Black or Premium? Please help me decide.

Hi: I am on the verge of buying a Vaio Z690 CTO but have one final questions, if you had to choose between black, or premium carbon fiber, which would you pick? I am nervous that with black, I would feel as if I should have opt'd for Premium and if I get premium, I am nervous the notebook won't look as classy. I have seen black at the Sony style store however and it looked very classy. Please give me your thoughts on the matter.

 

Obviously premium. No point to cheap out of $50 now, especially since the carbon is much higher quality.

 

I'm going to go w/ premium - I've heard that it's not shockingly different, you can really see the detail in the right lighting but it's not like it doesn't still look black as well. (I hated, personally, how the SZ premium was brownish.)

If you really love the black, which you've seen, maybe just stick with it so you'll be happy. I've kinda loved the pictures of the premium, though, and I can remember the SZ premium lid which I liked texture/look wise (other than the brown tinge it had, which the premium on the Z does not).

It's just aesthetics, not quality. Both are carbon fiber, the premium is just like having a different finish/texture that is supposed to highlight the fact that it's a carbon fiber construction.

 

This question is definitely subjective. Both are nice in their own way so it is really kinda hard to give you good suggestions. Sorry that I cannot be of much help.

I'll suggest to the OP that he/she should go with what he/she wants simply because no one knows which one of those two options he/she likes.

 

Mine is C premium. Frankly speaking, you can't tell much difference between the C Preminum and Black most of time. The pattern only shows under certain lighting and angle anyway. But if it only costs your 50 bulks more, you might just go for the premium. Oh forgot to mention that under bright lighting condition you can see blue "sparks" on the C premium lid (lots of them). It's part of the design pattern, but it might just for Z27 (the AUS/NZ vision of Z590).
Don't you guys have the new shadow border? It looks better than C Premium IMO.

 

From what I've heard you can hardly tell the difference so I saved the $50 and went with the black. No regrets.

 

I agree i rather spend on something else

Cheers,
Drew

 

nah, the carbon is the same quality

premium carbon = brushed lid

 

From what I have seen, you can't tell the difference between premium carbon fiber and black. I had to ask which is which. I don't think anyone else could tell if they saw your laptop. It's more of a way to personally make yourself feel better "knowing" that you have a premium carbon fiber lid and not a black lid. If it weren't for the fact that even a small amount of carbon fiber was so expensive, it would basically be the difference between red and orange, except in this case there is no color difference.

 

hmmm Fiber Carbon, feel much better, higher quality. The Premium have brush metal, look fantastic

 

Both are carbon fiber lids. Sony uses the terms "Premium Carbon Fiber" & "Black" just to differentiate them from each other in terms of its color & finish.

 

Perhaps you didn't see them both side by side, you you may be a very passive observer. The difference is definitely noticeable... I compared them both at the sony store and the difference was tremendous. The regular "black" looked like a typical plastic laptop lid, just not as slippery.

Here is a shot i just took of my Z with the premium:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=rsbtif&s=5

 

I certainly didn't study them indepth, but then, I don't find that a good criteria to compare. A good glance at both showed very little differences. I mean if you can distinguish only when side by side, under precise lighting, comparing each weave, I would go ahead and call that similar.

 

SpeedwithJJ - Hi, I've read some of your posts, and see that you are selling your Z610. If this is still the case, perhaps you can contact me. I am considering either the Z610 or the Z690, and so would be interesting in your 610.

Thanks, and have a good afternoon.

 

He's not sure he's selling it yet. I contacted him earlier before buying my 690 as well .

 

Ah, thanks. It did look like he was having some "what should I do" type of concerns. Thanks for the response, and enjoy your 690!

 

thanks for all your guys comments, in the end, i decided to go premium, the extra $70CAD doesn't really matter much to me so I though might aswel. again, thanks for your comments.

 

Let us know how you like it when it arrives!