Need expert advice configuring a Vaio Z

Hello,
after 3-months of carefull consideration and reading this forum I decided to go for a Vaio Z. I am a lifelong Toshiba fan, and did consider the Portegé R700, but ultimately the Vaio Z suits me better I think. I would greatly appreciate support picking the right configuration (USA specs) as I am a bit challenged. I intent to use the CPU for regular use, as well as multitasking with heavy games and will use it for photo/video editing. Speed and graphics are essential, as well as weight (hence the Z):

Processor: I read that under "normal" use the i5 is actually faster than the i7, and the i7 might run warmer. I assume that given my need for speeds and graphics the i7 is preferred?

Memory: I have seen posts questioning whether more than 4GB RAM is actually adding to the performance (depending on what you use your cpu for).

Screen size: 1920x1080 many people are increasing font size and not happy with result. What happens when you attach to an external 24" monitor 1080p(which will be 50% of my time)? Any difference in performance between 1600x1200 and 1920x1080 Vaio screen?

Fresh Start: Does it really help or do you still have to go through the services? I do like the Adobe package but ready to skip that if Fresh Start is really good. Also, when selecting Adobe package and potentially Office package, is my understanding correct as long as you have the license key you can download and do fresh install? Does still also apply to Windows 7?

Thanks for all your support

 

Processor: For majority of users, I would recommend i5-520M 2.4 GHz. Not only is it cheaper, but the performance is superb and it may use marginally less battery and generate a little less heat. After all, the i7 is only 10% faster clock speed, and computer performance depends very little on CPUs these days (they're more than fast enough, it's the HDD and other components that are bottlenecks).

That is unless you will be running a lot of extremely CPU intensive tasks that take minutes to complete. In that case, 10% faster CPU = 10% of a few minutes saved; might be worth it.

Memory: Similarly to above, unless you're a very heavy user and/or multitasker, 4 GB is pretty good. More than that will likely not bring as much benefit for the price. But if you need more RAM, you will know it. Don't get it "just in case."

Screen size: It's 1600x900, not 1600x1200. Yes, unless you know _exactly_ what you're doing (i.e. u don't need to ask other ppl for opinions), getting 1600x900 is a safer bet. You will run into less problems with it. 1920x1080 is good too, but you'll likely need to deal with font scaling which works more or less okay in Windows 7, but it's far from perfect. Higher resolution screen is better for reading PDFs however. For movies and games, I would say either screen is about the same (I doubt you'll notice a difference in image quality). 1080p will get lower FPS in games however.

Fresh Start: Most ppl say not to get it if you value the Adobe bundle (which is worth a lot of $). You can uninstall whatever you don't need.

 

Some more quick thoughts:
-1080p screen is better for for photo/video editing, but only if you can see the tiny fonts without increased scaling. Otherwise, it's no better. You'll use an external monitor anyway.
-For heavy gaming... 1080p is worse... The GPU in Z is not extremely powerful.
-Yes, you can reinstall Windows 7 from scratch and use your key. However, it's not really necessary to do so these days. Just uninstall what you don't need.

 

Thank you shurcooL, this is exactly the input I was looking for...

Any other opinions?

 

Nice, concise and informative. Good answer shurcool. I had to go through a whole bunch of links to get the same info before buying my Z.

Just as shurcool suggested: i5 processor with 4Gb RAM is plenty fast for 95% of users. I run Photoshop 64bit, Indesign, and Premiere. All run pretty darn fast. If you're a graphic designer or video editor you might want to opt for more RAM. But you can always add RAM later--slots are easily accessible. As far as screen goes: 1600X900 offers plenty of real estate. I too was considering the 1920X1080. Glad that I didn't go for it though.

One thing I would definitely opt for is more storage. Part of what you save on screen and RAM, I would apply to storage upgrade--256Gb instead of 128Gb might be a good idea.

 

I use mine to play games, video edit, surf and word process...for games I like the best and if I can eek an extra fram, I'll max it.

So I would go with the i7 - my rule of thumb is to always go with the highest processor in a bid to keep it as future proof as possible. Youll still get good battery life and be able to take advantage of the graphics card switch button (can be on auto too) to help battery and of course the windows power settings. There is the extended battery available too if you need it.

Ram wise Ive found that the processor seems to need to work less with more available - Im guessing more in ram cache and therefor easier for it, making for less fan. I go with 8gb these days - its a bit more money, but no bottleneck at all.

SSD - this is really where you pay your money and take your choice. Its very expensive but makes the machine feel very peppy. Plus no moving parts. Ive had 2 Z's and the SSD has been great.

1080 screen for me - you can always increase font size or use lower resolution settings in a game - more screen estate and why not have the sharpest picture if its available to you.

Design wise - if you buy from japan then you get alot more choice. my preffered lid design is premium glossy black.

 

Interesting that Virtua has a complete different opinion. I guess it is really based on preference.

 

As for the processor, I agree with shurcooL, the bottleneck nowadays are the HDD/graphics cards. (but you do have ssd's in RAID0, so that wont be a bottleneck) But it does depend on your personal usage, for gaming, the graphics card is definately the bottleneck, the i5 can keep up with the 330m any day of the week. However, you state you do video/photo editing, and the i5 can handle it fine, but if you do video/photo edit large files, etc where it can take a while, it would be better to go with the i7(like shurcooL said), I went with the i7 because of bragging rights, most users(me included) most likely cant tell the difference unless we benchmark it.

RAM: Well, think, will aftermarket RAM be cheaper than upgrading through Sony. That's the real question here since replacing the RAM is easy as unscrewing two screws, removing the incumbant sticks and placing in new ones. I personally decided to only go with 4gb because sony wanted to charge me $300 to go to 8gb and the 4gb offered with the CTO Z11 was 1x4gb, not the 2x2gb nonsense in the Z12 nowadays. (keep in mind, RAM prices seem to be dropping, a stick of 4gb RAM for the Z back in april was $150, i saw a stick the other day for $73)

SSD: in response to Virtua's post, if you want, you could also save the money and replace the DVD drive with an aftermarket SSD which is cheaper in GB/$ than sony's solution, but you do give up the DVD drive.

1080p: I really wanted one... but back in the day of the CTO Z11, you couldnt get it in the US, but like someone mentioned, it's going to put a strain on your graphics card if you game on 1080p vs the 1600x900. It also has great color reproduction too i think it's liek 96% Adobe RGB rating or something like that.

Fresh start: only comes with Win 7 Prof(just FYI in case you didnt notice). But i dont think you should get it, it's easier to just uninstall the fairly little(IMO, i'm sure others would disagree) bloatware that sony included with the lappy. I went with Win Home because, well I could get a free Win Prof license off MS from my school, so i couldnt justify the $50 just to have them not install something for me(and adobe bundle wasnt free for us Z11 CTOer's)

Well, whatever you choose, i'm sure you wont be disappointed by your purchase =D, We'll hope you'll join the club soon!

 

The 1600x900 also covers most of the Adobe RGB color space somewhere around 90+% .