Inquries about the Z

Hi, just registered here.

I'm thinking about getting the Z. My birthday is at the beginning of October, so I'll just wait a week or so afterward before ordering so I can get it with Windows 7. (Now, that's if I decide to even stick with the Z, or Sony in general. )

Some questions to you owners since there are virtually no reviews on the laptop anywhere...

1. How hot does the Z get? I "go to work" on my laptop, so I'm on it up to 8-9 hours at a time. My current laptop is a Toshiba U205 and it feels like a mini-heater. Usually I'm editing in Photoshop, running FTP, chatting, have at times two-dozen windows open, etc. I'm also going to be doing film production this year, which means I'll be editing stuff from my Sony HD camera.

2. How long does the battery last in doing things like typing in Word, running Photoshop, surfing the web - just basics like that. I'm sure it doesn't really last 6 hours like the Sony site says. I'm a college student and would only be on battery during class or in the car. I have never owned a laptop that lasted for more than 2.5 hours (and this Z will be my fourth). I'm sure it varies based on the processor, but what's the overall span in general?

3. Is the regular cover scratch-resistant? My current laptop has a giant sticker on it to protect from scratches - will I need to get one for this one too? Is that carbon-fiber thing just a gimmick?

4. Do the keyboard keys get those nasty grease marks on them? I use my current laptop so often that even the palm rest's paint has worn off. Will this occur with the Z as well? It looks metal to me but I don't know.

5. Is the keyboard spill-resistant? I'm uhhh.. kind of a klutz, which is why I always get the best warranty. I also drop things. This laptop has had its HD replaced maybe 3 times and the battery has been replaced twice. How sturdy is it? ^_^;; Does the extended warranty cover everything I would ever do to it?

6. Okay, this is more of me asking for your opinion. I don't HAVE to get the Blu-Ray drive, since I probably won't use it that often. I barely even use my DVD drive. However, I am a film major and have a HD Sony camera. The Z lets me edit and save everything in HD, right? The only time I would need Blu-Ray is to save a movie on to an actual Blu-Ray disc, right? If that's the only time I'd need a Blu-Ray drive, I might as well buy a cheap external one, right?

7. Is the Z an eye-turner?

8. SSD or regular HD? I like to have at least 300 GBs, but SSD doesn't really seem that impressive to me right now with its price. Are there any immediate advantages to having it?

9. How good are the speakers? Are they loud? I cannot stand a quiet laptop.

10. Is there a physical volume control? I don't remember seeing one.

11. Are there going to be any new models of the Z soon? It seems like it's been out for a year now. I don't want to buy a Z in October then be told something radically different just came out a few months later.

Based on these questions, I'll ask in the future about the best type of configuration for me. I'm so outdated with computer specs... I can't remember how any of this stuff works anymore.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE!!

 

1- It gets fairly warm, but not nearly as hot as my Macbook

2-Battery life is good, even better with the 9cell battery

3-Very scratch resistant

4-My keyboard stays very clean. The keyboard on the Z is one of the best keyboards I have ever used.

5-Not spill Resistant

6-I think Blu-Ray is a waste of money- Just my opinion

7-Best looking PC I have seen

8-SSD all the way. The speed increase is worth every dollar. When you need extra storage, just plug in a firewire drive or usb drive

9- Laptop speakers suck...these may suck less then most

10- No physical volume control

11-Who knows......

 

I disagree that the lid is scratch resistant. The "premum carbon" one certainly isn't, being brushed plastic, you can easily make lasting scratches. Toss your keys on top of the Z, and you'll almost certainly get a permanent scratch.

And yes, the keys wear down to a slick finish over time. No keyboard ever made avoids this problem. The palm rest is slick to start with, but you're not touching the actual metal -- you're touching a layer of lacquer on top of brushed metal. This will, eventually, wear off, but it seems sturdier than most. The keys, though, do wear down to a slick finish as quickly as any other keyboard with matte keys. And similar for the touchpad. No laptop I know of is immune to this.

 

Thank you for your responses! I appreciate it! Could anyone else chime-in with their experiences and opinions as well?

 

Okay, my own experience:

1. Temp usually around 34 ~ 40 for processors. The machine stays cool and temp is acceptable, and lap friendly. The temp get increased if its running speed mode, NVIDIA, and if you are running GPU intensive software like games, the temp for GPU may reach up to 95c. However the backside of the notebooks stays warm, not that hot.

2. Battery life for casual use without WIFI , Bluetooth, gets around 4 ~ 5 hours (at 50% brightness). You can certainly gets more hours if lower down the brightness level and limit the processor process state at the control panel.

3. Im not sure if its scratch resistance, been using Z (regular lid) for quite long, and no single scratch yet and i dont use any sticker to protect the lid and the overall notebook. But like arth1 mention, it would get scratch if there is force apply with sharp material to the lid surface e.g: knife apply to the surface.

4. Im using the keyboard protector (silicon), so far so good. Keyboard looks just like on the first time bringing it out the box. But if you aint using it, i bet it would looks greasy later, just like other notebook. i experience from my Acer and previous VAIO im using. Lesson learn . About the palm rest, if you not cleaning it (e.g: wiping it), it certainly leave some marks.

5. Not so sure about this, but i have splash my Z with plain water before, no problem. I guess the protector protects the water from entering the keyboard hole. lol. I've been using VAIO and I never experience HD failure yet.
About warranty, gotta take a look at the warranty claim policy. Not sure about this too, sorry.

6. I've certainly spend the money on SSD rather than BD-Drive if i've given choice. In my country, the BD is less use and the BD version of Z quite expensive. Beside, im not using BD.. it would be not fully utilize anyway.

7. Elegance, light, and professional looks notebook.

8. SSD if you can afford one of course.

9. Speaker are loud, but there is no bass on it. It's ok for meeting presentation purpose not for home theatre

10. No physical volume control.

11. I'm not sure.

 

You can have a physical volume control, because you have S1 and S2, that you can set as volume control if that is so importante to you. these two buttons are free for you to set to what you want. I think it's really cool! lloll

If there will be an update it will be on october and then mid January, according to latest rumours!

 

I think in searching for the Z I saw one on Amazon (without any date) with 3.0 GHz... is that the update you're referring to?

 

That's not physical, though -- it's a software assignment.
A physical volume control would work no matter what operating system you run, and requires no specific drivers.

 

Laptops nowadays still come with a hardware dial for speakers?..... haven't seen one for YEARS.

Anyways i own a VGN-Z46GD laptop. Believe me, its a purchase that i don't regret.... The laptop is awesome in every aspect. No sacrifice in performance for the weight.

Only laptop which packs a punch for its weight, such as Normal CPU (not ULV or Atom), and has a dedicated graphics card, and a dvd-burner. When i was researching, Sony Z Series was the only series which prevailed when it came to specs at 1.5kg weight.

It's even cheaper than Macbook Air which sacrifices performance for its 1.36kg weight.

 

I think that those keys are enough for him. I guess he only wants to click a button to control volume directly

 

Sometimes I forget to mute my laptop, so when I turn it on in class and have something like YouTube running, everyone gets blasted out. So I want to have a way to mute it quickly when I take it out of hibernate or stand by. But I can just be more careful and it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyone know anything about the upgrade to the Z?