receiver so that you can get 5.1 sound out of he dvd's and bluerays? If you use the HDMI to hook it up to the HDTV then with what would you hook up the sound with? it doesn't seem to have an spdif output..
Thanks for your help guys!

 

Use HMDI to carry both digital video and audio to your a/v receiver (if your receiver has HDMI). Other use HDMI to your HDTV and use dgital coax or spdif from HDTV to a/v receiver.