Which is better with highest CTO options: Z2X or SA series?

If I CTO an SA with all the options, will that perform just as well as the Z?

The Z will cost me much more for a slightly longer battery, slightly smaller footprint, etc. But will the Z21 perform better?

When is the Z22 CTO going to be offered on the Sony website?

 

Depends what you need. If you don't need gpu and optical built-in, Z wins hands down. But you will pay $$$, dearly. You can't get the SSD performance, screen quality, and battery life on the SA that you can on the Z - at any price. Not to mention the size/weight diff.

 

Even if they have identical CTO options?

Also can the dock port (USB 3.0) be used with the USB 2.0 for a dual-USB powered optical drive like Sony BDX S600U?

 

^Can't get quad-raid in SA. Can't get high quality screen. Can't make the SA as thin or light as the Z. Can't configure the SA to have the Z's higher build quality.

Your second question, the dock port works with any USB 2 or USB 3 device.

 

It is the weight and portability make the differences.

If weight is not your consideration, then go for SA.

 

^It's more than weight and portability. It's screen quality and other attributes as beaups explained.

 

Also, where is the WIDI chip located: in the dock or the notebook?

In other words can I run WIDI without the dock?

 

The Z smashes the S unless games are a huge concern.

 

i personally would not buy a computer without an optical drive; i consider it an incomplete package. that's why i have a VAIO SA, and i am perfectly happy it. its screen is just fine for my day to day use (i understand that it's not the Z screen, but it's more than enough for my needs), and the 1600x900 resolution gives it enough real estate for everything i do. the construction is also top notch leaves nothing to be desired (except the slight hinge movement in a certain angle which is common to the new S series). the discreet GPU is a big plus as well, and you can get it with a Blu-ray drive.

 

The Truth: always take Beaups' word as gospel. Corollary: Louche is the go-to guy if beaups is not around. When Louche reaffirms what beaups already said, it's because someone in between got it wrong (eg, that it's all about weight and portability; it's not really about that, as 4.4 lbs is still considered "ultraportable." My paraphrase of beaups: it's about the screen, the screen, the screen, and the speed, the speed, the speed (of quad-RAID0 SATA III SSDs), the build quality, [ditto]. Also, the Z is .65 in thick and 2.5 lbs, so it's about weight and portability too.

Since the first "I" in WIDI stands for "Intel," I'm pretty sure the capability lies within the HD300 chipset, which is in the computer, not the PMD.

 

You can't get quad raid in the Z2 either. In fact, the Z2's max SSD config is 512GB while the SA can have a 512X2 Raid 0 1TB config.

 

I always thought of myself more as a premium kinda guy than a buy but, hey, who am I to disagree?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovelaptops Louche is the go-to buy

Louche: I always thought of myself more as a premium kinda guy than a buy but, hey, who am I to disagree?

Who said "go-to buy?" Read the post again; it's "go-to guy." (too bad couldn't find a way to remove the "last edited by..." footnote.)

Also, that was not a quality reference, just an information source, and I'm sure no one minds playing second fiddle to the guy who has inside information.

 

Good point, but with the Z2's rocket fast 3rd gen SSD's, quad raid would be overkill.

Curious now, does the SA with RAID SSD use the same (fast) ssd's as the Z2? I never dug that deep.

SA and Z would be perfect choices "just how portable do you need to be?" had Sony not cheaped out on the screen (a lot) and the build quality (a tad) on the SA.

 

iirc, Sony now only has 2 SSD raid on both the Z2 and the SA

Quad RAID, I haven't heard of since the 4x64GB drives in the old Z1 line

Though, TBH, in any circumstance other than heavy gaming (in which case, the SA - which I have - is still hard to recommend, unless if you *must* have Sony quality and appearance in a smaller form factor), the Z2 reigns supreme. Even if you needed a Bluray drive on the go, USB powered models are out there, already...

EDIT: I said quality and appearance, since both of my m11x units (3, if you want to count a warranty replacement) have been busts in quality, and noone but me seemed to like the appearance.

 

I wish I would get this information too...
I've sent my Z21 back and will now go to the new SE but I really want to have the same great SSD performance as with the Z2. (1000MB/s seq read...)
If I understood right, the SSDs in the CTO SE are also 2 disks in RAID0 but gen1 (compared to my gen3 I had in the Z21).

So my thought was: get the SE with regular HDD and order the Samsung gen3 SSDs from Z21 as replacement part (plus special SE flex cable and bracket holding).

What do you think?
Does the SE also have dual-channel SATA3 like the Z2?

Thanks!

Best regards,
Jean-Xavier