2010 MBP 13 dates Vaio Z11 - side by side snaps

Here is meet up of MBP 13-2010 2.4Ghz (mine) with its big buddy Vaio Z11 (my buddy Tim). There is not much technical comparison here but just physical aspects if you want to see both units side by side.

People compalining about Z11 screen being inferior to MBP screen can get side by side look and decide.


Here is keyboard comparison shot, both have similar keyboard with Z11 keys being spaced little bit wider but trackpad size on MBP is bigger compared to Z11.


Here is side by side top comparison MBP has Speck shield case on and hence it looks glossy but both are excellent build quality.


Here is shot from side not much to say, but one thing noticable is more ergonomic slide on Z11 whereas MBP is flat design, probably because of design constraint


Here is top comparison, MBP feels little bit bigger comared to Z11.


I think both are great machines but if you want desktop replacement in 13" form factor there is no alternative to Z11 (unless you want only OSX) - provided you've that kind of money to spend. I think both companies are doing great and I'd love to see more great products from both companies. Because of this 2 innovative companies we will enjoy more great products, Competition brings best Monopoly kills....

 

Thanks for the pics! Very helpful!

The Sony Z would be on the VERY top of my list if price wasn't an issue.

 

Does that phone actually work?

 

Interesting you asked but yes it works -

 

As the owner of the Z11 in the pictures, I feel compelled to make the following comments:

1. The screen brightness of the 2 machines isn't synchronized. Both use a light sensor to automatically adjust brightness based upon ambient lighting. We did not turn that sensor off nor set both displays to maximum brightness (which is blinding, IMHO, on both machines).
2. It is AMAZING how similar both machines look. Especially the displays and keyboards. It looks as if the same design team could have created both designs.
3. The Mac Book Pro was set to have the keyboard always backlit; the Z11 was not.
4. The keys of the Mac Book appear slightly more smushed together (less spacing between them) than the Z11. Interestingly, the characters printed on the keys themselves are also smaller on the Apple.
5. The weight difference (which can't be represented in photos) between the 2 machines is noticeable, with the Z11 being a bit lighter.
6. The Apple has a clear plastic shell protector installed, which accounts for the extra gloss.
7. The Mac Book has no (raised) palm rest at all. The Z11 has one, though made of painted plastic.
8. The Mac book has no:
   
   • Fingerprint reader
   • TPM
   • Integrated broadband
   • Integrated GPS

   ​

That said, from a side by side appearance perspective, it really is amazing how similar they look...which makes me wonder why some are so adamant about preferring the look of one over the other.

 

I guess you can say they look similar in the same way that Randy and Dennis Quaid do.

 

The only similarities I see are the colours and the keyboard, and it ends there. The MBP is a lot cleaner looking, doesn't have buttons and useless junk all over the place, which I like. But what ever floats your boat.

 

Uhh....yeah. Right. No, not really.

Try to keep in mind that this is a visual comparison. I would agree in terms of content/features/functionality that your analogy is true. However, it is self-evident (in the color of the pixels of the photos themselves) that they have a very similar color scheme design and display quality. Indeed, it's not until the side view of them stacked on top of one another that they part company in a significant way.

To make it more concrete (and less analogy-driven - lest someone dig up a picture of Madonna from the early 80's and compares it to a picture of her from this year), I find the following visual aspects of them to be the same/similar:

1. Outer shell is silver
2. "Chicklet" keyboard keys
3. Black keyboard keys
4. Display quality (with the same picture displayed, the color representation is nearly identical)
5. Desktop footprint (top-down view), though the Mac Book takes up more countertop space
6. Display framing, down to the outer silver lid shell with an inner black inset frame
7. Backlit keyboard, both with ambient light sensors

Does that mean they're identical? Of course not, but at-a-glance there are definate visual similarities. Granted, those similarities are only visual, as they diverge dramatically when it comes to speed, functionality, and display resolution.

 

yes one is more powerful compared to other in terms of pure spec-to-spec comparison in 13" form factor. Unfortunately for this year Apple is not getting onto Core i processor boat for monetary reasons in 13" form factor, otherwise it would have been real good comparison.

 

Really guys, the shape is different, the texture of the case is different, the palm rest is different, the touch pad is different, the size is different, the buttons are different, the building materials are different and the hinge is different. Just because they have a similar color (not even the same shade or texture), have displays which could be considered close in quality and chicklet keys doesn't mean anyone would think the same team designed them. I can throw a Rolls Royce kit on a VW Bug to make it look similar but I don't think anyone would confuse it as being built by the same team.



By the way, why the change from looks to specs suddenly?

 

^ brah, the Vaio Z would run circles around the MBP 13". it's got the power of a 15"/17" in it, a faster HDD, 1920x1080 screen, AND good battery life too.

vaio Z is awesomesauce if you want 13". it's "magical".

 

The Sony isn't bad looking either, my only problem was saying it looked similar to a MBP.

 

But the Sony seems to have the top half inch of its screen missing, that stupid 16/9 ratio again. At least the Mac has a more sensible ratio, and overall it just looks more solid.

 

Opened, I like the looks of the Macbook.

Closed, I like the looks of the Sony.

The raised palm rest is negated by the recessed keyboard of the Macbook

Powerwise, no competition. Sony is also smaller and lighter.

I still find the corners of the Macbooks uncomfortable for palms/arms down typing. They tend to bite into your wrists/forearms. Nowhere near on the level of the M6400/M6500's from Dell (painful), but still noticeable.

Trackpad size definitely goes to the Macbook.

There's a lot both companies could learn/bite off of each other.

It is a preference thing, but I actually prefer the widescreen now over traditional. Not that I'd turn down a traditional nor is it a deal maker/breaker, but still.

 

Bah~ For the price of the Sony Vaio Z11, I'd rather just pick up a 15" macbook pro i5/i7.

 

Funny you will be lugging around bigger machine and still cannot match spec-to-spec what Z11 offers in 13" form factor.

 

In the 13inch range, the Z really comes out on top. But it and the 13inch MBP are in very different price ranges. The Z is a little overpriced because its simply the best. But I also feel Apple could of done a lot better with the 13inch mac, but its a mac... for $1000. Its going to sell. I personally would only go with the 15 or 17inch though, and if you need a 13inch laptop and have the $1900 the Z is the better machine, OS X aside of course.

 

What do you mean? Both the 15" and the Z11 has the same specs. Same gpu and cpu pretty much. IMO the 15" mbp wins because it has a far superior operating system and superior multitouch trackpad.

The Z11 looks like a fake a$$ macbook pro. LOL.

 

I just dont get the logic, for $1900 you can get the same specs as on the $1900 Sony Vaio Z11 machine but with OSX + the multitouch trackpad, aluminum case, macbook pro also has the backlit keys as well while you get a bigger screen and the ability to get an antiglare hi resolution option for $50 bucks more!

Actually with student discount the 15" mbp goes from $1799 to $1699 with tax its $1839 if you add the antiglare hi resolution model its just $50 more and with tax it'll bump you up to a total of $1893

I just see this as a no brainer.

Also is it only me that notices that the z11 looks like a fake a$$ version of a macbook pro unibody??

Well imitation is the highest form of flattery.

 

Um... there is no 13inch macbook pro with the specs of the vaio z...
Also if I remember correctly Sony actually starting using chick-let keyboards and the aluminum before Apple did. Apple did unibody though. Design wise they both are very attractive and both are really good brand names. The vaio is simply in another price range. Its pretty much THE best consumer 13inch laptop.

 

IMO the 1920x1080 is too high of a resolution in such a small screen. Even on the 17" mbp with the 1920 x 1200 sometimes is too much for me as I'm always leaning over to read or making fonts much bigger than it should be so that I can see or else I'd go blind from squinting.

 

You can increase the font size in windows 7... 1920x1080 is stunning on 13inches...

 

How is it overpriced? Its list is $100 more than a 15" MBP base model and matches it on GPU/CPU/RAM but the Sony throws in a 128GB SSD which is a $300 option on the 15" MBP not to mention the Sony comes in at 1/2 the weight. The Sony also has a high res 1600x900 screen and 4X the video RAM of the base Macbook 15"? Option out the Sony and things get expensive but the base model is an absolute beast for a sub 2k pricepoint. Don't forget the 2.66 13" MBP w/ SSD costs the same with measurably worse spec and 50% more weight.

Base model for 1799 at Newegg = price parity w/ 15" MBP w/o special sale:
Newegg.com - SONY VAIO Z Series VPCZ112GX/S NoteBook Intel Core i5 520M(2.40GHz) 13.1" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 128GB SSD HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M + Intel GMA HD

If I was in need of a strong ultraportable 13", there's nothing else in the category that comes close. Unfortunately my company finally gave me a T400 2.53 (from a R51 Celeron 1.3?) which is powerful enough that I don't plan on hauling a 2nd laptop for personal use. So now my Adamo 13 is going to my parents and I ordered my g/f the Vaio E (i3/1080p/bluray/5470 - coconut white) since she really wanted a home based machine w/ number pad and my Mac Mini didn't cut it w/ her work software so its going on CL till I find a reason to buy another Mac. Her netbook refresh will have to wait till something compelling to replace her Wind and I'm ordering a pair of HTC Evo's now that the iPhone 4 didn't change the game.

 

True, there are a lot of notebooks that offer similar specs for less, but none that come close to the size and weight of the vaio. The vaio z is one of kind in which case theres nothing really to compare it to, its just expensive compared to even the macbooks.

 

Dont get me wrong, I still find the vaio z11 very appealing. I also love sony notebooks and it seems that most apple lovers love vaios as well, coincidence?

The screen quality is what caught me on one of the youtube videos that I found for the Vaio z11 BUT I wished it was priced lower. If it was around the $1499/$1599 mark I'd might bite, hell even take the SSD drive out and knock off $300 I'd might consider one.

If I can get a slower version of the Z11 at around $1200 that'll be even better, I'd just run hackint0sh on it as it supports the exact same cpu/gpu combination. It'll be easy to install retail snow leopard on this thing.

But to me for $2k, I'd just rather get the 15" macbook pro with the hi resolution antiglare screen.

 

I really doubt if you really post something valuable in the previous 1100 posts that you have. I didn't post anything valuable personnaly , but I dont make no brain post like this.

Back to the thread, as a fromer owner of the MBP and VAIO Z for a while, I really prefer the VAIO Z screen quality but having the screen resolution in such a small screen size, I don't find it convenience to spend times on it.

 

Well I guess my 1100 no brain post against your 1899.

The only Sony Vaio that I've ever owned was a Sony Vaio TZ model when it first released. At that time I owned the 17" hi resolution first generation LED backlit macbook pro and always compared the two. I know you cant compare a 17" notebook to a 11" but I do agree that the x-black 11" screen did look better than the 17" mbp at the time.

I'm not arguing if the screen on that vaio z is better or not (imho each have their strengths against the hi resolution antiglare from the 15" macbook pro which looks just as nice) but I'm saying for that price I would rather choose the machine with the multitouch trackpad and OSX that works phenomenally better.

 

well, this is a better said with softer voice than 2 posts that you had. But like everyone in this forum know OS X vs. Windows is an endless battle and we are trying to get away from it

 

Well all I know is that if OSX could be installed on any PC natively, well see the market shift VERY fast.

Either way, the 15" mbp can install windows7/vista/xp so it looks like the win win situation to me.

 

IMHO...

Although the Z11 is the closest thing to perfection out there for ultraportable hardware with serious power...

The truly perfect 13" notebook would be have:

1. The weight (or lack of it) of the Z11
2. The trackpad of the MacBook
3. The display of either one of them (they both have about the same quality)
4. The keyboard of either the MacBook or the Z11
5. The palm rest of the Z11 (or a better, not painted plastic version of it)
6. The power of the Z11 (with its SSD and i540M Intel processor)
7. The dedicated graphics memory of the Z11 (1GB)
8. A switchable graphics option to be able to choose between speed or power-saving (I like the Z11's, but it doesn't have to be that specific implementation); I want to be able to choose what mode I run in - - i.e., NOT Optimus
9. The ability to install either OS (OSX or Win7). I'm not talking about in a virtual environment, either. I want to be able to choose whether to run OSX natively or Win7 natively (with no other OS installed).

That's what would be perfect for me. My own needs (power in the smallest, lightest form factor) forced me into the Z11 , but that doesn't mean I don't wish I also had all off the "goodies" the MacBook would come with. Maybe someday...

 

So you're saying that OS X market share would drastically increase (surpass Win?) if it were possible to install on more machines? Now let's step back and ask ourselves why Apple is doing their best to make sure you can't install OS X on anything other than a Mac.

 

+1 What makes a Mac a Mac is Apple's death-grip control on the HARDWARE and software integration. Being able to install OSX on any PC loses that aspect.

And to stay on-topic. That Z11 is a sexy beast in a PC sort of way! Sony is the only other computer company IMHO that can get away with charging premium pricing since their designs actually warrant it.

 

Does the HP Envy 13 or 14 compare with the MBP 13 or Sony Z? On other threads, people really seem to think highly of the Envy line.

 

Never stop to amaze me, here is configuration from Apple's website for MBP 15


As you can see price is $2349 with not even anywhere close to spec-to-spec with Z11, this is what it lacks
128GB SSD instead of 196GB SSD on Z11
GPS built-in on Z11
Gobi broad band card on Z11 but not on MBP 15.
And still it is $350 more than Z11 and bigger machine in form factor. So think how much Apple will charge you if they will have to put all this thing in MBP 13 ? Its okay to like a platform but its better to have balanced view of an issue - or should I say what Steve says is balanced for you .

 

Do some cheap a$$ math again because sucking upto whatever Steve sells is like giving away your ability to think independently here is proof from Apple's own website of spec-to-spec "match" (so when is 13" same as 15" ?)....

 

*walks out of thread*

 

So you mean to say throwing Aluminium sheet on MBP still doesnot cut it for you ? I think you are feeling bit hot with all that aluminium dissipating heat around your privates .

 

some people dont want osx
vaio z is made of aluminum and carbon fiber
vaio z has backlit keys
vaio z has matte screen, which has less glare than antiglare
13.1 inch vaio z has higher resolution (1920x1080 full hd) than 15 inch mbp (1680x1050)

 

this is why you use windows dpi scaling, the default is set at 96, with the full hd vaio z 1920x1080, there is over 140dpi (i dont know the number) therefore you should set it to that number

with a small resolution like 800x600, if you set the windows dpi scaling to something like 40, you would have to squint too

windows sets it to 96 because it doesnt know the dpi of your screen, you have to adjust it manually

higher resolution is always better no matter how small the screen, due to dpi scaling, so in the end, 1920x1080 can have everything as "big" as a 800x600, but everything will be much sharper

my 1600x900 screen has 140dpi, therefore the scaling is set to 140, everything is huge

 

I absolutely love the Vaio Z. We got 2 of them at work because our CFO needed something light and powerful for when he travels. This machine rocks. One thing I really like, that I didnt think I would at first, is the extended battery and how it sits underneath the laptop, rather than extend out the back. Gives you a nice angle and feels better when typing to me, than when using the standard cell battery.

 

If you say so,

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but it also lacks a physical switch for the hybrid graphics, lights to indicate scroll, num, caps lock, magicgate protection, hdd protection, infineon trusted platform protection professional, and fingerprint reader with upek protector suite ql

(although i'm getting a bit nit picky here .. but the physical switch is quite useful for me)

 

are you sure it's made of plastic? or are you confusing it with aluminum or carbon fiber (as the chassis of the z is made of carbon fiber, and the keyboard area is made from high grade aluminum (brushed))

 

Instead of the physical switch you can just check automatic graphics under preferences or uncheck it (to use discrete all the time).

The macbook pro has the caps lock, but no num key and it has the backlit keyboard (that the sony copied off of the macbook pro and its keyboard style).

For me the multitouch trackpad is my favorite in the macbook pros, far more useful than a switch.

My workflow is so much faster with it and its so dead accurate, especially 2 finger scrolling. IMO its even more comfortable than using a mouse.

 

Don't forget the Mac auto switching is inconsistent and turns to discrete for non graphics intensive apps and needed a hack to stay off discrete when running those innocuous applications. Turning it off means your stuck running the 330 all the time which isn't great for battery if you're just using Skype which sets it off. Also, Sony's is a nifty 3 position switch w/ Speed/Stamina/Auto for those who don't like to decide which GPU they have running.

Sony had the island style keyboard at the very least in '04 which was years before Apple copied it.
Sony X505 - circa Jan '04


The Vaio Z has multi-touch as well and while its not as fancy as that on the MBP, the rest of your advantages are rather minimal.

 

the physical switch has 3 settings which includes automatic, although it doesnt apply to everyone, i always use the "stamina" setting and only the "performance" setting when i game (to keep the laptop fan from spinning up) and because i'm guessing the auto setting doenst know when i want to switch, the physical switch is useful to me (again, not to everyone)

anyway, i may be wrong about this. but as i remember, apple copied the vaio z's keyboard style with the separated keys. after a quick wiki check, the aluminum macbook with the update keyboard style was released in october of 2008, after the vaio z, which was released before then with the separated keys

 

actually, Macbook copied Sony style. I read it somewhere in this forum, no link preferences atm.

 

lol mishap, you beat me to it

and about the multitouch thing, i believe that the less energy you have to use to execute a command on the touchpad, the better. if you set tap zones, you can go foward and back with less movement than the 2 finger swipes, and single finger scrolling requires less movement than 2 finger scrolling

you can test it out: scroll with one finger, then scroll with 2 fingers, from what i can tell, the more fingers you have to move, the more energy you expend

nonetheless, although you could enlarge images and zoom in and out by holding control and scrolling, i wouldn't mind having the 2 finger enlarge/zoom feature

 

correct some of the sony laptops dating back to 2000 had the chicklet style keyboard.

 

Just google the Sony X505...you can see it was around in '04 which was even before Apple announced the decision to ditch the PowerPC so Apple was still selling iBooks.

Here's an '04 iBook from the same era which clearly does not have the current keyboard style.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/IBook_G4.jpg/200px-IBook_G4.jpg

Edit: seems we were all wrong...it was Atari: