Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
WHAT!? Are you sure you got it with the 1080P (not the 900P) screen for that price? Where on Earth did you get it from!?
-
lovelaptops and requiem86, thanks for all your comments and amazing discussion! I was one of those guys who ordered those 999 refurb models. Should be in on 15th
Thanks also for the discussion on the warranty! I will seriously consider getting the square trade as soon as I get the laptop (its still possible for a few days right?). -
Pics or it didn't happen
-
-
-
-
yes, yes I did
my refurb Z is probably having fun on its long road trip en route to my house
I saw a new one with i7 and 1080p on ebay @ $2469 and based on the seller's selling history the price can be haggled down to $2.3k or so. I was soooo tempted to return my refurb and get that one instead but someone else got it this morning. oh well :/ -
-
-
EDIT: Though I equivocate a bit on the post below, I would say, especially if Square Trade is offering an ADH wtty on a refurb (they absolutely did not up through 2 mos. ago), but even if they're not, DO NOT GO WITH THE SONY WTTY. Google it and see how bad the experiences of others have been and note the killers:
1) It is not Sony, but a company called Servicenet that does the wtty - you never deal with Sony on it once it's purchased, AFAIK.
2) At their sole option, they can replace a broken Z with virtually any 13" Sony laptop with roughly equivalent config, including an HDD and vastly inferior screen. Square Trade I believe has this in their fine print, but if you google them, this never happens.
3) As mentioned below - can't emphasize this enough - your "2 year coverage" is over when, a) they do one replacement (again, likely with an inferior model) or, b) they have incurred expense equal to your orig purchase price. Mean that if they (at prices they set) have incurred $500 for a repair, you only have $500 left (again, on a $999 refurb) for repairs or replacement. Since they can't get even a crappy replacement for teh $500, a second repair in this scenario would be a check for $500 and "see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!"
Sony support sucks and the Sony repair sucks more, because it isn't even Sony - it's worse!
IMO.
So, part of the orig post, below, is modified by my edit, above, but there is some addtl info, so may be worth a skim. Good luck all. Whatever you do, don't trust Sony farther than you can throw them!
It's a judgement call, but I have heard Sony wtty co (a third party, not Sony) is tough to deal with and will only provide repairs up to orig purch price of laptop. (See earlier post by me on this). ST has always been very quick and will let you use any repair facility on their "approved" list, or they will send someone out. Normally, though, they do just give you a full refund. What's cool about that is, like a "totaled" car, you can often buy back your broken Z for a song from ST and then get it repaired using the full refund $ they gave you, often for a net profit. though you can't count on that. You can count on them getting your case resolved in 5 days or full payment of your purchase price. Also, I negotiated by phone and got 2 yr coverage for $130, about half Sony's price. Best deal for ADH (I also posted on this earlier, but easier to re-state than find my post, lol) is to get coverage as a 'scheduled item" on homeowners or renters policy, for about $15/yr and it fully covers ADH with no deductible. If you are a student and don't have the base insurance policy, you can put it on parents' policy or, possibly you can buy just scheduled insurance policy. Last possibility: you may be able to purchase the minimum policy to cover all your belongings, in case of fire or theft, for around $100, and it would cover up to $1,500 loss for items like computers per event, but not ADH, only theft/fire, but once you have that base policy, you can add computers, cameras, etc. for about 1.5% of replacement cost per year - eg, $1,000 Sony Z refurb costs $15/yr for ADH, A little extra work, but very much worth it, especially if you own several items worth getting the ADH coverage for. They don't have to be new, they can be any age, and you get "replacement cost" coverage as long as you supply an original bill of sale or an appraisal.
-
-
Maybe you can also barter with them for two peoples' laptops? Maybe we can get it lower that way
-
I just received my 1390X, and it's a beaut with no apparent physical flaws.
So, what next? What should I specifically check for? SSD usage, battery wear, etc.? How would I go about doing so?
-
why buying a refurbished Z when you could buy almost at the same price a new one in France you can find a lot of shops which still sell the Z if you want some links please PM
-
I finally got my refurb Z and I'm typing on it now
I know Z reviews have been done to death, but I'd like to share my experience anyway.
Seriously, this thing looks new, well, except my lid has a really really long thin scratch that's not visible unless you look at it up close.
The WEI's are all impressive, at sixes and sevens, except for the RAM, which stands at 5.9. I'll upgrade this to 8GB soon.
The textured metallic brush on the body is really nice. I prefer black but silver is really nice, too. The body, even though light, feels solid to the touch. The blended cylinder form, the convergent lines, and the dual-plate design definitely makes this thing a beauty.
The keys are nice to type on, with sufficient travel (unlike Portege r385's). Many of the keys are stiff, perhaps because they are still new. I wish the home/end/pgup/pgdn get their own keys though. The backlit works well. When I press on the sensor they turn on in a couple seconds.
Hard drive space at boot up comes in at 76 GB or so. I plan to remove most of the bundled software. Boot up is pretty fast, exactly what you'd expect from a 0-raided dual SSD configuration. I shall get a 32 GB memory card and insert it in permanently. I'll install programs and what not but leave sufficient space for the raid controller to do its own garbage collection or whatever. Any data that requires constant modification, I'll place them in external storage. I plan to install L4D2, NFS Pursuit 2010, Visual Studio 2010, Photoshop, Office 2010, and Matlab on this thing. I'll be using this for coding and drawing (hook up a wacom tablet). The high resolution should help me when photoshoping my artworks.
This thing is quiet unless you do cpu intensive things, like playing games, or updating the machine, in which case the fan revs up very fast and loud. The vent gets really hot, too.
The screen is wonderful, especially at full brightness. Colors are saturated and pretty. Hardly any imperfections on the screen. I however value battery life so I'll have the brightness at lowest level. It's semi-matte so there's some reflection for sure.
I don't know how long the battery lasts given my usage scenario. It dropped from 97 to 90 percent after 14 mins. Battery life estimation is more of an art than science, but if we extrapolate this I think I'll get 3 hrs and 20 mins from a full charge (stamina, lowest brightness, wifi on, lowest nonzero speaker volume, normal websurfing). Windows estimated 5 hr 43 mins with 90% though.
Trackpad may seem small, but it's not to the point where it's unbearable. It takes two swipes to travel 90% of the screen, either horizontally or vertically. The left and right clicks are just nice, unlike SA's, which are a little stiff.
In terms of weight, it's pretty light, lighter than SA (you can tell). I can hold it with one hand, but I want to take extra good care with this Z so I better not stress it in any way.
Screen hinge seems solid, unlike SA's, which wobbles if you move the screen. The lid flexes when you move it, but that's ok. It's not like I plan to bludgeon someone with this thing anyway.
Some people complained that Z's battery rattles. That's not the case here. Everything feels solidly attached.
Have not tested the webcam, but I'm ok with any webcam as long as they work and the colors are sort of ok.
And oh, battery dropped to 86% now, and it's been 35 mins since 97%. I reckon normal typing (without surfing, just wifi on) should translate to 30mins/10%, or about 5 hrs of usage with full charge.
All in all, I think I got a good solid machine for a fraction of the price. Thanks to you all; otherwise I wouldn't have pulled the trigger and ordered this.
J'aime mon Z <3 -
-
ah. I think I see it. I'm not sure if one would call this something that develops...I suspect it's just Moiré pattern. It's perhaps made more prominent by the denser than usual transistors on the screen. Z screen has pretty high resolution for a 13" after all.
I'm not in the slightest bothered by it
-
URGENT! Refurbished VPCZ1390X a good purchase?
Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by oinkmooblah, Jun 9, 2011.
