Vaio Z (2016) Owners Lounge

The Vaio Z Flip and Clam 2016.
The Vaio Z comes with the skylake dual-core 28watt chips/Iris 550 graphics, instead of the usual 15watt chips used in most ultrabooks of this size.
i5-6267U (2.9 - 3.3 GHz (2 cores: max. 3.1 GHz), the chip also integrates an Iris Graphics 550 GPU with 64 MB of eDRAM memory)
i7-6567U (3.3 - 3.6 GHz (2 cores: max. 3.4 GHz), the chip also integrates an Iris Graphics 550 GPU with 64 MB of eDRAM memory)
The SSD is the very fast Samsung SM951 NVME.
The Clamshell model weighs 2.58lbs and the Flip 2.96lbs.

Bios update R1191SA: http://us.vaio.com/support/knowledge-base/vjz13b-vjz131-bios-r1191sa-update-program/

“Intel (R) Wireless LAN Driver Ver.18.40.2.3 (for Windows 10)” update program : http://us.vaio.com/support/knowledg...-ver-18-40-2-3-for-windows-10-update-program/

“Intel(R) Graphics Driver Ver.20.19.15.4444 (for Windows 10)” update program : http://us.vaio.com/support/knowledg...-20-19-15-4444-for-windows-10-update-program/

 

I personally have the i5 clamshell model with FHD screen. I opted for this model because I wanted the FHD screen with no touch, for better battery life. I get on average 8 to 9 hours on this model.
Benchmarks:
Geekbench 3: Single-Core 3545, Multi-Core 7255
PCMark8 Home Acc: 4084
3DMark11: 2822
Icestorm: 89140
Cloudgate: 8422
Skydiver: 6339
Firestrike: 1506

Based on the benchmarks, the Iris 550 performs slightly better than the Nvidia Geforce 940M (w/ GDDR3) and silghty below the Geforce 940MX (w/ GDDR5).

 

I upgraded mine with the Samsung 950 pro 512gb, but the original ssd benchmarked with
CrystalDisk gave sequential reads of 2185 MB/s and writes of 1247 MB/s. The 4K reads were 55.05 MB/s and writes 159.5 MB/s. However these results were after installing the Samsung NVME driver because with the standard Windows NVME driver, the results were more or less in the 1900/1100 MB/s range.

For comparison, the Samsung 950 pro CrystalDiskMark gave sequential reads of 2518 MB/s and writes of 1535 MB/s. The 4k reads were 54.25 MB/s and writes of 181.2 MB/s.

 

Review for the Vaio Z (clam):
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/vaio-z

Reviews for the Vaio Z Flip:
http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/vaio-z-flip-model-review-gets-the-right-parts-right/
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Vaio-Z-Flip-VJZ13BA11L-Convertible-Review.161637.0.html

 

The inside of the Vaio Z looks like this....as we can see the motherboard is very small to fit the big battery. The Ram is soldered, as usual in the ultrabooks these days, but the wireless card and ssd can be replaced.

 

Because the laptop is very thin and CPU is a 28 watt one instead of the usual 15watt for a notebook this size, the fans do get loud when the CPU is under load, actually one of the loudest ultrabooks I´ve heard. On the other hand, the fans only kick in when under load, otherwise it is pretty silent. Also the bottom does get hot underload, but this is expected and I don´t think it gets hotter than other notebooks like this, such as the XPS 13 with Iris 540.

 

I will be playing Civilization VI on the Vaio Z, hopefully the Iris 550 can handle it and the laptop can handle the heat without melting...kkk.

Update: The game runs fine, but I found something annoying...it seems that the 39watt charger ´doesn´t offer enough juice when the graphics is pushed hard....so it drains the battery when plugged in. Other laptops do this to, such as Macs, some MSi´s, etc. It is annoying because it paces extra wear on the battery that I don´t want. I have another 19.5v charger with 65 watts. I am going solder the vaio z connector on it and see if this issue persists or if it is just integrated in the BIOS.

 

Vaio is offering $200 instant rebate again until November 8th. I think they should just make it permanent since the new MacBook pro is out and it will be hard to compete. They had an advantage since February because it was the only one with the 28 watt chip with Iris 550 in a thin and light package. Now that Apple is in the game....good luck to Vaio pricing their machines at MacBook prices.

 

I'm wondering if the range is going to be refreshed on the 9th, it would explain the current offers...

 

The Vaio Z line will probably only be refreshed when the 28 watt Kaby Lake with Iris graphics is released sometime in the first quarter of 2017. Perhaps the Vaio S line is up for a refresh since the kaby lake U 15 watts are out.

I think the current offers are just to remain in the game, since their pricing is in the macbook pro range but they don´t have the selling power and brand recognition as Apple does. As an independent small company divorced from the Sony brand, they will have to conquer new clients with more competitive pricing in my opinion.

 

Such a shame these models only have 8Gb of RAM... I need 16 if I want it futureproofed. Vaio still have their design magic, if my Dell XPS 13 due to arrive soon isn't up to expectations I guess I'll order a Vaio S.

 

True.....they lack configuration options in the US....such as the all black model. In japan they offer more options. The Vaio Z flip model though does have 16gb ram option. But I like the clamshell model for my laptops.

 

Black Friday Vaio deal. $250 off Vaio Z and Z Flip. Good deal for someone looking for a PC alternative for a MacBook Pro 13....since they have the same 28 watt chip with Iris 550, but of course no touchbar....kkk.

 

The Vaio Z can have bad thermals, when it is pushed hard, such as gaming....with the CPU and GPU reaching 95C....I opened it up and place 1.5mm Artic thermal pads on the cpu and the copper metals going to the fan...this way the heat spreads to the bottom over. Internal thermals got better not passing 90C....but of course the bottom gets hotter, but I never use it on my lap anyways.
Also Firestrike benchmark score went up a bit towards 1550....before it was around 1505 sometimes less.

 

Firestrike score 1527 after putting the thermal pads on the CPU.

 

I removed the samsung 950 pro and placed it in my new Razer Blade. So I put the orginal SM951 256gb back in. Annexed is the benchmark result.

 

Here is a pic of the thermal pads I placed inside the Vaio Z to reduce the CPU temps that would reach 95C easily when gaming or benchmarking....now the CPU is about 10C lower....I will do a stress test shortly to see how high the temps go when stressed over 20min or so.