New MBP versus Sony Vaio F series

I posted this in MacRumors with no response, I'm hoping a Vaio enthusiast can help me with some answers! I'm after the best multimedia professional laptop. Cheers --

Can anyone with a keener eye for detail explain the pros and cons between two machines for me? I speculated that I would buy the Sony Vaio F Series if the new MBPs were not that exciting. I like many of the things the MBP has to offer, battery life and switchable GPUs being decent, but really at the end of the day, raw power is much more important for me. It will be used 80% of the time near a power outlet. I don't mind weight.

I have no loyalty to Mac or OSX nor Windows come to that. I am reasonably advanced at both systems. I never get viruses or hijacks because I know how to run my own security. I don't experience lag on Windows as I keep the system optimal. I have the same amount of problems with Windows XP as I do with OSX i.e. not many. Windows 7 should be refreshing. I am a power user who uses intensive, high-end graphic applications and video intensive and 3D processing. And music and audio processing. I am an advanced user of the Adobe range and the Final Cut assortment of programs. A 15" screen is fine because I can buy a large screen to go with it. I would miss the Final Cut Pro and associated products but then I think Adobe's software is a superb alternative, especially considering the ease of Blu-Ray production without the fiddly stuff on OSX. I like the idea of Mac's OSX AND Windows on one system with the Macs. I don't like the things I'm hearing about Windows resource hogging on OSX. I like the amount of freeware/shareware on Windows.

FIRST ITEM: Latest Apple Mac Book Pro 15"
SECOND ITEM: Sony Vaio F Series VPCF11X5E

MBP £2279 inc vat
Sony £1429 inc vat

OSX Snow Leopard
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate

2.66GHz Intel Core i7 dual-core ???
Intel® Core(TM) i7 Processor Quad Core 1.6Ghz-2.8Ghz ???

500 GB Serial ATA 7200 rpm
500 GB Serial ATA 7200 rpm

8 GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
8 GB 1333MHz DDR3-SDRAM

DVD super-drive
Blu-ray Disc writer

15" LED, Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display 1680x1050
16" LCD, 1920x1080

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M 512MB ???
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M 1GB

SD card slot
SD and MS card slot

No HDMI
HDMI output

Battery life up to 8 hours
Battery life up to 3 hours

A quick comparison of these stats seem to give a big lead to the Sony if you are not bothered about the Apple brand. As I said, the battery is not enough of a reason compared with everything else you lose out on. I am a little concerned about the exact spec of the i7 dual versus the i7 quad, as I am not certain what 'type' of i7 is in the Mac. Is it massively better than the Sony offering, or just the same? Can you spot any other weak links in the Sony offering? I have read of some issues with the USA Sony Vaio but none of these issues have occurred on the UK model (fan noise, for instance). Thanks for any help.

 

if you dont care about the battery and FCP, go with the sony. the i7 in the new Macs are the i7 dual not quads. so for CPU intensive work the Sony will outrun the MBP rather well.

secondly the blu ray burner will be a godsend for backing up projects or burning test video to BD

Sorry I was going to post you @ macrumors forum but am quite sick of being flamed by them in there for some of my remarks on how one of my MAJOR publishing and design custmers waited for the MBP refresh then said screw it they are WAY too underpowered.
" were moving everything to PC and buying new Adobe and Corel licences!".

 

If you choose the wide gamut screen for F series, it will be another advantage. This screen got the #1 ranking in notebookcheck.net

 

I had a quad core and did not like it. in may tasks the arrandale does better.
I would do this if you want high quality built with slighty superior performance and money is not a big deal.

MBP 17
1900 x 1200 Screen (much better than sony-plus tons more room)
Upgrade to SSD. This is the single biggest source of performance and will save you time.
Just stick with the i5 chip --dont upgrade it's a waste of money.

You'll get a nicer lookig machine. Lighter. Thinner. Sexier. About the same power since most apps don't run on quad core now. By the time a lot of apps do--you'll need a new machine anyway.

 

arrandale quads are fare superior to the old C2Q's you actually see quite an improvement. and the OP implied he uses Pro applications which DO use the extra cores and threading, should the OP be looking at something like CS5 there is a VERY noticible improvement.

the MBP screens are the same as the sony F's and sub par to the Sony Z

 

Good replies thank you. Anyone know if the GPU is identical? Some literature online indicates a 512mb/1gb discrepancy. I should also point out I can get an education price on that MBP making it around £1850. Another persuader is having the vaio as my Bluray player as I don't yet have one. Let's face it, video HD downloads don't have the same quality.

 

Re the Core i7s, does the Mac run faster on a single core as with the Sony on a single core or is it the same speed?

 

and not to mention the dedicated ram for graphic for new mbp is only 512Mb, why they cant make it to 1Gb? if Z can, i think the new MBP should do fine. >_>

GPU is identical but the ram differ which would affect minor performance.

 

Sony Vaio F-series

Advantages:
- Higher resolution and wider gamut screen
- More interface options (3xUSB 2.0, 1xeSATA/USB, expresscard, iLink (Sony version of firewire), and HDMI connectors)
- Bluray player/writer
- User-removable battery

Disadvantages:
- Plastic body
- Always on fan (some people find it annoying, some don't really care)
- Battery life (actually doesn't matter much if you're going to use the laptop as desktop replacement and doesn't work away from electrical plug a lot)


MacBook Pro 15"

Advantages:
- Unibody aluminum build quality and thinnier, sexier design
- Capable of using both Mac OS X and Windows 7
- Longer battery life
- Automatic switchable graphic card

Disadvantages:
- Expensive
- Lack of current standard interface (HDMI, expresscard)
- Only 2 USB ports (which you have to buy USB hub if you need more)
- Non-removable internal battery

About the processor, Sony came with Core i7-720QM 1.6Ghz (Turbo-boost up to 2.8Ghz) 4 cores/8 threaded processors while the Apple came with Core i7-620M 2.66Ghz (Turbo-boost up to 3.33Ghz) 2 cores/4 threaded processors.

Some prefer the Core i7-620M over the Core i7-820QM since the benchmark isn't that much difference, and some application actually runs better on the Core i7-620M. This is based from what I read here in this forum. You can also search online for this matter to verify and decide yourself. Notebookcheck is a good information site for CPU and GPU benchmarks and comparison tools.

About the graphic, 512Mb and 1Gb is only going to affect minor performance just like Miyabi has said.

In conclusion, it is really depends on your needs and preference from a laptop and whether you're going to use a lot of OS X based softwares. I mean if you buy the MBP to run Windows 7, it beats the point of buying Apple computers. The ports is also the thing you have to think about. If you need HDMI ports, eSATA or expresscard, then only Sony offers that. For value for money, Sony wins, but if you don't care about money, then you have the freedom to choose both easily

The Core i7 quad is actually not arrandale, it's clarksfield. Core i7 dual is arrandale.

 

If I could afford a MBP, I'd have it.

*looks at his F series* how can you compare the two machines? The MacBook Pro is a sleek, sexy machine with a decent amount of CPU power. While the F series is slightly more powerful (in some ways), it runs much slower on battery (931mhz, to be exact), and the industrial design is.. ... not even close.

This is against a powerbook g4, but still..


Now why buy the F over a MacBook Pro? Because the F is more like an i7 17" MacBook Pro, and that costs $2300+. The F costs about $1000 less!

You might feel crappy about that, but in a year or two you can go buy another F series.

 

Totally agree with this statement here. I had a MBP before, running windows on that was so NOT worth it. I think MBP hardware is somehow optimized for OSX, so the choice really becomes whether you are going to use Windows 7 or OSX really.

 

New unibody MacBook Pro is even sexier than PowerBook G4/Early MacBook Pro, and much better build quality, the screen lid and base is really tightly closed I heard some people ask if its locked to the base

Now on that picture, Sony laptops has higher rear feet than the front to give better airflow, so the thickness difference is not as dramatic as that

 

The latest twist to the tail is that my university I lecture at will provide me with a minimum of Adobe CS4 and Final Cut Studio from last year free for the Mac. There is some possibility of getting CS5 and the newer FCS as well, so it really brings the game back to the Mac. I was hoping for a complete Blu-Ray solution, something I could use to produce movies and also use as a playback machine for the TV. I guess with the Mac option I can always get an external BD burner instead and a blu-ray player for a £100.

 

Then MBP is better suited for you since you use FCS. You're also right, you can always get external Blu-Ray drive if you need one

 

Can you point me to this review? I am in the US and have seen fairly poor reviews of the VAIO F's screen, although apparently the European version is much better.

 

The high def screen on the US version of the Vaio F is very good - I've seen it in store. It's the low battery life that I'd be concerned about.

 

Premiere CS5's new engine is pretty amazing. Also Avid's solution is pretty awesome too. I was close to switching over the Final Cut Pro this last year as i'm pretty familiar with it from some past jobs but I would say it's competing solutions recently have gotten as good or even better.

I would agree to stay with the PC. While some things on the dual cores run better , task like encoding the quad cores will help. As more products are programmed better to support the multiple cores you'll see more gains.

Things like battery life and industrial design are low on my totem pole for a laptop that will be sitting on a desk the whole time. As someone mentioned before you could get almost 2 Vaio F's for the price of the apple. Or grab yourself an SSD to go with it.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPC-F11Z1-E-Notebook.25724.0.html