business class-sony

As Dell Latitudes and Lenovo Thinkpads are business class laptops for their durability, what are Sony laptop that are equivalent and could handle 4 years of use/abuse??

I was looking at this but i'm skeptical about the build quality and battery life of the vaios.

 

i was wondering this a couple days ago. the following models are thought to be business notebooks.

TT Series
Z Series
SR Series
BZ Series

 

The Z is definitely a business class laptop

Here are some of the tests they do on it:

http://b2b.sony.com/vaio/durability/durability_videos.html

 

The Z is too small and expensive, I like the SR.

 

What do you mean the Z series is too small? cuz the screen size is same as SR.

There is a few reasons why the Z series is about 25-30% more expensive.
- Z Series is 25% lighter (500grams lighter than SR Series)
- Z Series uses newest technology eg. DDR3 RAM, SR only uses DDR2.
- Z Series has 6GB RAM, it uses 1x 4GB DDR3 and 1x 2GB DDR, the 1x 4GB DDR3 already sets you back about US$300 if you wanted to buy it seperately.
- Z Series has a faster processor (~300mhz faster).
- Z Series has a nicer screen. A lot higher resolution and better color. 1600 x 900 VS 1280 x 800.

The only thing thats better on the SR is the graphics card, which is approx 20% better. That's all.

Laptop screens are extremely hard/impossible to upgrade, i always look out for those when considering a laptop.

Processors are hard to upgrade and EXTREMELY expensive to upgrade, therefore if the price isn't that much more, then its better to get the faster processor, as it would save you time and money later down the track.

I recently brought a Z Series laptop.... and only reason why i did was because of the weight. It is similar weight as the Macbook Air but it sacrifices no features or speed for its lesser "weight".

When i did my research the Z Series laptops are the only laptops which are that light (1.48kg), and keeps all the "usual laptop" specs, ie. Penryn PXXX Intel processor, a dedicated graphics card, a dvd burner.
Most laptops at this weight range, usually strip off power, most significant are changing the processor to a Intel ULV processor.

With 6GB of ram, since i don't do much memory intensive applications, i turned off my swap file completely so everything gets loaded directly into ram. Speeds up your every day life!

Sony's LCD LED Backlit screens are awesome, because they are half-glossy/half-matte screen. Which makes it different from other companies which either use matte screen or glossy screen. The viewing angle is very wide.

Build quality wise..... i feel the Z Series laptops are awesome, the hinges look and feel extremely sturdy and won't break.
- The case looks very sturdy....
- LCD Plastic case is made from Carbon Fibre mixed into plastic to create a composite material. Makes it glitter every so slightly which is super cool and stylish. This material appears to be very sturdy. And why they mixed it in was so they could create a lighter material than plain plastic.
- Keyboard Hand Rest part is made out of brushed aluminum therefore sweaty paws and extended usage will not wear out the paint.
- Keyboard keys are made out of the same thing as the lcd case.

As for battery life, i get about 4-5hours from normal use, eg... surfing web, typing up some documents.
The sony software does pretty good at turning off components when in battery mode, eg. turn off dvd-burner, card reader, modem, wifi, lan card, usb ports, card bus.... etc.

 

Z is probably the best business notebook on the market- performance, weight, build quality.
Though for my kind of business I like this one more:
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-AWSG500E/

 

Can the Z be handled as the only and primary computer? Is 13'' enough or shoudl I go for a 14''? Won't go for anything higher than 14'' because of the weight. I'm using a 12'' laptop with 1280x800 and it's a pain to type on and lacks real estate.

I was looking at the VGN-SR45 and it's of a reasonable price, what do you guys think of that model?

 

I use all sorts of Sony products, the company is market leader is so many fields but the golden rule is never buy "garden variety"- cameras, laptops, mics, headphones...anything. It is their top lines that are worth it like SZ ,TZ, now the Z. It is Sony way for past 30 years, for top products - no in R&D, design, technology, components used- the cheap lines are same like from any other brand , mostly worse because you pay for the brand (but that is all you get the Sony name but not quality).
Honestly, you will be better of buying Thinkpad then similarly priced Sony - SR or whatever.