Sony Vaio TZ sports 32GB SSD and 160GB disk -- the best of both worlds

Oh hotness incarnate, the VAIO TZ lives. Sure we peeped those catalog shots more than two weeks ago, but there's nothing like seeing the 11.1-inch ultra-portable in the fo' realz. The specs are in line with what we already knew with one tiny surprise: the system can apparently (judging by janky machine translation) be configured to run both a 2.5-inch 160GB disk and a 1.8-inch 32GB SSD simultaneously -- store the Vista OS and your critical apps and data on the lickity quick flash drive with everything else bunged into the traditional spinner. Nice. The TZ also features a newly designed keyboard carried over from earlier Sony's and similar to the one found on the Apple MacBook. The Vaio TZ starts shipping in Japan May 26th which means the rest of the world should get theirs shortly thereafter. One more pic after the break.

[Via Impress, thanks William M.]

[Schizoman @ May 17th 2007 4:38AM]

The 32GB SSD isn't fast though, it's slow, outdone by many other drives check the tomshardware benchmarks for yourself, for battery life of course it's nicer.

This is SSD hype for the sake of it.

[Thomas Ricker @ May 17th 2007 4:58AM]

Schizoman,

Not true, at least not 100%. If this is the Tom's piece you are referring to:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/09/20/conventional_hard_drive_obsoletism/index.html

You are correct, the Sammy 32GB SSD they tested is limited by its UltraATA/66 interface when compared to SATA disks, especially when reading data. However, you can see that the SSD crushes the fastest HDDs during XP boot, battery efficiency, and I/O performance.

SSDs are not hype.

Thomas

[Ken @ May 17th 2007 7:38AM]

Schizoman - from tomshardware.com: "In terms of our test for drive interface bandwidth the limiting factor is the UltraATA/66 interface effectively handicapping scores, especially in the data read category. All other drives the SSD was tested against feature either ATA/100 or SATA/150."

The more you know ...

Ken

[Matt @ May 17th 2007 4:53AM]

Sony had that keyboard style one some of their 13 and 14" laptops about a year prior to the Macbook.

[mike @ May 17th 2007 5:10AM]

that's what I thought too.
I still remember the sony vaio x505, that is where I first saw that kind of keyboard. I do not think that engadget does not know that. This is also not the first time that engadget has wrongly accused sony of something. I hate sony too, but doing it this way makes me hate the writer. not sony.

[Michael @ May 17th 2007 4:59AM]

hmmm.... thats quite weird, why would sony move away from the exisitng 1.8" HDD to the 2.5"? I have a T1 and im pretty sure unless they've made the mobo smaller a 2.5" wont fit? let alone including an SSD too... mis-translation anyone?

[Thomas Ricker @ May 17th 2007 5:12AM]

Michael,

It appears that you can opt for a 1.8-inch HDD with optical drive, or 1.8-inch SSD with 2.5-inch HDD in place of the optical drive.

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?&u=http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2007/0517/mobile377.htm



Thomas

[K @ May 17th 2007 4:59AM]

So pretty... it's like Sony just flashed me Blue Steel.

[Michael @ May 17th 2007 5:02AM]

...to add, the japanese link also states Celeron in their specs, i'm now pretty sure theres been a case of lost in translation

[Thomas Ricker @ May 17th 2007 5:08AM]

That's base config

[anon @ May 17th 2007 5:12AM]

I don't remember which came first, but Sony used that keyboard in their X505 notebook. And that was right at the end of 2003. See this story on Impress PC Watch (Japanese):
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2003/1112/sony1.htm

note the date. while the MacBook Pro was introduced in early 2006?

so unless the keyboard was used in even earlier Macs, I really don't think Apple can claim a first on this one.

I did have a chance to see an X505 not too long ago, and despite its age, I was still quite impressed by the design. It's so incredibly light. But type G is almost as good and certainly much more useable. Unfortunately, US seems to be the only place that Sony is not releasing type G. Perhaps they were annoyed with the cool reception of PS3 in the US.

[Thomas Ricker @ May 17th 2007 5:19AM]

Thanks anon, I've updated the post.

Thomas

[Michael @ May 17th 2007 5:30AM]

Thanks Thomas, that makes much more sense...but what about the celeron specs on the engadget link?

[reticulate @ May 17th 2007 5:18AM]

Sony make sexy laptops, I think we can all agree.

I'm almost certain that keyboard style has been around a while now on various Vaio notebooks. A response to the apparent popularity of the Macbook keyboard? Probably. A new thing? Not at all.

This from a guy who wouldn't dream of buying a PS3 in a million years (or when God of War 3 comes out and I don't have a choice any more). Sony do, and always have, made some boner-inspiring tech - it's just the PS3 and DRM fiascoes that have cooled my appreciation for the brand.

[Daniel D @ May 17th 2007 5:19AM]

I think I would rather just buy it on HD DVD and enjoy my home theatre set up then a torrent which would be a pain in the ass to download and even a more of a pain in the ass to present in a decent matter.

[Thomas Ricker @ May 17th 2007 5:44AM]

Michael,

The ULV Celeron M is just base config. The processor is configurable up to a Core 2 Duo U7600

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/TZ1/lineup.html

Thomas

[karlthebaer @ May 17th 2007 5:32AM]

I can't vouch for the TZ, but I love my SZ370P. Besides the smaller form factor, it looks like the same case design. As for expected pros and cons, I'm not that impressed with the new keyboard. What's with the giant enter key? There is tons of lost space on the keyboard itself that could be used for something besides making the enter key bigger. I've only had my SZ since January, but one thing that bums me out is that the screen picks up oil and friction from the keyboard and mouse which makes it a lot harder to use in direct sun. Also, it looks like they've changed the mouse for the TZ which I can't see being a good thing. I hated track pads before this machine but I really am impressed with this track pad. You can realistically subtract about an hour from there stated battery time. I've never come close to what they say this SZ can do even in a benchmark test. Lastly, I'd never own the TZ or the SZ series without an after market warranty. I baby my laptop but for all it's good looks, it's no tank.

[bgk @ May 17th 2007 11:02AM]

> What's with the giant enter key?

The handy sized Enter key is usual on keyboards outside America.

[Rod @ May 17th 2007 5:34AM]

Guys, gals, why are we discussing the keyboard when the real news is one of first examples adopting a new technology that could revolutionize mobile computing?
Boot time, battery life, and possibly faster read/write in near future- these all things that laptop users ALL WANT.
Who the hell cares if something looks similar to Mac or IBM or whatever?

[Seni @ May 17th 2007 6:51AM]

The reason everyone was discussing the keyboard is due to an initial error in teh article which has since been corrected. The original post mistakenly had a statement similar to "[...] features a new keyboard design, likely stolen from the apple macbook pro" or at least, that was it's aim.

It was an incorrect jab at sony, but the writer promply corrected it professionally, so no harm.

[Jon @ May 17th 2007 8:49AM]

Doesn't sound professional to me. Sounds like the writer just wanted to have a dig at Sony and didn't bother to research and had the readers researched the fact for him.

Back on topic. This is a sweet device. Just a couple of days ago I was thinking that someone should build a notebook with both types of drives in it, but I didn't actually think it would be possible on an ultraportable due to the lack of space. Nice engineering Sony.

[Evan @ May 17th 2007 8:07AM]

I hope SSD lives up to the hype. I envision using it to make image acquisition faster.

[strayan @ May 17th 2007 8:15AM]

Most notably the display on this amazing piece of equipment is 16:9 as opposed to the 16:10 displays found in every other widescreen notebook on the planet.

Magic.

[pstelman @ May 17th 2007 8:16AM]

It looks very nice. I hope the lower case design is cleaner than on my TX. The TX case has all sorts of little stair-steps and cutouts molded into the case. It's the opposite of Apple's sleek designs.

I too am surprised they can fit a 2.5" drive in there.

I think the idea of being able to boot from a SSHD, and use a conventional drive for big applications and storage, is a great idea. I won't upgrade just for that, since I keep my TX in "hibernate" when I put it away, and it resumes pretty quickly.

[phi @ May 17th 2007 8:59AM]

nice! if apple can make something similar to this, I'm all over it. Otherwise, I hope someone is able to figure out how to load a hackintosh OS onto this.

[kev @ May 17th 2007 9:07AM]

Uh...I bet it was a typo on impress's side:

...HDDの代わりにフラッシュメモリ32GBを搭載可能。また (probably missing a character here, which threw off the translation)、光学ドライブの代わりに160GB HDDを選択できる。光学ドライブを非搭載とした場合...

[kev @ May 17th 2007 9:11AM]

Heh...my mistake, I should have read the rest of that. It makes more sense now--they took out the DVD drive that normally sits on the right side of the laptop and put the HD there. Fair enough.

[mike broutsas @ May 17th 2007 10:22AM]

What about the complaints of no WiFi N and no Santa Rosa?? Seems those are a bunch more important than who did the keyboard configuration first.

[Jon @ May 17th 2007 10:56AM]

As iAMT/vPro is geared towards businesses, not dumping a Centrino Pro sticker on a consumer product isn't a big deal. Personally I wouldn't buy any laptops with a Centrino sticker.

[mike broutsas @ May 18th 2007 11:01AM]

Anybody got a clue as to prices when they get released?????

[Mr. B @ May 17th 2007 10:41AM]

...guess I better start saving

[Morten Andersen @ May 17th 2007 12:25PM]

I really think that both a big and handy Enter key and a big enough right shift key (like the one on the TZ) are good features of a great keyboard, especially for writers.

[outoffocuz @ May 17th 2007 12:55PM]

Anybody know how much better this thing would perform if it had the Santa Rosa chipset? A lot? Jus a lil? Wondering how big a drawback it is...

And...does anyone besides Apple make notebooks with backlit keyboards?

no WiFi N...e-gads Sony. Agree with Donnie...nothing but crumbs. I think this has changed my purchasing decision.

[sturmnacht @ May 17th 2007 1:49PM]

There is a WiFi-n option. There's also a lightweight battery option too, slimming down the TZ to 22.5 mm at its thickest point (also the slimmest point). The fan may be quieter than the TX while adding 16% airflow.

[sturmnacht @ May 17th 2007 3:18PM]

Macbook will have WiFi-n and it's not a SR laptop yet. Here the link showing the TZ with WiFi-n:

[URL="http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Compare/T/index.html#contents02
"]http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Compare/T/index.html#contents02
[/URL]

[Brandon @ May 17th 2007 1:57PM]

I would opt for the unit w/out the standard HD if I could and a HD/Blue-Ray dvd player burner, maybe a base station with a 500gig drive built in or an external USB/firewire 120gig HD.

[The John @ May 17th 2007 3:17PM]

And with the market growing in flash drive technology it won't be long before its 160gb flashdrive, 1TB traditional SATA storage on laptops.

[spoon @ May 17th 2007 3:44PM]

why ppl hate ssd so much? it is not hype, it is really faster. name me a 1.8inch hard drive runs faster than a 1.8 ssd. plus, for mobile user, it is better to have the peace in mind about dropping your NB in accident and your harddrive and data will be still alive. for ultra small notebook computer, ssd is a very good way to help io performance. ppl have to compare things apple to apple, a 1.8 or 2.5 inch ssd is not going to be faster than your 15k sata2 or scsi hard drive, but if you look far enough, the performance ssd for server will run way faster than a hard drive. why do you guys think those military or financial company invest 10 of thousand's of dollar for ssd drive? you think they are stupid? just because you cant afford one yet mean it is a hype!

[Chris @ May 17th 2007 6:39PM]

Beautiful.

[quinthar @ May 18th 2007 12:03AM]

Think they'll ever revisit the form factor of the original picturebook? Them's were the good ole' days.

http://quinthar.com/360ToGo/node.php?node=Node0283
http://quinthar.com/360ToGo/node.php?node=Node0254 (sorry, no caption)

[candii @ May 20th 2007 10:48PM]

i bet this one is around $3000 >< sigh this is sad..

[Totesen @ Jul 9th 2007 1:00AM]

Wow thats a beautiful computer i love it its the first subnotebook ive seen with a webcam i love it and the specs are quite nicer than the vaio TX. I love the dual core and the 160 gb hard drive solid or 32 flash! wow!