New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

We have a thread for the Sony SA/SB Series, so I think it's right to have a thread for one of the greatest laptops out there's future.



What we know:



-The graphics solution is something "unique" - speculation is the graphics card is built into a dock



-The case is significantly smaller, and small enough to the point where a normal hard drive most likely won't fit.



Speculation/questions:



-Battery life? Sandy Bridge processors have come a long way in terms of battery life, but how much battery life can we expect from the new Z?



-1080p screen, fullsized backlit keyboard, keeps the tiny bezel? All important factors into what makes the current Z unique.



-Is the Z just going to become a MacBook Air competitor, or is it going to retain the full power of a mainstream laptop into a 13" ultraportable? Quad-Core perhaps?

Reply 1 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Good idea to have this thread.



Two more things:

- It's expected sometime early summer

- Will be very different from current Z



And big thanks to Beaups for sharing all this information/hints with us.

Reply 2 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

I think it may have been deduced that this model will retain an optical drive due to Sony's tie ins with Blu-Ray technology and how they would not abandon that on their flagship computer.

Reply 3 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

i hope blu-ray drive isn't built-in on the new Z, that would be an instant fail. Optical drive on laptop is NOT the future.

Reply 4 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Memory Stick slot is still on the current Z.......

I don't think BR Drive will be gone in the near future....



I hope the new version of 13" macbook pro will come with SSD RAID, IPS Full HD Screen, no optical drive, longer battery life with sandy bridge, thinner/lighter chasis and the aluminium unibody that does not wear off......

this is going to be the truely ultimate notebook .....

Reply 5 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by baronng Memory Stick slot is still on the current Z....... I don't think BR Drive will be gone in the near future.... I hope the new version of 13" macbook pro will come with SSD RAID, IPS Full HD Screen, no optical drive, longer battery life with sandy bridge, thinner/lighter chasis and the aluminium unibody that does not wear off...... this is going to be the truely ultimate notebook .....

recent rumor has it, new macbook pro will use amorphous alloy as the unibody material. it helps macbook pro drop 20% off its weight. Apple will be the first and only company offers amorphous alloy casing on a laptop.

Reply 6 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

If they wont drop that stupid uber-glossy display, they can do whatever they want... it'll still be a sucky lifestyle notebook and nothing more

Reply 7 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

One thing that bothers me about the current Macbook "Pro" 13" (and maybe 15" but I've only seen this problem on the smaller ones) is that the screen touches the keyboard when closed and since the screen is plastic, the keyboard scratches it almost on the whole surface area. It's very ugly.

Reply 8 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

Let's go back to the Z (I see more than enough Macbooks each day, don't want to see them even in the new Z thread ):



I would like it if it has ODD. I use it very rarely, but sometimes I need one.



And besides, one of the most unique things about the Z is that it's a desktop replacement in a small, light-weight package. It has almost everything inside (good CPU, lots of RAM, ODD, dedicated GPU, relatively large SSD/HDD, etc.). A Z without ODD and dedicated GPU wouldn't be so appealing to me.

Reply 9 : New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

On the other hand you can realise a better cooling system or a longer battery life but simply dropping the odd which is not needed often.



I'd like to drop the ODD in favor of 2hrs more battery life and less noise.

Since I think GPU's don't need much space and since you can always switch to Intel's GPU solution, you wouldn't win much by dropping the dedicated GPU.

They really should bring nVidia stock driver support, so you can use that Chip for CUDA.