Help with choice vaio Z or MBPR

Hi I am looking to get a new laptop and I'm trying to decide on whether to go with a Vaio Z or MBPR

I like the smaller yet still powerful form factor of the Z but I haves,e doubts as to Sonys customer service and form factor of the laptop.

1. Does Sony offer good customer service for repairing laptops?
2. How loud is the fan on the Vaio Z3 compared to the MBPR?
3. Does those little plastic legs on the hinge that prop the laptop up wear and tear easily.
4. Does the Sony portable dock with the new graphics card match the Kepler in the mBPR?

Hopefully someone can help answer some f these questions

 

1: Not nearly as easy as walking into the Apple store for repair. Sony has had issues like everyone else with repairs.

2: Under full load without the dock attached, its about 2x louder than the rMBP.

3: I have not had issues with mine. Just don't sit it on stucco and open it.

4: No chance in hell... Its half the speed and only of you have it connected to an a monitor. If you use the internal display, its even slower.

However, Its 2.5 pounds and wipes the floor with everything in its class. If you are not looking to max out games, the CPU is on par with the rMBP. That's astonishing in my book. The HD 4000 easily let's you get quick gaming fixes on the go.

If you like OSX, and I for one do, wait for the 13" revision. If they put a dedicated GPU in that sucker, I will be in line to test the waters again.

 

My 2 cents (though I only have used Z2s, not the SVZ/IB:

1) Methinks you're being overly kind to Sony here. Though all computer brands have their share of service gripes, Sony seems to have more than "their share." In surveys, they show about average, but anecdotaly - just read threads in this forum - Sony has an arrogance towards customers that most companies have matured past.

2) Can't say, though your answer surprises me only because your comparison is with the Sony running only on Intel gfx.

3) Haha.

4) This is the part I really don't understand about people comparing these two models. They couldn't be more different, other than both being "super premium" versions of their respective products, which, again, are as different as night and day. No criticism intended, but I will say that I can't imagine anyone being anywhere near equally pleased with both machines because what one does exceptionally well the other has real problems with, and vice-versa.

A member, "Zoinks," did a comprehensive series of tests and observations about these two computers and had an extensive thread on just this subject. Sorry I can't put my hands on it, but it is titled something like "A Windows guy's impressions of the R-MBP" Searching works pretty well on this new version of vBulletin, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. It may be in the Apple forum.

 

The "Zoinks" thread is here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/app...cbook-pro-retina-impressions-windows-guy.html

I've had a Z2 for the last year and now I'm moving to the rMBP. I got a good deal on a slightly used model on eBay so I thought I would give it a try. The rMBP has won me over.

One note I would make on the thread is that ZoinksS2k noted that he gotten much faster performance in Adobe Lightroom on the Z2 over the rMBP. I can only assume that he did the testing under windows/basecamp. I've done some import testing in LR using Mountain Lion and the rMBP is faster than the Z2. Of course the new Z3 is also a quad-care (the Z2 is dual) so I imagine they are comparable now. Certainly the unique Sony RAID 0 SSD drive produces very fast R/W times.

I haven't found the size different to be a big deal. The extra two pounds is noticeable but I've adjusted.

Things that are better (for me) on the rMBP:
- The retina display (duh)
- Quad-core speed
- Keyboard
- Speakers (much better -- the Z series has the worst speakers I've ever had on a laptop)
- Trackpad -- Z2's isn't bad (if small) but Apple still makes the best trackpad I've used
- I know this is also trackpad, but I'm hooked on the two finger "right click"
- Even though I've been a Windows user all the way back to Windows 3.0, I've found a number of features in Mountain Lion that I really like. I'll adjust.
- The rMBP feels very sturdy and well made. The exterior finish on my Z2 is very, very easy to scratch


Things I like better on the Z2:
- 2.5 pound weight -- that's insanely light.
- A matte screen that is excellent -- the Z3 has better aRGB coverage than the rMBP
- Really fast SSD
- Power Media Dock (not optional on the Z2) made using the Z2 as a desktop very easy to hook up
- Playing HD video (as a test), I get 4.5 hours on the internal battery and 8.5 hours with the battery slice.
- With the battery slice attached, the Z2 is still nearly a pound lighter than the rMBP

Finally, Mobile Tech Review did a nice rMBP to Z2 comparison:
MobileTechReview Forum and News: MacBook Pro with Retina Display vs. Sony Vaio Z 2012 Comparison

 

Thanks guys!

I've been wanting to love the Sony but I think I will end up going with a Mac ultimately.

 

Which things in particular swayed your decision?

 

I want the Z really much for the small form factor but I have some doubts on fan noise and keyboard and touchpad. Damn it Sony why can't u just up ur game to surpass apple.

 

Up what. 13" 1080p, SV CPU, RAID SSD's. Now if they made 15" Z's that would be a different story.

In my mind, the Z surpasses Apple in every level.

 

not everything...the only thing that z cannot beat mac is to run a mac os

 

The obvious question then is...

Why are you looking a a PC when you want OSX?

This is why I stated to wait for a 13" rMBP.

Can you compare the 13" MBP and the 15" cMBP? Answer is no, because their entirely different machines.