Sony's new VAIO Z, FW, SR and BZ laptops go official

Leaks, rumors and teasers have told us just about everything we'd ever need to know about Sony's new VAIO lineup before we ever laid eyes on it, but Sony has finally confirmed its new VAIO Z, FW, SR and BZ laptops. They share a common design language, Centrino 2 processors, configuration options and setup software to remove that icky trial ware, and a whole lot of Blu-ray between them. Of particular note is the VAIO Z, which packs a Blu-ray drive and HDMI into a 1-inch thick, 3.4 pound, 13.1-inch 16:9 form factor, and even discreet NVIDIA 9300M graphics and a full size hard drive bay, with an option for dual SSD in a RAID configuration (which is just rubbing it in, if you ask us). The Z, FW and SR keyboards are all of the isolated, raised key variety, which might remind people of the MacBook keyboard, but is actually a design Sony has been toying with for a while now. The 13.3-inch VAIO SR is Sony's bid at bringing its ultraportable line "mainstream" with supposedly aggressive price points, multiple color options, and a four pound form factor which leaves room for discreet graphics, but sadly no Blu-ray. The 16.4-inch VAIO FW, on the other hand, has room for it all, with a 16:9 aspect ratio screen well suited to playing back Blu-ray movies. Finally, the VAIO BZ skips over the home theater fanciness and shows a growing commitment from Sony in the business laptop space. There's a 15.4-inch screen, magnesium alloy case, spill-resistant keyboard, vPRO and all that other fancy security-related business stuff, though no HDMI or Blu-ray to speak of. The BZ and FW start at $1,000, the SR at $1,400, the FW premium at $1,750, and the Z will hit at $1,800, with an SSD option for $2,300. All should be available in the late July / August time frame.

Gallery: Sony's new VAIO Z, FW, SR and BZ laptops go official

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[Patrick @ Jul 14th 2008 9:03PM]

Why can't i see them on Sony Style...

[atbnet @ Jul 14th 2008 9:18PM]

I don't see them either. I've been refreshing the page since I remembered they were supposed to release whatever at 9 PM. I came here to see what was up.

[Charles Han @ Jul 14th 2008 9:06PM]

Woah those do look sleek dayam. Hopefully sony pops in 9600m gt or higher on those machines and I might buy one next month

[Nippon @ Jul 14th 2008 9:06PM]

ME BUY Z!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[spass @ Jul 14th 2008 9:07PM]

GREAT!
I kept pushing the F5 key for just too long today!

[Phoenix Sanders @ Jul 14th 2008 9:08PM]

first woot these laptops look hawt

[Ace b @ Jul 14th 2008 9:16PM]

hell yeah they do.I think i just found my new laptop.with all this good stuff coming out this year,including the new dashboard update for the 360,it's looking to be a good year.

[NoAndThen @ Jul 14th 2008 9:12PM]

these are pretty effin sweet, now if only we could get some osx86 drivers for these bitches, i'd have one right now.

[zargon @ Jul 14th 2008 9:22PM]

Try linux instead...

[efua @ Jul 14th 2008 9:15PM]

One word: BEAUTIFUL!

[Matthew @ Jul 14th 2008 9:20PM]

Sony sure knows how to build a great Laptop. These look very nice indeed.

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jul 14th 2008 9:20PM]

5th times the charm asshole? : )

[rudefyet @ Jul 14th 2008 9:21PM]

Hopefully the 8400M in my M1330 spontaneously combusts and Dell gives me my money back. I'll buy a VAIO SR in a heartbeat.

[Phoenix Sanders @ Jul 14th 2008 9:27PM]

So, how can you guys at engadget say that it is official if it is not officially on the sony web site?

[Phil Perman @ Jul 15th 2008 9:12AM]

Because Engadget read the press releases, not the website

http://news.sel.sony.com/assets/Vaio_2008/index.html

[Bill @ Jul 14th 2008 9:30PM]

Who do I need to hump to get a backlight keyboard on the Z series? I love my TZ, but it's useless in the dark. I'm sure my girlfriend thinks the same of me, but I don't get a yearly tech refresh.

[Za @ Jul 14th 2008 10:43PM]

Learn to touch-type.

[iHoppipolla @ Jul 15th 2008 8:11AM]

Oh... Bill...y

Self-depreciating humor makes me smile.

[Khattab @ Jul 14th 2008 9:31PM]

Sold. Gimme a Z, with Blu-Ray Burner (I know it's gonna be Read-Only device), decent CPU, 4 GB of Ram, a 320 or 500 GB HDD, a GPU fast enough to play Full-HD-Videos via HDMI (the 9300 should do the Job), the Docking Station (sure gotta pay extra $ for that) and the 13.1" High-Res LCD for around 2000$.

Nice Job Sony.

[Khattab @ Jul 14th 2008 9:32PM]

Sold. Gimme a Z, with Blu-Ray Burner (I know it's gonna be Read-Only device), decent CPU, 4 GB of Ram, a 320 or 500 GB HDD, a GPU fast enough to play Full-HD-Videos via HDMI (the 9300 should do the Job), the Docking Station (sure gotta pay extra $ for that) and the 13.1" High-Res LCD for around 2000$.

Nice Job Sony.

[Khattab @ Jul 14th 2008 9:33PM]

Sorry. enG should work on their comment system.

[McBUNT @ Jul 14th 2008 9:36PM]

No, you should work on your FACE!

[Matthew @ Jul 14th 2008 9:33PM]

Sony appear to have announced completely different models on their Sony Style website...?

[m4tthew @ Jul 14th 2008 9:34PM]

That's the old release page for the previous "new" line of notebooks from Sony.

[spass @ Jul 14th 2008 10:07PM]

Matthew, meet the new m4tthew.

[m4tthew @ Jul 14th 2008 9:33PM]

Am I wrong in imagining some fat slob sleeping in his chair at Sony next to a button that says "press this at 9pm to update the website"?

[Phoenix Sanders @ Jul 14th 2008 10:06PM]

A very witty comment. I applaud you.

[deyanimay @ Jul 14th 2008 9:35PM]

wait engadget actually bans?

[Tonka @ Jul 14th 2008 9:51PM]

Hit the Biz site to see the new notebooks... they have been there all day. :-D
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/category/notebooks/ultra_portable

[Erik @ Jul 14th 2008 10:40PM]

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

[m4tthew @ Jul 14th 2008 10:50PM]

haha! maybe we're actually the same matthew but in different dimensions or something

[Za @ Jul 14th 2008 10:54PM]

I am happy that Sony is finally going back to making good looking products. I always liked the keyboard setup they used on the X505, which was later stolen by the Macbook, and I think this is the best execution so far.

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jul 14th 2008 11:26PM]

I wish they wouldn't disable Intel VT on their Vaios though.

And when will we stop seeing BIOS and finally move to EFI like Apple has!?

[Eddy Alvarez @ Jul 14th 2008 11:55PM]

no tz replacement... tz is getting a little old

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jul 15th 2008 12:38AM]

The TZ won't be replaced until September at the earliest, thats when the lower voltage Centrino 2 processors and chipsets are released.

[Poom @ Jul 15th 2008 1:23AM]

I WANT THAT Z!!! It's not as expensive as I thought it would be.

[King Mook Mook @ Jul 15th 2008 3:22AM]

Am I the only one that thought (when looking at the picture) 'Is Sony releasing lots of small computer look alike phones?'

[L.Rawlins @ Jul 15th 2008 3:53AM]

Yes. Yes you are.

[Esse @ Jul 15th 2008 4:57AM]

Why am I not reading anything about a HSDPA-option? Is Sony really going to miss that again and again and again? If I'm wrong, I'l buy my first Sony this fall :-)

[lance @ Jul 15th 2008 5:29AM]

sexy

[bengreen21 @ Jul 15th 2008 10:56AM]

These look great! I have been looking to upgrade my old Sony Vaio N series with something a bit more powerful. I love the 16:9 aspect ratio on the screen. The only tough choice is whether to go smaller with the Z or bigger with the FW. Either one will have to have Blu ray for sure. I can't wait to see these in person.