Sony VAIO Z Review Discussion

For me the top end of the brightness settings on this Z12 makes my eyeballs hurt. I cant imagine wanting more brightness than this. I keep it at about the 50% mark or one notch more.

 

For those who complain about how the laptop manufacturers don't listen to their desires for a powerful machine in a small, light form factor, complain no more! Your prayers have been answered!

Of course, the only problem is that it costs a lot more than any rationale, sane human would pay for a laptop that will lose its cutting edge competitiveness in 2 year's time.

But then again, some people DO have money to burn.

 

Wellhave just passed my VGN SZ71VN to my wife.. and bought a VPCZ12X with i5 540m and 8gb with 1920x1080 screen due in 2 weeks

 

I'm debating in ordering the 1080p or the 1600x900... can someone with the 1080 comment on the comfort level of the screen? It seems quite a resolution for a small screen. Can you read comfortably?

Also, any comments on the noise level. Is this notebook completely quiet or you can hear the fan running? The article mentions that is very quiet, but I would like some confirmation as I just returned a i5 notebook (R700) because I couldn't deal with the noise...

 

(You might get more responses in the Sony forum. Quite a few people have asked those questions )

For me, the 1080 cannot be used consistently for long (days) periods of time. The good news is that I can increase the Windows font size and so it's okay. Also, programs like Firefox allows on-the-fly font adjustment, that helps too.

The Z has different power management modes. In Silent mode, the machine throttles the CPU (and perhaps also the GPU) so that less heat is produced and the fans don't have to spin as much. As a result, I can't hear the fans during normal (low) load.

At high load, under Performance, the fan goes wild. Then again, usually I have my headphones plugged in (e.g. gaming), so it didn't matter. I don't think there's an equal performance laptop that doesn't make as much noise as the Z.

 

NOISE
I’m pretty picky on noise and in my experience with the i5 520 version of the Z12, I have been satisfied in two months so far – but not that this is because I don’t need much power – I really got the laptop for the screen resolution and lightness, not for power.
In “stamina mode” its not possible for me to heat the laptop at all. In “speed” mode however, yes it’s very loud. If I had to use this laptop in speed mode 100% of the time, I would return it. That said, I have not experienced any other i5 or i7 laptop before. I don’t know if they all produce this much heat/noise. But I have owned a Dell XPS M1330 with 2.6ghz T9500 CPU and felt that was a quiet laptop. The Z when unleashed is much louder.
So I’d say only get this laptop if you think it is fast enough in stamina more. Which for me it sure is – it’s the fastest laptop I’ve ever had, especially with the SSD.

SCREEN RESOLUTION
I have the 1600 x 900 and frankly I do often have to scale the fonts bigger when reading the internet. Personally, I cant imagine what I’d do with the 1920 x 1080 screen at this size, unless maybe I was doing a lot of spread sheets or something. So if there was any question on this front, I’d avoid the 1920 x 1080 unless you have seen it yourself in-store and confirmed that you can handle it.

 

Does anyone have a link to show all the Vaio Z models for comparison?

Best Buy has model VPCZ12LGX/B but the Sony website only shows data for VPCZ122GX/B. Fry's has the latter model & VPCZ112GX/S, which is an older model.

I assume the BB model may be an older model since it won't come up on the Sony website either.

There's $200 difference between the Z122GX/B & the other models but the features seem to be the same.

Thx

 

There is not a good complete list, although you can find a lot of the retail models in here:
Sony | For Business | Z Series

It does not include BB's Z12L model, which has i5-430m CPU instead of i5-520m in Z122.

FYI, this is how Sony Z model number work:

Z12 2 G X/ B

Z12: First refreshed Z, the first released models are Z11 and you will see Z13 soon.

2: Index number for different CPU/RAM/SSD/WWAN/DisplayResolution. 1-9 and A-Z, and then 90 for CTO

G: Windows 7 version. G is Pro, H is Ultimate, not sure about Home Premium.

X: Region code, X is either US or North America.

B: Lid color option. B is black, S is silver, X is premium carbon, and XQ is glossy premium carbon.

 

I'm confused, does the Z come with a TPM chip or not? I've heard different things.

 

The latest one (Z13) supposedly come with TPM (in US). TPM seems to be available all along in earlier models in Europe & Asia.

 

what is the dimensions/weight difference between the included power adapter and the optional slim adaptor that sony offers? anyone know any power adaptor that takes up less volume than the slim adaptor?

 

I think the slim adapter is not much smaller than the normal one. There are some reviews about that on the Sony website.

 

Very nice laptop. Thanks for the review. Probably will pick one of these up for work. It really does pack a lot into such a small laptop and is totally worth the price. Just wish it had a esata port, or usb3. But no biggy as it does have expresscard so in a pinch..

 

Hello!
I am choosing between MBP 15 and Vaio Z right now and would like to ask the owners of the latter:
1) When Vaio Z is closed and on the way - does the screen touch the keyboard? I had once Vaio Z (it was the very first model of 2008) and it had that problem. I had to use some kind of laying between the screen and keyboard. Is it still actual for the new models of Vaio Z?

2) I also had really bad experience with quick self-discharge of the battery. I left the notebook in sleep/atnd-by mode for 2-3 days - and the battery was discharged drastically. I have HP and Lenovo notebooks as well - but they don't have such problems and loose maximum 5-10% of the battery during such period. Is it also fixed on new models of Vaio Z?

3) I would like to here from the owners themselves (rather then from the tests) about the gaming experience.. F.e. how Crysis, Oblivion, Unreal Tournament3 or other such games are running on it.

I would be very grateful for a feedback/answers - since these questions are rather important while choosing between MBP and Vaio. And this choice is very tough))

 

The Sony and the MBP have the same cpu and gpu combo. I think you need to see if you desire battery life, and size with host of features or do you want a larger trendier machine?

 

If you don't get a response about any of your questions here try the Sony forum on this board.

This is also the Z owners thread.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-z-i5-i7-official-owners-thread-part-2-a.html

You can run a search within a thread also.

 

Thanks for the answer. I want light machine, with maximum performance + matte screen. Vaio Z is the best option here.. But I had one, and it brought me lots of troubles. Most of them were software-related. Vista is so buggy. Besides, vaio's problems with battery and screen increased my discontent with Vaio.

MBP is better in this matter: excellent OS + very good battery performance.. But everything else (HW performance, weight) suffers..

Therefore I decided to stay with Sony, provided that all that problems, I described I fixed in new versions of it

 

Thanks for a link. I'll look through it

 

is there a 14" version? 13" is too small for me but i love these specs