An SR's Review of the Z...

So, i was at best buy and low and behold...they actually had a 2200 dollar Z series notebook with a 2.4ghz processor, 3gb of ram, etc etc.

Anyways...i'm not going to review the performance of the machine, because...well, frankly, the SR and Z are very similar performance wise...especially with the same processor/ram/hd or similar configurations, plus its not fair to compare my tweaked vista settings with 65-70(depending on what i'm doing) processes vs. the 88 or so processes +indexing, etc. running on the bloatware ridden store display model.

So anyways...on to the visual/display/hardware differences!

First off, i'd like to say to dis-spell any contrary belief, the Z has palm rest flex...on the right side...in fact my 11 year old brother who frankly doesn't know anything about technology can even agree that the Z has more flex than the SR...after pressing down on the palm rests of both. So there you have it kiddies...SR FTW in terms of palm rest flex.

On to the color of the Z...it's very nice...much nicer than the silver on the SR...but but id say the black SR and the Z are equal in terms of the color/looks... department.

The mouse pad on the Z is different than the one on the SR...the buttons are narrower and longer...which is kind of weird, i'm not a fan...although...that is to each his own...but now i do realize that they are different mouse equipment...so i cant say which has a better touchpad...but the touchpad on the SR is more proportionate.... but as people have mentioned the clickety buttons on the touchpad are quieter/easier to click on the Z...so i'd say it's a tie in the mouse department from what i could tell by using the touchpad...

Screen....the screen on the Z is definetly better than the SR's...this is clear... so it wins...i cant deny it...it just looked better from visual inspection...its like a comparing a Pioneer HDTV to a Phillips HDTV...they are both good...but clearly the pioneer wins with clarity depth, etc. So the Z inches out the SR, although people have pointed out that the SR has better contrast...obviously i didn't have extensive time to test it in best buy, so i cant comment on it. Z Wins.

Screen lid....now this is what was rather upsetting about the Z(along with the whole palm rest thing)... the screen on the Z flexed like a mofo... i thought i was gonna break the **** thing...it twists when you push the center top of the screen to simply adjust your viewing angle... which is weird. Plus the SR has that cool glossy/metallic paint with the cool texture on the lid...so this proves that a magnesium lid is in fact stronger than a carbon fiber lid... SR FTW.

Overall...im going to give them a TIE. The Z does look sleeker...slightly as a system, has HDMI, has the convienience of the switch, and a better screen...plus(although not for long) has bluray.

The SR on the other hand... is roughly 500 dollars cheaper, has a more powerful video card, less screen/palm rest flex, a potentially better mouse, and coming soon will be bluray... plus it has the nifty switch buttons which come in very useful....

So in conclusion, they are both good machines depending on your needs, but its say for the overwhelming majority of people looking for a new machine...the SR is a better choice...its cheaper...the build quality is nicer...and its better for gaming. Either way, neither is superior to the other due to various pros and cons of each(pitted against each other naturally).

 

Honestly you sound like someone just trying to justify their purchase.

It was specifically designed like this by the engineers, do some research you'll find out why.

LOL

 

Right...but so was the lid on the SR... it is claimed it was designed to allow more flex for protection. So if anything, you'd expect them to have identical flex.... also, you'd think if this was true, sony would have more literature or advertising about this... Sony rambles on about all of their notebooks features on the webpage...but strangely the only source any of us have for this screen flex intentional thing is one video where one guy makes the claim...


and in terms of justifying my purchase...herm, i didnt mean to come off that way, that was not by any means my intention. In fact, if i purchased a Z i would be just as happy. I was just trying to compare and contrast...i suppose i may have unintentionally come off biased...

 

I don't think you have anything to be sorry about thebigpants27.

I think everyone wants to somehow justify their purchase, especially when its such a big one. I remember a month after I bought my Vaio TZ, the similar 11" Asus U2E came out. It had several big advantages over the TZ like better graphics, HDMI out, leather case and mouse included, etc

I felt a bit remorseful about my purchase but I went to my local Microcenter and saw the U2E and TZ there and the TZ kicked the butt out of the Asus in screen quality, which is a big factor for me, so I felt quite better in my purchase. Both felt equally good to me then.

The SR and Z have their own pros and cons and I feel they balance each other out. But what is more important to me, better graphics and a fatter wallet for other purchases or a better screen, battery life and HDMI out

 

thebigpants27: Just don't compare the weight and battery life, or you'll strain yourself to think of other reasons why the SR is better in other ways

Regarding the screen flex, the designers did intend it to be that way. Think of it like this: Drop a glass ball - what happens? Now drop a rubber ball. That's right.

 

I think the poster is just reinforcing the fact that everyone needs to see these systems in person before they can truly decide which one they want. I thought I might be happy with the SR too until I saw the Z up close...but even then it wasn't close since the feature set of the Z more matched my requirements.

I highly suggest that people make a checklist or spreadsheet of what they need to do with their notebook. Note that I said "need" and not "wish". Get what you need and allows you to get your work/play done and then you've made a great decision.

Lastly, I find it a little humorous about the "uproar" about the emotion that the Z's "flexi-durable" screen has caused. It seems people are equating stiffness or rigidity with strength and durability. In the conventional sense, this might be true but I'll bet you that other manufacturers will end up following Sony's lead on this. To quote local radio personality Vic "The Brick" Jacobs, the Sony Z is simply "being the bamboo". That is, it bends but does not break.

The reason why Sony doesn't put out literature or advertise all of the engineering effort that went into the design is the following:

1. Sony USA Marketing (or whoever they're contracting) is the WORST marketing company ever. They couldn't market themselves out of a brown paper bag....whatever that means. Howard Stringer should fire them all.

2. Sony USA does not see North American customers as well-informed customers. I say this from experience because if you go to any Japanese electronics store (e.g. Yodobashi Camera, Bic Camera, or any store in Akihabara) the stores are chock full of pamphlets and brochures for nearly every product. We don't get that kind of additional information here in the states. Even many of the other country's Sonystyle sites have more information than us. We're just "second-class" customers to Sony. ><

 

GroovyOne.. i can def agree with this! When i recieved my vaio smart protection case the packaging had all sorts of explanations of the advanced tech in the case...but otherwise you'd never know it, the website says diddly squat.

Regardless, my post was made simply to give people a perspective on what liked/didnt like about each notebook...

 

I think that the Z and SR are targeted for different groups of consumers, personally.

The Z seems to be more the traveler or the business person's type of laptop, with the ability for stamina, but then also a graphics card if they need it for something professional, etc.

The SR seems more for a student kind of target, or a person who needs something sturdier than plastic, smaller for taking it with them but not going very far away from home (school, coffee house, bookstore, etc).

Really, the Z does have a lot of features that are nice, but I don't really need them. The SR I have is still going strong in the fact that I've been taking it with me to school and back. I don't really need hybrid graphics, as I rarely still have problems when the battery runs low. (The flexible screen would probably freak me out too, but I guess it's because I'm not used to seeing a screen do that. xD) HDMI and all that other stuff isn't really what I need. I don't even know if I'll ever use that VGA port, or that port on the bottom for the stand thingy.

And yeah, America definitely doesn't have as good of advertising for some stuff, especially electronics as Japan does... They just trump most any place in that category... There are insane fanboys there. xD

 

btw I don't own a Z (yet, actually have a FW right now) so I wasn't defending it in my post. I've just seen both and think there's no contest in build quality.

 

i have the exact same config as groovyone..
and i realized i dont need that much for my college needs.. i agree, its a sleek machine and i love the high res.. but i cant justify paying over 3k for this, when i can get a similar performance, from a similar quality, for less than 2k..
with that 1k i plan on getting another 32" LCD TV which i think its worth it..

plus, i keep thinking about the salvage value of the laptop, i bet the salvage value of the SR must be alot higher than the Z as the Z's premium will soon be something common and widespread to the general market..

but i do agreem if you have the $$$, you should get the Z.. but personally, i find it kind of weak in games , and thats the thing that made me sway towards getting a SR

 

@JohnTitor

To each his own, but when ive lived day in and day out with my SR... at times ignoring my girlfriend while playing on it, talking on NBR on it, etc. I notice every little detail, good and bad stuff. So, for me to say that something is different in the Z than the SR has nothing to do with seeing both, it has everything to do with noticing the differences of something only an owner picks up on....

If you notice...i in the end state quite clearly that there is a tie, they are both good for different things... so it's not like i was bashing one computer... and putting the other on a pedastol.

 

Well the Z is clearly superior to the SR in pretty much every way except screen size, so to say it's a "tie" is kind of biased towards the SR. It may be a tie for your preferences, but for most people the Z is clearly superior by a considerable margin.

 

So its not true the SR has the superior GPU? And of course you're paying a couple of hundred dollars minimum for the benefits of the Z vs SR, price is an important factor between the SR and Z.

I hear the SR will be getting HDMI and perhaps Blu-Ray in a refresh, there's a placeholder for the port on the laptop next to the VGA port which I've seen myself.

I didn't test out the build quality between the machines but the screen in the Z is by far better than the SR and SZ that was next to it.

 

I personally feel that both the Z & the SR has their own strengths & weaknesses. Which is the better one? This is again a subjective question. However, I'll highly recommend whoever is buying them to check them out before purchasing if possible so as to get a feel of which one they like better & so on.

 

You may be right, although the 3DMark06 scores I've seen for the Z were higher than those from the SR, although that may not be reliable. Either way, that's why I said "pretty much" . Performance wise I usually think of the two being very similar.

Price could be considered a disadvantage of the Z, although usually when comparing machines you talk about the hardware/software, not the price, since it varies. Also if price is a factor in the comparison, then it comes down to a price/value ratio, in which all laptops are about the same (optimally) - you get what you pay for.

In other words, it's pretty obvious that you're going to pay more for a superior machine, so don't let price bias your decision of what is a superior machine.

 

how about the Z is lighter?

 

i've seen both, and own a z... screen flex was more noticeable on the sr but neither is horrible. when i first saw the machines, it was a little disconcerting, but you get used to it.

and my z has zero flex in the palm rest, so if the sr isn't as "flexible", then sr owners should be ecstatic... based on my experience, it seems like the palmrest flex is a little exaggerated.

 

lol I thought the EXACT same thing when I read the first few sentences of his post!

Too funny Also, I knew after 3 sentences that he bought an SR....

 

There's absolutely NO palm-rest flex! Although I won't press down on it too hard since I am not as stupid as the OP.

Carbon fiber has been STATISTICALLY proven to be BETTER for lids than Mg. alloys..

You keep justifying you weren't biased; but this is something you yourself cannot see but we CAN. You played with it for 15-30 mins and you're an expert in comparison?? Puh-lease.

In every single review out vs those of SR's, the Z has been given more pros and less cons and more praises in many aspects. The simple fact that its lighter, better screen quality and has HDMI is a SOLD for most people over the SR.

Each sentence after the first few reeked of buyer's remorse for SR and subconscious justification of bashing Z to make SR come out better and worded so some members will actually 'agree' after first read to further satisfy your remorse.

Summary: Z is better. period.

 

^

Whooo there, sonority! Deep breaths..... lol

He def has some bias/buyers remorse/trying to justify his purchase etc... Especially since you can get a Z for $1600 (not too much more than an SR)!

 

This is a funny thread. Actully 90% of the people posting here are biassed and it's pretty obvious too.

I'm biassed towards Z. For good reasons though

 

I'm not sure if it's buyers remorse. Clearly, the SR was a better match for him. That's all.

I think most of us don't just agree with the assessment (especially Z owners). I would also argue that there is little to no keyboard flex on the Z especially compared to notebooks with traditional keyboards.

And regarding GPU superiority, as we all know, it's still somewhat subjective. It mostly depends on the type of applications you run. Some games favor some engines over others and the same goes for synthetic benchmarks. On average, I'd say they are relatively close. I prefer the Nvidia in this case because CUDA-based apps are just around the corner and several programs I used are supposed to take advantage of it so that's why I chose what I chose. ;-)

 

I disagree on that. Establishing which has the fastest GPU is purely objective.

Synthetic benchmarks are useless though. I haven't seen any real life benchmarks between Z and SR, but I'm pretty sure that when it comes to real life GPU performance the SR (3470) wins.

 

god, this "review" makes no sense from head to toe. SR has a more powerful video card? how can a ATI 3470 with 128M vRAM be more powerful than a GS9300 with 256M vRAM?

i don't have either of them, but i've seen both of them in person, Z trumps SR series on every level!

 

The assumption 'the more memory a card has the faster it is' is incorrect.

For more info on 3470 vs. 9300 check at the bottom here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=302231&page=284

 

The GPU itself and the memory bus width are just as important as the memory.

To judge perfomance one has to look at the whole video subsystem, not individual components....

 

You are correct. I wasn't clear with my statement. What I meant is that people tend make subjective remarks using the objective numbers. People will only look at a few factors and make blanket statements like, "well X is faster in CounterStrike and thus it's better for gaming than Y". Also, numbers (like statistics) can be misleading as people can read into them anyway they want.

 

Those reasons (plus fingerprint reader and those sweet quick launch buttons) are precisely why I went with the SR over the Z. The price gap was too large to justify the Z, IMO. I got Campus deal (which paid for 3yrs plus ADH) + $200 off I just wish Sony would ship already... sigh.

1600x900 is too much and, for the stuff I do, a "non-standard" 1366x768 might have caused problems. OTOH, I would have liked HDMI-out though (but I don't have an HDTV so...). Depending on the price/improvement, I may ship back and get the refresh.

I didn't see THAT much of a difference between the two screens either. I thought the SR felt easier on MY eyes. And there was flex on the right palm rest of the SR but absolutely nothing on the Z.

And I don't think having an extra 128MB of GPU will take care of running stuff at 1600x900 or having to down-convert to other resolutions to game.

 

It's interesting to read this thread, because I get to the end and what I think is:

The better laptop from a tech perspective? Probably the Z

The better laptop for me? Definitely the SR. Price was a big factor, and I could care less about gfx card. The only thing I wish it had was HDMI, and honestly, that's just for futureproofing. It certainly wasn't worth the $500+ premium on the Z (my SR was $1280)

So I think it really comes down to the individual, since it's all about how you use the computer anyway.

 

i got my z for less than what i would have paid for an sr...

 

I paid $1816.96 (- $500) before taxes for my SR. I would have paid $2292.96 before taxes for a similarly configured Z. That was with 2-year ADH and two accessories.

That's a grand...

 

i payed 1900 for my SR (arriving today) with 2.8GHz, 4GB, 200GB 7200rpm, ATI

and payed 3200 for my Z 2.53GHz, 4GB, 200GB 7200rpm, blu-ray

both with accessories + 3 yr warranty

im gonna make a comparison between the 2 soon, the one that performs best in games, is the one im keeping

anyone have any requests?

 

yah, but what was your total for the computer, accessories and plan?

either way, that's a good deal...

 

Wow, so you're "ordering" both laptop just to personally try it out? That's a smart idea. But I wonder if sony will take it back-no question asked.

On the topic of the thread, to be honest, I'm ordering an SR right now but if I had the money, I would go with the Z hands down. I would even "rent" the Z like Strongerthanall did, but I don't even have 3000 to put down on the laptop.

 

Sonystyle USA has a good return policy and no restocking fee. It's actually really easy and you can do it entirely from your Sonystyle account.

You do have to eat the cost of shipping it back to them but it's basically hassle free. My AMEX was refunded the total amount in 10 days (total) which was great even though they said it could take up to 1-2 billing cycles.

 

I might just have to test out my SR first because the new FW seem very irresistible. For the same price I got with my SR (minus campus deal b/c they don't offer it anymore), I can get the new FW with fullHD screen and a graphic card which I couldn't afford with my SR...I'm going to have to think this one over.

 

$1409 including taxes. I got the sleeve and the laser mouse though.

 

Eh, I agree with PhilFlow this whole thread is biased...and i completely regret posting it. It was late, and i wanted to simply post my experience as a SR owner and having just then "tested" out a Z.

But, regardless of the argument which is better, i shall again reiterate...neither machine is better than the other. One has the advantage of price+gpu, the other has screen+weight and each has other small differences. Point being, after having some experience with both, i would still choose an SR, but think the Z is a great machine and neither is clearly the superior choice. It really depends on how good of a deal you can get at the time for either machine.

 

useless thread, it is about taste, demand and what is affordable. why comparing apples and oranges? the both look great and taste good. always the same discussions.

...

 

wow, just received my SR, the Z's screen is DEFINITELY MILES AHEAD of the SR..

i think i might be sending the SR home, regardless of its performance

 

Stronger than all (not like the Standard STA is it?) could you please comment on the differences in fan noise and heat? Having owned a laptop that makes quite a bit of noise has inclined me to select an upgrade that is relatively quite. Notice I said relatively... I understand that quite VS noisy can be somewhat subjective. Hopefully you will do a mini comparison on both.

 

honestly, i couldnt bother playing around with the SR, the only thing i checked was the WEI.. that gave me a lower value for gaming for the SR, but gave me a higher value for the AERO graphics (weird)

so yeah, im sending the SR home, and ordering another CTO'd Z590 with no blu-ray, and im upgrading the parts myself

Plus, the SR is a lot heavier than the Z.. which i thought it wouldnt make a difference the extra .5 pound, but it felt heavier and bulkier

so now i have to ship 2 laptops back, and wait for my new Z to arrive

does anyone one know which memory comes in the Z (the 2gb)
cause i am planning on ordering the exact same brand

 

just to further illustrate my frustration with the SR:

 

Another thing to note is that one is using ATI graphics & the other is using Nvidia graphics. When they both load up, they'll also load up the default color profiles of the respective graphics card's software.

So for example, if the Z comes with options for ATI (although Sony don't offer this option) &/or Nvidia, the way the screens look will still be slightly different...

 

That's an awesome shot. It clearly shows the color difference between the SR and the Z. I'm often puzzled that people are saying they're about the same or can be tweaked to be the same. I'll take color accuracy over contrast any day.

 

In my opinion the difference in that picture is color saturation.

And I doubt the SR in this picture will have higher contrast than the Z. I would not be surprised if Sony is using multiple panels in SR series.

ThreeD has mentioned before that he saw an SR that looked very washed out (like the one in the picture). The SR I saw looked very good. Much more saturated than the one in the picture.

Another possibility would that the ATI software/hardware has a bad influence on colors.

 

im still deciding which notebook is better for me, i still have to see them in person at a store to make my choice, but i was wondering after seeing the pics, is the Z wider than the SR? I thought they were the same in terms of length but with the SR being longer vertically.

 

You posted the same question in like 3 different threads

 

Yup, please don't cross post: forum rules. Thanks.

 

well, im new to the forums, i wasnt sure where the question should go. it wont happen again.