Coming from a Mac, want Sony Vaio Z 2011

Hello everyone,

I am coming from a Mac, it's time for a new laptop and I will either get the 11" mBA or the Sony vaio Z 2011. Just wondering, but how well does it handle startcraft 2 and will it be able to handle batman arkham city pretty well? Are there any known problems with this laptop? If I have to reformat it, will it be easy? Or will I have to hunt for the drivers?

Thanks!

 

The Air isn't in the same category as the Z2 (I have both).

With the PMB (external accelerator with an ATI GPU), you should be able to play both games in medium quality. The Air is pretty useless in a gaming capacity.

Sony provides all the drivers needed for a clean install, but look for a guide in these forums. Some of the applications/drivers need to be installed in a very specific order to work properly.

 

Thanks, but I thought the external gpu was 1gb? I was playing sc2 on medium with my MacBook pro with gt9800m with 512mb card. So shouldn't sc2 be able to play like on high settings or maybe ultra?

 

it depends what you mean by handle... I'm avid sc2 player and i cannot stand the game at less than 50fps. Some people consider 40fps to be "handling" the game well.

 

Be warned. The Z2's PMD houses a HD6650M that appears to be running a x4 1.0 link. Overall will work OK but it's not a high-powered solution. In fact, a 13" Sony SA with HD6630M (x16 link) benchmarks faster.

If you want a ready-to-go solution, consider a previous gen Sony Z, 12.5" Lenovo X220 or 13/14" Toshiba R830/R840 with expresscard slot + $210 GTX460 DIY eGPU. See sig if interested.

 

^I thought we confirmed it's a x4 2.0 link? no?

 

I asked, but got no confirmation. If it's x4 1.0 then consider that x2 1.0 (expresscard) Optimus solutions would get approximately the same link speed. Keeping in mind the expresscard solutions only have x1 1.0 link speed going atm for what seems to be a cabling issue.

Your AIDA64 output supplied here isn't giving us the full scoop.

 

^I can't find anything in baredit. Remember the Z2 has a bunch of PCI buses.

Closes I can find is Bus 27, dev 0. Vendor ID 1033, Device ID 0194. The word you want shows "1012"

Bus 0, dev 0 which is "Intel host bridge" shows 9BA0 there.

Bus 0, dev 31, fct. 2 (device 282a) shows 0306 there.

bus 4, dev 0, vendor 1033, device id 0194 shows 1012 there.

All of the other buses or devices have 0000 in there or specifically call out "HD Audio" or "LAN" in the description.

Hope this helps you.

 

[email protected]

 

@Butter149 : as said by nando4, you might prefer another laptop if you want to play games. If you're not very concerned in screen resolution, you might like the MSI X-Slim X-460DX (14", sandy bridge dual core, nvidia GT540M) witch would be more appropriate for gaming...

 

just a friendly reminder...4x @ 2.0 = 8GB/s or 8x @ 1.0
=)

 

^you mean 4GB/s (2x2). But I was not able to reach anywhere near that on the Z2.

 

In the AMD Stream SDK?

EDIT: to be more clear, there is an AMD developed tool to test actual CPU-->GPU bandwidth... reports in KB/s, MB/s GB/s, etc...

 

You mean this?

 

Getting back to the OP's question:

IMO, you will never go wrong following advice offered by Nando or Beaups. As for his alternative recommendations, the advantage of a previous generation Sony Z - Z11-13 - is that not only can you do awesome gaming with an egpu as described in Nando's sig, but it has a half-decent built in discrete gpu - a down-clocked nVidia Geoforce 330M - that can play many games with at least medium settings. It also has a far better screen than any of the other options mentioned, including by very far your MBA 11 option. You can still find a refurbed Z1 on the Sony Outlet site for around $1,200, easily worth the extra $ vs. the MBA 11. Nothing wrong with the other two options Nando lists with EC for egpu capability, but the Z1 series has everything you need in one 3 lb package.

 

^Sorry for contributing to the OT....

11" air compared to Z is a strange one. Comparing 13" air is closer, but they still are very different.

For gaming, Z obviously wins hands down. For other tasks, it's personal preference.

I own a new 13" MBA and a new Z. I hate to admit it, but for just web surfing and screwing around I definitely prefer the MBA. The trackpad is amazing. I grit my teeth when I come back to the teeny thing on the new Z.

I also prefer the increased size of the MBA's screen. 13.3" @ 16:10 is much larger than 13.1" @ 16:9. I'm not getting any younger, so the MBA is easier on my eyes.

I hate carrying around apple stuff, so I cover the air up in a skinit skin

Z's screen definitely is higher resolution vs. the MBA, but the MBA's screen is significantly brighter....but it's glossy too, which I hate.

Battery life is better with the air, I see about 7 usable hours vs about 4.5 for the Z. But throw on the Z's sheet battery and it wins hands down.

That's about all I've got for now, hope it helps.

 

800MB/s o.0

That's more like PCIe 2.0 x1.2 or something.... More than x1, but definately wierd...


For reference, my SC (HD6470m) gets 2.4 GB/s on battery, 5.3GB/s on AC adaptor.

 

i am an avid sc2 player as well. on my z11, i play on all low settings except texture, models, effects on ultra (i play this on my desktop as well) only because i choose to play like this.

it definitely handles medium-high really well though.

thought i prefer not to play ladder games on my laptop, i'll do better on my desktop haha

 

You could play Batman: Arkham City on OnLive using either MBA or Vaio Z.

 

Oh Yes. sorry my bad.

well that link is shared and have alot o extra circuitry to cope with in the process, introducing some latencies that arent present
in a regular desktop link..

 

Winner: Z11-13, 9 cell battery; 7 hrs easy, phenomenal screen at 1600X900, discrete gpu, DVD, Express Card, no dongles, no freakin fruit logo to hide. Honorable mention: MBA 13 for durability, touchpad - screen is bright but looks lousy and this computer has NO SOUL!

Beaups: I understand. But shame on you!

 

Z13 and Batman: Arkham City is no problem at all, just switch to the Nvidia chip and keep the mains plugged in.

 

Sony Z11 > MBAir ANY TIME.

I'm sorry but if you want something that can do business and gaming and not just web surfing and casual internet. Z11 series is awesome