Portability Vaio Z

Who can explain me, the real portability of the vaio Z series. Really I'm confusse. Go to everywhere with the Power media dock I dont think that is a full portability. Serie S is more portable I think.

Can you give me some opinions? because I want a buy or a sony Z or a S. But I really don't know wich one choice.


PS: Sorry for my english, I dont use web page traslator.

 

Vaio S is slightly larger, but includes the GPU onboard.

Vaio Z is smaller, but the GPU and optical drive are externally placed.
It just depends on what you need. If you need the DVD/BluRay drive on the move, then the S may be for you. If you want mobile gaming, than perhaps another brand... If you want ultimate portability with a docking station at home, than the Z may be for you.

If you want the cheaper option, than the S may still be for you

I'm sorry for the poor useage of English. How I use it is not going to help you learn

 

Thanks Jeremyshaw.


But, If I want mobile gaming. the Vaio Z will be a right choice? Because I think is unconfortable be in an airplain or in a bus with the laptop and de power media dock.

Give me some example of the portability the vaio Z. Inside me i want the Z. The screen and weight are important to me. But the power media dock is nock me out.

 

Just a note: The Power Media Dock has to be plugged into an electrical outlet to become functional.

 

For mobile gaming, you'd be better off with an older VAIO Z, eg. VPCZ1, which has the GPU onboard. A heavy 3D game will drain the batteries in a couple of hours, but many aircraft and trains have power outlets for laptops.

 

PMD has to be plugged to a eletric source. That is a good point to considerate about portability. I think the best choice will be the SA premium. I know. Doesn't have the screen of the Z or the weight. But I have some really portability. I dont see me at University with the laptop and also the power media dock.

 

Like anytimer said, a worthy computer to look at is a VPC Z1, either new or used.

 

I think you should go check out the SA in real life 9especially the screen). If you are fine with the screen then get it. If not, like the others said, the older VPCZ would be good for your needs.

 

Ota-con. I think that is the best think to do right know. Because here sony only sells the SA premium and the new Z series, Z2.

Someone can give me a good use to the power media dock? I try, really, How will be have and use the z2 and i dont image it. Searching in every place a electric power, I dont know really. Or mayby the right use to the z2 is like a desktop pc replace...

 

the dock is quite awesome for business travelers.

use case:
1) keep it at your work desk mainly
2) pack it into your bag when you travel
3) leave it in your hotel room and easily hidden

if you NEED to use a discrete gpu for an extended amount of time, chances are, you're going to be attached to the wall anyways.

 

Great point! The Z series is designed for business users in mind. Its high-powered features, though fine for gaming, are intended to benefit business users.

 

So... The vaio z is not the best portable choice for a student like me. I work and study for that reazon I can considerate this High prices. Because Z is EXPENSIVE.

I think the SA will be the next laptop... But I really want the screen and more than nothing the weight of the Z =(

 

If good display and light weight are important for you:

If you don't game, you can check out Samsung Series 9. Just as light, with a good 13" screen (at 1366x768 though). Cheaper than a Z21.

If you do game, you can check out vaio Z1. It has similar (if not identical) screen to Z21's, is lighter than SA, and has internal discrete graphics. Get a refurb from Sony Outlet. It's cheaper than an SA.

 

the 13x7 screen kinda disqualifies it as a good screen lol.

 

i have a CTO VAIO SA, and to me the screen looks just fine. of course, i'm coming from an 8-year old COMPAQ laptop (again, with matte screen as i hate glossy LCDs passionately), but the screen in SA is just fine, compared to other computers (laptops/desktops) that i've used in the past and have been using now. it's definitely not the premium LCD panel you'll find in VAIO Z, but it's also not as terrible as people are suggesting it to be (again, at least for me). and i have still not used StormBlade83's Spyder3 Elite calibrated color profile which will definitely improve the appearance a lot.

about the portability, it IS portable. light weight, good build quality, onboard GPU, optical drive, backlit keyboard are all the things i wanted in my next laptop, and i have them all in the SA.

just my $0.02.

 

Get a used Z1

 

i've checked out the z2 basic and the premium at my local sonystyle store and it made me appreciate my z1 even more. definitely saving for something better.

 

for one thing that new Z is better than the old Z for sure is battery life, size and speed of the CPU

 

The new Z is not as good for the high end enthusiast because it is not as user serviceable/up-gradable. While it does offer a lot in a nice package, you will have to buy all the options upfront as there is little to no possibility to upgrade it down the road. I know this is not something that Sony cares about, but some of us like to tweak and mod our computers as much as possible. The Z1 is easy to work on, mod, and upgrade.

 

agreed.

from bios > ram > cpu > ssd > bluray drive > express card viDock


yup..

 

I disagree.

It doesn't have the docking station or the legacy port compatibility to make it competitive with other business ultraportables like the X220. Furthermore, the gpu in the PMD isn't a Fire GL/Quadro which has pretty robust driver support, unlike Radeon/Geforce which has ropey drivers to be quite honest. Most iterations of these drivers are geared towards squeezing fps out of the latest games. Sony's after sales support is also legendarily bad and I can attest to that having had poor experiences with them.

Z series is more of a luxury gaming/multimedia ultraportable, with strong emphasis on being a world first in terms of thinness and weight.

I used to own a Z1 and I never felt that it was a portable computer because it cost a fortune and you don't have reliable after sales support in UK/Europe. Let me explain. I had a tendency to baby it and not risk jostling it around on the go, because if it got damaged it was difficult and/or expensive to source replacement parts.

I think it is a well built laptop but it its built to feel luxurious more than to last imho. By all accounts the Z2 appears to be better built which is a good think but it is still monstrously expensive. This forum has many stories of people that damaged their Z series notebook in a car ride and were then stuck having to deal with out of warranty support much to their dismay.

I very rarely used speed mode or the optical drive on the Z1 battery because you wont get more than 90 minutes out of it, thus limiting how far and how long you can be away from a wall socket. As such, I feel the Z2 has a sound concept because it moves the battery killing components into an external breakout box (which is also very portable).

The things I want most in a business notebook are:

1) Quality after sales service. I've had dealing with Dell small business support and it has been mostly positive. They sent out a new replacement notebook before scheduling collection for the damaged one and the accidental damage was covered by warranty. Turn around was quick so there wasn't much downtime. It also helps that we outsource all of our IT to a company that is qualified to service Dell computers on the fly. We have a tech who comes into the office whenever we have problems.

Its not like Sony UK who don't have a small business division. They also asked for 60 quid to have my Z1 couriered to them in order to determine what was wrong with it. Then they told me that accidental damage wasn't covered by the warranty.

2) legacy port connectivity and proper multiple monitor support. In my office we still use a staggering amount of legacy peripherals, printers and projectors - I'm talking serial port and PS/2. For my other unpaid job (heh) I also want firewire because so many mobile production soundcards are still firewire based. In that industry multiple monitors are also the standard, usually very high resolution to get the most display real estate.

I found that I could live with a much slower cpu, less ram, no gaming gpu and optical drive if I could have the above. Most cpu/memory bound tasks that I do can be alleviated by workflow.

i.e. cpu load is always an insurmountable problem in digital music production. Its just a question of whether you have to deal with that problem sooner or later. The solution is always the same: freeze channels and render to reset cpu load. How much live signal processing you handle is also a good indicator of how efficient your workflow is. I admit that I am incredibly wasteful and there are many ways I can reduce cpu load purely by organizing my workflow. To drill this point home, it was only 2 years ago that I was working fine on a vastly slower computer - an AMD Athlon X2 2800+ system with 2gb RAM.

I also agree that the Z1 was easy to modify/upgrade but it does have alot of proprietary custom components and it is really easy to break if you aren't careful. For instance, the keyboard ribbon cable is real easy to damage when you lift out the keyboard assembly/top plate and that thing is expensive to replace.

What puts the Z series in a league of its own is that it is probably the only ultraportable on the market with a HD and full HD option. It is definitely the only one with a HD option that isn't terrible. The Z2 is also amazingly thin and light but boy do you pay for the convenience.

 

^^On the legacy port issue, you went from business notebook to mobile workstation. No mid/high level officer I have known cares for anything more than (today) ethernet, VGA, USB. Maybe HDMI. Maybe. In the past it was RJ-11, VGA, floppy. Sales requirements are the same. Parallel ports? Maybe only an ancient office, networked printing seems to be an overwhelming trend. Maybe serial ports for the rare console connection, but ethernet management seems to be another trend that's overtaking even that last avenue. PS/2 had the issue of not supporting hot plugging (properly?), so that never really caught on for laptops, IMO. I've had two with it (one Sony SuperSlim Pro, one Dell C840), but that's it... even S-Video was more prevalent.

 

Serial ports: USB to serial adapters. No problem there; I've used them myself.

Parallel ports: maybe for old, custom hardware/dongles, but the old stuff doesn't work with Windows 7 and/or 64 bit anyway.

HDMI: necessity. For most presentation work large screen TVs are used, or projectors, all of which now have HDMI inputs.

 

you're talking about mobile workstations here, the Vaio Z never claims to be a workstation(at least no one with sense claims it to be). its a highly-competent ultraportable.

it has VGA....that alone is enough to make it compatible with almost every projector.

 

I own a Z1 and I agree that it has not been as portable as I wished due to the aforementioned. I carry my z1 with me daily but only in a mach 3 composite hard case, which adds bulk and about an extra lb. in weight, so much so, I wounder if it would have been better to go with a 13" MBP (and use w/o a case of course).

 

If I wait the asus killer of the new z2?

 

What?

As much as I dislike the Z2, and I dislike it plenty, it is the best new laptop on the market this year, it will probably be the best laptop on the market for another year also. Asus?

 

Why you don't like the new z2?

 

It doesn't let him tinker with the innards.

 

did someone just compare an asus (any asus) with a Z? lawl

 

It will be interesting to see if the new 15" model coming out is just another mid-size, nothing-special laptop or if it is something else. That it has an apparently top-notch FHD screen as standard is promising. If Sony decides to go all out and make it a high-end machine with as few compromises as possible, it could really be something. Since a quad-core is not being offered, I'm guessing that Sony is going for a thin/light approach to what could otherwise be a heavy, bloated machine.

 

i really don't see anything special about a FHD 15"er...i wouldn't have bought a 15"er without a FHD screen even before the Z came out. If i'm going to carry something that big, I BETTER be carrying a load of real-estate as well.

 

In and of itself, a 15" FHD is no big deal and the new box may turn out to be a bust or at least just another 15" -- as if another one is needed. However, it's a bit unusual for only FHD to be offered on a 15". The MBP 15 doesn't even offer FHD. Maybe Sony has something special planned for the machine, not that I'm betting on it.

 

Get a Z13. Not as good as a Z21, but cheaper and lots of upgrade options available.