Sony Vaio Z

First impressions

The Sony Z class is extremely light. The carbon fiber design is genius. Checking around the ports, I wasn’t sure if Sony had included an optical drive or not. It wasn’t until I opened it up and found the eject button did I know for sure. This is how laptops should be designed. I don’t know if it costs less or something to have that janky button on the drive to eject it, but having a button on the keyboard just makes so much more sense to me.
Specs:
Intel i5 M520
8 GB RAM
512 GB SSD
carbon fiber
12.4 x 8.3 x 1.3-1
3.04 lbs
13 inch screen
Outside
This is a handsome looking machine. It has a very similar external structure to the Sony Y class with the power button parallel to the AC in, meaning the power button is on the outside. While I see it as safer having all the buttons on the inside(because of spills), in desktop setups with an external monitor it is much more convenient to have the power button on the outside, so that turning it on and off is a simple process.
Sony wasted no space on the sides with ports, it seems as though every millimeter is covered. Ok that’s an overstatement, looking at my Mac, they are just as spaced out, they just take up the entirety of both sides (I’m including the optical drive and main vent). If you own as many peripherals (display, multiple external hard drives, speakers…) it will look a little crammed with everything plugged in, but everything should work perfectly. The one issue I have is with the headphone port. Its placement is fine for using headphones, but having speakers plugged in (the port is on the front) is annoying to type on and looks cramped with the audio cord wrapped around the computer.

The front has the usual Sony characteristics, SD and Memory Stick Pro slots, wireless kill-switch, and audio in/audio out. The front cover is more prone to marks than any aluminum clad laptop I have seen, but it’s not a big deal. It is so light because of the carbon fiber underbelly.
Inside
Every time I open it up it is a pleasant experience. The screen is extremely bright and has high enough resolution to be the first 13inch laptop that I have had no problem using for extended periods of time. Typically on 13inch and smaller screens, my eyes start to hurt after a while.
The keyboard is beautiful; I’d even go as far to say that’s sexy. Looks don’t always determine quality, but in this case they do. This is the best sub 15inch laptop keyboard I have ever used, possibly even including 15inch laptops (thing is I’m lazy and I like to rest my palms on the area next to my 15 inch’s keyboard).
In the top left hand corner, there is a very useful switch for battery life: performance, stamina, auto. You can slide it to any of those options and the Z class will change settings automatically to mirror your choice. I typically use auto, and then stamina if I need extended battery life, and performance if I am plugged into the wall.
It has a shortcut key. Yeah you heard me, like an actual shortcut key; not a function key to control volume or screen brightness, but a programmable shortcut key. This is a feature that should be on every laptop, 17inch and netbooks alike. You can choose for it to open a certain application or to do tasks like move all windows to the side. The shortcut key is right in between the “VAIO” and “Assist” keys. The VAIO key opens up the VAIO media center application, which is similar to Apple’s front row. It’s a nice way of displaying multimedia, like videos and photos. The assist key opens up an application that checks up on updates and the firewall to make sure everything is in order, it’s a nice addition that is very similar to Lenovo’s.
Performance
This baby performs. The model I reviewed came with the standard i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM (the maximum Sony will install),and a 512 GB solid state hard drive. While it did not have the optional i7, the 8GB of RAM picked up the slack and made this machine perform. I could do tests and give you spec numbers, and those that actually sit by their computers with stop watches would be the only ones who care, or I could explain how this affects daily use. Things just work, applications open instantly. I rarely notice a difference in normal performance from laptop to laptop, but this Sony clearly stood out from the rest.
The graphics card is pretty much identical to the Macbook Pro’s card in the 15 and 17inch, except the NVIDIA in the Sony has about twice as much video memory, allowing it to achieve higher performance whether it is more FPS in games or just smoother video editing. The same specs (as much as I love my Mac) in a Macbook Pro that this Sony came with would cost over $1000 more (so about $4000) in a bigger, heavier machine. Performance in applications such as Adobe CS ought to be identical between those two machines.
Recommendation
This is my current favorite PC laptop. It also starts at $2,000, and the model I’m using costs $3000. The reason it is my favorite laptop is because of how light and yet full featured (it also looks really cool). The model I am using comes with a 512 GB hard drive (it is solid state), and 8 GB of RAM down to 4 GB RAM, and you have a $2000 machine. With the standard amount of RAM and CPU, it will still perform great. The big reason this computer is so great is because of its design outside of the motherboard. It is extremely light and strong because of the carbon fiber design, and has a great screen. The standard drive is also solid state, which are faster and more expensive than standard drives. If you want a lightweight high performing laptop and are willing to spend the money, this would be my number one choice.

Related Posts by Categories