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(More customer reviews)Background:
I am an above average user, although by no means an IT person. I have owned three Sony Vaio laptops and one Toshiba laptop, not including this one. My consideration in looking for a laptop were as follows: I wanted a powerful laptop that would rival a regular desktop in its features and specifications. It needed to be ultra-portable since I take my laptop everywhere; I learned a life-long lesson back in college when I was toting around heavy 15-inch laptops that made me walk with a stoop. It needed to be fast; when I am working, I need to be limited only by the free flow of my ideas, and not by the time it takes software to open up and load. It needed to have a port replicator, so that I can conveniently plug in a monitor at home and speakers which don't have to be unplugged everytime I leave my house. My laptop for the last 2 years was a Toshiba Satellite U405-S283; a 14-inch laptop that did most of what I needed, but which became so sluggish that I could feel myself aging and my beard growing while waiting for programs to load. But the most important requirement was the battery; I needed a laptop that would remain juiced up on intercontinental flights, so that my mind can be freed from dark thoughts of the plane losing gravity and depositing my earthly remains somewhere in the Bermudan Triangle. My search led me to the Z series. I had left the Sony Vaio family because conventional wisdom has it that all laptop manufacturers purchase the parts from the same location, so why pay the hefty premiums that I am accustomed to paying for Sony Vaio laptops? With technology changing as rapidly as it does, in two years any model is completely outdated. Hence, I thought it would be prudent to spend less, so that I can happily discard the laptop for the next when the time comes.
Enter the VPC-Z135GX/B:
The most noticeable thing about the Sony Z series is its hefty price tag. It costs an arm, a leg, and a good portion of the pelvic bones. At $2,200, the VPC-Z135GX/B is in the upper medium range for the price of a Z series laptop. The cheapest in the Z family that I found is a silver colored one which goes for about $1600 on the Best Buy website, but which only has a 128 GB hard drive. The most expensive top-of-the line model is part of the signature series which goes for about $4000 on the Sony Style website. The signature series offer 'infinite stripes' and 'premium carborn.' Both are raised styles on the chassis of the laptop itself. The next logical query is whether the utility justifies the cost.
Looks:
The Z series laptops are beautifully crafted, and look like artifacts that are more appropriate in a modern art museum. The style and chassis speak of understated elegance. It has a very slender frame that feels almost flimsy, yet there is no flex, buckle or give. It is extraordinarily light, and weighs less than most of the law books in our office. In fact, if the screen had the ability to be folded all the way down, I would be all-too-pleased to use this laptop as a tablet. I was eyeing the iPad and RIM's Playbook running the Blackberry version of the tablet, but I might just hold off for now.
- Keyboard: The keyboard is the so-called 'chiclet' style which was apparently first introduced by Sony. It is best described as akin to the keys on a calculator. It is a clever design that seems more ergonomic than a full desktop keyboard. The keys are very responsive without caving in at the tap of a finger. The keys also automatically light up in darkened conditions. Although it is supposed to work automatically, it would have been nice to be able to manually control the function. There have been times when the keyboard did not light up, and yet the conditions demanded it.
- Chassis: Chassis simply means the external body of the laptop. While the Z series can come in silver, or in black with the somewhat diagnonal stripes or the carbon fibre of the signature series, the VPC-Z135GX/B is a simple unadorned black. 'VAIO' is emblazoned across the top lid in silver in an iconic scrawl. It is the very simplicity of the design that makes it so elegant. Ironically, Z series with their stripes and cost more, yet this sober black is my preference. The ultimate effect is that this laptop is not as attention-seeking as its signature style cousins, yet exudes a quiet sleekness that suits those with quiet refined tastes. For those with more flamboyant tastes, the alienware laptops would be more appropriate.
-The Screen: The main sacrifice in purchasing this laptop or any other ultra-portable design really lies in the reduction in the screen real estate. It is an unavoidable trade-off, until a clever manufacturer patents a screen that slides out or somehow widens at the touch of a button. A 13.3 inch laptop, however, is extremely convenient. During long flights, at meetings or in bed, using this laptop is truly a dream because of its size. Yet its small screen, of course, means that viewing movies, for example, is apt to be better on a 15-inch laptop. Sony makes up for this with the vividness of the screen. With its 1600x900 resolution - not found in any other laptops I had considered - Sony seems to be saying that bigger is not always better. I heartily concur; colors jump out of this screen, etched in clear and startling detail. Watching Avatar on this should be quite the experience.
- Power Cord: I am not a fan of the power cord; the cord feels thicker than necessary. But it is designed in such a way as to lessen the chance that the wire would eventually fray at the juncture where it connects to the box.
- Buttons, USB ports, SD card slot, HDMI output: The power button is another simple, yet lovely contrivance. It glows green when the laptop is on, and orange when hibernating. It is located at the right hinge, where the screen meets the keyboard, and is a particularly clever placement. Given that this laptop is not much bigger than a netbook, there are no compromises. It features three USB ports; even the Goliaths of all laptops are apt to feature the very same number. It has a muvh-appreciated HDMI input on its left side, as well as a front-facing speaker and microphone outlets. A VGA output is tucked away neatly on the right side, which is almost entirely taken up by the CD/DVD drive. The innovative eject button for the drive, rather than being on the side of the laptop, is actually at the top of the keyboard. There are three one-touch convenience keys aligned side by side. The 'Assist' button launches VAIO care which is supposed to diagnose any problems with the laptop. The middle button is configurable, and I promptly assigned the mute function to it. The 'VAIO' button launches the VAIO media gallery, which is discussed in greater detail below.
Utility:
-Processor: Equipped with its i5 intel core processor, this laptop is really quite fast. Although I was disappointed that the start-up time is about as long as it takes most conventional laptops to do the same, opening up programs is a breeze. I did some research on processors, and found that the new i5 is actually the optimal processor for most users. The i3 does not come equipped with the turbo boost feature which, I imagine, comes into play when the laptop requires more resources to handle a variety of programs. The i7 is expensive, yet useless for most users who will never need the power it brings; its use is limited to scientific programs and such that can benefit from the enhancement.
-Solid state hard drive: This is my first laptop with a solid state hard drive. Solid state hard drives, like all new technology, are expensive, and is partly the reason why the Z series laptops are so expensive. The snappy performance of this laptop no doubt owes its existence to the combination of the processor and the solid state hard drives. One of the main reasons that I purchased this model is because it has 256GB which is just the perfect size. I had considered several cheaper models with 128GB hard drives, but I couldn't do it. Over the years, I have accumulated about 35GB of music, and every year the size grows exponentially. 128GB just wouldn't cut it, especially since a sizeable portion of the hard drive is preoccupied with system functions. For example, when my laptop arrived and I checked the hard drive, it was at approximately 220GB, with the remaining 36GB presumably taken up by the system.
-1GB NVIDIA GT 330M: I will never again buy a laptop without a dedicated graphics card. Watching videos on this laptop is an incredibly seamless experience. I was watching 4 videos simultaenously on Windows Live Photo Gallery, and one on Windows Media Player with nary a lag in sight. I am not much of a gamer, but the games that I tried worked like a charm. While this is obviously not a gaming laptop, it has the muscle to be one. The only draw-back would be the relatively small screen size.
-Windows 7 Professional: Conventional wisdom is that Windows 7 is worlds better than Windows Vista, but the difference is not as stark as I was led to believe. There are numerous cosmetic changes that I won't delve into because they don't necessarily increase functionality. Setting up Microsoft Outlook was the most painless experience ever, although I am not sure whether to thank the OS or Microsoft Office Professional 2010. Usually, I would have to check the internet for the correct settings to set up my e-mail accounts. This time I merely entered my name and e-mail address, and it was all configured for me. When I used the same Microsoft Office Professional 2010 on Windows Vista, it was not nearly as painless.
-Browser: The laptop comes equipped with two versions of the Internet Explorer: 32-bit and 64-bit. I ran into flash problems attempting to watch videos with the 64-bit, so...Read more›
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Sony VAIO Z Series: Premium Power To Go
Built tough for your business travel needs, this ultra-portable Sony VAIO Z Series laptop (model VPC-Z135GX/B) weighs just over 3 pounds and measures 1.3 inches thin, yet it doesn't compromise on the powerful computing features you've come to expect from business-class VAIO notebooks. It offers a 13.1-inch high-resolution LED-backlit screen, the latest Intel Core i5 processor with dual-core processing power, solid state drive (SSD) technology for a rapid boot-up and quicker access to applications, and a dynamic hybrid graphics system that lets you easily switch from high-powered graphics performance to energy saving mode to extend battery life.
The Sony VAIO Z Series laptop in black (see larger image).
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