Are my Z specs alright? Is 1080P Res worth the wait?

Hi guys,

I am an owner of the old Z series(690) and have loved it ever since day 1. I think my only gripe was the gpu felt at times a bit weak for me, but that was to be expected. In general, it handled nearly all my tasks fine.

I am going to now be purchasing the new Z1190 CTO series. Right now, my specs are set to i7-620m, Win7 Professional, Silver, 4GB RAM, 192GB SSD. Is there any options you guys think I should change, such as an increase in RAM, or a decrease in something else, etc.
The only reason I have not purchased the laptop yet is because of 2 things, firstly is the 1600x900 resolution. I love the resolution, and while, sometimes, I find some things a bit small, overall everything is readable and fits well. When I heard they were having 1920x1080, that definitely got me excited. While I do not want to opt for the signature series Z, I am sure 1920x1080 will eventually come after a refresh.
Do you think it is worth waiting for the high resolution?
Is it worth it..or do you prefer the 1600x900?
Are there any major pros or cons to switching 1080p or is there not a large difference.

Lastly, the nvidia 330m, I do not know too much about. Most of the things I do on the computer, are not very graphic intensive, (light photoshopping, programming, etc) but will the Z with the specs I listed be able to run some games at decent settings with not everything turned down like the 9300?

Thanks very much in advance guys!

 

Firstly, if you already have a Z, why do you need a new one?

Secondly, if you find 1600x900 a bit small, then I'd have thought 1920x1080 on a 13" screen will be an issue for you.

And the 330M is quite an upgrade over the 9300 and should run games very well, although why would you want to play games on a 13" screen?

 

Gaming on a 13" is great for the portable on the go.......the M11X is a perfect example, extremely popular and its an 11.6" screen.
I own the new Z 1600x900 the screen is perfect for me not to small not to big I have good eyes.
The 1080p screen not doubt will be beautiful but a bit small for my taste i would think but until you see it for yourself no telling really.

 

i was thinking the same thing..but scared the 1080p would be too small. Is it ALOT smaller..or just a bit? Also, is it worth waiting for it to eventually come at a refresh or is the difference in color quality etc between 1600x900 and 1920x1280 not very big

 

Dont forget that the Z can not push the newest games at 1080p res, so you'll probably be playing at a lower res. At a lower res other than the native resolution, the game will look fussy. For games the lower res is actually better.

 

AGREED.
If you plan on playing games at the native resolution which I highly recommend for the reason mention by Blue, then I would highly recommend the 1600x900, otherwise the 1080p display at the native res might be a little to much for the 330m.

 

With 1600x900 you can play at 800x450 but 1920x1080 will give you 960x540. I think modern games support custom resolution.

 

One problem I have with Sony's nvidia driver is that they don't allow setting your own custom resolutions so games won't detect them.

 

1600x900 all the way.
The 330M can't handle 1080 res gaming, and besides, the difference in quality is not that big. You can add some AA in games to make up for smaller res.

 

Even with custom resolutions, playing at a resolution other than the native resolution, the game will look a bit fussy.
The 330M has more chance of playing a modern game at 1600x900, I highly doubt at 1900x1080. For most new games at that high 1080 resolution you'll probably get a slide show with some effects turned on,

 

It seems though (from what I've read) that the 1080p screen might be a nicer product though. I've read some complains about grainyness and other things with the 1600x900 screen, but nothing but amazing comments about the 1080p. Maybe I'm off base with this thought process..?

 

The 1080 is amazing, but not convenient for gaming.
I bet Blu-ray movies would look amazing with such high res on such a small screen.

 

Playing at half res is reasonable compromise (less details but nothing wrong with overall quality - though I'm not even speaking about other resolutions)

1600x900 isn't that different from 1920x1080 and both are a bit too much for 330M in demanding games.

 

My VAIO FW has a 1600x900 screen and it's amazing.

 

Only sometimes. With my (underclocked) ATI MR 4650 (pretty much the same performance as the GT330M) I can play Crysis at 1600x900 at medium settings, and Mass Effect 2 maxed out at that same res.
Damn double post

 

by the looks of it right now, i feel more inclined to go with the 1600x900. the only thing that still makes me wonder is how much better the color would be on a 1080p model. also.. are my specs for the ram(4gb) and everything else good or should i upgrade something more? for ram i can always upgrade in the future. SSD i dont think will be as easy to upgrade.

 

Mine too, but of course it's a 16.4" screen. Frankly I can't imagine the same resolution on a 13.1" screen. How do you guys do it?

 

When do you guys think a refresh will come along with 1920 resolution?

 

In UK we are lucky enough to have the 1080p screen as an CTO option which is what I got. I have to say the screen is so sharp and bright. I use to feel eye strain with my Alienware M15X which had a HD screen but not with the Sony. If you get the option eventually definately get the 1080p screen

 

I have the 1080 screen. I love having the extra space. Obviously to read web pages and word documents you need to zoom in, but the taskbar, Word's ribbon and Chrome's bookmarks are just so small and out of the way. It gives a lovely feeling of space. PDFs open nicely next to Word side by side for editing. But you do need a good set of eyes, and you need to sit near the screen otherwise you'll get serious eye strain and headaches.

On the other hand the previous posts are right: there's no way you can play 3D games at high resolution which surprised me at first (see my previous thread). Also do you really notice the difference between a movie at 1080 vs 720? To me I can't really tell the difference.

All in all I think you'll enjoy it if you get the higher res screen but you have to way that against 1) the wait and 2) the cost.

 

I vote for 1080 if money is not a constraint because if you're using microsoft word or excel or pdf file, you can compare side by side without any problem. It make your life easier.

 

haha, and theres me waiting for the refresh to buy one with a bigger processor to offset the higher res on the lcd when playing games

Wait for the refresh, get a higher cpu and high res