Review: Sony Vaio SA

If you don't get a response in this thread you can try the owner's thread

I haven't seen the inside of the SA, but I think it may matter if the drives' casings are removed (I'm not sure if the dimensions you gave include the casing). You can also try the 1.8" versions, those will be smaller. Also consider the SATA connector, it needs to fit what's available in the laptop.

 

I don't think I could buy a year old machine..

I thought the Z was discontinued?

"While no official announcement exists from Sony, the entire Vaio Z series has been discontinued indefinitely in the United States. All products in this series have been marked as "No longer available for purchase at Sony Store," [2] and it has been removed from their business product listings[3] . Sales representatives over the phone (4/23/11) are confirming that the S series will now be taking its place."

Hm, strange.. I'll do some research on the Z21 though, thanks for the advice!

 

refurbished Z is selling for $999 on the Sony website under the "outlet Store" - search for VPCZ1390X. Also microcenter is selling the Z (new condition) for $1699+.

yeah i was pretty much set on the Vaio SA..but opted for the old Z at the end..saved money and got an amazing screen - you look at the screen 24/7....i don't think ill notice much performance difference for what im using the laptop for.. to each his own.

 

Some comparison pictures between the Z and the SA.

Z is more vibrant, SA is more washed out
Z is warmer color, SA is on the cooler side
Z has wider viewing angle, SA not so much
Z has a very good contrast, blacks are blacker. In SA, the blacks arent even as black as my 2.5 year old SR.

My camera didnt do justice to how good the screen on the Z is. It is a lot easier on the eye than the SA. SR seems to come very close to the Z in terms of easy on the eye.

Pics attached. The one on the left is the Z and the one of the right is the SA. In the first pic, the one of the extreme right is the SR.

Before you start questioning, this new SA is for another family member to replace the aging SR. The SA doesnt seem any better than the SR, in fact I prefer the SR more than the SA. This SA is definitely going back. Wondering if I should just replace the SR with a refurbished Z or if I should just plug in a new battery in to the almost dead SR to give it a new lease of life until the Ivy Bridge refreshes come in Q1 2012.

 

I'm pretty sure that the SA is the laptop for me. It's got the right (if a bit too high for my budget) price, size and performance.

My big question is: are there any 14" or 15" laptops with similar/better performance and a similar/high resolution screen than the SA that are actually portable? It seems crazy that no one has a 14" that can compete with the SA. Every 15" seems to be 5.5lbs or more, and if they're light they have terrible resolution. Is it really possible that they can make a powerful laptops that are just over 3.2lbs but don't make any that are about 4.5lbs?!

 

oltx1008 - Thanks for the great pics ! ill put them in OP sometime soon - since they show a very nice comparison. in fact...the pics just reassured me about my decision to get the old Z vs. the SA...

 

lol so you listened to my suggestion nice...good choice man...btw those screen on the SA looks terrible compared to Z...and the SA is huge next to Z...im loving my VGN-Z more and more haha

 

Yup! =)

Z is still king in my book (for my uses). New Z will win soon...and tho it's not as powerful or updated as the SA...it's a better laptop for me overall. Not to mention how much cheaper $ it is than the new Z and SA.

My Z is already in transit..should be here Tuesday. I hope its "like new" !

oltx1008 - i went to microcenter today to see the Z and was planning on going to Sony Store tomorrow to see the SA again...but no need now...you saved me a trip!

Question - I know people said the 6630M is like 20% better than the 330M in the Z...however, the 330M is underclocked right? so if you clock it to "normal settings" - how would it compare to the 6630M in the SA, which is...underclocked or overclocked?? Also how is the heat/temp when you set the 330M to normal clock settings on the Z?

I'm basically trying to figure out... 330M on normal clock (overclock default settings on Z) vs. 6630M on SA

hmm ill google some...

UPDATE: See chart below based on notebookcheck.net

yeahhh...this seems kind weird...looks like 6630M and 330M (on "normal settings"??) run better or worse depending on the game/settings....probably has to do with whichever the game is optimized for...ATI vs NVIDIA

 

Whatever little doubt/temptation i might have had about keeping the SA, 1 hour of hulu cleared it. Due to lack of sufficient contrast, it was not the most pleasant experience watching videos on this screen. A fantastic laptop otherwise. Typing is a dream , the larger palm rest area is definitely a plus.

 

sooo...you are returning the SA?

 

hmm the bezel of the screen seems so intrusive

 

for the last picture,, of the angels, you should of done the reverse as well, put the Z further out and the S closer.


Also, i dunno but the Z screen seems over saturated.

Like the lighthouse picture seems "too much" saturation in the colours.

Personally i prefer the Colder non so photoshoppy satured SA in that pic.

 

this is the main reason I did not switch to the SA. The Z still pack a serious punch. Still 2 years after its release, there is nothing better than it on the market.

 

LGP330 looks interesting, the display will be very good as it will have an IPS display. It will most likely though have the same res as the SB. It will also have a better gpu than the SA. I'm not sure if it will have switchable graphics though. I'm not sure on all the ports it has. It's competition for the SA.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lg/585292-lg-p330-i7-nvidia-555m.html

 

Nvidia Optimus rings a bell rachel?
but yeah it sure is competition for the SA, but having an LG that died on me which is the reason i bought an SA and having it over-heating since after 1year of owning it i'll never consider LG again.. and specially on this size i bet those will burn down like moskitos in fast food oil xD


what i will consider is getting a new screen for my SA eventually... i wish i could find or order an OLED display, that would be sweet.

PS: AMD and Sony's manual button switchable graphics beat Nvidia optimus by far in my view point. they just need to be able to change even faster and it'd be perfect.
on the road i bet an arm the pc would not make the choice on when to use the discrete gpu as wisely as me, or wisely at all.

 

I didn't spend very long looking over this laptop and neither have spent much time looking over Nvida's most recent crop of graphics card. My area of interest has been 12.1< ultraportables for the last couple of years. I also didn't take it for granted that all manufacturers implement Nvidia Optimus technology. I've seen with Sony's that should have had this technology implemented that it could not be used.
I'm hoping that Sony will improve the SA display.

 

Thanks for the pics. The SA's screen looks hideous with that huge chunky bezel around the edge, plus the screen itself is actually quite crap by all accounts. Otherwise, it ticks all the boxes.

 

I used to own a P300 with C2D 2.5 GHz and 8600m (which was unparalleled at release).
Only thing it had a problem was that it would heat up like crazy when gaming.

However, this laptop didn't make as much noise as my SB does after 10 minutes
of gaming, and both runs as equally hot.

The screen on it was great as well.

However, considering it was >$2000, I wondering if the new P330s are gonna
be around that price range as well.

They'll probably have tone down versions with in a $1500 budget, and I hope
it'll come with the Shuriken (IPS) Display...
Daimn those things are some sexay panels (not to mention the very thin bezel
unlike the SB/SA series).

It pays to have a division of your company that KNOWs how to make quality panels.

 

Bah... According to Sony
All sales are considered final.
We offer exchange or repair on defective CTO models within 30 days only.
For CTOs... FARK!
I guess I'm stuck with the SA... What a Sonyish predicament.

 

I'm in the market for a small, light laptop with midrange cpu/gpu power, and was narrowing things down to the m11x and vaio sa (vaio Z would be way out of my budget in Canada). This thread is a little bit alarming. Can someone help put these screen concerns in context? I've never owned a Z, and currently use an Aspire 5920g. The tone of these reviews would make me think that the SA screen is a downgrade. Are they really that bad, or just bad compared to the Z?

 

it seems my SA will be going to auction this year´s last quarter. What a perfect combination this LG will be. I also have some bad idea about LG quality, they don´t spend too much time testing parts and design to be durable, but with that sort of performance in the same weight as SA there´s nothing I can do. If sony wasn´t so cheapskate, curmudgeon, niggard, penny pincher, piker, scrooge, skinflint and tightwad and put a display with same quality as the 1600x900 vaio display (let´s be honest, SA is not in a segment where a full hd would fit) I would be satisfied with it. But with this crap display, it´s life in my hands will not be long.

 

the cpu processor is an important player when you play games in order to deliver more fps, it depends on the clock speed,and in the cache also.

 

Is SA made in China? Or a high end, like Z, made in Japan?

 

Sounds like you should've read that before you ordered.

Seriously, you ordered a laptop, sight unseen, with no reviews...and customized it to ensure you could not return it. And now your mad at Sony because it doesn't fit your needs? Just making sure I understand correctly.

 

Originally Posted by jglyston
Bah... According to Sony
All sales are considered final.
We offer exchange or repair on defective CTO models within 30 days only.
For CTOs... FARK!
I guess I'm stuck with the SA... What a Sonyish predicament.

Kinda harsh Mr. B. The man made a mistake, did an impulse purchase (and who among us hasn't) and now is paying a heavy price. Maybe he could have saved himself the trouble by researching first, but I think his ire at Sony is not undeserved because:

1) Why the hell does the SA have such a lousy screen, given its price and the implication that it is the successor to the Z1?

2) What's with Sony's worst-in-the-industry policy on returns? To not even allow a refund if the unit is defective? As if CTOs are harder to resell as open-box - actually, they are more desirable in the Outlet. I know that, as of the past 60 days and for years, HP (all divisions), Dell (business class), Toshiba, Asus, Fujitsu, [these are just the ones I know about] all allow full refunds within 14-30 days? It is also often possible to get these companies to extend the demo/refund time frame and for companies like Dell consumer to allow a refund after some negotiation on the phone. Sony, Lenovo, Apple are the only ones, to my knowledge, that NEVER make exceptions.

Let's hear it for inflexibility - build customer loyalty by forcing people to own your product even if they really don't like it after getting a chance to use it. And these three companies are so cash-strapped that the cost of taking returns back would just ruin their financials, lol.

My heart goes out to you, Jglyston. Don't worry. Things happen for a reason (even bad things!) and usually work out in the end.

 

^I'm not sure what exactly I said that was harsh.

Anyhow, people who blindly purchase and return items cost the rest of us money.

Why would we assume that it'd have a great screen? $2000 F's in the US don't have good screens. $1500 CB and CA's don't have good screens, etc. etc. If the screen quality is THAT important, all the more reason to see one before you purchase.

Regardless, I'm not wishing him harm...I'm simply stating the one he should be angry with is himself.

 

I believe Beaups is right. We can´t return stuff here in Brazil just because you don´t like it. Only if it´s deffective.

That said, for how long did you know that it had such a nightmare panel beaups?

 

In the EU the distance selling regulatinos give you 7 days colling off period for goods order over the ineternt, but this does not apply to customized items.
Strangly Sony only offer the SA as a cto even though the options only go as far as hard drive or ram.
I guess you argue that the basic model if you made no changes it was not customized but it woudl probably mean taking Sony to court.
As it stands my SA shodul arrive wednesday and I was considering the SB when I though the SA was nto coming to Europe so I don't have to high expectations of the screen.

 

my SA´s tracking shows it´s comming from Shanghai - CHINA.

 

I take it you're not a parent Though, at any age, telling a person he's a jerk for making a mistake that is already causing him pain isn't a particularly endearing character trait - even if you are theoretically accurate.

I have to assume Beaups knew nothing about the SA panel or he would have warned us, right Beaups?

The EU and Canada tend to have far more reasonable consumer protection laws. You are absolutely right that there is no defensible claim that the SA is "customized" because the buyer chose from a standard set of HD and RAM options. Again, unless you're talking about engraving or the absurdly expensive (and impossible to resell) Signature series Z's that were $4,000, "CTO" does not really mean "customized," it means the user chose from among very popular options for basic components, especially as the SA is currently offered.

But again, Sony has a right to set whatever policy it chooses and as long as that policy is very easy to find on its web site, and is verbally pointed out if purchased by phone (and I believe Sony does neither), the phrase, " caveat emptor" certainly is valid. It happens to be a rotten and not competitively common policy, though, and it is good reason to be extremely reluctant to do business with this company, when most of its products are equaled or exceeded by competitors with more consumer-friendly policies.

And, once again, someone who falls victim to it, not having read the rather difficult to find "fine print" of Sony's Terms and Conditions will always have my sympathy and I just don't think it is very kind to remind him that he shot himself in the foot and should be quiet about the pain, IMHO [obligatory qualification.]

 

Ok, I looked at the Z and SA today and just wanted to say a few things. Please note that these are personal opinions but I think they have some merit.

I like the SA over the Z mainly because the Z is for a very specific type of user. With the Z, you get a way better screen (think dell's rgb 180p) and is smaller. However, it has almost no connectivity and I personally don't like the keyboard. I believe the SA is more for a general user who wants something small. The screen is not as bad as everyone says. Is it good? No, but its not terrible, its a standard laptop screen. For me, the keyboard is more ergonomically spaced and the trackpad is more usable for me. I agree that the screen bezel is a bit much but its still not really a deal breaker. Overall, barring certain sony policies (I'm not sure what this business is with no returns or what the deal with that is), I think it is a solid buy. If you're going to nitpick a laptop, you will never find one you like.

 

SA screen is def. a downgrade vs. the Z...HOWEVER, it's probably the same as your Aspire and most of the laptops in today's market. For you, it will probably be ok.

 

I'm not sure what you deal is. I didn't "call the guy a jerk", etc. I actually feel bad for him too. But he's not coming here saying "I made a mistake" either. He's saying "damn Sony" and "back to boycotting Sony products", etc. Anyhow, done commenting on that.

Back to the product, the screen on the SA is pretty much the same quality as most every other 13.3" laptop on the market, but it has higher resolution. As for whether or not I knew? Last I saw one was in January, and it looked bad, but mfr's have a knack for changing panels/suppliers between PP and MP.

 

Went to see the SA today and honestly after using it for a while on 1080p videos online and InterfaceLift photos it's much better than I initially thought. Some of the SA's in the store were set to the battery setting on the graphics card and at first I didn't realize.

On Youtube the videos looked ok but not very sharp. However, if you get it at the right angle it's much better than most 13.3 inch screens. Keep in mind the screen is matte and the colors will natually not look as bright.

With InterfaceLift we got a bunch of photos to see the different colors. This time around the screen actually looked pretty good for the size.

One of the screens in store had quite a bit of bleeding along the edge of the screen. It affected the screen as a whole and maybe some of the observations made on this forum were on screens like that. There was a clear difference in the bleeding screen and one that was not bleeding.

 

Did you go to the Stanford Shopping Center's Sonystyle store?

 

One thing I have noticed on my unit and the ones in the store the task bar never fully hides so you see a tiny horizontal strip at the very bottom of the screen and this thin strip is white

I wonder if this is causing part of the bleeding issue.

This condition does not exist on my Dell xps laptop or any of my dEsktops

 

I can see the strip on my Z, that's the nature of windows 7 lol

 

Got a little video of the machine from E3 last week that I am uploading now.

Has anyone mentioned yet that the carbon fiber on the lid has actually been removed? At least, that's what the design engineer I spoke with had to tell me when I asked about it.

To be honest, the display felt REALLY flimsy. All in all, I hate to say it, but it makes me very happy that I opted for a Lenovo X220 instead of this.

 

I saw the SA and SB at the local Sony Store today and the SA felt way better than the SB. I also thought the screen on the SA was slightly better than the SB, but still nothing like the Z or TT. If the SA screen quality was better I would have gotten one, but the screen quality is important to me after being semi-spoiled by the Vaio TT screen.

 

Can't confirm that, but it wouldn't surprise me...I do know the cfrp yield was the reason it was delayed in the first place.

 

All,

Here is that short HD video as promised:

Videos - Sony VAIO SA Laptop - Short HD Video [email protected]

They said it was removed entirely, and the display's flexibility seemed to reinforce this idea. It felt like 100% plastic, not that this is necessarily a bad thing (depending on your perspective).

I have the greatest respect for Sony's engineering and the resulting products, but I have to say, without a VAIO Display Premium in this thing, I don't see much of a market segment for it. It definitely feels nothing like a Z in terms of build quality, and the screen just isn't that great. I broke out my X220 nearby for comparison's sake and the screen on mine blew away that of the SA. Equally important is that it's STURDY and does not buckle under pressure hardly at all. The X220 is only 1366x768 but it looks fine in terms of pixel density seeing as the screen is a 12.5". Having said that, I love the 1600x900 real estate on the SA, but the quality of the color and contrast is nothing compared to the X220--and that's too bad, because the X220 doesn't even cover 85%-90% of sRGB from what I have read (could be wrong about that).

Maybe when the new Z arrives I'll hop on board in a couple of years after a few revisions are done... but for now, I had to make my decision! My X220 isn't perfect, but regarding what problems I do have with it (i7 CPU throttling, not due to heat however; 90W adapter incompatibility) I have actually been corresponding via email with Lenovo engineers, who have actually offered to send me a custom beta BIOS to try and correct the problems. How awesome is that?

Best of luck to all others currently in the same boat.

 

Thanks for the video steve! very nice.

Out of curiosity - would you recommend the X220 or Old Z series? I know X220 has newer hardware...but how does the screen quality compare? any idea? I guess X220 can't really do that much gaming either...i really like both laptops. pro/cons? If my newly ordered refurbished Z fails...i'll probably get the X220.

 

Hey requiem:

The VAIO Z screen is one of the best anywhere. It might be the best screen in any notebook! While the X220's screen is slightly brighter and offers superior viewing angles and contrast ratio, the Z's screen vastly outdoes the X220's in terms of color space. Versus sRGB, the Z covers it > 100%, while the X220 is merely ~70%. Better yet, if you go with the 1600x900 as opposed to the 1920x1080 FHD, you get a 25% brighter screen as well, and one that trumps even the X220 by roughly 80 nits, which is insane. Color space suffers slightly, but not to any great extent.

Source:
Review Sony Vaio VPC-Z13Z9E (i7, FHD, Quad-SSD) subnotebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
Test Lenovo ThinkPad X220 (IPS) Subnotebook - Notebookcheck.com Tests

Having said that, depending on what you are looking for, one may be better than the other. My requirements prior to purchasing my X220, in order of importance, were:

• Beautiful, outdoor-viewable screen
• Extremely fast processor capable of HD video editing/rendering
• Reliable and flexible storage options
• Very light weight and small overall size
• Durable and unlikely to fail due to breakage
• Excellent keyboard and serviceable touchpad
• Above-average graphics
• Reasonable price

The Z hit nearly all of these, but durability was a major concern for me. Also, Sony's support is legendarily awful, so that was a SERIOUS problem in my eyes for such a pricey product (and this is really what cost them my business more than anything else on this list). This, plus the fact that the RAID-0 array of SSDs means no TRIM support and lack of user upgradability, gave me great concern.

The other issue was price. Although it was the least of my concerns overall in this purchase, the difference was remarkable. I got my X220 with the following specs (after some post-purchase customization):

• i7-2620M
• 8 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz
• 80GB Intel MSATA SSD
• 320 GB 7,200 RPM HDD for secondary storage
• Intel 6205 Wireless
• Bluetooth 3.0
• Fingerprint reader
• USB 3.0
• Windows 7 Professional

For right around $1,300 after everything, which is just about half the price of a comparable Z.

I was worried at one point about screen real estate as well using a 1366x768 resolution, but as it turns out, I've actually only encountered a few select situations where this has been an issue. For a 12.5" screen, the pixel density is actually great.

Finally, and this was another major point of decision for me (though it's unlikely to matter much to the average consumer), the HD video rendering capabilities of the X220 are vastly superior to that of the Z. Since the Z uses last-gen i7 processors, there is no support for QuickSync video rendering technology. With this tech, via Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, I can render 1 minute of HD video in 1 minute -- which is absolutely insane. Since I attend E3 and CES each year for a tech website I visit (where quick video rendering is a must), this is a priceless benefit.

Oh--and the graphics. Yes, they are inferior to that of the Z, but they're honestly quite good regardless. I can run nearly any game on low to medium settings and it looks fine.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. Once the kinks are worked out with the firmware/BIOS and charging/power issues, I think I will be nearly universally satisfied with this laptop.

As for you, I am certain you will love your Z. Everyone I've spoken to who owns one does, and provided yours does not break, I don't think you will find much fault with it.

Hope this helps.

 

Awesome post Steve! Thank you so much for your perspective on my requested topic. =)

Both X220 and Vaio Z are very tempting laptops.

btw - nice websites.

 

First of all Sony did NOT offer any other preconfig SAs EXCEPT customized ones.
Hence I went with the bare minimum build.

It was my bad that I didn't read the policies on the Canadian site, and assumed
the Return policy would be pretty much same as the US.
(Thought the same would apply as all of em for North America; if not globally, are shipped from China)

Secondly, as several others were led to believe via the reps (as well as I), the SA was supposed
to sport a "Better" screen than the SB.
Some people on the forums went far as to claim some one said they are nearly Z quality.
After I temporary got an SB from a friend to test out, I even took it to a Sony store and
asked one of the people there if the SA would have a better quality screen.
I even went far as to ask them specifically, regarding viewing angles and vividness
and saturation of the colors (which I also asked 3 phone reps about as well). They (all) gave me a "it should be" response.
Which we now know is not true.

Another fact is that I ordered an SB in the first place which was delayed more than
40 days of initial estimated shipment date, within a span of a week, via 3 delays.
In addition, I had to call in Twice to cancel the same order thanks to sales rep
incompetence (or the order would have went through and I'd be scratching my head
at the $1200 CC bill)

Ultimately, the reason I'm pissed off is a culmination of my nearly a month experience
dealing with the SB/SA and Sony employees.

Sure, you could say I'm pissed off that it doesn't fit my needs, but from what I was
led to believe, it SHOULD have fit my needs.

In all honest, do you believe the SA should cost $300 more for the same config
as the SB?
I would think $300 (>20% of the notebook cost) would get me more than a slight
aesthetics upgrade.

It was sad when I placed my temporary SB besides my $900 UL20a and felt
like the UL20a had a better screen.


Oh lastly, I know this is completely coincidental, but Sony "happened" to lower the price on the
SA down by $100 and also started giving out free sheet batteries ($199) on SA orders,
on the day Sony charged my CC (final sale) for my SA.

That just stoked the already blazin fire, that is my pissed-offed-ness. lol


So I get where you are coming from.
It's valid, but if you were in my shoes, you'd also be leaving a flaming bag of
shiznit
in front of your Local Sony store as well.

 

I take it you posted that as you were depositing said shiznit? Pics or gtfo

But yea your whole ordeal sounds pretty rough. Glad I can't afford a laptop till late summer anyway so I have more time to weigh the options. Still most likely going to go with the SA but it's good to know definitively what I will be getting

 

Dear Othersteve,

Thank you for your excellent post about the Z versus the Thinkpad X220.

I recently cancelled my order for the X220 after see so many complaints in discussion forums about the fan throttling and pulsing issue. I just couldn't bring myself to buy a new computer that was faulty. Many other people have cancelled or returned their X220 machines too.

However, if Lenovo does fix this problem then I will reorder the X220 immediately because it's a great size with fantastic performance, and has the best keyboard available. I have never been a fan of the fashionable 'chiclet' keyboards because they lack 'feel' and are not sculptured.

Despite the chiclet keyboard, I will also consider the new Sony Z too because it will probably be brilliant in every other way - if the last model is any guide. However, I do have concerns about their Sony's sales service.

Hopefully things will become clearer in the next few weeks for us people who love compact notebooks. But for me the contest is definitely between the X220 and the new Z.

 

So it looks like the SA has got no CFRP, i was wondering about that why it was heavier than the speculated 3.2lbs and why there was no explicit mention of CFRP in the specifications. I'm becoming less interested in the SA. May be i will see if i can get my hands on one much cheaper display. It also really should come bundled with BD drives on all models for a start.

I mentioned this in the discussion thread that the SA is not cheap.
Still, there are not really any alternatives out there in the 13.3 space if you want a higher res display. The MBA is there but it has poor connectivity and no built in optical which may be an issue for some.

 

Exactly. I also always imagine how wonderful it would be if only they update the old Z with Sandy Bridge instead of doing a radical change. They could have spawned a new line instead of messing with Z if they want to do that.

When I went to see the SA today, I lost interest almost right away, notwithstanding the outstanding specs. We can't compare this to Z anymore. It'll just lead to more disappointment. SA would look like a really good machine if you come from using average 14" laptops and have never knew the Z.

 

What about coming from a 17" with a great screen? Would you say that upgrade in portability would be enough for me not to be bothered with huge screen quality downgrade?

I think SA is still the best option (other than old Z) if you want all-in-one light portable high-res laptop. All such laptops have crappy screens (again, except the old Z), but SA, although not as reliable, is most feature-rich and it's also the lightest.