Luvvely but...
... I do hope it doesn't suffer from the usual VAIO issues, namely overheating, dodgy WiFi cards going caput after a year, failing SODIMMs etc...
Sony has dressed up its latest supermodel laptop and when it comes to the catwalk of consumer electronics, there are no moral complications in supporting the ultra-skinny. The Sony Vaio Z series follows with this tradition of slimming down, weighing in at less than 1.2kg, with a thickness of 17mm. The 13.1in anti-reflective …
Apple doesn't have a laptop which does 1600x900 at 13", let alone 1920x1080. They also don't have matte screens. And they (Macbook Pro) weigh a lot more than the Z (for the previous generation it was 3lb for the Z, 4.5lb for the MBP; this gen Z is lighter). The Z is simply a better machine than the MBP. Yeah, it costs more, but hey, you're getting something for your money.
Perhaps I bear a grudge for too long but I won't buy Sony due to being seriously burnt on their supposed support for Windows 2000 on a laptop I bought a couple of months before the OS came out. Took a year for the drivers to appear. Some, like firewire support, never did.
Coupled with a screen that died within six months of purchase (and took a month to get replaced) - Sony are neither well supported, good value or good quality.
I had the first generation Z1. (Pictured here http://www.laptopfeed.org/2011/01/sony-vaio-z1-series-review.html the review date is bollox).
Last year, after almost 10 years of service I retired it. I still think that it was one of the best looking laptops ever made. Looked splendid in its magnesium body. It had good compromise between weight and screen size.
Its been around the world and probably suffered 50 long haul international flights.
I think at the time it cost a frigging fortune but really I cant fault the hardware. The downside is all the useless crap that Sony put on it.
Of course now Apple have joined the market and so the ante been upped.
I'd pay the extra £400 for Sony not to ruin their brilliantly designed hardware with the usual assortment of VAIO branded Shovelware that makes them run at a snails pace out of the box.
Last one I set-up for someone had a lovely piece of custom config, where you couldn't set anything but their custom version of Google Chrome as the default browser without some serious registry and under-the-hood tweaking.
Only Sony does this so well: 13" 1920x1080 (yes it's available as an option, take that Apple 1x), 1.2kg (take that Apple 2x), and it has two megabatteries (take that Apple 3x!). Plus you can connect 4 screens to the dock. These are features that warrant top dollar (and the dollar being so low, as is the pound....), it kicks the opposition to the gutter. But you have to need those features, not everyone does.
Oh and the graphics are hybrid, so you get a discrete as well as a builtin gfx chip. Make no mistake, this is the Rolls of ultraportables.
had my TZ for about 6 years now and is still my everyday home machine. The 11" screen, SSD and lightweight design effectively means that there is no need for a tablet in my household, the TZ is doing the same role.
Recently purchased an HP laptop for my wife and regret the decision every time I go and use it. The trackpad is one of the worst I have ever used.