Vaio and TZ durability?

I want to get a laptop that's compact with good performance and great battery life for business travel, and so far, the Vaio TZ190 is my preferred choice. But I've seen a number of posts here that imply the TZ is a fragile beauty.

My current laptop (Fujitsu P7010D) has a broken hinge from airport security and a scratched screen and keyboard from my toddler playing with it, has had many things spilled on it and has been dropped in its padded case a few times. It's somewhat worse for the wear, but it still works. I'm sure my next laptop will suffer similar abuse...

Have any Vaio TZ owners had any problems with the TZ being too fragile for heavy use and travel?? How do Vaios in general hold up over time?

(BTW: at the store, the only laptop with a cracked screen was the Panasonic "toughbook" which supports my inclination that all laptops from quality manufacturers are of equal durability -- but I could be wrong...)

 

I don't own one, but I tried a TZ150N/B at two local Best Buys. The top right corner of the lid was a bit loose on both units, as if you could very easily pry it open, it wasn't held tight together at all. One also had part of its screen cracked, but that was most likely from some punk*** kid.

Of course, I'm not an owner and there's plenty of owners who've had it for a while that could attest to its durability over time.

The P7010 is definately, noticably tougher than the TZ so if you subject it to the same abuse as your P7010, I extremely doubt it would come out alive. I would really treat it with more care.

 

It looks really fragile especially the thin LCD screen. the carbon fibre however should give it good protection against minor bumps. I would still be careful tho

i was using my TZ today at lectures. It lasted the whole day (6 hours of lectures) with still 24 % bat to spare. That was with min lcd brightness, everything turned off, and running words and voice recorder

 

I wouldnt even dream of treating my tz191 wrong. I take extra good care of it..

I dont think you should buy it if you leave it around for your toddler to kick it and treat it wrong.

If you want something to throw around get an ugly-looking dell, or a cheap-made HP.

dont pay 3000 dollars for something and just leave it around and treat it wrong, it will probably break.

 

the top right corner of my lid also has that "looseness"
that is, when u push on the rubber bumper in the top right corner of the screen u can feel the looseness. I at first thought this was some kind of defect but now that you mention you saw it in two display models I'm assuming it may be normal.

 

I know the cause, it's hollow in there because in the Japanese versions, thats where the TV tuner antenna is stored if you choose that option and in the future, also the WWAN antenna I think and of course we didn't get that antenna but the hollow spot remained.

http://www.gfx.sony.co.jp/photodata/include/photo/20070515191437_0001.jpg

 

It really depends on how you treated.

If you'll put any pressure on the screen while it's on the keyboard you're bound to damage it. With a keyboard protector it will be better.

But comparing it to a Panasonic toughbook is insane.

If you want a rugged notebook better get a G1 or G2, IBM or that Panasonic.

 

oke... how to measure "durability"?
1. Liquids:
-from below:
the rubber feet are very thin... liquids on the table will easily get into the case
-from above:
there is no film or anything behind the keyboard. -same sit.
2. Keyboard:
after 2 month of usage, the keyboard showed the checksum of german grammar: the keys "E", "S", "R", "T", Backspace and the Spacebar sarted looking polished, meanwile, they look like my brother-in-laws Thinkpad -but the TP is 4 years old!
3. Screen:
as the screen is probably the same component like in all other 12" wxga-laptops, you really don't have a coice here. For me the screen is too "shiny". It needs a lot of sweeping but it has no scratches, blind spots or pixel-errors yet. The lid is very hard. Maybe the thinnest and hardest lid I've ever seen (harder than the Asus-W7th's of my girlfriend). I chose "permium Carbon" and i can't see any scratches so far, although I take my TZ everywhere!
4. Camera:
Some people complain about scratches on the built-in camera-lens, but I cant find those on mine. Seems pretty well-made, but there is still 1/2 mm "safety-zone" between the mousekey and the lens when the lid is closed. (on MINE TZ...)
5. THE DOWNFALL. (pretty German joke^^)
As the Notebook is very tough, compared to its weight, the profit it takes from a good fitting laptopcase should be high. If it droppes naked... No one knows, no one can tell... The hinges seem to be very tough, the battery can't move or rip out, but I can't tell what happens if it drops on the front-corners (upper Screen or keyboard-corner).
6. Dust:
Some days ago, i opened it to check out some modding options, and I found some dust, but by far less then I expected. They have put an eye on that.

If I compare it to the Thinkpad (ed.'02) it feels very tough, although you can break open jammed train doors with the thinkpad, which you can't with the TZ! But when dropped from a table, (105cm) the thinkpad will have the same risk of breaking, cause of its old materials and the far higher weight (4,5kg!!!).
Something as light as the TZ needs not so much buffer-zone in laptop-cases when taking it out to the library or the tree-house^^. Sometimes I am already on my bicycle and ask myself "did I take my tz with me?" as it is very lightweight.

 

I take my TZ everywhere too and so far no wear, make sure you have a good sleeve like the sony leather one and you will be fine.

 

keyboard is the only issue with me. Everything else is overstated. I abuse my laptops, so... as for the German buddy above... clean your house

 

Hey pck, how do you use voice recorder? My classes are about to start and this feature seems worth a try in class. Do i need to by a mic too?

 

TZ durability and ruggedness no issues, just get the leather case for it. nuff said

 

Aside from johannes-77's findings, how has the TZ's keyboard worn so far for you guys? All keyboard's keys become shiny and worn down from prolonged typing, how does the TZ fare? The same goes for the touchpad, has it become shiny and worn down? I've had mine for just over 24 hours but I'd like to keep it as new looking as long as possible.

 

To be honest, Sony should have made the keyboard LCD back lit. I use mine in in meetings where there is a presentation and back lit keys would be a usefull addition.

 

tobehonest, i hate the piano like shiny finish on the deck of the keyboard. psh, that thing gets dirty even when u try to clean it with a cloth. lol. i am extremely impress when theres no direct light shining on the keyboard cuz then u see those little micro scratches. But eventually when i have to really use it daily, ima stop caring about babying the tz cuz its a futile attempt to keep this baby like brand new. i figure i go for a year with this and then ebay the thing and add in a few hundred fora brand new 295 or something of that caliber.

 

raul,

within 3 months the keyboard will shine a bit. within 6 it will be like a mirror. The touchpad isn't much of a problem.

It is a bit better than the VAIO T, but way worse than the TX/TXN keybord wise.

The keyboard is 100$, so swap it every once in a while if you can't confront your OCDs like I do...