Battery Options : VPCZ124GX

Is the Sony store accurate in that I only have two battery options for this model? I am not sure if the battery life is sufficient yet, it is definitely adequate, but... To be fair it is hard to judge as battery bar is jumping around quite a bit in its estimates (in twenty minutes I have seen it jump up or down by a couple hours, with no change in use- which it did not do on my DV6, I suspect this may be connected to the Vaios ability to turn random things off such as the optical drive and whatnot).

My main concern is since I am moving to Russia in January I do not know how easy it will be to find a good (Sony) battery, at a decent price. I do not think the extended battery at $250 is probably worth it, but the standard battery is only $130 right now on Sony- doubling my battery life is not bad for $130- and the dual SSD makes booting so fast that switching batteries would be annoying, but nothing more than that.

Sony says these are my two options, but I have seen other batteries mentioned for Z's it seems...

Extended Battery : VGP-BPL20 - $250
Standard Battery : VGP-BPS20 - $130

EDIT: For the record I am charging to 80% capacity, so I know I could eek more usage out of it when I really needed to. Assuming I always remembered to switch to 100% the day before .

Battery bar says full lifetime is 5:21, currently at 80% and it estimates 4:22, which is at idle. I would love to get a comfortable five hours with basic word and such, optimally even with DVD playback. My goal when I set out was to be able to get 8 hours with two batteries, seems the $130 option is a go unless someone else has a better suggestion (or good news that I can find one for $130 in Moscow ).

 

There are only two options for the Zs.
The standard has 6 cells and the extended has 9 (so a 50% increase).

That said, I recall users here getting a decent 8 hours worth of basic Word and wifi action (no video watching if memory serves correct).
You MIGHT be able to get 5 hours of DVD playback with the extended, but that's a big MIGHT...

For comparison-sake, I think the X series is the only VAIO lappie with more than 2 battery alternatives (large and small). They come with small, small-mid, mid (normal), mid-large, and large, if I remember right...

 

Youll never get 4 hours with a spinning drive when you get 4,5 hours idling. When I saw movies straight from my ssd, I got barely 2,5 hours on HD content, display 50%, headphones.

 

I think I am going to jump on the standard battery for $130. Looks like in Moscow I would be paying more like $200 and $300 for the standard and extended respectively. And no guarantee they would be legit .

I am a little disapointed by the battery life, I was anticipating more, however, I have seen enough on here to know you are an authoratative source. Still very pleased with the Vaio overall.

 

Darn looks like I can get the extended for $200, that's only $70 more than the standard

 

I suggest getting the Large capacity.

Doesn't make sense to get another standard one, since the price difference isn't that big. It would be better to have one of each for different usage sscenario, like one for home and one for on the go or unplugged.

 

Had to jump on a second standard capacity. I registered my Vaio so got a 20% off coupon for accessories, brought the battery with two-day shipping and tax to $113. If I need the extended battery I should be back in the states in March-May time period and can pick one up then if necessary.