Z122GX/B for $1499 at Microsoft Store.

Hi guys:

I've been using a Thinkpad X300 for the last 2 years. It has served me well, but as I slowly developed an itch for having a slightly faster system that's capable of minor gaming (like Civ V), and then I started reading this forum, and before you know it....

Anyways, I pulled the trigger tonight after seeing the baseline Z122GX/B available at Microsoft Store for $1499. Just thought others might be interested. Plus you can get a 4% cash back through Fatwallet.com (so technically you might get it for $1439). Sadly, they charged tax and shipping, so my final out the door was $1577, but hey, that's not bad for a 3lbs i5 with SSD and GT330M (and a screen that stomps all over my X300).

Not sure how the prices will fluctuate now that the Z13 is coming out, but those old Z11s are still selling for quite high prices. Hope this tip might help others as well.

Looking forward to learning from all of you guys. So far it seems like I need to fix some Windows dimming thing, and do a complete format + Win-7 installation? Anything else? We currently don't have the N-Optimus driver deal sorted out yet, or am I wrong?

-KTC

 

omg, i just ordered same exact model at tigerdirect for 1800.00!! like 2hours ago!
its pending right now i need to cancel and get it from MS...

thank you so much for the info ktc, you think they have enough stock?

 

amazing price... here is the link... to bad i cant return my z12... its been a good 3 months though
Sony VAIO VPCZ122GX/B 13.1-Inch Notebook - Buy from Microsoft Store

 

Good price, I was actually disappointed that Microsoft gives $400 off instead of 40% off like they did on Z112GX/S.

Amazon/buy.com has been selling Z122GX/B or Z122GX/S for about $1650, free shipping and no tax (for me) on and off, so $1499 plus tax and shipping is a better price, but not significantly better.

 

This is the base preconfig model in the US (the one with the 128GB SSD) I found it off slickdeals...

here:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=719667&t=2252289

 

Man. I guess the Z is getting more popular. Time was that Microsoft sold them for 40% off and gave you 8% CB. I guess $400 off is better than nothing.

 

How is this laptop different than the VPCZ1290X offered as CTO on the Sony site? I realize the 1290X has a slightly faster processor, but is this the same beast?

 

With edu email, you can get 10% off if call the MS store. Unfortunately, you won't be able to combine the 10% with FW 8%CB, but I think edu is discount is better

 

Called in trying to get 10% off using my EDU email and they said their promotion has ended a week ago ( at least for this particular item)

Nevertheless, they still gave me $20 off for no reason.. lol maybe they are a bit sorry? idk. I didnt biatch at them or anything but they still gave me $ 20 refund so for those who already bought this item take few mins to get a free $ 20 refund.

hell you can get a pick-two deal at Applebee's with that 20 bux lol.

Thank to Anzial for my free Applebee steak!

 

This is not a valid offer, and this guy is wrong. There is no longer a 10% discount being offered by the store. An exception may have been made for this guy but I can assure you that he is either not telling the hole story or for some reason he might have just had a special circumstances that allowed for that to happen.

 

Alright, calm down, there's nothing else to tell. I've learnt about the edu discount on the slickedeals thread about this deal, and several people reported success with it. I guess last night no one caught the error but it was fixed this morning. If you do try it, try to being by saying say that your friend got it, and moan until you get something. GL

 

only if this was offered in premium carbon fiber lid:/

I am deciding to go through sony vaio outlet and take advantage of 10% off sale. $1617 shipped for a refurb Z1190X.

 

Oh, and don't forget about Sony Trade-In Program for a $300 rebate for qualifying trade-in laptops

 

too bad it does not apply to refurbished sony outlet laptops, only brand new or clearance.

 

Current Status: sold out.

 

yeap, big thanks to ktc for posting this thread, i was so close to waste extra 400 dollars at tigerdirect if he didnt post this lol.

I saw this post 2hours after i ordered same exact model at tigerdirect for $1800
and immmidiately cancelled it as soon as I ordered at MS store.

1800+plus tax+shipping= around 2000 - 1602.00(tax+shipping include) = $ 398!

thanks again dude! -v-

 

Lucky

I was going to order an extra Z just for the heck and see which one I like but oh well..

Congrats to those to ordered

 

ordered it yesterday and got it today 30mins ago, work perfectly and doing a back up to get ready for a clean installation of win 7.

love everything exept the fact that MS opened the box for what they call 'quality check-ups' whatever and installed mad number of bloatwares
on top of sony's bloatwares itself lol. Clean installation of win7 is a
must for newly purchased computers anyway.



Boot-ed up for the first time straight out of the box and 86 process already

aint that amazing lol

 

Post a guide for a clean install on this notebook - i.e. specific drivers/software needed to run it smoothly

 

Just ordered from Newegg a week ago for 1749... oh well, I suppose. Wasn't expecting a sale on this thing any time soon, let alone a week after I bought it :\

 

No guide needed. Just use the Sony recovery DVDs. You have the option to install clean or dirty.

 

Congrats, still waiting for mine.

I'm a little slow today, but what did you have to back up if it's a brand new system? Don't we just do a Vaio Care restore and it'll automatically provide a fresh Win-7 setup from restore partition? Or does it come with disks so I can delete the restore partition too?

Thx,
ktc

ps. Called Microsoft Store today re the 10% edu discount. They mentioned it's only for software at this time, and that it was, for a limited time, available for laptops.

 

I'm considering installing Win7 ultimate, I've got a spare lying around So Sony recovery won't do

 

Make recovery disks, I usually make two sets to be safe. Then you can delete the recovery partition at will.

 

Good evening,

Picked up one. Trying to install clean w7 ultimate and it drives me crazy.

Can you please tell me how to install sony notebook utilities? When I run setup it finishes in a couple seconds without any errors, prompt me to reboot and nothing happened. There are no programs installed.

Thank you!

PS Ended up to download and install the drivers from AU web site..


http://www.sony.com.au/support/download/405374/product/vpcz127gg/sectionfirst?subpage=detail

http://www.sony.com.au/support/download/405374/product/vpcz127gg/sectionfirst?subpage=detail

 

Update:

After reading some threads here about the Microsoft Store breaking the Sony seals and possibly scratching laptops, I just thought this would be a useful perspective.

The box arrived inside a bigger box filled with a decent amount of packaging "air bladders" surrounding most of the sony box.


Here is the Sony laptop box. This is the only Sony seal that I saw, and yes it was covered with a Microsoft one. I called the vendor and they explained that as soon as the Sony laptops arrive, they open them up to install the Microsoft software prior to putting the item into inventory, and so it would be impossible to "order it without the software."


Here is the laptop! No scratches on any of the sides or inside. Yes, it shipped with the battery. And even with careful scrutiny of the keyboard, there wasn't grease or crap on the kb, screen, etc. It felt as new as a new laptop.


As per others suggestion, I made Recovery discs, but then when I used the recovery partition to do a full system recovery, it ended up installing not just W7Pro, but all this other crap (like Norton, MS Office trial, etc). Is there a way to not do this? The recovery process did not offer me any options...

Thanks,
ktc

 

the lighting in that last shot makes your notebook look very blue, lol

 

Lol I have to agree with Blahman, I took a double take and had to make sure on MS's site that they dont sell Blue Vaio Z's lol =p.

 

got this laptop with the 10% student discount. 1349 w/o tax and 1450 with tax

 

You can get the same moel here for $1709 : PC Connection Express - Detail

I bought my notebook from BHPhotovideo for $1780 last month. It looks like they wanted to make room for the new Z13 model and sold the "old" Z12 for less.

 

Deal is still alive - at B&M stores, so if you are lucky enough to live close to one (there are only 4 MS stores in all of the US), and if they still have it in stock (call ahead), you can pick it up for $1500 WITH a free X-box 360, making it an extremely hot deal with the student 10% off.
starting price: $1500
-$150 student discount (if applicable)
-$150-$200 for ebaying x-box
-$300 for trading in an old laptop (you don't have one, you can get it cheap off craigslist).
===$850!!!
Lots of ifs but if you can grab one and work out all the detail, it's a great deal

 

Wow, they're throwing in a 360? Crazy! You should post on SlickDeals, $850 even with all the what-if's is amazing!

edit: here's the current thread if you don't feel like making a new one: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=261993&t=2252289

 

nah, posted a new one lol I did link the old one though. Mine will get flagged as repost in all likelihood anyways so it doesn't matter.

 

sold out. B&M store is in UK, right?

 

US, dunno about UK.

 

What? And have increase competition at grabbing one?

 

Hah, I don't care TBH, I already have one and the closest Microsoft Store is 921 miles away

 

Couldn't find the link on slickdeals. So they're really doing a free xbox? I ordered from bh photo for $1700 but would return if this is better deal.

 

Call your local MS store and ask them 1) if they have laptop in stock, and 2) if the promotion still valid

BTW, the lid on this model is definitely blueish, not as blue as in the picture above but it's definitely NOT black

 

Damn - the free XBox deal ended yesterday

 

oh, dang it oh well, still a good deal even without the x-box, it sold out pretty quick online for the same price with no bonuses

 

I just got one yesterday from there and they gave me a free 3yr ADH warranty which would have cost $430 from sonystyle. They didn't let me get 10% off for a student discount with that promo, which was lame, but it was still a pretty good deal.

 

Wow. That is very cool of Microsoft to give you a free Sony (ServiceNet) 3 years warranty (with ADH).

Congrats on your purchase.

 

How did you get it free? They charged me $329 for the 3yr at the Microsoft store. Did they have a special offer?

 

Yeah it was a special offer and they wouldn't say how long it will last so I ran in there the same day and got it, I was going to wait for black friday deals but this was way too good to pass up, I'm pretty sure I would not have found a better deal if I waited.

It's not servicenet though its their own coverage from AMT warranty corp and if you have a problem you just drop it off at the microsoft store, no need to deal directly with an insurance company.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought, I doubt you can buy Sony 3yr ADH coverage from MS store. Nice deal if you live close to the store. Too bad they didn't apply student discount.

 

Do you mind if I ask which store you visited? I am going to see if they would honor the same deal at the one in Orange County

 

That's the same one I went to on saturday, the offer is new so it should still be available.

 

I owe you a beer!!!
Thanks for the info!