Sony Vaio Z Premium Carbon Fiber Lid sturdier than Regular Carbon Fibre?

I personally have the Premium Carbon Fiber lid and I always thought Sony improved the construction of the lid compared to my TZ, which was very flimsy. But this doesn't seem to be the case, the regular carbon fibre lid is still as flimsy as ever when I went to touch it today at Sonystyle.

I wonder why the Premium Carbon Fibre lid is harder?

 

No same stuff, different finish

 

Strange then. I opened and closed two Zs at SonyStyle and the lid was very flimsy and reminded me of my TZ.

 

Any lid that thin is going to feel flimsy.

 

Exactly. IMO the Z's screen is a perfect trade between stiffness and thickness. I did not ever see a plastic frame that thin and even being that stiff as the screen is. Of course you can say this is flimsy, but hey, how do you handle your 2k+$ machine? At least I never expected it to be stiff like a toughbook.

 

Contrary to what all of you are saying that ALL thin lids are flimsy, my premium carbon fibre lid is NOT flimsy at all. It is pretty rigid too.

ONLY the regular fibre lid is flimsy.

 

It's just a finish on the top of the lid. There's no difference between lids regarding to rigidness.

 

Carbon Fibre is flimsy unless its wrapped around something. Ever seen how flimsy a pure CF hood is on a car? Most are really Fibre glass wrapped in CF.

A true CF hood will flex when its held open with a hood prop unless its HEAVILY layered.

 

premium carbon fiber = regular carbon fiber + finish
tz carbon fiber lid = different than z carbon fiber lid

if tz premium carbon fiber lid feels sturdier than z regular carbon fiber lid, this probably just means that the z's lid is either thinner or has less plastic in it (the lids are carbon fiber reinforced plastic, carbon fiber is flexible, so engineers use plastic to give it rigidity while still keeping it light)

note: carbon fiber reinforced plastic is still commonly referred to as carbon fiber and this polymer of carbon fiber and plastic is regularly used in structural engineering applications

 

Don't forget the fact, that Z is bigger, so even if it would be the same material, TZ would be of course sturdier.

My Z's lid is surely not that sturdy as on my TX, but I don't find anything bad about it. Every time when someone feels Z's screen is not solid enough, I like to show this picture of VGN-Z

 

It's funny, all the concern with the screen "flimsiness" and I've yet to see anyone here complain of a cracked screen on their Z. My VPC-Z rarley sees a briefcase...usually I chuck it in the trunk either under or next to my golf clubs. No issues.

 

That is NUTS! I like seeing it, but I won't try that with my VPC-Z.

 

The screen is designed to be flexible and rigid as that would actually increase the chances of it breaking.

 

I'm rather curious as to whether someone here knows the part number for the VGN-Z brushed premium carbon fibre lid (not the LCD bezel). You know, the ones with the piano gloss finish with the brushed metal pattern... If so, does anyone know where I could source one and get it shipped internationally?

I've asked this a few times (Rachel somewhere around here being one person). And I'm struggling to find the rather elusive part...

 

I believe it's anything ending in /X

/B = black
/S = silver
/X = premium carbon fiber

 

Umm... Thanks bfrog for the help. But you are referring to the model number.

I'm talking about the part number; I wish to buy just a premium, piano-glossy carbon lid for the VGN-z (maybe the LCD bezel too, but not required); I'm after the part number, the code which Sony uses in their parts department.

I've pretty much been searching the world for it; it's proving to be a rather hard feat...

To answer the OP's question though....
The strength differences between the two are negligible; the carbon lids merely have a thin 'layer' of carbon fibre bits over the original plastic lid. So, you can argue that extra 'layer' of carbon gives that particular type of lid some 'extra' strength...