Sony VAIO Z: The Engadget Review
By Paul Miller 
posted Sep 2nd 2008 2:56PM
posted Sep 2nd 2008 2:56PM
The VAIO Z is the latest in Sony's long heritage of ultraportable computers, but lands itself decidedly on the beefy end of that spectrum. With discrete NVIDIA 9300M graphics and a Blu-ray drive, this is a full-fledged laptop (we've been testing out the $3,600-ish VGN-Z591U SKU). There's WWAN, SD and Memory Stick card readers, ExpressCard and an HDMI plug, and even the 16:9 13.1-inch screen is on the upper limit of Sony's ultraportable heritage. There's plenty of SSD inside, with dual SSD RAID option that makes no bones about this being a performer.
And perform it does. We've thrown plenty of "mobile tasks" at the VGN-Z591U and it hasn't missed a step, with a particular acumen for video that would be welcome on its slimmer competition. Also of note, the VAIO Z produces plenty of heat, but doesn't run hot at all, instead efficiently expelling large quantities of hot air out a side vent with a rather quiet fan, making the laptop a great choice for actually placing on your lap -- especially considering how light it is, at a mere 3.4 pounds. The laptop loads Blu-ray movies with a speed that dedicated players can only dream of, and doesn't slow down for anything during playback. Online video is also no challenge for the laptop, an area where Intel's integrated graphics can struggle at times. Crysis was pretty choppy on medium at the full 1600 x 900 resolution, but that's no huge surprise.
We aren't crazy about the three hours of battery we averaged with the laptop. Sony's Stamina / Speed switch, which flips from discrete to integrated graphics without requiring a restart (and works quite well, by the way), seemed to be little help for battery life in our limited testing of the feature, but we'll leave that to the labs to discern ultimately.
Exterior-wise, the Z is a mixed bag. There's nothing particularly stunning about it, and a couple of trouble spots. The big one is the thin, LED-lit screen. It looks great, both in profile and in actual image, and while it's a glossy one, it's appropriate for the entertainment orientation of the machine. Unfortunately, the flexy, thin plastic housing of the display makes it feel like it'll snap in half, or perhaps snap off the machine entirely. We're sure it won't, but it doesn't quite feel "right" in use. Our other problem is with the cluttered design of the machine in general. Stickers galore on top, a seemingly random placement of ports, and four or five different textures and materials in use give it a slightly half-baked look. It's not ugly, but certainly not strikingly beautiful, and that counts for something in this market.
The keyboard and trackpad are great, we have no complaints. The trackpad is responsive and accurate, with a functional invisible scrolling strip on the right side of the pad -- would you expect anything less from Sony? The keyboard is one of the most tactile keyboards on a laptop we've used outside of a ThinkPad in recent memory. There's a depth of motion to the isolated, chiclet keys that make them very satisfying to type on, though some people might find them a bit too mushy for their liking.
Unfortunately, hardware is only as good as the software that runs on top of it, and that's where things start to fall apart a bit for the Z. Sony has made great strides in ridding the laptop of a majority of the crapware that has riddled Sony computers in recent years, but we're not totally out of the woods. Blame Vista or whatever you'd like, but within an hour of booting the computer for the first time, we have over ten items in our task bar, many repeatedly asking for our attention -- a majority of it security related. It took almost a day of use for the computer to settle down and believe us when we told it we're all set, and it's still bugging us about some Java and Live OneCare trivialities. Sony has told us they're working on a unified setup utility to simplify some of this, and it couldn't come quickly enough.
Our other major frustration was Sony's miserable so-called "SmartWi" connection utility, which basically acts as a vigilant barrier to the internet, standing in the way of our every attempt to connect to a local WiFi router, or switch up that connection as need presented itself. Just to make this more complicated, the Sprint EV-DO-equipped computer also included Sprint's connection manager installed out of the box, plus a wireless switch on the front of the computer, giving us (by our count) around six layers of WiFi connection management, with the only app capable of actually switching between access points (Microsoft's own) the hardest to access. The WinDVD BD app for playing Blu-ray discs is as janky as could be, and makes Vista turn off Aero with its janky ways, but works just fine otherwise. We naturally avoided the Sony-built apps.
Overall, we like the laptop for what it is, but we're not quite sure how it fits into our lifestyle, or exactly who Sony means it for. Performance users and gamers are usually after the 15.4-inch or 17-inch laptops, while serious road warriors are picking up the ultraslim laptops or netbooks out there to manage their Outlook inboxes. The VAIO Z is truly stunning in how much power it crams into such a little size and weight, but the Sony price margin and niche application might be a barrier to entry for most.
Fun facts: this review was written in WordPad on the Vaio Z, using the Vaio Z's keyboard, while playing a Sony-provided Shakira Blu-ray concert video and downloading / installing a Crysis demo for testing. Not a hiccup, and those hips don't lie.
omg, I love this keyboard!
OMG, guess who they stole the design from?
Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!
Nobody!
(i know what you are talking about, but haven't there been enough laptops with this design that it is pretty much known as "not stolen')
@ who?
if you are referring to apple... please remember that sony made 'chicklet' laptop keyboards way before them.
if you are referring to someone else, please elaborate?
I'm pretty sure the TZ had the isolation keyboard before the macs did....
@who
OMG, guess who you think they stole it from stole it from???
It's extremely hard to steal your own designs as Sony was the first to market with the keyboard design over 4 years ago... if you really want to know that's before Apple used them, so officially Apple stole the keyboard design from Sony.
For the record Sony were using this keyboard design in some of their older models YEARS before Apple.
No response from who?
This is called complete OWNAGE you ignorant slut!
Two things: holy crap I have a lot of online stalkers and when did I say I was talking about Apple MacBooks? Do some research, Sony did not invent the spaced out keyboard (scoff).
(for the record, Sony's first spaced out keyboard was a LOT different than the MacBook's)
do you know where they stole the letter "I" in VAIO from?
Yep, I know where they stole the keyboard from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum
"guess who they stole the design from?"
Welp, NOT APPLE, because this one has a Delete key! See it right there near the Backspace key?
Apple portables STILL don't have a Delete key; they have only a Backspace key that's mislabeled "Delete." YEP, "ELEGANT."
@Information Central
How can you still think the delete key is a good idea? I already told you all who?'s best.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/19/eee-pc-1000h-gets-a-100-price-drop/
Get over it.
In Europe we don't have options to choose either BluRay or SSDs in this model. And even without them, they are as expensive as the american top of the line model.
Spanish Z11VN (no BluRay, no SSD) = 2700€ = $3940
American Z with the same specs = $2640
American Z with the same specs + BluRay = $3130
American Z with the same specs + 2x64GB SSDs = $3999
Remember, the USD prices don't include tax (which adds 0%-9% to the price). The European prices do include tax (19% in Germany, for example). This and the weak dollar account for the discrepancy.
Even with taxes the american model is still $1000 cheaper.
And that's a lot. I can travel to USA, buy the laptop there, drink a coffee, return home... and still save some money.
13.3" ultraportable? Hmmmm... Where have I heard of that before?
13.3" ultra portable *with* a CD Drive, I can't say I heard it from where you did...
Is it appreciably smaller than a Macbook or Dell XPS M1330?
Both of these are 13.3" ultraportables with built-in DVD drives.
He's just mad that he got corrected on the keyboard style, so he's determined to find SOMETHING this notebook stole from Apple. Oh, I know, built-in wifi! Or maybe the inclusion of a hard drive. That had to be Apple who thought of it first.
Give it a rest, Apple has a long history of taking designs from the PC world (color displays anyone?). And the rest of the market does the same thing. What's good for the goose . . .
Actually the screen size is (as stated in the article) 13.1".
@ agrabren
Didn't I post this two minutes before that? Your're real smart aren't you big guy?
*you're
Who, you are getting burned to a crisp. Just sayin.
who? is the new clak.
agrabren, what about a palm rest... that they actually did steal from apple.
Who's? on first
I just got one, the UK spec VN one. No Blu-Ray, but it seems like a better graphics card. I've found that I can get almost 6 hrs battery life in stamina mode. I completely agree about the screen build quality, it doesn't feel as solid as the original Z series ones. Still a great laptop - the speed is unbelievable - especially running Photoshop, which is nice on the 1600 x 900 screen :)
hi Shaun, I, interested what settings you are using to get 6 hours battery life - are you using the standard battery or the large battery.
The reason I ask is because i have the large battery and have only about 6 hours with balance and stamina without wireless or bluetooth on.
hi Shaun, I, interested what settings you are using to get 6 hours battery life - are you using the standard battery or the large battery.
The reason I ask is because i have the large battery and have only about 6 hours with balance and stamina without wireless or bluetooth on.
not for $3,600
Another obscenely expensive laptop by Sony, next please.
I have had so many cool little Vaios over the years... This is sadly not going to be one of them... they have been overtaken by others in the style department and get real $3,600!!!!
And is it the picture angle but the lid does not even look like it closes right?...
"Crysis was pretty choppy on medium at the full 1600 x 900 resolution"
...so don't ask.
and yet you're pulling that first post crap a few articles later?
Where the hell am I pulling "first post" crap???
admittedly, the screen itself seems to be a bit on the thin side, but i'll trust the strength of the carbon fiber, and love the fact that the entire keyboard backing is a seamless piece aluminum. and the keyboard is fantastic. i thought i really wanted a macbook pro backlit keyboard, but i'll give it up for this tactile response. i don't know what Engadget is on about with the look being "half-baked" -- why? because the whole thing isn't giant silvery aluminum block? lift a Sony Z, then run over to the Apple store and lift a 15.4" MBP. your paying for more power and more screen real estate in a smaller, lighter package. if you play games, do work, but hate the idea of carrying a 5-6 lb monster on your back, then you will have to pay for the cost of the materials and engineering involved. this is NOT meant to be a competitor to a Lenovo X300 or Macbook Air, and at this weight, its pretty damn portable.
3600$ say what again??
That's about:
- Twice what you can spend on a high-end Gaming desktop.
- A bit more that what you can spend on a high-end Gaming laptop.
- Six times what you can spend on an Atom-powered netbook.
The price of this product makes zero sense for me.
Try:
A: Carrying around a High end gaming desktop or laptop all day.
B: Doing stuff that requires a descent level of hardware performance (watching hidef/photoshop/video editing) on a netbook.
See: Market
I high ranked you *by mistake*, but again:
- I can photoshop JUST FINE on my cheap-ass Celeron laptop. I can also run Google Earth with no lag, with 10 Firefox tabs open including 4 loading youtube videos, 2 downloads and a movie paused in the background. All with Skype good and running.
What the use of a 2008 "gaming" netbook that can't run a 2007 game properly on medium settings??? I mean, it's pretty pointless to have an expensive piece of hardware that can take a "shot" at everything, but is good at very few.
Plus, it really IS expensive. I'd pay more if it could at least play a game from last year properly.
Because it has a RAID 64gb SSD drive setup, that's why. With a normal hdd, the price drops to about 2 grand. They had everything packed into this review sample.
Isn't the lenovo X series considered as ultraportable anymore? My x61 sure was (is?) and it's heavier than this beast (with 9cell battery) without providing any optical drive. So yes - not a netbook bud definitelly ultraportable.
For the Mactards yet again, Sony invented this gapped, isolation style keyboard with the X505 series back in 2004 but was a very niche, unknown laptop and of course the Macbook popularized it in 2006 and so the Mactards think the almighty Apple invented it.
This is a fantastic ultraportable, I'm thinking of replacing my Vaio TZ for it later this year or early 2009.
I do wish it had media buttons, considering its amazing screen, HDMI out and Blu-Ray option.
A Media Remote will be much better IMO.
Ya know, connect this to an LCD TV via HDMI and watch The Dark Knight in Blu-Ray 15ft away.
"Performance users and gamers are usually after the 15.4-inch or 17-inch laptops, while serious road warriors are picking up the ultraslim laptops or netbooks out there to manage their Outlook inboxes"
In my opinion, 13" is the ideal screen size for laptops. I have a SZ791 that I carry everyday for work and college. A smaller screen would be too small for everyday use and a bigger one too heavy to carry on my backpack.
What can i say about performance? Well, it rocks on vista and ubuntu!
I don't know if 13.3" is ideal but I'll say one thing, I was doing just fine for 3.5 years on my Toshiba R100 which has 12" 4:3 screen and that's about right for browsing and general use. Anything smaller is just too small, including 11" (plus below 12" there is no full size keyboard). I got AcerOne netbook two months ago and it's great for CASUAL checking your email and quick browsing session. After 1/2 hour you'll be in pain from squinting at the small tiny screen with small tiny trackpad (and from zooming in & out). So 13.3" widescreen is probably as low as you want if you plan to actually use the thing more than half an hour a day. A netbook may well have enough power for majority of use cases but screen real estate for only a small fraction of them.
However I am more attracted to Sony silver SR series that are cheaper but in most aspects similar. It's the only current laptop that makes me want to buy it.
Well, I just got back from Sony store with mine. For $2200 Canadian (including tax) for the middle level config (2.4GHz, 3GB, 250GB, 1600x900, 9300 w/256MB) it doesn't feel obscenely expensive for a 3.4 pound laptop with 5 hours battery life and no compromise in performance. In fact if you buy from Sony store you get a better deal than if you configure the same hardware and order online. After owning an ultraportable, no heavy laptops would do (and yes 5 pounds is heavy). Meh, there is no perfect laptop out there right now so a compromise must be made on features that you need the least. Now when is that Intel SSD going to get the first price drop ;) ?
The $3600 price is due to it having dual 64gb SSDs in RAID configuration, very fast and very expensive option. Not all Z's are this expensive!
You can get the HDD models starting at around $2000 and always upgrade to SSD later.
I would love for Sony to add a backlit keyboard option, 54mm expresscard slot vs 34mm in their laptops, hardware media buttons, enable virtualization instead of disabling it like asstards.
And what I will kill for is a powerful external graphics card to hook up to this when I'm home on my 52" HDTV and then unplug it and take it around college otherwise.
Its a beautiful machine, but Sony also chooses to cripple it in some ways I'll never know why.
it still looks pretty big compared to the air
its probably because this one has a cd/dvd burner in it compared to the air which has none unless you buy the add on cd drive for it
in my opion sony did a good job anyway trying to compete with apple
and they arew the first one i think to actualy compete with them
Haha... Funny.. Sony has been running circles round Apple. If you like shiny laptops with lousy battries and superhot compontents then choose a Mac. If you want something useful then chose something else.
Sony compete with Apple, theres no contest, Sony have been at the forefront of Laptop design for years, Apple have only got where they are because they actually realize that people where getting bored of the boxed styled computer at the right time and wanted something that would stylize the home and not just the office (and they can thank Sony Vaio for that insight), had they not gone for looks and layout Apple would still be sitting in the back offices of publishing companies and not playing in the big wide world of extreme processing. A prime example is the iphone, Apple knows they can't compete with the likes of Microsoft so thought they'd create the iphone as a just in case we lose the PC battle. While everyone things the iphone is all that, they obviously havent used the original XDA (which i was using in 2002) which apart from looks is still packed with more features then the iphone launched 5 years later. Apple are full of illusions and so are their users, look great, work fine but have no substance of their own. Wake me when they do eventually come out with something new and original because by then we should have the technology to raise people from the dead????
Let's see some benchmarks first; current generation of SSDs are all about light/no moving parts, but the promised speed boost is pretty mediocre. SSDs, right now, aren't worth it.
I just replaced my SZ230 for this guy, without the SSD and other frills i got it for 2100. Only a couple hundered more than a macbook pro's 1999 base. And for those who would say that apple invented the 13.3" laptop, sony came out with the S-series in early '04 which was the first 13.3" laptop to market. Same with the trayless (chiclet) keyboard.
Honestly i think apple does itself a disservice by not releasing a 13" macbook pro, sony proves that there's a market for a performance laptop in that form factor, something that niether the air nor the vanilla macbook provide. I've heard it time and time again from apple users that they'd love an small pro, something like the old 12" powerbook used to provide. I work at an architecture firm and use my SZ and now Z for most of my daily tasks and its awesome to just be able to pick up and go to a meeting and know that it won't hiccup when CAD, max and photoshop are all open together.
I was thinking about this (would have to be the US edition for the bluray - who knows when they'll release it in the UK and at what price) but then the new XPS M1330 leaked out - bluray, good form factor, presumably cheaper than Sony, etc.
The Vaio SR is the EXACT same form factor, better graphics card, magnesium casing(so its 4 lbs not 3) and lacks hdmi, but is the same machine(its like the non-premium Z), and it's only $1400 starting.
The differences are
- 4lb vs. 3lb
- Eco LED X-Brite vs. DualView(hicolor) LED X-Brite
- HDMI port
- Discrete or itegrated vs. swithable graphics
- same chassis
- magnesium alloy vs. carbon fiber exterior
- same dimensions
- similar benchmark scores based on configuration
- 1400 starting vs. 3600 starting
The Z is the succesor to the Premium SZ, while the SR is the succesor the the SZ. They reviewed a unit with every single feature and highest spec. I recently purchased a SR with 2 gigs or ram P8600 CPU, Radeon hd 3470, led screen, 160 gb hd, dvd burner, office 2007, 2 year warranty with accidental damage etc etc for 1450(with a bunch of discounts), and two nice new expensive sony accesories!
That's exactly the one I want. SR looks cool in person and is actually available in Canada right now while Z I haven't seen yet. I wouldn't say $1400 is "only" but it looks as soon as you move away from the low end, prices start to increase exponentially (i.e. discrete graphics doesn't add $50 like its cost is, it adds $300-400 right off the bat, incremental increases in hard drive or memory add hundreds instead of tens etc.). And if the case is anything but cheap plastic, there's $500 extra right there.
i just bought an SR and it really suits my needs right now (and yeah, sony accesories and gift vouchers are great!). however, if you're looking for better audio quality and hooking up your giant LCD TV through HDMI then the SR isn't for you. shell out some extra benjamins and get a Z instead.
I see so many of you guys complaining about the price. I'm typing this from my own vaio-z and it costs me $2450, and I have my cpu and hdd at max config as well. It's only that expensive ($3600) if you put in blu-ray drive and ssd and we all know how ridiculously expensive they are.
btw, im loving the laptop a lot. I disagree about the comment that it's a niche product. It can be for gamers who want a very portable laptop. IMO, the screen size doesn't bother me that much, especially with HDMI output.
Oh, and I find it funny that the first paragraph talks about how this laptop shouldn't be compared to the Air. Well, what about the comparison you made last time, engadget?
Yeah, that was a mistake on my part from the outset, tried to correct it with this review. To be fair, Sony has been making the comparison itself (to the press), so I'm not completely to blame. As for the pictures, a MBA is my main machine, and the best computer I had around for a comparison shot.
Glad you're liking the Z! To be honest, I don't do much PC gaming, so I wasn't well equipped for covering that aspect of things. Crysis might've been a bit of a cop-out.
Not one comment on the name?
Now that Vaio is all grown up as a Vaio Z I suppose we can expect an attack from Freiza at any moment. . .
While this is a nice laptop I wouldn't bother upgrading me 2 plus year old sz140 to it unless it were considerably thinner. I understand that this really is a very complete laptop including the optical drive and video out (which I wouldn't buy a laptop without a built in optical drive) but it needs to be a tad thinner for me to get excited. Even if it was just a tad under 1" (e.g. .9 inch thick) I'd probably upgrade my old laptop but at this unit's thickness it wouldn't be worth it. I carry my laptop in a leather legal pad portfolio and I'd like something just a little thinner so I could include more other junk (e.g. pens, flash drive, boot cds etc.)
omg they stole the keyboard idea from the sinclair QL, kinda, spectrum for the gaps, ql for the scrabble keys.
haha im using the older version rite now
The SR is not comparable to the Z, the Z has carbon fibre casing, blu-ray burner/reader, hdmi output, hybrid graphics and a higher screen resolution.
Also, the starting price is NOT US$3600 as someone mentioned.
Plus, i am more worried with the footprint than the actual thickness of the machine.
So "part of the X300 / Envy 133 / MacBook Air / X360 club. We like it, it's a great laptop, but it's just too chubby to count as a cake cutter. So that said, there's really little point in comparing this thing to that sort of computer -- we'll just have to judge it on its own merits."
But you can compare an iPhone to a sony tv?
At least these are all laptops!!
I like big batts and I cannot lie.
You other brothers can't deny.
When a girl walks in with an itty-bitty screen
And more battery life on your flight you get
Sprung.
Wanna pull up tough
Cuz you noticed that batt was stuffed.
Deep in the "Z" she's wearing.
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring.
Oh, baby I wanna get with ya,
And (photo)shop your picture.
My fanboys tried to warn me
But that batt you got makes
Me so horny!
No way you can compare this to the MBA. With its extra thickness, I gain an optical drive, HDMI out, more USB ports, modem and ethernet ports, memory card reader, full voltage processor, dedicated graphics (though low end), removable battery, etc.
The lowest end Vaio Z starts at around the same price as the lowest end MBA as well. I'll gladly take the extra thickness for all the extra features and it has a smaller footprint as well, that is FAR more important to me than thinness and the Z is only slightly heavier than the MBA.
Well, the MBA does have multitouch touchpad which is nice.
I must say i feel sorry for people outside Japan.
I bought my sony SZ series a few months ago (very pleased).
Yes it came wiht bundles of bload ware, but it also came with a free 3 year warranty and was about the same price as a dell 1330 here.
I guess sony dont have aspirations to be a mass player with this laptop, but that doesnt mean its not a great sysem.
Yes the screen feels thin and flimsy, but actually its beautiful and i havnt had a problem traveling with it.
For me this is the perfect size for work. I can use if for gaming on the plane. I can do some design stuff at HQ when i plug it into an external monitor.
I think it has flexibility that most other ultraportables dont have.
Plus build quality and heat management are amazing... You dont hear about the nvidia problem cards falling over in Sony laptops....
Strange when they fall over in dell 1330s.... I think it all has to do with heat management....
If your ever in Japan id recommend picking up one of these gems from your local electronic retailer (especially since htey have an international warranty). Then u upgrade to wndows ultimate and change the language....
I've got to disagree with this review. I recently recieved my VGN-Z540CTO and am loving it. By far, it's the best blend of power and portability I've seen to date and unlike the reviewer, I think it's a very solid machine.
A couple points in defense of the Z before I start my own mini review:
1. $3,600 is a lot of money. But, $1,800 for a 3.5lbs Core 2 Duo machine with DVD-RW and dedicated (albeit not amazing) graphics? That's a lot more appealing. I bought mine (2.2Ghz, 2GB, 120GB) with an extended warranty for just about $1,800. Including 9% tax. (~$450 back through their campus pack and sony card intro offer).
2. There are only really about 3 materials: The aluminium that dominates the front, the keys which have the same texture at the back of the screen, and then the body. Hardly a mishmash. And as for the stickers, they are annoying, but they come right off and goo gone is safe for aluminium (I've tested it). Removing the stickers gives it a more refined look and takes about 15 minutes, plus another 5 to get all the goo off.
3. As for the crapware, it takes about 45 minutes to uninstall the crapware on there. I have not had the same experience, and even the SmartWi isn't that annoying. It's easily disabled.
4. I've seen better battery life than what they have here, but then again my model has a lower watt processor. The Stamina vs Speed mode is good for an instant 20-40 minute boost, and for whatever reason it seems like whenever I look at the battery gauge, it's always 2-3 hours left. I'm used to only an hour of battery, so for me this seems like an epoch. :)
So, my take:
Pros:
Great Power to Size Ratio. If you travel a lot, this is a great choice. It'll do whatever you want it to do and still have some tricks up its sleeve.
Very bright and pretty screen. Everything on it looks crisp and sharp and it's a very balanced size.
Built in Optical Drive. This really isn't a pro, so much as a requirement for a real non-netbook laptop. ;)
Good materials and build quality. It feels like a solid laptop and the computer itself is made in Japan. I especially like the metal on the keyboard. If you order a custom-to-order laptop, these are assembled in the United States, but the computer itself should still be Japanese. All of the standard non-customized versions that I have seen have been Japanese.
Cons:
The webcam is a dinky. Only 640x480 screams cheapest possible and I would have liked a little more. Works like a champ with skype, but again it's dinky.
A Crapware free installation requires upgrading to Vista Business and then selecting FreshStart or doing it by hand. It's about 40 minutes of hunting down AOL, and sony products and hitting the uninstall button.
It would have been neat to have a nvidia 9500M in there, or at least the 9300M G (which has more of everything) and 256MB of dedicated VRAM should be standard. That's another dinky move on Sony's part.
I think the laptop shines on its own, but comparisons are welcome (note: comparisons are for the base not the high end model):
MacBook Air: Same starting price, only 0.5lbs lighter, no optical, non-removable battery, integrated graphics, 800Mhz lower ULV processor, similar battery life (I've seen reports from 2.5-4 hours). Winner? Sony. Hands down.
MacBook Pro: $200 higher starting price, +200Mhz, +2lbs, larger screen + more resolution, 8600GT with 256B. Winner? For gaming, Apple. For operating system, Apple. For size, Sony. It's a draw since the better laptop will be based on your needs. If you don't mind carrying 40% more weight, the MBP might be a better choice (once they refresh in a month or two)
Lenovo X300: On sale now for +$110. -1.2Ghz and ULV processor, integrated graphics, equal size but higher resolution screen, optical drive, same weight (or lighter with no DVD). Winner? I'd say Sony for the stronger processor.
So, there you have it.
I own a Sony Vaio SZ and the "Z" series has been an evolution of its concept.
Sony Vaio "Z" are full notebooks (with every gizmo, from SSD to Blu Ray, to a dedicated graphic card, a full 2+Ghz processor, HDMI, 3G modem, hig-res display, optical drive, memory card reader, fingerprint recognition, a carbon fiber chassis, LED display, etc) crammed miracolously into a 13" frame and with a weight just under 1,5 Kg.
These lines of notebooks (I mean SZ and Z) are made for people who need to have a powerful, versatile and light notebook, with no compromises. (for example designers, programmers, 3d graphics, managers etc who need to travel a lot but *do need* graphic power, a great display and/or full HD compatibility and cannot carry around a giant and heavy 15-17" Dell notebook with an Nvidia Quadro inside)
In all sincerity, MacBook Air is too underpowered and unexpandable to be a model for this market. Its footprint is too big for people in need of a real ultraportable (and, believe me, when you need a small notebook, its thickness is not so relevant: what matters is its footprint).
I find this review too hurried and badly focussed on its potential market. Considering that the SZ line of notebooks is highly rated by critics and users on every of its 7 releases and considering that the Z line is its evolution, I think you should reconsider your review, which is - usually - too Apple biased.
Ok, we know iPhone and iPod redefined their relative markets, but not every Apple product achieved that. Keep this in mind and please be more balanced and prepared, next time.
A very bad review.
I don't understand why they do this! A 16:10 ratio ~13" display already has a very small screen height, so why the hell would they make it 16:9 so it's even SHORTER?? Just to watch a widescreen movie without letterboxing? It's so stupid!
what do u mean? You get a 1600x900 res compared to the normal 1200x800 on a 13 inch lap..
@Barka
Ok first of all, your numbers are not a fair comparison. A "16:10" ratio widescreen display could have 1680x1050 resolution, while the equivalent 16:9 display would have 1600x900. But the exact resolution doesn't really matter much, because I'm really talking about the physical size here.
Even though you would think that there is not much difference between a 16:10 and a 16:9 monitor, when you are talking about a display that is only 12-13" or less in diagonal size, the height of the screen is already very short. An old 12" laptop from a few years with a 4:3 display ratio actually has a taller screen than a 13.3" 16:10 widescreen laptop. And now the manufacturers are going to 16:9, which is going to make the screen even shorter! It gets hard to use when the display is so short and wide.
I'll spare you the all the math calculations to show you and just make a diagram. heres the link:
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9310/screensizeiv6.png
I'm going to try and embed it here, not sure if Engadget allows it..
[IMG]http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9310/screensizeiv6.png[/IMG]
google VGN-X505VP and see who stole what from who....... 4 years ago....
I'm reading this article on my new vgn z11 (same as above without the br and ssd) and I just love it. The thing todo with this one is a clean install, which is not the easiest thing to do for the normal user.. Also this beauty came full with stickers that was a pain to remove.. I think sony targeted it for powerusers/developers who needs mobility and the perfect screen resolution. I just came back from a trip in Dubai. Draging around my 17 inch dell laptop for two weeks in 45c. That nearly killed me. .. Now i'm looking forward for my next trip with my vaio :)
The only thing that irritates me is the touchpad, which is missing gesture support for firefox.. how is that possible 2008???
ha, im using my 1 year old SZ650N and let me tell you, this might be a better buy. sure, it doesn't offer the same amount of beauty, but it does offer the same amount of functionality at a much cheaper price (if you don't mind apple fanboy bastards scoffing at how "ugly" it is).
I would not mind buying a desktop "chiclet" keyboard.
Crappy review. Pro-MAC, anti-SONY
"plastic housing of the display" ?? you equate carbon fibre with plastic??
"certainly not strikingly beautiful" another biased comment. You probably think DELL is strikingly beautiful. Good luck.
SSD Raid? Does it fly? Can we have a video? Pretty please?
O, those Mac peoples with their "Apple is everything they needed in life" philosophy!
You can actually Ditch the SSD for traditional HDD and also purchase a lower processor to reduce cost.
For you information, It still has double the speed of the MBA or even Lenove x300.
And to the ignorant "who?", if you think MAC is the coolest "everything you need" electronic, then please dont ever come to this website, because 70-90% articles are not MAC-related. GO buy a Mac TV, go buy a MAC fridge, GO buy a MAc earphones (generic headphones). And I will go buy a Pioneer TV, an LG fridge, and Denon Headphones.
I believe in consumer having the freedom of brand selection where companies dont do anything to monopolize their consumers, MAC and Window are just shitty monopolitic companies.
But the Z has two buttons below the touchpad instead of one, which is nice, too. ;)
(I know, I know... that multitouch is pretty damned cool though...)
Perspective is an interesting thing.
Prior to my Z I owned a TZ which makes it look decidedly amateur when compared side by side. To but it more bluntly, the Z is a TZ on steroids.
The screen on the Z is more sturdy than the TZ, better designed and becaue the base ratio is heavier, it is also easier to open and close. So from my perspective I dont understand the concern the lid issues raised (pardon the pun). I like the lid, its light to open - and that screen is excellent.
I bought a japanese custom model with a botanical garden pattern on the top of it - I cant tell you how many peoples attention it has grabbed - this pc turns heads - fact. More than ones own opinion.
Complaining about stickers and programs on the pc - I found this a bit erroneous to be honest - what the reviewer missed was that Sony do have some neat programs exclusive to Vaio - the power utility for example is very good. Sony have also released a new version of its media center using the PS3/PSP cross media bar, which works much better than the old version. Out of the box there is Vaio navi which lays out and explains each program which is neat. Another thing Vaio brings is the hidden patition with software for easy system / driver recovery. Yes this is Vaio generic - but unique to Vaio all the same and a considered part of the purchase.
THe battery is a shocker - not because of the life itself, but because of how wildly innaccurte the Jeita testing results appear to be - either that or I have a dodgy battery....sadly some JP websites are also saying the same thing as i see.
That said - the battery life is ok, but not as special as my old TZ and considering mine is a 2.8ghz processor, 4gb ram (and being ddr3 its fast maxing vista at 5.9 score rating), perhaps it is understandable.
I went for 320gb HD / Blue ray - this tore me incredibly - I would have paid for ssd and blue ray given the chance - but you cant - it must be something to do with ssd ad blue ray compatability / the systems loading as opposed to space inside the machine. 128gb is not enough for me and only having a dvd drive for that screen - well it seemed to be missing the point somewhat. I als figured that some of the SSD benefit wuld be lst due to vista bottlenecking - my HD has a vista score of 5.6 vs my old tz ssd score of 5.3. SSD helped out the TZ because the processor was only 1.2ghz, but with the z its a different story. That said, this is new raid ssd - said to be 3 times faster than a 5400rpm drive. There would be some benifit - would be interesting to quantify it.
The screen is impressive - SOny boast 100% natural ntsc comparision and it is vivid. Blue ray looks very impressive indeed,
Stamina does eek a bit, but only a bit - seems more gimmicky to me.
Graphics card - well this is of course really in there because of the screen and blue ray drive. Yes, I tested crysis - its about the most intensive game out there at the moment but doesnt amount to much on the Z - mindue, the only laptops I have seen it running on are around 4kilos, so I think its more of a dream than a reality of expectation. I have PS3 in anycase and thats where my gaming lies - game junkies wont be going for this kind of notebook either. But for editing videos, its great. I did some vids in 1080p - editing end playbck did not skip a beat.
Design overall - if you love the TZ, you'll be smitten with this - brushed alluminium and carbon fibre mix works for me. I love it!
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/image/vaio_z550/z550_sz650.jpg
VAIO Z & VAIO SZ. The Z looks incredibly small compared to the SZ.
Video overview, 2.8GHz / 320GB HDD / 4GB RAM / Blu-Ray model:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6LS8bhoUF0
CrystalMark tests, 2.53GHz / 128GB RAID 0 SSD / 4GB RAM / DVD model:
http://conics.net/catalog/images/Z90/tests/
RAID bios photos:
http://conics.net/catalog/images/Z90/raid-bios/
Hi Guys
I know I m stepping into some kind of warzone here so dun shoot me yet. Juz wanna ask a Qn. I juz put the deposit down on a Z base model (upgrade to 4G Ram) but I wonder if I made a mistake by asking the shop to downgrade the OS to XP (from the Vista Business loaded by Sony). I hear so much complaints about the Vista.
Is the Screen LED or TFT.
In SIngapore it is listed as TFT:
http://www.sony.com.sg/product/vgn-z16gn
while in USA it uses LED?
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644570897&parentCategoryId=16154
In Canada, it doesn't says...
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=100051&storeId=20153&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665515824
I somwhow disagree with the reviewer's several comments. I think it is a GREAT laptop that many professionals will like. Here are the srengths as I see it:
1) light 3.4 pounds. All the other laptop with 13.3 screen will be at least 0.5 pounds heavier. The weight is very important. Once i used panasonic y7 (14" lcd) wth 3.5 pounds, I can go back to anything above 4 lb.
2) powerful CPU. Ibought the 570N, 2.5 GHz 6MB cache. Lighting fast! I paid a little over $2k at amazon (without blue-ray drive). You can get 530 for much less, and still a powerful 2.4 GHz. I used to though vista is slow, but with this laptop, things begin to feel like they used to be on windows XP. One example, I used acorbat professional's ORC quite bit, and it just fly on this laptop.
3) battery life is amazing. I use the onbaord video most of the time (stamina). I typicall use it for writing (Word, Powerpoint), with a few PDF open, a browse with few tab, and outlook running of course with wifi on. My battery indicator will show over 6 hr remaining at 95%, 3 hr at 50%. And this is the STANDARD battery. I also have the extended, I can easily squeeze over 9 hr out that (with a weight of 3.9 lb). This beats evey other laptop I have, which include thinkpad, toshiba, panasonic, and macbook pro 15". the battery life seemed improved after few weeks of use. The LED definetly helped. It is so bright that you have to dialed it down and at the same time save the power.
4) I love the speed switch. Sometime I need the discrete card for endering 3d images. I also believe you can or will be able to program on this little card with cuda (i.e. your program will run on the GPU instead of the CPU)!
5) keyboard is great, peripharals are plenty. Haven't try the HDMI.
6) This is my frst 13". I have worked on 11, 12, 14 and 15" screens. the 15" is obvioulsy most enjoyable but the 13 widscreen is definetly usable. I can work on it for hrs without haing the stress I would get from 11 and 12 ones.
The only thing I am not comfortable with is the construction materials feels fragile, as the reviewer pointed out. Especially the LED hinge feels like it can use some reinforcement. Although I don't know how strong it actually is and I won't test its limit. One drwaback of outstanding partaility is now I always take the laptop with me and I keep bumping it into things. So far nothing is broken.
I have no tie with sony whatsoever and this is my first sont computer. I'll have to say the weakness is the OS. The bloatware doesn't bother me. I went to control panel and deleted things I won't use as soon as I booted it thefirst time. It is the vista stability and compatiablity with other software and driver that annoys me. It didn't help that I installed a dozen softwaare I need to use often. I had to find a tuneup software to fix registry etc to make the it runs smoothly. Occasionally it still has trouble going into sleep when it supposed to and I think it was related to the hardware drivers. This is however likely to be the case with any other laptop that has vista. My thinkpad x61t is awefully slow with vista, takes 5 minutes to boot into a workable stage. So when it works as it should I think this is the best latop in the world and I will recommend it to anyone wants portability, long battery life, build-in optical drive and a _fast_ machine. When I had to hard reset it, I just wished it has another OS on it. XP may not be an option since you will loose some adnvanced features and gives worse battery life (based on sony website). Intalling linux or osx you will definitely have trobule with certain hardware, and loose some of my favorite sofwtare.
Update: I finaly got fed up with errors and crashes I keep getting so I upgraded to vista ultimate. It took a couple of hours but all my previously installed software still works. Since upgrade the system has been _very_ stable after 3 days of heavy use. No more rundll error. File explorer hasn't crash once. It goes into sleep without any problem. I do suggest others to consider this option if you have trouble with the OS. Now I can say this is one of the best laptops with confidence.
I love it. So light, sexy and keyboard and screena re dreams. I came form a 15.4 early 2008 macbook pro. Never again will I leave windows, or carry around something as ridiculously heavy as a Mac. I love the look of Macs too, but they are not portables... more like moveables. Each to their own, and on the downside this thing cost me an arm and a leg, and the free case doesnt fit it.
Bullshit from SOny.
I have kept Vista, it works very well man, better than a dell XPS 730 with windows ultimate (i.e. it runs flawless with Vista)