Sony unwraps Blu-ray laptop

Sony has unveiled the latest addition to its range of Vaio laptops. The FZ-Series is a compact notebook with the ability to spin Blu-ray discs and connect to an HD ready telly or projector via HDMI or simply watch through its glossy X-black screen reports T3.

The specs are impressive, with the top of the range VGN-FZ11Z model featuring 200GB of hard disk drive space, 2GB of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a GeForce 8400M graphics card. Windows Vista Home Premium is included, as well as Adobe Premiere video editing software.

Like all Sony Vaios, this laptop looks super sleek and sexy in its silver color and is an HD video nut's portable dream.

[Diselage]

What will it cost, MAN! What will it cost!

Is it's box of those paddles with a ball attached? Little red devils would never go for it.

[Neutral Gamer]

Sony haven't announced a price but in the article T3 reckon it'll be well over £1,500 which at the current exchange rate would be $2,970. Ouch, that sounds like a lot more for you Yanks than it does for us Brits I tell ya!

Still Apple and Sony do make the sexiest looking laptops and there's always a price premium for style.

[Torch]

Now that you've awaken the pop-quiz junkie in me:

Which movie?

With regards to my response to this news story (as the legendary Homer Simpson would passionately chant):

"Mmmmmm....recordable Blu-Ray!....."

[Diselage]

Well in the movie they didn't say a box of paddles with balls attached it was just "A box of these" and the movie was Blazing Saddles.

If you havn't seen it you should get on top of that asap.

[SmokeyMcBear]

haha great movie reference...

"lookie here boys" --"where are all the white women"

"badges..haha..we don't need no stinking badges"

Great movie.. a must see.

[cuco33]

this is my problem with sony.. they are so strung out trying to flood the market and force bluray on to the consumer without it even being a standard format yet. it's cool the capacity BR has and its a neat idea to have a high def media in a portable device but it isn't a format yet. they are practically using bully tactics here. and fanbots, need not burst my bubbles, i'm neutral on both movie formats and game consoles. i see it how it is, not how i want it to be

[ER1X]

How are they supposed to win the format war? Seems like simple business tactics to me. Unless I misread the piece, they're not putting it in every Vaio which still gives the consumer a choice.

[Torch]

other than the assumption that Sony is flooding or forcing the product onto the consumer.

First and foremost, the key fact shall forever remain that Blu-Ray is represented by Sony; if Sony doesn't push the medium, then who will? I'm sure they've got deep scars, regrets, and "If Only We Did"'s from their many previous format failures.

In addition, the introduction of any Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD, DVD, 8-Track, VHS, or any other format for that matter) product is the result of natural market progression. I'm willing to bet that Sony is still offers (a wider range of) laptop versions equipped with DVD drives instead. On the other side of the coin, imagine that the company still sells current products that have only CD-ROM drives...we'd all think they'd be off their rocker, as doing so wouldn't make sense.

That said, how else can any company remain innovative, competitive, profitable, and acquire a generally positive response without pushing their latest innovation and eventually abandoning their older ones?

Granted, with regards to your statement that they are flooding and forcing the market, the PS3 admittedly comes closest to this. However, bear in mind that it is never, ever forced...especially considering that alternatives (i.e., XBox) thankfully remain readily available.

In addition, the inclusion of Blu-Ray in the PS3 is nothing more than product progression. Remember that Sony included a DVD drive in the PS2; at the time, many could have similarly argued that a CD-ROM would have sufficed.

In retrospect, try to imagine the disaster if THAT happened. I have no doubt that the PS2 would have flat-out failed miserably had Sony not "forced" DVD into the now-legendary PS2.

The influence that Blu-Ray is to have on PS3's ultimate destiny is yet to be seen, but we're already starting to see more and more developers rumble and gripe about the relatively limited storage capacity of DVD...while more and more begin to praise the possibilities the superior Blu-Ray format has to offer.

Therefore, I'm not sure whether bashing Sony for pushing (NOT read: "bullying") their product has any merit, as there is no question that the company has too much (money, reputation, battle scars) at stake for them to act otherwise.

I personally anxiously look forward to all the HD goodness that's yet to come.

NOTE: I severely apologise for my overly long-winded response. I knew I shouldn't have had that third espresso. :)

[cuco33]

sorry fellas... i skimmed through the article. i assumed they would put it into every vaio laptop

for the record, their laptops are crap. my sister got one and it's had problems from day one. even after going back, under warranty to get fixed, we had to shell out $400 for a repair bill (whats the point of warranty?). the laptop worked flawlessly for about an hour. then the same problems happened again.

torch, u do raise some good points. it is obvious that they will push the format but say it becomes ways of betamx (which i highly doubt it will). not only would they have a whole game console with a flopped format but laptops as well. this is probably the biggest risk sony has ever taken by including BR in their consoles and some of these laptops. DVDs however were already a clear standard come way of the ps2 so it was just an added feature to include it since they saw that DVD disc size would be needed for that gen. but i will keep with the bullying aspect. sony with time have been trying to be the key leader of a format in home electronics history. it's smart if it succeeds, as it will make sony and their partners a ton of money. i'm just uncomfortable with the fact that a company like sony having that much control over a format

i was really happy to hear that BR was going to be PC only when first announced due to the disk capacity and all. then i was disappointed to hear the first rumors it would be in the ps3 and i already saw sony and their ways of going for gold like they did with betamx, minidisc, etc. dont get me wrong, i love a lot of their products, i just dont want them to have that much power. something just doesn't seem right

if BR becomes the next format, i'll gladly pick up a player/burner and start using the format. i dont see it being a standard for a few years though

[shikwan]

You betcha!

[cdawson]

Sony laptops = crap
DO NOT BUY THEM, I work for a computer distributor business and they have one of the highest RMA rates out of all the laptop distributors. You are better off buying a reasonably cheap Acer laptop.

[Frulond]

I got excited when I first heard of Blu-ray only because of its capacity. I'm always in need of more space. May hit 1Tb by the end of the year on my pc <.< these will come in handy when I want to backup my files.

BD in a laptop seems like a good add and all specs for this laptop look great. I can't afford one tho =(

[cdawson]

Like I said, you can buy a reasonably cheap Acer laptop for $700, then buy a portable blu-ray burner for $600 instead of spending almost $3000 on one of Sony's garbage Vaios.

[Maddens Raiders]

Vaio's are - the $hit. My VGN-A290 run's like the day I bought it in 2004 and looks better than anything out there. This VGN-FZ11Z will be copped as soon as I pile the cash. =]

Cheers

[Kyur4ThePain]

It's pretty obvious why he says that. Not so, cd?

[cdawson]

I'm only speaking the truth, have you multiple experiences with several brands of laptops ? if you don't you shouldn't even be speaking your opinion. You may very well be happy with your sony laptop but unless you've tried at least 3 other brands you have nothing to base your opinion on.
And why is it 'pretty obvious' why I have that opinion? You fanboys assume everything negative towards your precious sony is an attack...
My problem is that sony laptops are brutally expensive and yet deliver a product that doesn't warrant the price tag. It has nothing to do with xbox vs. sony or wii vs. sony/xbox.
I paid $700 for my acer laptop in 2005 and it still runs as it did back when I got it. For that same merit I can say 'Acers are - the $hit'.

Stop your fanboyisms and actually read what I wrote I gave a very good suggestion that not only gives you your blu-ray drive and an excellent system it saves you over $1000 to boot!

[gta_cb]

i have ALWAYS loved the look of the Sony laptops (vaio) but have never known where to buy one from... ohwell i wont be buying this as it WILL be expensive as its going to be the only/one of the only laptops with a BluRay player init. but saying that in a few years there will be some pretty decent laptops with dedicated GPUs in them for alot less then now!

[Xi]

I bet the thing will blow up in your lap. I no longer trust sony with anything laptop related after their battery problem.