Those who went from Sony Z to MBA 13

Would like some comparisons.

What specs did you have on your Z?
When you switched did you upgrade the MBA to 2.13, 4gb Ram and 256gb SSD?
Did you regret the switch?

Personally, i'm considering upgrading from my Asus UL30VT. I don't like my screen resolution on this current laptop. But would like to upgrade to something a bit more powerful and easy for travel! Thanks

 

hard to imagine anyone doing that.

 

If it was a decision between the two, yeah. But in an actual switch, I believe the same.

 

There was a user in another thread who said he went from a Z11 to a MBA.

 

Well, I know some may thing that some won't switch, but there could be a possibility. If you didn't switch or did consider both laptops but in a dilemma, I would like to hear your input!

 

Wouldn't that be like going to a totally different computer? The MBP 15 is more like the Sony Vaio Z then the Macbook Air.

The Sony Vaio Z is an i7 + 330m in a small package. The MBA is a low power computer in a very light small package. They are totally differnt types of computers.

 

thats never slowed down the Mac vs PC wars before!

 

not really. both are in a similar category. Size, thin, weight. etc. and some Z's are still 2 cores just names after i5.

 

I did. Well from Z to MBA 11...

But don't get me wrong, there is no major flaw in the Sony Z.
It's way so much superior to my LG P310, more battery, lighter, better screen etc.

But a few things I didn't like (which will be minors or non-existent for most) .

My main problem was : even if you have a GT330(underclocked) with a full HD screen or 1600 res screen : performance in game will be in trouble at native res.

For my work also, it was really hard to work with this res on a so small screen.
1600 or full hd is not good idea for 13inch in my opinion.
My eyes are good it's not the problem, it just not ideal I think.

Some say that it's ok to reduce the resolution: I don't do this. It clearly shows a difference which is a shame with such an amazing screen.

With the res of the MBA and the GPU while inferior I have good performance without to have to decrease the res. Yes the performance is really good for this size.

Therefore, the mba is smaller and lighter. it's 1 kilo not 1.4kg. 400 gramms sounds like nothing but it's half the MBA weight!
Yeah I do gym and lift weight, but come on, it weight really nothing like a Panasonic R8 (big fan of this notebook).

The SSD is also amazing, it starts in no time and it wakes up immediately.
I don't know what they did but it comes to windows 7 faster than my Z.

Battery life also still hold easily 4 hours with full brightness in windows 7.

And last thing, the battery doesn't completely hold the notebook. You have a few mm difference and you move it each time you take the notebook you feel it moving...not really cool for a 1500 dollars notebook (bought at smallest customize price in Japan).

If you need powerfull cpu power and higher res, Z is your best choice. The MBA cpu is more than enough for games with a low end GPU and office work.

There you go, that's my reasons and my 2 yens .

 

No, "Xfiregrunt" said it above: simply put, the Sony Z is is basically a 15" Macbook pro compressed into a 3lb package.

Meanwhile the Macbook Air 13" is also 3lbs, but totally different performance level - like 50% of the CPU performance. It doesnt have a built in Blu ray drive, and it doesnt have 1600 x 900 resolution. It is a bit cheaper and it has a aluminum body in a somewhat sleeker design.

Apple has obvious prioritized the aesthetics here over the practical in this unit. For example they talk a lot about the thinness, but by pushing it that far they have accepted to limit CPU horsepower that can be put inside that package and have given up more battery life or the option of an optical drive or a secondary storage drive. If you view what the possibilities are in a 3lb laptop, the Sony is serving customers who prioritize functionality in their 3lb package and the Air is serving customers who prioritize visual style in their 3lb package. This is no crime, but there also is no point ignoring what are obvious and deliberate segmentation choices made by the designers of these products.

So really all that these two computers have in common is that they both weigh 3 lbs and have a similar keyboard. That's about it, really.

Apple is not competing directly with the Sony Z - rather they are bracketing it. I would suggest you wait for the next refresh of the 13" Macbook pro. Here Apple will implement some of what you see in the Air but in a heavier package. That product will then have a comparable performance to the Sony Z but with longer battery life, at the cost of being heavier. But you will not see Apple just plonking down a direct competitor to the Sony Z. Its probably more lucrative of them both to do it this way, as there really are no other serious mainstream competitors in this space.

 

so is there really a big difference in speed when your comparing i5 processors to core 2 duo? I know you guys are comparing the best Z which is i7 (quad core) with blu ray ($500+ additional). If thats the case, the Z would be over $2700. The loaded air would be 1K cheaper.

 

There are no quadcore Vaio Z's. They are all dual core. The top end is the i7-640m which you can see here: Intel® Core? i7-640M Processor (4M Cache, 2.80 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBTN, SLBZU

The bottom end has the i5-460M at 2.53Ghz. That is a significant step up over a 1.86Ghz C2D in the base MBA given the hyper threading and 36% increase in stock clock speed. The i5 also overclocks itself up to 2.8Ghz putting it over 50% in straight clock speed. It's also mildly more efficient per clock so in processor intensive tasks it's no contest. If you're just browsing and playing a few videos the C2D is perfectly capable. That said, my Mini had the 1.83Ghz C2D and it stuttered badly on Flash video on a 19x12 screen when running in OS X.

In order to get the 2.13Ghz on the MBA, you also have to spec the 256GB SSD so you are at $1800 once you give it a reasonable 4GB of RAM. The Sony comes in at $1900 w/ 4GB and 128GB SSD. The Sony should have significantly more graphics power w/ a 330M w/ 1GB dedicated video memory vs. the shared memory on the Air.

Top end MB Air Processor:
Intel® Core?2 Duo Processor SL9600 (6M Cache, 2.13 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) with SPEC Code(s) SLGEQ

 

I was the one who sold the Z11 (i5-520m 1600x900, 8Gb Ram, 128gb SSD) and to be honest I am a very light user with only the odd VM running on a daily basis, no ripping, no encoding and aside from this just a bit of youtube, general web browsing and emails.

So far I am more than happy with my MBA (1.86ghz, 4gb Ram, 128gb SSD) and don't miss the Z11 at all.

The MBA will never compete with the Z11 on performance but for a lightweight machine which is very portable and snappy it is hard to beat.

 

I went from a Sony Z12 i5,4 GB ram, 256 HDD, DVD and a 3 year warranty ($2700).

It broke 4 weeks after buying it and Sony took 1.5 months to fix it, so I made them give me my money back.

I did get spoiled by the lightness and speed of SSD.

The only other laptops under 3 lbs I looked at I did not like.

So, I picked up a MBA 13" 2.13, 4 gb, 256 with the 3 year applecare ($2000)

I have loaded Parallels and Windows 7.

So far I feel like this is a better laptop. It is fast and does everything I need....battery is way better than the Z.

I guess I could say I miss the DVD and the backlight keyboard...but not really.

I am happy that I switched.

 

Daleski75, what would you miss about the MBA if (hypothetically) you had to switch back to the Z11?

 

Hmm this is in no order and off the top of my head but here it goes.

snow leopard
fast boot-up and shutdown times
instant wake-up from standby
silence!

 

Thanks. I'm surprised the SSD on the Sony didn't get you similar wake-up times.

 

My wife just got the MBA 13 (1.8 4g 128ssd) and I bought the Z122 when Microsoft had the 45% off deal. I just did a clean install on the MBA for her and I'm very impressed with the machine. Footprint wise it's bigger and heavier than the Z. Performance is pretty good for basic tasks, but starting to see it lag a little under more intensive tasks. Just some random observations: the screen on the Z seems to have better colors and sharper texts...However, one thing I loved about the MBA is the size of the palm rest! I have large hands and it's very comfortable to type on the MBA, more so than the Z. I wish the Z had another 1/2 inch in palm rest area. The backlit keyboard and the ambient light sensor is a plus compared to the MBA.

The MBA seems more solid compared to the Z...Just because the Z has many more plastic parts compared to the MBA. The Z is solid now in terms structure, but I just don't know how the little different plastic parts hold up 2 years down the road. Depends on how you use the machine, the MBA seems to have a little better battery life...However, when I was on youtube with the MBA, the battery drain was pretty apparent...I've since installed clicktoflash on the MBA for those sites that needs it. I'm even able to get VPN setup on the MBA and use RDP to my Windows servers at work!

Never been an fan of Apple, however I have to say they did an very impressive job with the MBA. Now if they only would do something about the Mac OS...J/k

 

The boot-up is a little faster on the MBA since it doesn't have to go thru POST in the BIOS. However, I find the wake-up from standby is the same on the Z in terms of speed. I only hear the fan of the Z when I'm on the discrete graphics...Otherwise, they're both pretty silent. Although, I did hear the fan churning prettty good on the MBA when I was on youtube or doing something intensive like installing Office...

 

I'm wanting to do this too. I have the Z12, which I personally think is the best Windows Laptop available right now, but I'm finding that I really miss the Mac environment. I'm looking for the 15" model though and am trying to find someone to trade with.

 

I am thinking of changing my Z129GG to MBP 15" not because I don't like Z but want to use Mac OS too.
I tried Hackintoch my Z, I have to suffer from loosing my RAID, control of screen brightness and USB not stable. It won't boot when I upgrade to 10.6.5.
I will come back and let you know my feeling, if I actually change to MBP.

 

Tried the Z for a few months before selling it off. GREAT hardware, but I prefer OS X over Windows and thus headin for the new 13" MBA which might not be as powerful as the Z, but I never really utilized Z's hardware to it max- not even 50%

 

I didn't go from a Z to a MBA but from a SZ to a MBP. Personally I was always running the SZ on the intel and not the nvidia graphics card because of the miserable battery lifetime when running on nvidia. Additionally the constant reboot for changing graphics card was getting on my nerves (which frankly is not the case anymore with the z). If Sony will ever release a Z in full aluminium with no plastic parts like the MBP than I would reconsider switching back.