obcessed on vaio ultrabooks which model?

Hi , Since 2003 when I acquired my frst sony notebook (sr series I believe) I have never looked back on other devices. Since then I had all of ultraportables 10-11inch T, TX,TZ,TT after my foirst TT worn out I I coudnt find anything to compete with it,(so called replacement vpcx like a joke) so find mosf powerfull version of tt with 2x 1.66Ghz, 256GB SSD. its quiet, quite speedy (with win 7 most servises stopped) and jsut amazing to work with. No other Sony ultrportables I had comes close to it. No its time to upgrade for a bit faster machine.

My priotity list

1) Silent (no heat and no fan noise)
2) Solid feel
3) FHD screen
4)Integrated graphic instead of dedicated (less heat-les noise)
5)i3 or i5 core instead of i7 (les heat-les noise)
6) vey importan that it have external microphone input to conect precizion mic for measurements. (the newer one have combination jack-and I read there can be problem to conect external dedicated mic)
7) bigger screen could be a bonus (11inch is great but I am not sure if I want to have 11 inch full hd resolution)


So far 3 model comes in mind aftr looking , thay all are socond hand- dodnt likd newest vaio pro with sliding screen)

vvgn-z vpcz1 and vpcz2

vpcz1 look best, but I could choose any of it. which one are most quiet? also which models can not be upgraded with new SSD? I want to upgrade 512GB SSD

I hope owners would slide in for real usage advices. Many thanks

 

I have the old VPC-Z1. It is definitely not quiet. The fan runs all the time. It also has a dedicated graphics card which counts against 4. Don't know whether the newer SVZs are quieter. You probably want to get U processor, which generates less heat. The Duo 11/13 is silent and meets all your criteria except 6 - it doesn't even have a combination input - it only has a loudspeaker out - though I guess you could get a USB equivalent. The Duo has a sliding screen. The Pro has a normal screen (and choice of 11/13") - that might meet your criteria.

 

thank You for answer, Its a pitty as this is really frustrating. Does fan works all the time in high rpm? My vaio TT fan working , but its so silent that I almos do not hear it from working position. Most other small laptoms works like a helicopter. However if I work with video editoring TT starts to be heard more. Maybe dedicated graphic card can be switched off and processor speed limited to 50% of its max in bios/sony software on vpc-z1? i

what others expierence on vgn-z, vpc-z and z2 and never pro 11/13?

 

They are nearly all loud, I also like you have many sony laptops, I have the ZR, X505, X, Z, pro11, Tap11, Pro13. They all make fan noise of some kind depending on how intensive work is on them. The trick is to power management profiles and setup a personalized one. You can limit CPU utilization.

the Z1 and Z1 and Z3 all make quite bit noise when at full load on the cpu and I would imagine certainly louder than the T and TT.

vpcz1 are good but remember they are dual core, if you need more power there are svz13 out there with quad core cpu still available if you look hard enough.

Pro11 is you best best and buy external USB sound card or microphone jack ( I think these exist)

not much else out there apart from buying 11 iPad air and installing windows if you like.

 

Thanks X505cp for Your input,

the newest offerings from vaio have some strange lifestyle design (touchpad does not have dedicated buttons anymore) which definatley not mu cup of tea.

I do not need much more CPU power than 1.66Ghz dual core TT I have( a 20-30% faster will be just fine) I am looking for SAME (or better) build quality better resoliution screen , and maybe slight bigger than 11inch. Somehow my eye is on VPC-Z1 - concervative and still has mic input. What is important for me , but maybe interesting for others vaio 11incher that starting from tx series those notebooks have very high quality mic pream which does not filter frequencies. I have tested many others brands and they cut high and /or frequencies, signal to noise ratio is worse by 10-20dB. in another words- TX, TZ,TT hve excelent sound card . I belive bigger brothers 13 inchers as well.

Ideal notebook for me would be windows 7 software, vpcz1 exterior, low consuption i5 3rd generation CPU with integrated 4400graphic(newer series) and mic input (vpcz1 has) unfortunately this notebook does not exist, so I just buy vpcz1 , limit cpu performance , and permanenttly turn of dedicated graphic. I will try to find some new old stock (sometimes its happens to find- my vaio tt 46gz was 3years old but unused)
So if there any cons on vpc-z1? can I replace hadd to SSD -I have read some sony have customised cables and hd interfaces . Which screen is better hd ready or full hd? which CPU is less heat (I suppose i3 and i5 would better than i7)

can I express card with usb3 output in this laptop? or can I replace optical drive with extra 2TB hdd for data storage in this model?

 

Others weren't so bothered, but I found the VPC Z1 to be noisy even when idle and the GPU turned off. The Fan never turns off. I doubt the i7 or i5 will make any difference. The Duo that I have is much quieter (as is the Dell I have - its fan is off when idle). The VPC-Z1's Full HD screen, while not IPS, is excellent. The speakers are absolute rubbish. The VPCZ1 has great selection of ports. In its day, it was an excellent machine.

 

I thought Vaio computers were gone... I thought Sony sold off that whole division. Did I miss something or are we talking about buying discontinued/used models? Or are Vaios still available outside the US?

 

vaio are available only in japan now but Sony Vaios are discontinued now.

the new company has not done much for this year and its to be expected. The Japanese market is different from world wide market.

I am starting to doubt they will match sony amazing design over the years.

 

I have the VPC-Z1 with FHD, i7 and 256GB SSD. Personally I do not find it really noisy, although the fan spins pretty loud on some occasions. But during normal use I am not annoyed. Just the other day I bought a HD ready VPC-Z1 with i5 and 128GB. The machine is 4 years old but still like new. I paid only 450 $ which in my eyes is a bargain on such a great Notebook.


Basically the Z2 in terms of tech.specs might fit You better, since the dedicated graphics are in the power dock as is the optical drive. I have some friends with the Z2 ant they are all very happy with it!

Whatever You choose it will have to be used or old stock. It is some time since they are not produced anymore

Timiboy