Dumping Lenovo T410s for Sony Vaio Z

I've been a big fan of Lenovo laptops for a long time. The Dell that I have is complete junk and my T61 has really aged.

I was about the pull the trigger on the T410s but bye-bye Lenovo...Sony's new Z series ultra portable has everything I feel the T410s should be offering.

A huge incentive with going Lenovo is their occasional discounts of an amazing 35% off on only certain models. But the Z is easily a bargain compared to an equivalent X201s or (at best) configured X301 which are rarely discounted.

THANK YOU SONY!

Here are some of the configurable options for the models currently:

Vaio Z: $2,049.00
i5-540M 2.53GHz (optional i7-620M 2.66GHz)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
13.1" 1600 x 900 LED
Intel GMA HD and Nvidia GeForce GT 330M
4GB (1x4GB) max 2x4GB
128GB SSD with RAID 0 technology (optional 2 drives for max 512GB in the HDD bay)
DVD R (optional Blu-ray player/burner)
6 cell battery (optional 9 cell)
weight: 3.07 lbs

T410s: $1,864.00
i5-520M 2.40GHz
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
14.1" 1440×900 LED
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD
4GB (2x2GB) max 2x4GB
128 GB SSD
DVD R Ultrabay Slim
6 cell battery
weight: 3.9 lbs

 

use what you have to use.... but most people whom buy Thinkpads aren't just looking for just features, they want robustness in their laptop, which the Sony laptop does not offer in abundance.

There is a reason why no large corporation use Sony laptops.... and there is also a reason why Sony is not a tier one laptop company.

 

I would hardly consider the laptops you mentioned to even be in the same market of users. But hope you're happy with whatever you pick.

 

Dude, that's almost the exact configuration I purchased (exception, I got the smaller Intel SSD) for under $1500 - that price is jacked. I fail to see the comparison let alone what makes the Vaio better... but as others have said, get and enjoy what you want.

 

I have the exact configuration with the 80GB SSD from Intel, I payed $1301CAD(tax included) last week on that 35% discount. $750 difference is quite substantial ihmo.

p.s. Canadian prices are always jacked compared to US, I'm pretty sure you can find an even better deal in the US.

Also yeah I've been to quite a few company labs (CISCO,IBM,etc) and they all use ThinkPads.

 

Sony Issues:

- no confirmed trim on the SSD is a pretty significant concern. I have followed the owners thread since day 1 and there is no definite answer yet.
- I consistently hear horror stories of Sony repairs/service.
- Fan seems to spin up pretty quickly. Then again so would the T410s if it had a 330M in it

Having said all that I do admire the new Z series. It looks well built and has astonishing performance for its size.

 

Semi-Business Laptop vs Hard Core Business Laptop.

 

I considered the sony Z but the ultra-thin lid scares me.

 

Vaio Z is high end quality.

I tested one at my local store and i would buy one if the price didn't scare me.

If i had the money i would buy it with no hesitation, the screen is gorgeous.

 

I owned a Sony Z—and will never make that mistake again (though the screen was great). While nicely built, compared to my T400 its fan was VERY loud and came on VERY often, the machine often got very hot, Sony provided VERY poor support when it came to regular driver updates, the hardware was VERY proprietary (and, as such, poorly supported by the open source folks) and very little on that machine was easily field replaceable. Regardless, enjoy your new pseudo-business Sony eye candy!

 

Plastic palmrest raised insert and the fake carbon cover also irk me. Oh it has a billet ALU keyboard bezel/top plate. Big deal. I wouldnt say the Sonys materials are better than the CFRP, GFRP and Magnesium of the T410s.

The big plus of the Sony is the the 1080p wide gamut screen. However at that screen size its not that useful even with scaled fonts. If you go with the 1600 by 900 screen I hear it isnt nearly as good. The T510/W510 screen seems to be as good as the top spec sony screen but then it is on 4 week plus backorder...

 

Ok, i am a Lenovo fanboy from day one but i am reasonable too. I actually like this Sony Vaio Z laptop. i think it is a very nice looking laptop with lots of power in such small form factor. I saw some photos of the interior of sony Z, they are very well made but not as bangproof as thinkpad. So, handle with care. And come back to Lenovo forum sometime, we can still be friends.

cheers

 

Too bad Lenovo didn't deliver a T410s configuration with discrete graphics. This I sure would have snagged one by now, especially with the recent discounts specials and also having waited nearly 8 months when I opted to delay my T400s purchase in hopes of a more graphics powered T410s dream.

But to point out some other things I like about the Z: HDMI out, backlit keyboard, 9 cell battery, and both expresscard and sd/mspd card slots (unlike T410s where the expresscard slot can either be empty or house the sd/mmc adapter). As well on the Z the DVD drive doesn't need to be sacrificed to house a 2nd HDD. All of this plus a slightly more compact size and weight savings (~0.83 lbs) makes me easily forego the higher price of the Z.

Yep, Sony got everything right this time with the Z, including not using the nVidia Optimus switch but rather a manual switch for the discrete graphics so the system doesn't choose when to waste precious battery power.

 

I held a new Z series premium today and played around with it for about 5 mins. It didnt blow me away. I would rather have a Z over a T410s but not over a maxxed out T510. Depends what you need it for.

 

Lol.. That is what I thought when I first saw it this week at the Sony shop. It really does look nice and the screen is eye candy.

 

BTW: the SSDs in the SONY are not swappable.
Those a custom SSDs, thus the Quad-RAID or whatever the marketing name for this is.

I used a SZ for 3 years - wasn't bad at all.
But battery died after 2 years.

 

From the Lenovo website in the T410s section at http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...1A03AF24034A0011B825513BCED&tabname=TechSpecs

Graphics
Integrated Intel® 5
NVIDIA® switchable NVS3100M 512MB

 

yeh the sony z is nice but i can guarantee it'll get hot and overheat whilst the t410s will remain cool thru any sort of use.

guaranteed.

 

You can't actually buy it with discrete graphics though

 

Yet. I am no hurry.

 

at least at web site where I can purchase Sony Z they say it has 3 year of guarantee, as far as I can see T410s gives only one year. Why potentially problems should bother user when they buy Sony Z ? These are Lenovo users who should care about it.

I have not had a chance to take look at the new Sony Z, prev. generation looked not strong enough, but screen ! that what everybody should see. It is gorgeous. Starting from new generation Sony has started using matte screens. I have seen the new F serie equipped with 1900x10xx screen It is fabulous screen guys ! Lenovo and T400s in particular has terrible screens.

 

Sure, most of us will admit that the main downside of a Thinkpad is the screen selection.

 

Not true, during checkout Lenovo will give you a whole load of options for warranty, anything from one year bring-in to 3 year on-site+accidental damage is available.

 

3-year Onsite Warranty for TP is less than 300 so the TP is still cheaper However, the Sony Z is one powerful sexy babe if you can live with the price and the potential overheating issues.

 

I don't argue if it is possible to have 3y for Lenovo, but everywhere I have seen new Sony Z it was available with 3y by default. This fact was mentioned in a context if the laptop reliability.

I would say FZ (15 inches) was deadly silent and cool laptop. I have not used Z serie, but at least nobody from my college had complains regarding overheating problem. Mostly they did't like vent noise.

 

I used to own a 13" Z series and I couldn't place the laptop on my lap over 30 minutes. The laptop looks nice and comes with great specs but the built quality can't compare to the ThinkPad. That was 4 years ago so thing might have change since then.

 

Lenovo has 3 warranties if you buy preconfiged orders with it too. You just have more options now-a-days where to purchase.

 

I must say that BinkNR is right. Fan is loud (compared to the mac and lenovos), but what I did not care for was the build quality. It seemed too good to be true for such a light and thin laptop to be sturdy, but fair or not, I would find myself treating the Z with kid gloves.

 

It is too bad the T410s doesn't come with a higher resolution screens, 1600x900 (or 1680x1050) would be awesome. I actually spent some time checking out the VAIO Z recently. Here are some of the things that made me decide to wait for the T410s with switchable graphics:

1. No dual pointing devices on the VAIO Z. Dual pointing is pretty much a mandatory requirement on my main laptop as I use the tracking stick frequently and like to switch between the two for ergonomics.

2. Lamed-down keyboard on the VAIO Z. I like having dedicated keys for Page Up, Page Down, Home, End etc.

3. Thinkpads are generally well-supported by Linux distros. I will not buy a laptop if I can't get one of my favorite distros running properly on it. I don't know how well the VAIO Z is / will be supported.

4. Less rugged. Correct me if i'm wrong, but my hunch is that the T410s is a lot more rugged.

The VAIO Z is definitely interesting, but not having the dual-pointing devices is a deal breaker for me. Might be good as a secondary laptop for coffee shops and while on the road, but it is too expensive and I already have a Macbook for that.

 

Sony is by no means a supporter of open source or making things easy software wise...haha.

 

imo it comes down to usage. i see lots of people/friends with sony notebooks, but those people handle their notebooks like a treasure/baby. i rather just pick it up, use it 24/7 and don't worry if it's in my backpack while riding my bike down the street.

nobody i know, who uses it like that, has a sony^^. but i admit i think, it's rather because they are kinda expensive.

good luck with it tough. it does look stylish.

 

This thread is pretty ridiculous: people are mentioning overheating issues for a laptop they haven't tried - well that's nice. But even more disturbing is that people are slamming the build quality - I've owned and seen many ThinkPads up until the T400-series. I've SEEN the build quality decline rapidly over the years - yet people keep spouting top-notch build quality for the ThinkPad brand - that is simply wrong. Nowadays ThinkPads have an occasionally-flexy, only above-average build quality (though the rollcage... is still great), bad/slow driver support and bottom-of-the-barrel panels. On the plus side - very good heat management, decent price after discounts, keyboard is usually pretty great. But it's just nowhere near the king that it used to be.

By the way - I typed this on a T400.

 

I think we have to wait before time says how well the new Sony Z and T410s are.

PS:
may be we should create special thread - "handyman" - where we can try to collect information how to replace bloody Lenovo LCDs with proper one and other very-technical information

 

T410 on sale now...$919.00.

USPSTPATRICKSDAY code gets you another bit off, which is $873.00.

 

Too bad that this thread is about T410s. Hint: The added "s" is not because its a plural.

 

I have to admit that this confused me at first when I started looking at the Lenovo range earlier this year. They could have made that less confusing!!!

 

Well, I dumped the z and just ordered a t410s. The z was rather nice, but some painful mistakes on sony's part. The SSD cannot be upgraded later on, no matter what. It's a custom developed drive /connectors, but even worse you can't just add another chip to it. Each chip is designed individually, so a 4-drive raid 0 vs a 1-drive is two separate chips, and you cannot just buy another "drive" even from Sony and upgrade. In fact you'll have to order a totally new drive and pretty much trash the one you have since they don't stack.

The maximum resolution of an external monitor is 1920x1080. Even if you buy a docking station it's still 1920x1080, and even worse, you cannot have dual monitors (only one connector can be used at a time). So if you have 24, 27, 30" monitors, tough luck.

And the fan whiiiineeesss on that thing. Even when slowly spinning, something about it's design makes it louder than it actually turns.

Anyway just my two cents.

 

Sony isn't exactly known for letting users do what they want with their devices.

 

hahaha, never have been and never will!

 

Truth be told, I bought a X201 instead lol

After mulling over a few months, I just couldn't justify the +$2000 price of the Z cto I wanted, but with a sweet 35% discount promo it was easy to jump on a X201 cto with i5-540, 4GB, 500GB, Win7 Pro 64, all the other bells and whistles...for $978. I figured with the savings, I could just buy a 2nd laptop for gaming like the Sony F series.

Yes, agreed on the proprietary SSD in the Z and no option to upgrade stinks but the Sony still imho is a beautifully crafted marvel. But for me it comes down to the $ so the fact that there never are any good sale discounts (even on clearence models) makes them a little hard to bite.

Hehe, good times...

Cheers.

 

I'm also interested in the Z.

Could explain your issues with the SDD a little simpler? (Sounds kinda confusing)

 

T410s: $1,864.00??

I recently ordered one with these specs for around $1550 (with 20% + 10% from Bing):
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Windows 7 Professional 64
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight
NVidia NVS Switchable Graphics
4 GB DDR3 RAM
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Integrated Camera
128 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
3-1 Media Card Reader
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Bluetooth w/ antenna
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN)

 

The only thing that Z beats T is the screen. That's all.

 

I would say the Z beats the T in every possible way except:

T has ultrabay expansion
T build quality/magnesium/glasscarbon material
...and subjectively, looks.

That's all.

There's a reason why the Z has won a slew of awards or "editor picks" from reputable computer/laptop magazines/sites etc. If you've got the money, the Z is the best there is.

 

BriS2k,
i am potentially looking for something that could be an alternative for t140s.
Now your contribution here is interesting to me.
I love the t410s except of one thing (the screen is bad too, but it doesn't bother me too much): CPU whining. I've had issues with this before and had to return the computer to Lenovo. NOw I know that other uses have experienced the same high pitch noise on t400, t510, t410s. Seems that it' s a design flaw.
Now someone has said that the fan is running constantly on your Viao and also that it's loud. Could you address that? How loud is the machine, how hot does it get? I am very particular about sounds and want something that is really quiet.

 

I don't own a Z11, but in my time of use I didn't hear any fan noise at all. There are lots of comments about noise/heat in the SOny forum...here's one user's comments. Good luck

 

Re: CPU whine - http://forum.notebookreview.com/6205581-post32.html

 

This thread is originally about the Z vs T410s with integrated graphics - or rather how Lenovo missed the ball on releasing a discrete model originally as promised/planned....and the fact that nobody at the time was certain if switchable graphics was even on their road map anymore. Sony delivered with their ace ultra portable and sales/popularity have since gone through the roof.

But now that the T410s w/ discrete graphics is available (actually not quite yet in Canada but should be soon), personally I would without hesitation buy this over the Z. Not because it's a better laptop (imo the Z is superior in almost every way and is one damn sexy machine) but the amazing value and qualities that Thinkpads offer and Lenovo's very persistent discount promotions (we often get 20-30% off or on occassion 35%) really makes the T an absolute superstar.

Anyways, just my 2 cents for those considering either laptops.

Cheers

 

T410s offers consistent performance and qualities that you would expect from Thinkpads. Sony design is all about the looks and pure performance.... design consistency is not top of their list....

 

Sony in that Z11 does provide the screen quality that one should expect of Lenovo - and Lenovo refuses to provide in the T410s. It's not just about prettiness. Moreover, putting what Sony did in a 3lb package is a an industrial design feat and not just prettiness. And in fact, Sony has been delivering that sort of industry-leading product in ultraportables for a couple decades. I'd call that design consistency.

Are the Sonys the most durable in the world? No. But on the other hand they are more durable than their reputation - and at least are are not selling you a $1800 "premium" laptop with a netbook-quality screen as Lenovo does.