- 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 – 520M Processor
- 4GB RAM (2GB x 2); DDR3-1066
- 128GB Solid State Drive; DVD/CD RW Optical Drive
- 13.1″ (1600×900) LCD/ (16:9 aspect ratio)
- Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Product DescriptionBuilt tough for business, the VAIO Z notebook offers the portability of a 3 lbs (with standard capacity battery) form factor with the functionality and performance of a larger computer. . . . More >>
Comments
5 comments
July 13, 2010
First, let me start with the build quality and performance. The machine is very light. Too light really. When I try to push the power button on the side of the computer, the whole machine slides across my desk! The screen looks very nice (much nicer than my Lenovo T410s), but has perhaps too many pixels for the small area. I guess this is fine if you scale up your fonts. The CPU (i5 520m) performance is excellent, and the Samsung 128GB SSD is blazing fast. However, there are several major caveats:The screen does look nice but it bends a lot when you pick it up from one corner, a lot more than my Lenovo T410s. The keyboard feels mushy compared to the Lenovo. There is not much resistance. This notebook puts out a crap-load of heat; the bottom gets uncomfortably hot and thus is not really a laptop. The T410s, in contrast, gets slightly warm (the absence of a high-end graphics card like the 330M is probably a major factor). The solid state drive is not really 128GB. It is two 64GB SSDs in an Intel fake raid-0. Reformatting the disk still leaves you with two 64GB devices, not one 128GB device. YUCK, this is suboptimal. I don’t see how TRIM support (basically wear leveling, please correct me if I am wrong) can possibly work with this setup. Based on what I’ve read on the internet, the lack of TRIM will cause disk performance to gradually degrade over time. I thought that this SSD would be a standard 1. 8″, however, it is NOT (it is a non-standard 1. 5″, which you can’t find ANYWHERE). A better 1. 8″ disk like the Intel X18-M WILL NOT FIT, BEWARE! So if the SSD croaks, you’re screwed and you will have to pay sony big bucks to repair your laptop if it is not under warranty. Non-standard parts is a big no-no in my book. If I buy a machine, I expect to have the option to service it myself. This makes that very difficult. The BIOS is the most locked-down I have ever seen! You can’t modify ANY of the CPU options (e. g. , virtualization, hyperthreading). THe only thing it can do is change boot order. Pathetic for power users who know what a BIOS is. Battery life seemed good in Windows, > 5 hours. Unfortunately, I could not get a single linux distribution (OpenSuSE 11. 2, Ubuntu 9. 10, Ubuntu 10. 04, Linux Mint
to get the touchpad to work. This is ridiculous! Also, it is basically impossible to get both the discrete and integrated graphics to play nice in Linux. Bottom line: If you only use windows and don’t care for Linux, don’t mind the heat, lack of upgradeability/serviceability, and misleading specifications, but like the high amount of power packed into a small very light (3lb) package, then this is your laptop. Otherwise, I would recommend something like the T410s, which has much better build quality/reliability and Linux compatibility, if you don’t care about graphics performance and a mediocre screen. If you do care, i’m sure there are alternative offerings from Lenovo, Dell or HP (like the EliteBook) which would do the trick. This laptop was very disappointing for power users like me; I returned mine after a week and kept the Lenovo T410s instead.
Rating: 1 / 5
July 13, 2010
Machine shhipped with some sort of keyboard defect. (If you have not guuessed yet, it randomly registers multiple keystrokes)
This wouldnn’t be so bad except Sony technical support isnnn’t there. I called both their normal and after hours lines and they literally weren’t there, they were closed.
For a flagship product line this is an unacceptable issue.
Rating: 1 / 5
July 13, 2010
Because of its SSD (solid-state drive) and the i5/i7 processor, this laptop beats everything else in its class as far as performance it concerned. If you need a fast laptop, which is also a desktop replacement and is extremely portable (3 pounds), this is it!
Rating: 5 / 5
July 13, 2010
A 3 pound laptop is essential to me. I can’t carry the big guys especially when I’m running around airports. Since I’ve had amazing good luck with all my other Sony products, including a 2005 laptop which my lawyer son is still using to show judges videos in court, and my Sony All-in-Ones, one bought in 2005 and given to the same son who is using it problem-free, and my current much bigger All-in-One, I naturally turned to Sony again, after first trying Macs and Dells. This z-series is a dream. I’m using Windows 7 64 bit pro, which has the capability of XP imaging for 32 bit programs. I have 4 G of RAM, 500 SSD hard drive, 303 ghz speed, a long lasting battery on which I’ve worked 6-7 hours and still had capacity left on it, a very responsive keyboard, essential to a writer, the bluray R/W drive, and have had nothing but praise for it. The person who downgraded this because it isn’t a Linux machine is absurd. It’s a Windows machine. You want to run Linux and fiddle with your own BIOS, fine. This isn’t for you. But if you want a machine that is light, swift, responsive, and does what all the big guys do, this is your machine. Also, someone said it heated up as he worked on it. I work on mine in bed for hours, and it doesn’t get hot. I did, you note, pay for extras, so I paid more than the base price, but it’s worth it.
One word about reliability. In 2005, I bought a small Sony laptop and their first All-in-One desktop. I outgrew them, although they never gave me a bit of trouble, and passed them on to my son, who is using them both in his law practice. I also have a Sony All-in-One PCV-AHIL, which is superb, marvelous responsive keyboard, blazing fast and in 7 months have never had a thing go wrong with this either. Ditto my Sony HDTV and bluray player.
Rating: 5 / 5
July 13, 2010
This is my third “Z-series” Sony Vaio (I previously owned a VGN-SZ750N which replaced an earlier VGN-SZ680N).
The VPC-Z116GX/S is awesome. Its lighter, faster and with Windows 7 64-bit Professional it just snaps along.
The smaller form-factor screen with its much higher resolution over that of the VGN-SZ series takes some getting used to.
I use this (like I used the others) for work and play (I travel a lot) and it is a perfect balance between portability (weight and size) and power for me.
Rating: 5 / 5