Upgrade my VPCZ11?

Hi community.

So, I've been really happy with my last Vaio (VPCZ11, 256GB ssd, 6GB ram, i7 620M, Full HD screen) and it's been serving me well for the last couple of years - it is, however, starting to show signs of wear (fan seems to malfunction and produce a lot of noise, shuts down under heavy use, etc.).

I've been extremely pleased with the machine - there is a certain pride and joy I get from the "small and very light" factor combined with "outperforms most any other laptop" + "can actually play games as well".

So I've naturally been looking into the latter versions of the 13' Vaio.

1) But how big an upgrade is it really? Do the newer versions perform significantly better than my 2 year old machine? Are the graphics cards options better?
2) Is it worth it? I mean, really worth it?
As I'm from Denmark (computer equipment is taxed heavily), I paid nearly 4 thousand $ for the Z11, and I would probably have to spend at least as much.

3) As the machine is still functional, I might go for a third option, namely having the fan fixed and spending money on a desktop replacement instead.

Sorry about the random blabbering in this post, but feel free to offer any ideas and insights you may have

 

I'm in a similar situation, in Sweden. Sounds like the exact same config I bought, probably even identical keyboards.

My fan started to sound bad some year ago, but I opened up the laptop (with the help of some nice pics from this fine forum) and could vacuum some dust out of it, and it has been silent ever since. I recommend it if you feel confident about trying it, otherwise it's probably easy to do damage.

I won't spend any money on a Z2, I'm waiting for the Ivy Bridge replacement, which should arrive mid summer. I'm counting on spending ~$4000 on it, and my Z11 will do just fine until then.

 

Definitely sounds like it's overheating. Could be a quick and easy fix.

 

yeah I had an overheating problem. Take the keyboard off and use a vacuum cleaner on the fan, helped the performance on mine lots and the fan stopped spinning up as loud.

easy fix but lots of screws look on the forums for the picture of the back and disassemble.

 

While you have it opened, you may want to consider new thermal paste for the cpu and gpu. You do have to do additional disassembly to get at them, but there are guides here to do that as well. Still, if vacuuming makes a great change and lowers temps and fan noise to "normal," this added work may entail more risk than reward; just thought it should be brought up here.

$4,000 for that configuration! Too bad Ericsson doesn't make laptops.

 

Ok, so it sounds like I really should just clean it up.
Thanks for the advice guys - much obliged

 

Hmm, I was planning a full strip down of my Z to replace the GPU and CPUs TIM & thermal pads... But if vacuuming just helps... I might try that... except now I need access to a vacuum cleaner...

here's a video by Chluz (goes by the same name here)

Vaio Z11 Dismantle on Vimeo

not for the weak of heart, or financially impaired

 

just try compressed air with the straw extension to prevent the fan from spinning. I once was given a POS HP pavilion to fix which was shutting down from heat, hitting over 90C. Just did a quick shot of air, temps came down to the 50's Hair ball buildup is trickier though, you may have to open it to pull all that crap out, won't blow out as easily.