Average life of the VAIO Z?

Hey previous Z owners,

How long does the Z last before it starts to glitch out on you? (e.g screen doesn't turn on anymore)

 

It is a difficult question to answer. It depends on how much you use it, where you use it, how you use it and how well you look after it. It's not possible to answer.

Reliability wise, Sony is rated in the top 5.

 

Well consider these scenarios; 1) browsing the internet, word processing and HD videos (720/1080p), 2) gaming heavily with some cpu intensive/gpu intensive games and photoshop

 

5 years? Who knows really to be honest. This is difficult to answer. It's similar to asking when the next earthquake is coming through

 

I would estimate 2-3 years if you take good care of it before you start seeing some minor problems at the very least.

 

A guy I work with has the equivalent model to mine the Z12, but about 3.5 years old.
He's a developer uses it heavily everyday, from db work to .NET programming.

Still going strong, though he's looking longingly at upgrading to mine now

 

I was also pondering the Vaio Z and wondering on the life expectency of the laptop compared to other Sony laptops. The screen flex is just a psychological barrier and this is probably where a lot of the questions come from. Sony ranks 3rd on a lot of reliability surverys so that does give me confidence. I will also probably get a 3 year manufacturers warranty from Sony to put my mind at ease.

 

Would you mind asking him if he can take a photo of his keyboard? wanna see how much the buttons and especially the letter labels wear out over a long time. thanks in advance.

 

Estimates like this are meaningless. A brand new computer can fail within minutes. A well abused laptop could last decades. I've bought many laptops over the years. Some are 15 years old and still go strong. I haven't had one PC fail. I've had 4 Macs go bad. Macs are fragile, it's almost always bad soldering. I generally fix them with liberal use of a heatgun. My X60 has been used hard. Drops, dust storms, 36 hour bus rides under a pile of backpacks, used as food tray. It's rubber coating has been rubbed off in spots to expose bare metal, the keys have lost there lettering and there are quite a few cracks but it still works like it was new.

So, other than for things like batteries where it is possible to estimate lifesapn, it'll last as long as it lasts.

 

Who is to say? I've had my Vaio TZ since January 08 and a recall was announced for many models (mine included) in September 08 for a burn hazard risk, which was discussed in these very forums. I still haven't sent it in for repairs and its going along strong almost two years later.

 

Im writing this using a VGN-TZ21VN which I am treating in a way I wouldn't if I had paid for this, but since its my companys laptop.

I am leaving it turned on carrying it around just holding the screen and stuff like this.
I have to say it still works like a charm, expect the broken left battery lock which i simply taped.

This notebook was in use for the last years every day, carried around a LOT and of course the battery life dropped to max. 3 hrs on battery saving settings and a brightness level you can only work at nights with, but still, it works.

So this ones build quality at least doesn't seem to be the worst

 

Well, i've had my Z12 for 1 month and already the right side hinge connecting to the LCD is already loose.

All previous VAIO's i've had suffered from durability issues. 505F, N505VE, TX150, TZ350N.

 

I've had my Z690 (soon to become the property of another since I upgraded to the Z11) for over a year. I've used it every single day taking it everywhere, including pop-up trailer camping. My kids have used it to watch movies in the car while we travelling. In short, it has been on for thousands of hours. I've always used the battery care (80% charge max) feature - turning it off and fully recharging the battery every 6 months. The only issue I've had with it was a broken/worn out trackpad button, which someone came on site to replace.

 

Perhaps a poll would be helpful, though then again the people who visit forums usually do so when they encounter problems, hence the poll would be skewed.

I'm also wondering if the Zs assembled in certain countries (say Japan) are more long-lived.

 

Ive never owned a pc for more than 2 years...with an average of 1 every year....not because they breakdown, but because of technology gains in functionality / usage benefits that cause me to upgrade.

Put simply....its not a case of how much wear and tear..........these days the pc will way outlive you.................. its compulsion to upgrade that will be the key factor.

 

I doubt your hinge is loose. The plastic cover that covers the hinge gets loose. It seems to be a design flaw but it's a 30 second fix.

I beat the absolute crap out of my notebooks. I had a Vaio T, 2 vgn-Z's, and now my VPC-Z. I feel they hold up excellent.

Are they as durable as some high-end thinkpads? Probably not. But they are pretty darn durable. Thinkpads aren't as durable as toughbooks either...size/weight/thinness will come at some cost in durability.