Sony VAIO Z preorders open in the US, prices from $1,970

Matthew DeCarlo

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Sony's revamped premium ultraportable notebook has finally washed up on American shores. Arriving just ahead of Apple's long-anticipated MacBook Air refresh, Sony's latest creation is more compact than most thin-and-light machines while leveraging an external dock to deliver performance that would make the existing competition drool with envy. The notebook's aluminum and carbon fiber chassis measures 0.66 inches thick, weighs 2.5 pounds, and houses your pick of a second-generation standard voltage Intel Core i5 or i7 processor with Turbo Boost clocks up to 3.40GHz.

You'll also find a 13.1-inch 1600x900 or 1920x1080 display, 4-8GB of RAM, and dual 128GB, 256GB or 512GB SSDs in RAID 0. The standard configuration ships with a single 4000mAh battery that offers up to eight hours of life and that can be doubled with an optional 4400mAh sheet battery. There's no shortage of connectivity with SD and Memory Stick Pro Duo slots, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WWAN, Bluetooth + EDR, Intel WiDi, HDMI and VGA-out, and one USB 2.0 port. Other noteworthy specs include a backlit 83-key keyboard, a multi-touch touchpad, as well as an HD webcam.

While the notebook is impressive in its own right, the VAIO Z's "Power Media Dock" sweetens the package by adding more horsepower and connectivity. The included dock features an AMD Radeon HD 6650M 1GB graphics card, a slot-loading DVD or Blu-ray drive, two more USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 port, as well as another HDMI and VGA output (meaning you can drive up to four separate displays between the notebook and dock's video outputs). Sony's US pricing kicks off just shy of $2,000 ($1969.99 to be precise) and skyrockets beyond $4,000 with higher-end configurations.

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$2000 and I ONLY get a 6650m? seriously? I can find one of those in a $1000 laptop and near identical specs. 4-8gb of ram is standard and the i7's are really easy to come by. Is it just me, or does the SSD raid 0 seem to be where the extra $1000 comes from? I can see this being worth $1300 at most and that's a stretch. Unless of course you want to overclock, but MSI has better offerings than that in the sub $2000 sector.

Look up the MSI GT780R-012US. For $1700 you get something that blows that out of the water. gtx560m and 16GB of ddr3 and an i7, what more could a man ask for?
 
Sony? DO NOT WANT.

I'd be amazed if this thing came with any less than 2 pages of junk preinstalled, including a rootkit or two.
 
Since you are already paying $2000 dlls, be sure to buy an industrial fridge to cool down all that.
 
yRaz said:
$2000 and I ONLY get a 6650m? seriously? I can find one of those in a $1000 laptop and near identical specs. 4-8gb of ram is standard and the i7's are really easy to come by. Is it just me, or does the SSD raid 0 seem to be where the extra $1000 comes from? I can see this being worth $1300 at most and that's a stretch. Unless of course you want to overclock, but MSI has better offerings than that in the sub $2000 sector.

Look up the MSI GT780R-012US. For $1700 you get something that blows that out of the water. gtx560m and 16GB of ddr3 and an i7, what more could a man ask for?

You are totally missing the point. This thing absolutely tiny with its 13" screen (that is actually capable of a respectable resolution and none of this current 1366x768 nonsense) as well as being over 3 times thinner and 3 times lighter than the MSI laptop you mentioned. Simply put, you're paying the extra money for it's sheer size (lack thereof) and portability, while still having a good resolution screen AND the capability to expand with the aforementioned dock. If you want straight computing performance (and likely being tied to a wall outlet) then you are right, the MSI you mentioned is better. But if portability is a factor, you don't mind paying the extra money, and you are willing to trust Sony for those who love to hate Sony, this option is FAR better since honestly, you don't need the power of a discrete card or a optical disc drive all the time.

Considering all HDD options are two SSDs in RAID 0, it's a matter of having 512GB worth of SSD, fully decked out Dock, and the battery slice that helps push it to $4000. =p
 
yRaz said:
$2000 and I ONLY get a 6650m? seriously? I can find one of those in a $1000 laptop and near identical specs. 4-8gb of ram is standard and the i7's are really easy to come by. Is it just me, or does the SSD raid 0 seem to be where the extra $1000 comes from? I can see this being worth $1300 at most and that's a stretch. Unless of course you want to overclock, but MSI has better offerings than that in the sub $2000 sector.

Look up the MSI GT780R-012US. For $1700 you get something that blows that out of the water. gtx560m and 16GB of ddr3 and an i7, what more could a man ask for?

I think Sony perceives themselves as the Apple of the Windows world. People buy Macs with such specs for such a price, why wouldn't Windows users?
 
yRaz said:
$2000 and I ONLY get a 6650m? seriously?
... And 128GB USB flash drives still cost almost $300? Seriously??!! Why buy a 128GB USB flash drive when I can buy a 3TB external hard drive for half the price?

FYI, your argument sounds something like that.
 
madboyv1 said:

You are totally missing the point. This thing absolutely tiny with its 13" screen (that is actually capable of a respectable resolution and none of this current 1366x768 nonsense) as well as being over 3 times thinner and 3 times lighter than the MSI laptop you mentioned

That is an important piece of information I missed.
 
yRaz said:
$2000 and I ONLY get a 6650m? seriously? I can find one of those in a $1000 laptop and near identical specs. 4-8gb of ram is standard and the i7's are really easy to come by. Is it just me, or does the SSD raid 0 seem to be where the extra $1000 comes from? I can see this being worth $1300 at most and that's a stretch. Unless of course you want to overclock, but MSI has better offerings than that in the sub $2000 sector.

Look up the MSI GT780R-012US. For $1700 you get something that blows that out of the water. gtx560m and 16GB of ddr3 and an i7, what more could a man ask for?
to be fair, it is ultraportable and is built with fancy materials
 
I have to admit, I'm no sony fan (Infact the last item I bought from them was a ps2) But if I had £4000 to spend on a laptop and had a choice from this or any other laptop this would easily win, by far. I mean, It is pretty much perfect, thin, light and decent battery, so the main critica for a laptop is covered, and is fairly well powered, once you get to your desk or home etc... It can become even more powerful and can support multiple screens? this wins hands down in my book.
 
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