VPCZ Owner Poll

I am soliciting some honest feedback in regards to Z11, Z12, and Z13 machines and any issues you have experienced with them. If "Other", please post with details of your negative experience.

 

you forgot to add an option for those who have NO issues....not that anyone would bother to vote that way

 

Eh, why don't the last two options cover this?

 

My biggest annoyance is that there is no hotkey to disable the trackpad, I have been looking for a way to fix it, I hope pyr0 or beaups knows a way.

I always keep a cloth on my closed screen to prevent scuffs by the keys, and I very slowly open my Z from the middle of the screen to prevent uneven torque on the hinges. So far so good, but I have only had mine 2.5 weeks.

 

GLBL you are one finicky shopper. Just buy one already, or don't

 

lol, I want one so bad, make no mistake about it - I just hate the idea of regretting a $2300 purchase when I don't really need it. If I truly needed a laptop, I would have purchased it already and told myself "well, I had to" if it went south. But this would more or less be a "new toy".

 

The first Z I got was giving me continuous BSOD's. They took it back the next day I bought it, replaced it with a new one, and currently I have no issues at all. However, in order to include this incidence I voted for 'other' issue. Can I vote twice in order to include two machines? That would be more 'scientific' I guess.

 

My biggest gripe with Z is that it uses Windows and has the associated problems and inconsistencies. I really wish it were an Apple Z running OS X, with its tight integration (no crappy bloatware and outside-of-OS utilities for basic tasks like screen brightness).

Other than that, the hardware is pretty tight so far (around 3-6 months).

If you're ok with Windows, go for it. Personally, I'm already quite bored with this "new toy" after a few months ONLY because of the OS it has no choice but to run. :/

 

Only got fading palmrest issues, have it for about 5 months now. Still happy with my little beast ^_^.

 

shurcooL: I'm buying the Z for the sole purpose of running Linux. It might be a challenge to get it running super-nice (due to Nvidia's Optimus nonsense being different in the 1390s than earlier models, from what I gather)... but it will certainly be more configurable and interesting than Windows!

also there seems to be quite a reasonable community for getting Linux to work well on the Z's. Check out https://launchpad.net/~sony-vaio-z-series if you have any trouble; they have custom kernel patches to get the hardware supported nice.

 

I don't think you will be happy if you get the Z, it sounds like you'll never stop thinking about potential issues to the point where it negatively impacts your daily life even if your Z turns out to be perfect. My suggestion is to stop looking at the Z and check out something else

 

Agreed. I've bought several HP products and I've been very happy with all of them, especially in terms of build quality - so I'm going to sit on the sideline for a little bit and see what they announce over the next couple of months for ultraportables (hopefully we'll see some more USB 3 integration).

Build is very important to me because I need a machine that can endure my traveling. I know there are those here that argue that the build quality of the Z is very good because of the use of carbon fiber, but the few times that I've handled it it felt very cheap and far less solid to me compared to the aluminum or magnesium machines out there. I think some of the common issues highlighted in this poll are a direct result from that, but I also understand that Sony went for light over rigid, and that seems to go far for many that own/want it. I'd personally rather take a 13" notebook that is rigid and weighs ~3.8 lbs over another that is 3 lbs and flimsy - to each his own. Thanks to everybody providing their input - I appreciate it.

 

TofuTurkey was kind of teasing you man, truth is there is no perfect laptop. But let us know when you find it. All of them have some sort of tradeoff, be it weight, build quality, speed, price, MacOS, etc. If there was a perfect laptop it would destroy all others in terms of sales. At some point you just pull the trigger on something and forget what a few squeaky wheel forum users have to say. Throw your $ at whatever you feel fits your needs best. If you have greazy fingers or like to abuse your stuff, don't get a Z.

If you want the best, lightest, etc, and take care of your stuff, and can afford it, why not?

 

Perhaps just a little bit Different things bother different people, for instance the OCD ones have it tougher. If I know that something bothers me even though it is largely acceptable by everyone else, I'll still probably do what I feel is right. Spending my money, regardless of its amount, while ignoring how I personally feel just doesn't seem like a good thing to me

 

Yeah, I know it was in jest, but he's kind of right. To your point, there is no perfect laptop, but I would expect near perfection to spend the money a Z costs, and from my assessment the Z isn't close enough in terms of build quality - and it's compounded by Sony warranty support's reputation. Nothing against anybody who has/loves it, but I guess I just prefer some tradeoffs over others.

 

I'm also interested in seeing what kind of response the new Macbook Air invokes. Although it's not revolutionary by any means, once the media gets on its knees for any of Apple's new products, it forces other manufacturers to step up and respond. I would buy a new 13.3" Air without blinking, if it were not for the fact that it's an Apple product and my refusal to buy any Apple product ever again for a number of reasons.

 

My main problem with running Linux on the Z is that it requires one to hack the BIOS. I kinda don't wanna do that at this moment, and Linux gives me funky graphics with the default BIOS (since there's no way to force Nvidia graphics card without static graphics switching).

 

You have to realize that 75+% of Z's cost is components. More expensive CPU, GPU, SSD components don't mean the system will be more reliable or better built.

 

I've had my Z11 for just about 7 months now with virtually no issues. I use it every day (at school and at home) and it has almost entirely replaced my desktop.

1. The lid hinges have not loosened at all; I still have to press the bottom half of it down to pull the lid back. When opening and closing the lid while the LCD is turned on, it does seem like the lower right corner of the screen has some pressure being pushed against it. Something I would have never noticed until reading about it here.

2. When I close it, I always slip my Razer Kabuto mousepad over my keyboard. The mousepad is only slightly less wide compared to the keyboard itself, and even though I tend to grip my laptop pretty hard when carrying it closed, the keys on the edges have not shown any imprints/scratches on the LCD.

3. No dead pixels, no scratches. I love this LCD. It does get dusty after a while but it's easy to dust off. The top and bottom edges do bleed against a white background, but my wallpaper is dark, my taskbar is dark, etc. so the bleeding effect never shows.

4. 7+ months of daily use - not even the slightest sign of fading. I don't know whether I have extremely clean hands, or what, because I don't really understand how it could fade at this point. Feel free to chime in if you've observed fading, I'd like to know!

5. I'm aware of the risks presented by having a RAID0 configuration, but I've never had the desire to make any changes to it because I just absolutely love how fast this thing is.

6. While I am very careful with my Z, I don't feel that it's flimsy or has a frail build. However, I would like to say the lid scratches fairly easily. I like to hang my earbuds over the open lid when I leave the laptop for anything, and one time I swung them over the LCD a little too hard and the impact left a little smudge on the back of the lid above the "VAIO" logo. Not a dent, but a smudge noticeable when in sunlight.

When I first got my Z, the first thing I did was look for all the potential issues, and when I found them (light bleeding and fan noise, in my case), I was moaning and groaning all over the place. Fortunately, I didn't have any dead pixels, and over time I realized the bleeding/noise is actually unnoticeable unless I'm looking at white screens/am in a room with no ambient noise. Now I laugh to myself when I do notice this stuff, and about how critical I was when I made my purchase.

 

I have voted now! I felt I should pitch in on the good side of the Z's (<6 months, no issues).

The high end vaios gets better each year IMHO. I had two SZ's and that was problematic to say the least. The Z21 and the VPCZ1 are both wonderful machines, though. The Z21 whent with hard use for almost two years and then i dropped it on the floor. Everything survived except for the WLAN chip. I literally smashed the on/off button in and had to pick it out with a knife That machine is now a SOHO server and still going strong.

I can say that I think the fan on the Z12 is too loud. Perhaps having an SSD I tend to get even pickier since the the fan is the only thing making noise and I would like it not to buzz on low throttle.

I can not understand why they put the plastic palmrest there. The Z21 had the aluminium extended all the way to the front. It looked good, felt sturdy and worked for me. Anyone knows? That is actually the only thing where I feel the VPCZ1 does not surpass the older Z21.

As for performance... whaoow!

My $.05 and regards,

/Dany

 

I'm still going to say it's because of the Felica thing (I posted a pic in the owner's lounge thread). If it's aluminum, the signal can't pass through the palm rest.

 

The Z21 didn't have aluminum either. It had aluminum-looking plastic for the entire keyboard.

 

Had to go int the living room/office and check. Looks like I've been had

 

You probably have a silver one. Apparently, the ones that fade are the black ones.
Here is the poll on colors vs. fading: http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...-sony-vaio-z-owners-place-your-votes-now.html

I've had mine since March (silver), no fading.

 

I have a black/premium carbon fiber one!

 

Owner > 6 months.
Best laptop ever. (Had 6-7 laptops before..)