VAIO® Z1VAP2 Notebook...

Hello Everyone,

I am about to be in the market for a new laptop. I know I want the Pentium® M Processor and a few other goodies. What I am looking for mainly is ALOT of battery life. I am a college student in the field of computer programming and I have very little time between classes to plug my laptop into the wall for a recharge. This one seems to have the double cap. battery included, as well as a review of a long battery life. I am also considering dual booting this machine with Linux as well. Wieght should be considered as I dont want to be lugging a 12lb notebook around to classes. Do you see and downsides to this machine? What are your takes on this machine? Would you recommend another machine?

Thanks,

Arch~Angel

 

hey, I think you should take a really good look at the IBM ThinkPad R40. It's a great notebook for what you're looking for. Not too heavy (around 6 lbs), but can be configured to be powerful. Built in Wi-Fi (which will be key if you're on campus) and an unbelievable battery life of over 5 hours. Since you're in computer science you'll need a notebook that has some power and the R40 will deliver too.

good luck!

 

abaxter:

Can the R40 run games as well?

Also we (Students) are informed that we can ONLY use Cisco Wireless cards on campus, if this is incorrect will the IBM R40 allow access to this type of network?

Thanks,

Arch~Angel

 

i live in hk, but i study in australia

so i dont have any desktop, laptop is all i can rely on

i have used sony z505 and R505 before, and i find the R505 docking quite inconvenient, as you need to unplug everything every time you use it

specification and test report of sony Z1 http://www.sundigi.com/article/product/testpage.asp?ga_id=347

also i notice only if i get the american Z1 version, then there will be bluetooth, otherwise hk and australia version dont have bluetooth

with ibm, it doesnt have firewire port and memory stick reader, i dont mind using the 7 in 1 card reader usb2.0 for my sony digital camera memory stick, and getting a pcmcia card with firewire port, because i have a 160GB desktop hard disk inside a external firewire case.

my last laptop and this current one is also sony, Z505 and now R505, but 12.1" and 2kg, so fits my requirement very well.
now i saw Z1 and T41 are both 14.1" and still just 2.1kg (well T41 is 2.3kg)

it is now mostly the ibm black color that stops me, otherwise the T41 specification is really a perfect fit, its performance is very very fast and i highlighted the things in red color when ibm is better than sony, but otherwise they are almost the same

IBM T41 has intel wireless a + b + g, which really tempts me, coz i have got a netgear wireless router at home in sydney and i can also use wireless connection at university ...

according to the Z1 URL above, it has 3 fans on the bottom and 1 fan on the side, whereas IBM T41 only has 1 fan on the side.
also a friend who is using the japanese Z1 in japan, said he would prefer the Z1 although the hard disk is only 4200rpm, whereas T41 ibm is at 7200rpm, but he said this will reduce heat in sony with a slower hard disk speed and 3 fans more than ibm ... is this a big deal ?

http://www.sundigi.com/article/product/picpage.asp?ga_id=1410,
is the reivew of ibm T41
to sum up, the only thing that hesitate and tempts me of the T41 over Z1 is,
IBM's 7200rpm hard disk, than Sony's 4200rpm
(but from this URL http://www.sundigi.com/article/product/testpage.asp?ga_id=347, in the middle where they describe hard disk, it shows this sony Z1 hitachi hard disk model is the fastest they have found)
IBM wireless have a + b + g, Sony only b
IBM have the parallel port, which Sony only has it on the docking, and i will need to spend another HK$2000-3000 to buy a docking station just for the printer port
IBM is using ATi Radeon 9000 32mb, but Sony still ATi Radeon 7500 16mb

do you think these IBM advantages is worth-while giving up on Sony Z1 ?

i still got 1 month to think, any comments of suggestion or disagreements ?