13" MacBook pro with high rez screen (if available) vs. Z

just throwing out a random thought.

having gone back and forth between Vaio's and MacBook's (with an occasional Dell Studio thrown in), i decided that usable screen real estate in a small form factor is my #1 requirement. Boot camp negates the question of compatibility.

to me the form factor of the 13" macbook pro beats my Z11 with respect to fit and finish, rigidity, slot dvd. but its resolution makes it a non-starter for me.

probably only a matter of time (retina display...etc) until Apple ups the ante on the 13", or the Air.

Sony has a chance here to really make a statement; instead the Z13 is the same as the Z12...as the Z11......

 

You are not asking any questions but I'll offer you a few points.

1.) there is absolutely no comparison in specs between the 13" MBP and the Z. The 15" MBP comes close...the 13" MBP has integrated video, old core 2 CPU, lower res, etc etc.

2.) the "rigidity" of the MBP comes at a cost...and over a pound to the weight, and that pound comes with the lower specs and cooling requirements mentioned above. Some of us prefer the lightweight of the Z. I hear this a lot, but has your z broken? Screen cracked? No? then it's fine...But...I will admit that I do wish my Z felt more solid.

3.) Sony typically will run a platform for a year or so. Apple runs them just as long or longer..the difference is that Sony and PC manufacturers refresh on a schedule to give you the latest components (cpu, hdd, etc.) in the same platform. I supposed Sony could just take Apple's approach and have just left the Z11 around for a year and a half with no refresh. How old is that CPU in the macbook pro 13" ?

 

The Z11 was just released for sale 6-7 months ago, how much change can one expect?

What may be issues to you may be non-issues for others. Slot load dvd? I don't use dvd's, the fact that it was a tray loading drive gives us the option of putting a 2.5" drive in there in place of the odd, not sure how easy it would be with a slot loader.

i'll always favor light weight over heft and "rigidity". I'm not a child, I know how to take care of my toys

 

beaups also brought up a great point, the mbp 13's spec's are ancient tech compared to the Z and it weighs more? No thanks, you can keep your slow tank and i'll take my sports car

 

make no mistake....i currently use my Z11 daily. and that replaced a spec'd out 17" macbook pro. i just couldn't take the heft. i considered the 13" macbook pro, but like you say, not a comparison to the Z. so i agree fully.

what i am trying to say is that Sony has an opportunity to really be a thought leader, to distance itself even further.

my next laptop in a month or so will be a Z12 or Z13 with the 1920 x 1080 screen.

 

You got a Z11 (less than 6 month old), but you plan to change it for Z12 or Z13 "just" to get FHD screen ?
Your choice, but I think it should be more interesting to wait until Z21 release (no informations available but probably during the first trimestre of 2011), which might be a more interesting refresh.
Unless you can't wait to get 1920x1080 to replace your 1900x600, or you can change your laptop every 6 months...

 

Sony really doesn't need to be a thought leader or to make a statement. Z series was a miniaturization marvel 6 months ago and it still is now. It still doesn't have any real competition in the subnotebook class. They can still charge whatever the hell they want for it and folks with enough disposible income will still buy it.

I mean like you said, they have changed almost nothing and you are still going to buy another one less than 6 months after you got the first.

 

The only thing that's stopping Sony from going further is that the Sony Z still runs Windows.

If Sony were Microsoft and it were their own OS, then they could've optimized the drivers and various 'utilities' (auto-brightness, anyone?) into the OS and make it as smooth and well-integrated as Bluetooth is in the Mac OS, for example.

I've got a Z12 right now, but I am waiting for the next 13" MBP or MacBook Air to go over to OS X.

I agree that the low screen resolution of 13" MBP is kinda a bummer right now. It'd be awesome with 1680x1050 at least.

I wish the new MacBook Air could overtake the current Z. I'm happy with leaving out the DVD drive, but I don't wanna sacrifice the screen resolution.

 

Since none of the issues you listed haven't been taken care of, before.

The autobrightness can be regulated by just HW. Dell Latitudes (higher end ones) do this. I didn't get to see if the Sony Z did this, as I only played with one for a short while.

Drivers are upto vendors, not Microsoft. WHQL just ensures they work with the OS and don't try to mess with other drivers.

And Bluetooth... most laptops just use a fn+ command to do it. My Dell m1210 uses a hardware switch on the side. MS uses a tray icon for easy access, too.


EDIT: I hope I didn't present a hostile air. I'm sorry

I dunno how to edit the wording otherwise (English is not my first language).

 

It doesn't work as smoothly and unified as it does on Mac OS X. I value that a lot, which is why I wanna switch to a company that makes both the hardware and the software/OS.

No worries about hostility, it's all good.

 

^What is smoother about bluetooth in OSX? I have a mac at home and haven't noticed much difference?

 

On the Mac, you install the operating system, and the menu for bluetooth is already at the top bar. You click the menu, and there's an option to turn on/off bluetooth. Once it's on, you can start using it (i.e. pair with a device).

On Windows, you install the OS and download some 50+ MB driver package to get bluetooth functionality. It installs like 5 different auto-run services for some reason. Then you get a poorly-made utility to manage bluetooth options. Its user interface is just horrible: it's too complicated with hundreds of buttons and options, and hard to do simple things.

This is just my opinion here.

 

Yup, if setting up bluetooth on a PC is too complicated for you, it's best you go buy a mac

 

Yep, I'm a developer who knows C++ for over 5 years; I've probably reinstalled OSes countless times, owned like 5 computers over the last few years, and am currently doing a master's in User Interfaces.

Yet setting up bluetooth on Windows takes too many unnecessary mouse movements, clicks and reading effort in my opinion.

 

I don't believe anyone has ever had to do a bluetooth install on a Z. Even my old Vaio TX from 5 years ago came with Bluetooth that simply worked (yes in Windows ), right out of the box .

 

That explains it.

 

The blutooth stack is built into windows 7 now. The icon is automatically there by the clock. To add a device, you simply click it and then click "add device". Exactly the same amount of steps as Mac. If it takes you more steps than that, as Mr. Jobs would say: "you're doing it wrong. "

 

In the bluetooth example, I was actually referring to Windows XP. I guess 7 is better in that regard.

However, consider another example. A laptop can have a touchpad and an external mouse plugged in. On a Mac, it's possible to adjust their sensitivity settings independently. On Windows, it is not. Not even in 7.

So every time you plug in/out an external mouse, you may have to change your sensitivity...

 

Not a big deal to work around that, if there's not already an app for that, one could easily write an Autohotkey script to do it for them.

 

Buy yourself a Logitech mouse, install drivers and your statement is untrue.

 

Well, OS X IS nice, but it is stupid to compare Windows XP with your brand new laptop not knowing about Win7 features.
XP was released in 2001, thats 9 (!!!) years ago.

And there are also some cons on OS X you could list. For example their crappy multi-monitor support.
Try to resize a window to the left. You will fail. Because as apple user you are resizing by dragging the right corner. It's like that, because Steve said so.

OS X is not that much in front of Windows as it used to be.
Considering Apple is forcing you (in a nazi way I'd say) to buy their hardware, I am going for Windows products again.
Hate their glossy crap, so right now you can't compare 13" to nothing because of that dumb uber glossiness

 

What does that tell you about the Usability aspect of each OS.

It's not a big deal if you really really wanna do it. But think about it, really, shouldn't the OS have already done it for you? Would it not be better if you didn't have to do it yourself?

I did. I bought one of the latest and most advanced Logitech wireless portable mouses: the Anywhere Mouse MX. It has Darkfield Laser tracking. It does not have adjustable sensitivity.

Offloading a software task onto hardware may work sometimes, but it will not save your butt all the time.

 

I use Windows 7 at work, and while I initially liked it, I still prefer XP on my personal machines. Mostly because of legacy reasons. I don't like some things about 7, although many things are absolutely awesome about it (window resizing when dragging to edges, new start menu searching).

I understand that. I haven't actually used OS X full time yet, I've only tried it here and there. My current situation is that I'd like to try OS X, which is why I'm waiting for the new MBP/MBA refreshes. Only then will I decide if I want to switch over to it completely, use both Windows and Mac, or stay with Windows.

The main reason I'm so tempted to switch is because I've liked what I've seen so far, and after getting an iPhone 3GS I was absolutely blown away by the simplicity and power of its user interface. It's simply a joy to use (compared to my dad's BB Bold 9700 and mom's Nokia E71).

Anyway, I know that the OS X is not as great as iOS 4, but I like the direction they're going in as of the last few years. And I'm a tech geek, so I wanna try new exciting things. Even Windows 7 was a lot of fun to try when the RC was out.

 

Come on, we can debate the UI merits of osx and windows forever. How come I can't click a button is osx to make the app full screen? How come there's no button to tile/arrange windows (i.e. win+left arrow, win +right-arrow)? Why don't apps that are minimized come back to the forefront when activated with the alt-tab combination? Why can't I playback bluray movies? Why do I have to install a 50mb driver so I can right-click on my macbook air? Why can't I save files into protected system directories without resorting to terminal? Why do I have to repair disk permissions? Why do games run at a only a fraction of the speed that they run at in Windows? Why do I have to click on an empty area of the desktop before the top toolbar can switch to finder mode? blah blah blah...

I think this thread was started to compare hardware.

 

It's kinda interesting because only a few years ago I used to have the exact same attitude. I'm a developer, after all, so I can get around most problems I run into with ease. I've even written a simple C# app to quickly upload a screencap image from your clipboard on ImageShack, and give you its url (a task that's very annoying to do by hand, if u do it often).

But it all happened after I got an iPhone; I saw the light of things just being simple to begin with. A few years ago I was trying to complicate my life by buying as many tech gadgets as possible and tweaking and hacking around with each one, but now I want to simplify my life by reducing the number of things I have to 'maintain' around the house. ;/ I feel old, even tho I'm only 24 lol.

 

Yeah, I know the OS X isn't perfect. I really wish it will improve, but I like the direction it's heading in (I just wish it moved there faster).

Anyway, you're right. Personally, I can't wait until the next MBP/MBA hardware refreshes; hopefully in Oct/Nov.

But I have a feeling that Sony will have an edge in performance hardware in a 13" package over Apple for at _least_ another few years. After all, the Z is $2k+ where the MBP 13" is just over $1k.

 

In terms of hardware: I feel that the Z is the flagship laptop for Sony, I think they put a lot of effort into it to make it the 'showcase', premier model (how nuts is it to have quad-SSDs in a 13" laptop??). On the other hand, I don't get that feeling with the 13" MBP: it feels like they started off with the 15"/17", put the i5/i7 in there, then afterwards they thought, "Oops, the CPU can't work with the 13", I'll just keep using the Core2Duo then!". So, in this sense, I would tend to think the Z should always be a ways ahead of the MBP 13".

P.S. I'm getting tired of the iPhone I read that Nokia is introducing the E7, I think I'll go for that (I'll probably have to import again). I was about to buy the Samsung Galaxy, but I dislike efforts to monopolize users' access to the Internet (read: Google should not try and be the gateway for everything, it's a turn-off).

 

Yeah, I completely agree.

The 13" MBP is like the most entry-level, affordable MacBook. It's only $200 more than the 13" MacBook (non-Pro).

Which is why my hopes are more on the next MacBook Air. Now that is a more show off, expensive model for Apple. However, they tend to focus on its thinness more than its performance. :/

 

BTT: Thats the point. Apple's flagship is its 17" and 15" MBP for professionals pared with a OS that is still more comfortable then Win7 is.

That is, why you can't compare the hardware of a 13" MBP to the Vaio Z.

@shurcooL

Haha, I was looking for a 13" MBP before, because I got used to the comfort on my iMac.
But unfortunally theres no matte MBP 13" (and there wont be). My second thought was the MBA but it is too small for me and too slow. And it is glossy, not as much as the MBP but still glossy.
That's why I'm going for a Z13. If I can't have the comfort of OS X, I will have the comfort of Sony's engineering.
It's a full-stuffed desktop in a 13" body with the best screen you can get

 

That is obviously an opinion stated as fact. The 15/17" MBP's aren't exactly the greatest spec'd...and again, the OSX/Win7 argument is very debatable.

People vote with their $$$...iphone is expensive and does great. If OSX is so great, why is their share so small? The price of entry to OSX is affordable now with the 13" macbook and the mac mini.

 

comfort is subjective

 

If the 13" Macbook Pro had the same spec as my Z11 then I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.