Buying a Z12 today (I hope), some questions...

Hi guys,

I'm about to push the button on a VPCZ12M9EB, I've finally found a good deal on it in the UK.

I'm definitely going to put a 2nd SSD in the optical drive bay, is that Newmodeus one the best caddy? 2nd hard drive or SSD caddy for Sony VAIO Z, Z11, Z12 series,VPC [SONY-2BAY-Z11] - $43.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Also, once I've fit the 2nd SSD, I'll be left with a naked slimline DVD writer, is there some kind of case I can put that in to convert it into an external USB DVD writer?

Finally, this will be my first SSD, I know with the old HDD disks, it was advised to keep at least 10% capacity free. Does that go for SSDs as well? any other advice for getting the best out of them?

 

1. I have the impression the newmodeus caddy has the least (no?) issues. I don't have one so I can't confirm.

2. I seem to have seen external enclosures for these drives before. But a potential problem is that the drive is slimmer than most. Which may just mean that there'll be gaps, which are rather cosmetic. I don't think there's an issue with interface (slimline SATA).

3. Yeah I hear it's good to keep some percentage free. It depends somewhat on the manufacturer: some explicitly carve out a portion of the drive, make it inaccessible to the user, and market only the portion that's usable. Other manufacturers leave the entire space usable so then it's up to the user to manage the space. I don't remember which category the Sony SSDs fall under.

 

Not sure I'd bother putting the DVD drive in a case...

I bought one of these - Buffalo Portable USB 2.0 6x Blu-ray Drive with CyberLink Software Suite: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
Its superb.

I pulled the trigger today on a Z13. FHD, 256SSD, i7.
I have one of the older VGN-Z11's

Cant wait.

In answer to one of your questions - I also order the caddy from Newmodeus, ordered it last Tuesday eve, turned up here in UK on Thursday, and yes, looks like you can fit any standard 2.5" 9.5mm SATA drive in there.

 

thanks for the responses guys. I've gone ahead and ordered the Newmodeus caddy, now I've gotta scrape together the cash for an SSD to put in the caddy, and some sort of carrying case

that external Blueray drive is nice, but I can't justify that much money, I dont really "need" an external optical drive, it just seems like a waste not to use the one I'm taking out. ahh well...

 

hmm this might work Scan.co.uk: Akasa AK-SDEN-01BK Slimbox ODD Enclosure for slimline for DVD & Blu-Ray optical drives

I'll try and find out once I've received the laptop and caddy and have the ODD lying around.

 

Curios about those choosing a new Z13 vs a Z11 from the outlet... (I ordered but did not yet receive a Z11 with the 17 620 adn 256GB, also says it has 1x4GB of RAM so easy upgrade, but it has the 1600 x 900 screen (which is enough for me). So any reasoning you might want to share? (fyi my build was $2039 with WinPro 7

 

Unless you had a need for TPM, I'd say stick with the Z11. The extra cost of the Z13 wouldn't buy you anything.