Should I take VPCZ11CGX/X or VPC-Z1290X

I'm looking at these two laptop. They both come with Premium carbon lid and 4Gb ram with 2.56Ghz i5-540 processor. The main differences are Z11 vs Z12 and 256 Gb vs 128 Gb SSD.

Would you guys take the Z11 with 256 SSD over the Z12 with 128Gb SSD? Price wise, they are about $100 apart with the Z11 on the more expensive side.

Thanks

 

I'd get the one with more SSD unless you plan on upgrading it yourself.

 

No, I would not be upgrading the SSD myself as I think the current price point isn't worth the money. I can leave with a fast regular harddrive with 500-750Gb of space.

Is there much difference between Z11 vs Z12? Based on what I searched so far, there isn't any.

 

+++1 for the 256 SSD

mokeiko

 

Before you commit - if you haven't already - there are several Z's for sale in the NBR Marketplace that have been dead in the water and may be amenable to offers. Also, I saw a pretty attractive-looking one on eBay earlier today.

Care to share what price you would be paying for the 256GB Z11?

 

I ended up getting the Z12, the laptop should be here by this weekend. If the owner of the Z11 agree on the price, I will pick up that one as well and do a quick SSD swap.

@Lovelaptops - I looked at the NBR marketplace and frankly, they mostly are poorly configured with slowest processor available. I got my Z590 when it first came out and went for 2.54Ghz processor, I would like to at least stay at that level of on a new laptop. Also, the Z11 256Gb asking price is just over 1k. He's a local seller.

 

A Z11 Carbon Fiber for just over $1,000 is a steal. There is virtually zero difference between the lowest (Core i5-520) and highest (Core i7-640) power cpu sold with any of the Z1s. More specifically, there is about a 7% difference between the slowest Core i5 and the fastest Core i7, but you will almost positively not use apps that will be affected. The 2.54ghz C2D cpu in your VGNZ is about 1/2 as fast as the Core i5-540 at 2.53 Ghz. Forget the cpus - go with SSD capacity, screen type, condition and warranties in force as your decision variables - nothing less important in the brief 1 yr term of the Z1 than which cpu it has.

The original advice was best: buy the most SSD capacity you can get, because that still costs at least $1.50/GB and while it is certainly possible to increase your SSD capacity as a DIY (as you apparently plan to do by cannibalizing the first Z with SSDs from the second) all but the bravest here (CC: you may not comment!!) would say you are better served by leaving the hardware as the factory installed it. Your choice, but I would seriously reconsider keeping the Z11 as is; no way the cpu in the Z12 is more than 5-10% faster, if that much. Also, the SSDs in the Z11 are a bit faster than in the Z12 (see below), and you will notice that far more than minor cpu speed variation, which you almost positively will not ever notice at all..

I just think that if you thought the clock speed of a C2D cpu was comparable to that of a Core i cpu, you may not do well to swap SSDs out of Z11 and Z12s. If I'm not mistaken, the Z11 uses Samsungs and the Z12 uses Toshibas and the former use Zif connectors and the later mSata. Well, sounds like you're gonna do what you want, but you asked, so you can expect candid advice.

 

He can do the swap just fine, he just has to swap the cables also.

 

And tell me, most esteemed colleague, what part of:

"...all but the bravest here (CC: you may not comment!!) would say you are better served by leaving the hardware as the factory installed it."

was not clear to you?

Seriously, as a somewhat clumsy technician, I was able to successfully take the top off of my Z11, re-set and tighten the zif connector to my "failed" SSD (failed no more) and got it back together - after having to spend, oh, 90 minutes re-connecting the ##@%## keyboard connector so that all keys and the touchpad would function again.

Proving that, yes, anyone can do it, but if there is an option to buy a machine that already has the hardware you need, choosing to buy a second one and transfer three SSDs back and forth, then have to sell the 128GB one, just because you think a slightly higher clock speed on a Core i5 cpu (or even an i7) makes a world of difference....well, I guess I have other things i prefer to risk needless time and frustration on, but that's just me.

 

no comment

 

I've been looking for a Z1 for a while now, and finding a decent (not overpriced!) one with carbon fibre / 1920 res screen & 256gb HD is a struggle!

Can I ask how much you paid for your VPC-Z1290X?

 

lol. I hope you know that was in jest. We are always better off hearing what you have to say.

 

sorry, wrong thread...

 

I'm not the OP you were asking this of, but I have bought and sold numerous Z1s of all configurations for the past 6 mos. Figure $1,500-$1,800 for 256GB and the color/resolution you seek. You can save a lot (about $500) by going with silver and a 900p screen and many feel you would be better off with both. The 1080p screen is largely overkill at 13" (you will find the community split 50/50 on this; keep in mind, the 1080p option was either free or only $100, so there would be many more of them if it was clearly superior) and the 900p screen is considerably brighter with much better contrast. As for silver, it may not look as cool new, but it will look pretty much the same in 3 years as it did new, while the black and CF will show scratches and faded palm rests as soon as 6 months and the only way to protect against that is to apply all these ugly coatings, which take away all the appearance and "cool factor" from the darker colors.

The performance will be the same whichever options you get and there is no chance you will regret your purchase, regardless of color or which of the two greatest screens ever put in a laptop you end up with. I will say that, should you decide to pay up for the more "desirable" options, you will likely get your money back in resale later - provided you put those butt ugly coatings over every surface to keep them protected. Also, if you are considering a CF or black model, make sure to see good close up pictures.

Good luck.

Good luck.

 

I was in the market for 1080p and at least 256GB SSD also, however, I struggled finding one. The moment I heard of the Z12 being sold at a great price, I know i won't find another deal like that.
The only reason I do not want to upgrade the SSD myself is because of the pricing. I think it's a bit too much for what I need. I rather purchase another WD passport with 1Tb or even more and carry that along than spending 2-3 hundred bucks to get my laptop to merely 300Gb of SSD. The whole point is if I don't want to waste time managing my files, I need something with at least 500Gb, anything less, I will have to do it on the regular basis.

 

Sorry, but I'm not sure I understand where you are with these purchases and SSD upgrade/not upgrade plans. Let us know if you need any specific advice.

If you don't want to buy that Z11 with 256GB, please put me on to the seller and I will pay you a nice finder's fee via PayPal or an Amazon gift card. I have two clients looking for units like that one. Same goes for any other comparable deal you find that is not on eBay or NBR.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

There's currently in the sony refurb store a:

 

Yesterday, Fedex delivered my VPCZ13DGX/B with i7, 1920, 8GB, 256 SSD, 3 power supplies, Dock, Win 7 Pro, etc., etc.. Laptop is about 5 months old and in perfect shape. Paid $1899 for the whole thing off eBay. Thought it was a pretty good price for a loaded Z13 with a dock.

I had a silver Sony refurb Z13 delivered about a week ago, but I returned it. It was listed as 1920x1080, but actually had a 1600x900 screen and the lid was deeply scratched. Sony sent a label for me to return at no cost. Hopefully, they will relist it correctly.

 

stupid USPS. They said the laptop was supposed to be here tomorrow. I checked the tracking last night, and they say it's coming a day early. I waited the whole day and at 9pm, the tracking number got updated that the laptop arrived at 12:37 which was when I was doing my yard work in front of the house. There wasn't a single USPS truck all day, except for the minivan that my mailman normally drives. What the hell are these people doing???? Where the heck is my laptop now??? their office hour was over then so I have to wait till tomorrow to see what the heck they are going to do with this whole thing! I double check and triple check my shipping address with the seller. He got the right one!

 

Dude, its one day. Relax. I live in Ireland but most of the stuff I've bought from the US was shipped by USPS and I think you guys have an amazing postal service. Its a shame they are in a funding hole right now.

 

No, the tracking number said it's delivered but it's not. I went to the local hub and they don't have it there which means it's pretty much lost now.

 

Unfortunately, it's likely to get worse. I'm not sure they'll survive without significant changes.