To ALL the New Z Owners...

so far, my only complaint is the fan noise on my sony z laptop. Other than that, everything else is aswsome good battery life and light weight, which makes it very easy to carry around.

 

Ditto to everything fred said

I have a 256GB SSD, 8GB 1600x900 dual-core hyper-threaded i5 Z that cost me about $2200 (the extra 4GB was after-market).

Honestly I don't feel I paid a premium for this machine. When I was looking around, ibm, dell, apple, (I looked at them all). Every machine I looked at, by the time I got it anywhere near that spec, I was looking at close to 3 grand.

I don't know why people keep saying how expensive this machine is and then they mentally compare it to a $600 dell. Outfit that Dell, Apple, Ibm, Panasonic, etc. with comparable options and you will find that it is just as expensive and probably weighs more to boot.

As far as fan noise is concerned, if people hadn't pointed it out on this forum, it never would have even occurred to me that this was an issue. The Z is currently the quietest computer I own (I have 3 laptops and 3 desktops). It's also the fastest computer I own. Nuff said.

 

Perhaps not so much the Z but I'm starting to have misgivings about Windows 7 and the Norton Antivirus it came with. Norton doesn't seem to want me to do a system restore even after turning it off. Perhaps unrelated to Norton though suddenly my fingerprint recognition is out, the Start icon went missing, and other stuff. I re-installed the drivers and that helped. The Vaio BT mouse sometimes doesn't work, whereas the Microsoft BT mouse I purchased earlier seems to get recognized easily. It's just all that is related to Windows is starting to get to me. I am re-installing Norton in order to scan for any viruses at this point.

Boot times are a cool 35 seconds or so and the fan IMO is quiet.

 

Norton blows, in my view. I use AVG or Avast. Even the Microsoft Security is quite good...much better than most would believe.

Haven't had a single issue with Windows 7...I enjoy the OS quite a bit.

 

I like avast too. What do you use for spyware and firewall?

 

I've been using AVG, which has a firewall. Windows Firewall is on as well.

For adware, I use the AdBlock Plus plugin for Firefox. I love it.

 

Put me down in the" Norton sucks" category as well.

AVG, Spybot, Avast are all fine.

I'd rather have the virus, any virus than to have to use Norton.

 

Boot time on my i7 with 512gb SSD in Speed mode, on battery power and a large amount of software installed (including Norton and such), is 44 seconds from pushing the power button to being able to swipe my fingerprint.

The funny part is resuming from hibernation also takes 44 seconds.

Sleep/resume is nearly instant.

 

NOD32 is the best in my opinion, low memory usage. No false negatives.

 

I reinstalled C drive, drivers and all origional software and installed AVAST. Looking good so far.

 

@buddy1065

Did you check Device Manager-Bluetooth Radios-Foxconn(or other brand of bluetooth radio)-Properties-Power management?

Foxconn is the bluetooth radio for my Vaio F11 series. Under Power Management, the default is checked to allow the bluetooth device to be turned off to preserve power.
I wondered why my VGP-BMS33 Vaio bluetooth mouse would just cut off from time to time. Unchecking solved it for me and my mouse now is issue free.

Anyways, looking around to decide on a new Z purchase as a backup and portable choice over my F11.

 

The last time i tried Norton totally turned me off - everything in xp was horribly slower probably due to its large footprint and excessive bloatware - i have stayed away from all norton products since.

Thanks for the recommendations - Im going to give nod32, avg and avast a try.

 

I'm in a different position than most people here as I didn't have to pay for mine. My work provides me with the laptop of my choice every three or so years. This leans more towards the perfection side of your argument than the cost side.

So that said -- find me a better laptop for $2k. You can't at the moment.

If you want 100% perfection, give up now. I wanted eSATA and USB3 and simply could not get them with the other features I wanted (weight, hybrid GPU, size). Laptops are, and have always been, a trade off for me. If you've met laptop perfection in the past, I'd suggest you keep using that machine.


I don't hear the fan when it's idle. Maybe it's me, maybe the rooms I'm in are cool enough, but it only comes on when I'm pushing it and even then it's just not that bad.

Slow boot times? What? My main PC is as high end as it gets, upgraded about every 6 months and the Z boots just as fast. Don't tell me I have low standards as you probably could not build a faster desktop machine 4 months ago when I last assembled it. Maybe the Z will deteriorate over time but I'm simply not seeing the issues that you're talking about.

Am I happy with it? It's relative; you can get a lot of the Z features for about $1200 if you buy one of the good Asus models or something, but I wanted as much as I could get. The weight/power ratio is simply unbeatable. I use the extended battery and the batt life is amazing considering that the machine still weighs so little.

After reading your posts, I'm not sure if you're a troll or not, but I've used the Asus you're talking about and there's -no- comparison between the two. It's laughable that you'd bash the sony for being less than perfect buy seem to have liked the Asus enough to buy it.

The PC you played with in a store was a demo, no? Surely you know what kind of abuse those machines take. I'm also wondering if you had it configured for full performance or not.

To the non-owners reading it this thread -- this is like a car forum post.. Lots of concerns/issues that either don't exist or that the vast majority of people will never experience. Don't let this scare you away.

 

Quick question for new Z owner; has Sony resolve the battery drain issues with the new Z? I still havent found a fix for this and it worries me that the new Vaio will have similar issues.

 

How's the screen quality on the base model in comparison to the MBP 13'? Color, brightness, contrast levels?

I have seen the screen on the S series, and it was rather weak...

 

The new acer timelineX are coming out in due time. They might lack some of the weight and build quality? but make it up in the performance department. The 3820T is coming out with the ati 5650 gpu which is superior to that of the nvidia 330m gpu in the Sony vaio Z. Battery life is twice as long from the timelines. Prices are still unknown but I'd figure 1,000 for the base model. With 2k, I can put the intel g2 160gb ssd in the Acer and pretty much max out everything. The new Asus UL30JT (whenever that comes out) isn't far behind in performance either. All these notebooks weigh under 4lbs but the Z weighing in at 3lbs feels like a feather compared to the Acer or the Asus. What other functions are worth $1,000-$2,000 more? Is screen quality that much better than the Acer/Asus?

 

The Z screen is beautiful. The old Z had a nice screen but had some line issues. The screen on the new Z is awesome. Full 1080p is even awesomer

 

Thanks. I would have never guessed.

 

I got sick of playing the "It's about to come out" game, but was looking forward to the UL30JT/U30JC - though the specs really aren't in the same category as the Z when you factor weight in.

Screen is one of the biggest areas in which the Z excels. I'm using the base screen and it's so much brighter and clearer (both color and sharpness) than the current U30 that it's not even funny.

 

Kinda expected when you're paying more for the Z than any of the current 13" competition. Double even triple the amount that of the UL30 and 3820T/4820T for the Full HD. I don't ever use the max brightness on the notebooks whether or not I'm on battery power. Too bright for my eyes. An ultra bright screen is nice to have but it's not neccessary for my usage.

Sony should have put the 335m gpu (found in the alienware m11x) instead of the 330m. That would have been sweet.

 

How can you sit there and compare laptops that use SU9300 processors and Nvidia 310 graphics and tell me performance is "far". If you want the acer or asus go buy one, but do they have full intel Processors or low power? Do they suffer from build quality and heat issues? How much do they cost when you add an 128+ gb SSD? Once you add them all up, you might find the Z is actually a good deal.

 

Cool, I think between this and other statements it's pretty clear you can't justify the purchase. Since there's nothing else like it out there I'd guess you're going to hang on for whatever Asus produces in a few months. Their CES batch isnt' out yet, so I don't know how long you'll have to wait.

Best of luck.

 

I have 09 Z series laptop and spent near $2000...

The little price tag on this machine can't be justified in terms of a gadget.

however, I'd rather see this high cost in a way that people pay premium for nicer cars such as BMW, MB, and etc.

The functionality is intended for the same purpose for any laptops on earth.

However, I just wanted to know what $2000 + laptop feels like and now I know.

It feels....... alright!

 

1. The fan noise is lower than any other PC I own, so I am not sure how much lower for me it can get. Also, this is a powerful PC in a small body, so it causes a lot of heat. I can tell you no matter what I am doing the air coming out is hot, so I think it needs to be on all the time.

2. Slow boot times? 30 seconds is slow?

I am very happy with my purchase, but I only paid around $1500 out of my pocket because of things. But overall I am very happy with my purchase and LOVE my computer. I would pay this much money again to get this great machine. No computer is going to be perfect for everyone, no matter how high the price is.

 

The Z is a RAID0 SSD....the extra time taken is to initialize the RAID controller. Any SSD in RAID, will take longer to boot up than a laptop with non-RAIDed SSD.

Seems like your intention is to stir up controversy than any serious consideration for the product ?

 

You want a more powerful GPU and quieter fans? You can't have it all, even an expensive machine can't go beyond what is technically feasible right now.

 

Will be interesting to see how the Acer 3820T handles the power of the ati 5650 gpu.

 

Any battery drain problems with the new Z?

 

Don't act like the 5650 is amazing. It's a mid mid-range GPU, just like the 330.

 

Nobody has reported any. Not saying there are, but I would think someone would have said something by now.

 

Mostly a lurker here - envious of you Z owners, not sure I am ready to commit the capital. Looking for more actual use experience on the new model to decide.

Had to chime in on "Norton Blows" issue. I have had it in the past, hated it and replaced it. Common knowledge was always, that it blows. Not anymore. Effective Norton 2010, the reviews are glowing. They have apparently totally rewritten it for a much smaller footprint and the reviews I have read - personal and commercial - is that there is no more nuisance interruptions, no more slow boots, and that in tests it ranks at very top in detections and low false positives. Still prefer free ones and Windows Security Essentials does get good reviews too (and they are more "exposed" in terms of PR if was to start having leaks. Still, for those who have Norton as a 12 month freebie, don't be so quick to toss it before you've tried it.

 

Try Microsoft Essentials. I read a lot of reviews about all the different programs out there and decided to go with it. It is free and had glowing reviews from a ton of people. So far I am really happy, in the past antivirus and spyware programs have frustrated me, so far no frustration or viruses.

I read someone say that they got 8% drain over night. I think the reason you haven't heard anything about it is most people like me don't think it is an issue. I plug my PC in over night and if I were going to travel with it I can take the battery out and avoid the drain. I also saw where taking the battery out even for about 10 seconds and then putting it back in, solves the issue. It won't drain on you. So really, I don't see this as a sho stopper if there is a drain. I haven't tested it on my new Z.

 

MS Security Essentials Works Great and unlike Norton and the others, there doesn;t seem to be any performance impact....it so simple. I use on all my pcs

 

The 5650 is just a tad bit better than the 330

 

That's an overclocked 5650 there, but the 5650 is a definite step up over the 330M. At native res, the Acer 3820T will be a heck of a lot more powerful for gaming than the Z, but that's only because the Acer's native res is only 1366x768, which seems to me to be its only real weakness, overall.

The 5650 is more of an upper mid-range GPU, I'd say.

 

I understand that it's a step up, but it's not like it's the 58xx series. I have a 5830 with my Envy...it's quite nice, but for my needs, the 330 will be plenty (since I really only play FM or OOTP, or a few other text sims...maybe Madden or Tiger Woods...I don't typically play graphical games on the PC, only text sims).

 

The nvidia 335m found in the m11x is a better comparison to the 5650 but even then, the 5650 comes out on top.

 

For me it's quite simple: There is simply no other device on the market that weighs as little, has the same processing power and the same storage speed and capacity. Yes, it's worth the money for my needs.

I'm older and every ounce counts. I'm a developer and every second counts, as well as every byte.

Obviously, I could get something a little heavier, a little slower and with smaller/slower storage. But that wouldn't be me, now, would it?

 

You won't find any 5800 gpus in 13" form factor.

 

Right, because it gets too hot. I think that's the overall point here...the card here was going to be a mid-sized card. People knew that going in.

That said, the entire package is worth the price to me.

 

People still seem to think that the Z needs to be the world's only 16" laptop that takes up 13" of space.

I'm sure the reason there's no 335m or something better is because you'd run a risk of slow roasting the person sitting to your left. Seriously, the Z stays cool, but there's very hot air coming out the vent already with the current components!

 

Isn't that great though? I'm using mine to steam shrimps while downconverting multiple HD streams from AVCHD ! I don't consider this a drawback, just another multitasking opportunity!

(And before some humorless person knocks me down for this post, I LOVE MY NEW Z, it is the best laptop I've ever had )

 

just another multitasking opportunity!

I love my Z too.

 

3820T has no optical drive. Cramming the optical drive in is what makes the Z amazing in a 13" of this size and weight.

 

Actually, I could have been equally happy if the Z did NOT have an optical drive. How many times do you actually use that thing anyways?

 

Keeps my cup of coffee warm for hours!

I rarely use the optical drive, but on the rare occasions when I need one it's a huge pain to not have it.

 

Maybe the Z is just not for you then. The Z is definitely more fitting for people who would like to an optical drive and are willing to give up on some things to have one. If you don't need one, then you are giving up space and not getting anything in return, so the machine would not be a good fit for you. But for people who would like to have an optical drive it's great.

 

I think we've established, in this thread, that the Z is not for ckthepilot. He has made that abundantly clear. Repeatedly. ; )

 

I might just get the new Z just to say I have it

 

Clearly you don't like the z.

So enlighten us. Show me a ~13" notebook that matches the weight of the Z with discrete graphics and an optical drive and a current, non-ulv processor.

While you're at it, show me one with no optical drive too, but it needs to match or beat the size/weight of the Z.

And by current, I mean it exists for purchase today.