Z12 or Z13

Hey, finally decided to buy a Z over the SA after looking at laptops for way too long and I wanted to get some input. Would it be better to get the Z12 or the Z13 from the sony outlet? I like the idea of being able to have a 1080p screen when I need it (i'm will definitly be lowering the resolution to make it readable). Is there any difference between the two models other than their max resolution?

 

i think the difference between the z12 and z13 is a cpu refresh and not so much on the screen resolution?

 

They're the same for all intents and purposes. Just a minor refresh of CPUs (same architecture, different clock speeds, but you won't notice much)

 

Others might disagree; but I say get a Z13 if you're getting a refurb from the outlet. Z12s' manufacture date is about 6 months earlier than Z13s'; there's a higher likelihood they have slightly more perceivable cosmetic flaws than Z13s'.

Other than that though, about the only difference is that, to my knowledge anyway, Z13s come with a security chip while Z12 do not.

 

I am pretty sure I have a TPM chip in my Z... I know that I have the 620M i7 though.

As for the original question... get whatever one has 1080P, you have to get the 1080P!

 

z13 have TPM, and up to i7-640M. z12 don't have tpm.
u dont need tpm anyway. i dont even use that... i think.


z13 here.

 

how do I check if I have TPM

 

Probably use SIW or Everest and it will show up.

BTW, for the OP and, esteemed Vermont Cowboy, I have one of each screen, and as much as I am a high resolution guy like you, there is a very significant brightness difference (about 90 nit, per notebookcheck.net) , in favor of the 900p (you have to do the registry hack to get max brightness) and, largely because of the brightness difference, the contrast on the 1080p is, like 649:1 vs 830:1, (same source - sorry to be lazy and not link it, but they have reviewed at least 3 Z1 models, 2 with the 900p, one with the 1080p. They might also shed light on any other diffs between Z12 and 13.)

I truly, truly want to make the decision to keep one and sell the other, but the screen thing is making me nuts. On video, especially Blu ray, the 1080p cleans up the floor with the 900p, but on almost every other app, including "HD" video that is not 1080p, the brightness and contrast make everything "pop" for me and, sadly, I can no longer see the characters at this dpi on a 13" screen, so I don't get the benefit of the extra real estate. The one app I have not A/B compared is photo editing. If you do a lot of it, I would expect the higher res would be of great use (again, if your eyes can focus on it, lol)

 

Access BitLocker management from the control panel or start menu (by typing it in), and open that panel

then on the left pane you should see TPM adminstration..

also, the TPM show up in the device manager



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Thanks, I guess I don't have one of those, I just assumed that I did.

 

I might be interested in your Z12, let me know if you decide to sell it.

 

Yeah when the Z1 first came out, it was advertised that it would have the TPM chip... however, when people started getting their Z they noticed it didnt have it and Sony removed all references to it... Weird because the business models of the Z (from Sony business) had the TPM chip as well as all international models, TPM came back on the Z13 models. TPM isn't used unless you use BitLocker encryption with Windows 7 Ultimate.

 

Just to clarify for anyone wondering, the TPM isn't actually "needed" for BitLocker, but it's just a added layer of security where the key for bitlocker can be stored (partially) in the TPM, or so I believe. If you look at my screenshot above, you can clearly see that I have BitLocker enabled on my external drive, but the TPM is Not activated/on/enabled.

I actually fear that if something bad happens to one of my SSD, that i might some how get locked-out from accessing my drives for recovery, so I just left that off.

I really don't know anything about it other than its not currently On. Pretty sure 95% of Z users who have it must don't even know it exists.

I'll probably play with it in future, but for now i don't have use for that =)