vaio TZ owner, need your advice

Hi all tz owners,

I'm interested in getting vaio tz250 1.2GHz, 2G ram, 100G/4200rpm but concern about its performance. I normally use my laptop for web, msoffice, music, watching hi res video, convert video files, and rip dvd to divx. I really don't care about gamming. I'm currently using 5 years old vaio v505 P4M 1.8GHz, 768MB ram, 845 chipset, ATI Radeon M 16MB. It's been a great machine so far but it's time to retire this old friend of mine. I used to rip a dvd with decent res, took me 10 hrs to complete the task.
Also when watching hi res divx video, the frame rate is so bad that I couldn't take it.

I'm wonder if tz250 is powerful enough to do the job without upgrading to ssd (after remove all the bloatware and tweak the vista os) for let's say web browsing with 4-6 tabs open and ripping the dvd at the same time? I saw a demo (tz150) at BestBuy playing SpiderMan3 trailer with bad frame rate. So, I'm not sure if it was because a bad video clip or lack of powerful hardware or the bloatware that slow the system.

Some advices from anyone who already own tz will be very appriciated.
Thank you very much!

 

Firstly, I don't own a TZ but up until a few days ago I was seriously considering buying one. I had to eliminate it because although they have a small form factor that's absolutely gorgeous, the screen and keyboard seemed to small to me for everyday use.
That's the only reason though, I spent probably half an hour playing around with a VGNTZ27GNB the Australian equivalent of the model you stated. It seemed quick and responsive in Vista when opening programs and playing video, so no problem there. The only exception is the video encoding that you mentioned. As that is based largely on RAM/CPU speed, and this will not be as fast as other laptops (with non Ultra-low voltage CPUs). So all in all I wouldn't worry about the lower specs too much.

Off course, if you install too many programs you will have all the usual chug problems associated with Windows of all shapes and forms.

 

I've done a little bit of research before I bought my TZ, so here's some stuff I remember top of my head. (You can find most of the info if you completely read the TZ owner thread, which got like a million posts)

Windows Vista runs very poor on TZ if its not on a SSD. Its pretty demanding on the hard drive so if you're going to buy TZ but do not want SSD, consider downgrading it to XP.

There's plenty of threads about how to downgrade Vista to XP so that's no problem.

The TZ can do "most" of that. The TZ at Best Buy does have a lot of bloatware, isn't really good to measure its real performance >.>. Butttt!! There were also posts (if I remember) regarding slow frame rate after uninstalling all the bloatware but was resolved simply by using VLC player. You can do a search on the forum to read up about that.

Regarding video encoding, I'm not sure if a 4200rpm hard drive can handle it quickly. Since my TZ is a 2 hard-drive built, I have my source on one hard drive, and the video that's being encoded on the other drive so there's less hard drive head movement. So I'm not sure on the encoding part :3 Maybe someone else can fill you up on that but I haven't encoded anything very demanding yet on my TZ '~" I just make my slow desktop do the work

If you're concern about that, you might want to consider the SZ. Its got more power, not much bigger than the TZ and... stylish!

 

Thank you for all of your opinions.

This is a little off from my topic.
I was actually considering the sz for its power, battery life, and dual GPU system. But some of its attributes turn me off. 1) sz keyboard, I like the feel and design of the one on tz more. 2) sz screen resolution is only 1280x800 on 13", I like more res to be able to see more things on my screen when reading 2 documents simultaneously. 3) Its battery position, yes this is really annoying me. Many vaio fans might notice that most of the hi-end vaio laptops' design in the old days, before the the introduction of current sz model, position the battery at the center back of the laptop which look perfectly symmetrical. Not only it looks nicer and is more sophisticated in design, it gives you better balance when you put it on your lap especially when using extra-large battery. This sz, when putting extra-large battery looks really ugly. I understand that sony want to cut cost on battery design and production line (battery design was originated from fs series and now it's also adopted on cr) but this part of sz design really let me down.

Those reasons make me consider to get tz instead. But then again, paying US$2600+ for 945 chipset (2 years old!) with GMA950 now seems not a good investment for me especially Montevina chipset and its line-up cpu are right at the conner (May08). I'm positive that sony will introduce all new design s series (sz model is out for 2.5+ years now) or something equivalent and refresh tz chipset around that time. So,I will hold on to it. I hope sony's s series designer will get it right (for me ) this time about the battery.

Well, I've been using my old vaio for 5 years now, waiting another 4-5 months doesn't hurt me anymore. Thanks for listenning

 

Rather off-topic but semi-related again xD

I've like to add in some of my experience here

My previous laptop being T-150 broke for some unexpected reason (and its so BS, 1 month after warranty expires). When I bought it, it was the newest / refreshing design on ultra-portable.

How did I break it? I was using it, typing on forums like this and listening to music via headset. When it was time for class, I unplug my headset and the laptop turned off. After that it never turned on again... :/ That was it, no falling no nothing, natural death xD

It ended up being the life expectancy of my T-150. I've taken it to many laptop repairing center. I tried Sony (they wanted 2k for it to be repaired :/), Laptoptek in Florida and some local laptop repairing company in Toronto. They all said one thing, your laptop model was the first ever made, was faulty and badly engineered. There's a lot of T-150 that comes in with dead motherboard

So sometimes buying an old series laptop is not a bad thing. They learn from their mistakes and improve on their next upgrade. TZ was a big upgrade from T and.. I have to say they learned a lot Just my 2 cents when considering new refreshing series etc. Revisions of each laptop series aren't usually a bad thin

-- little bit TZ insights --

My brother uses a SZ and I use a TZ. So I've happen to spend quite a lot of time with both laptops. One thing I must point out is... the TZ's "Glossy" part of the keyboard.

It looks nice in picture, looks classy but... since the keys are smaller than usual, there are times when your finger hits the wrong or slight off the key and... you hit the glossy area. My hands.. are rather oily (I do wash my hands >.> before I touch my laptop), but it doesn't solve the problem. SZ don't really have this problem

It gets rather disgusting and... you need to clean it frequently in order to keep its pretty look in public Something to consider because.. pictures from Sony website won't tell you that part

 

Thanks Maiev for sharing your experience and insights,

This is very off topic
You got your point there about buying mature system design laptop which I never aware of this fact. It's because I never have any bad experience with sony products so far (maybe i'm very lucky). I owned lots of sony product lines since the 90's. In fact, all of my electronic devices around me now are made by sony (camera, cell phone, GPS, ps2, psp, ps3, laptop, tv, headphone, walkman, discman, netmd... ) and some of them, even very old, are still operational. From my experience, there are things about sony products that I love 1) battery life. Regardless of the difference product line, sony always incorporates the battery life issue in most of their product designs. I still remember the jealously look of my friends who own 1+year newer camera(other leadind brand) from finding out that mine last 3hrs while his got 1.3hrs at best. Not to mention vaio G that last 7-10hrs range with only standard size battery. Kudos to sony! 2) Its design, what else can I say? sony literally revived ericsson (bad shape then before joining sony) with their design and better user interface. 3) The classy sophisticated look and wow factor that makes me proud owning them. 4) Products integration. If you own lots of sony product like I do, you'll find that connecting them or transfering files between them is a breeze. 5) Very tough (in term of quality of the component which will last longer, not cosmetically tough). It might not be applicable to today's all sony products since most of them are made in China.

I'm not saying that China made is bad but I prefer Japan made. I'd opened and compare components inside between vaio Japan made and China made, found out that Japan made uses better components (brand of memory, hd, mother board supplier, etc.) compare to China made (that's why Japan made is more expensive, you really get what you paid). Maiev, I think you really had a bad luck with your Japan made T150.

All in all, for people out there who consider getting a vaio. If you have more disposable budget, I highly recommend you getting a Japan made vaio (now only 3 model are made in Japan, vaio G, SZ(hi-end/carbon fiber), and TZ).

Thanks again for listening

 

Same here! Is a little strange to spend a premium for a two years old chipset.
Waiting for a new TZ-when Montevina will come- or a new SZ if they gonna change the keyboard!