New Sony Vaio Z speculation/news thread

[dannisan]

The dock can go flat as well as stand, this has been mentioned 50 times in this thread.

[mickeygarcia]

can't see the pics being posted

[chrisxnguyen]

I went to a Sony retail store today and spoke to a rep. He mentioned that they had a trainer come in to speak about the new Z. Not much other information was given.

[Drvec]

OK, there you go

Looks great! the bezel seems quite fine compared to the SA. I am psyched for this now!!!

Cheers Eddie, +1 rep.

Also, let's note that everything we see in this pic fits with what beaups and beaups *only* has told us (like the vertical stand and not so big bezel).

[612kimx1853]

NEW Z screen bezel......acceptable?

Thinks bezel looks fairly bigger than the current Z, no?

[Drvec]

A few notes from the pics:

1) the three buttons are still there, looks like the red lettered "ASSIST" button has survived from the VPC-Z
2) can't quite tell, but it looks like there are two new vertical rubber feet either side of the webcam, this is certainly to address the keyboard scratching issue, let's hope it's finally resolved
3) bezel is clearly wider than both the VPC-Z and VGN-Z, but looks maybe marginally thinner than the SA and thinner than the MBA.
4) looks like the graphics switch is gone, which makes sense since you unplug it when you don't want it and are shouldn't be using the Blu-ray if you are trying to save batteries. Beaups explained this logic a while back
5) looks like that might be the external unit laying flat over to the left, thus stand is optional (not fixed)

6) Darth Vader styling theme continues on the external unit. Angular top matches the sides of the silver back plate from the previous "Ultimate Mobile PC" image (below)
7) looks like it's a slot loading drive, yay!
8) eject button is on the external unit, can't see if the eject button is gone from the notebook, but looks like it gone
9) somewhat gaudy looking gunmetal finish stand, assume it's chromed plastic. Might match the rear plate of the notebook (below).
10) I can see a wedge of light shining through under the notebook. This means it is being propped up by something. I will assume that it's not from the classic and horrible signature Sony "battery hanging out the bottom" since there is supposed to be a sheet battery and this would not be compatible. I thing this is explained by the little rubber feet that should sit under when the screen is up. See below:

11) From what limited detail there is in this picture from Eddieaus below, it certainly matches the image above (i.e. chrome logo, spacing, Sony logo and no faint line in between them), so safe to assume he is right and this is a genuine pic of a gold Z:

Darth Vader is supremely happy with this design!

[eddieaus]

Drvec, you are definitely right about the rubber feet on the hinge. also if you look really closely, there's a SONY logo on the middle of the hinge too.

[dannisan]

OK that makes sense that the metal hinge acts as a prop for the notebook when the screen is open. However, where are the heat vents going to go? Wasn't it mentioned in this thread that the vents are on the back of the notebook like the SA?

I'm not sure, but with the hinge acting as a prop for the notebook when open, the only place I can see the vents going would be the left side of the notebook.

Anybody have any ideas?

[eddieaus]

the vent is on the left side, next to VGA port.

[Deodot]

I agree.. Bezel looks huge.. Notebook will prob have bigger footprint.. I have a feeling it will resemble a larger version of the X series..

This might have been in the earlier 300 pages, but anyway..

Considering the bigger bezel and footprint of the laptop.

I was talking to a guy in a Sony Store and he was 95% sure that the screen would be smaller than 13,1 inch. I havent heard this before so i didnt belive him but if you think about the concept "ultimate mobile" and a laptop with no hdd, no dedicated graphiccard, the "big" bezel. It seems strange to make one "ultimate mobile" notebook with a bigger footprint than the last. Even though thin. Especially when it doesnt house that many components. Maybe his right. He was talking about a screen "around" 12 inch..