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If Sony Vaio Z11 can why not MBP 13 ?

mjoshi123

mjoshi123

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 14, 2010
451
5
I was planning to get MBP 13 but after last update I'm thinking of waiting bit longer before Apple gets its act together. One of my colleague uses Z11 on daily basis and I've seen machine on daily basis. It has everything that MBP 15 has and few more things and still it can manage to push every thing within 13" form factor so why cant Apple ?
Here is quote directly from my friend which makes every MBP 13 user cringe little bit considering fact that Apple brags lot about Mac v/s PC war. Probably Mac lost some of cool in this release.

As a Z11 user, I can tell you that it's an awesomely performing machine...blisteringly fast. And it's a good gaming machine to boot. With an independent (no broadband subscription required) GPS receiver, integrated broadband (if I ever decide I want to use it) a full 1GB of dedicated Video RAM,up to 512GB SSD storage, 1600 x 900 Sony display tray-... See Moreloading Dual layer DVD writer (blue ray optional)...on and on the list goes.

Oh, and it stays cool to the touch by some miracle. I was just gaming on it (Bioshock 2) for an hour or so and both the top and bottom was cool to the touch (or BARELY warm), even though the air leaving the exhaust vent was very HOT. Sony might be letting some of it's model lines "slip" in engineering prowess, but the Z series shows they still have it when they choose to.
 
Talk to your Sony Vaio friend in about 12 months. In my experience, having owned many Vaio's over the year, they are incredibly shoddy build quality. While they are loaded with features, those features don't do much good when you find the motherboard eating itself due to bad heatsinks, fans that quit working and a whole host of other issues.

Vaio's aren't that bad when they are relegated to lightweight duty in a clean working environment and not moved that much. But even with the improved case design on the latest models, they just aren't durable.
 
ReallyBigFeet said:
Talk to your Sony Vaio friend in about 12 months. In my experience, having owned many Vaio's over the year, they are incredibly shoddy build quality. While they are loaded with features, those features don't do much good when you find the motherboard eating itself due to bad heatsinks, fans that quit working and a whole host of other issues.

Vaio's aren't that bad when they are relegated to lightweight duty in a clean working environment and not moved that much. But even with the improved case design on the latest models, they just aren't durable.
Click to expand...

Interestingly he was using Z series prior to this and upgraded to Z11. He uses his laptop very rigorously so I know he puts it to work. I've used some Vaio's in past and have one of FW290 in my current use. So far no issues. On a side note I see most of people on forum recommending Applecare, so let me ask you if Apple products are excellent quality and built to last why people are paying extra $250 on top of product price in buying Applecare ? Is it all hype or what ? I can understand your point in defending MBP but there is no point in blindly following things when it is clearly proven technically what Apple is selling in MBP 13 is not at par with what competition is upto now. At the end of day it is your money and if you think throwing it at Apple is the only way you can spend it go for it.
 
D0rk said:
According to Sony's website, the Vaio Z starts at $1900.
Click to expand...

and people say macs are expensive? People don't realize that yes they are expensive compared to, let's say, a HP dv series(~600?) but in reality if they compare it to the more premium windows laptops they are about the same or even more compared to a MBP like the Sony Z. Maybe they have slightly better performance but Windows will slow it down making it about equal to a mac.
 
D0rk said:
He's arguing against the 13 inch though.
Click to expand...

As size decreases price increases that is law of computing, so yes Sony has cramed MBP 15 specs into 13" form factor so if you try to configure equivalent MBP spec to spec in 15" form factor you will be well above $1999.
 
First, you'll have to ask your buddy how much he paid for that machine. Since I'm certain it cost quite a bit more than what you're looking for in a 13" MBP, you'll need to ask youself...is it worth it for you? Finally, if you answered yes, then you're in a small segment of the market Apple doesn't aim at. Apple aims for the largest segment because they sell a small range of computers and want those to fit as many as possible.
 
Youre buying a device for ~1500+. 100 for applecare (bought it off ebay) is nothing compared to the benefits and peace of mind you will get and knowing that you will have your device for atleast 3 years. If I bought a sony Z for ~1500+ I would buy some sort of sonycare just for peace of mind
 
D0rk said:
He's arguing against the 13 inch though.
Click to expand...

Lighter notebooks automatically cost more. Check out the price of a Macbook Air.

MBA - 1.36kg
Vaio Z - 1.45kg
MBP 13" - 2.06kg

Like someone else mentioned, more powerful specs in a smaller form factor also increases the price furthermore.

sammich said:
First, you'll have to ask your buddy how much he paid for that machine. Since I'm certain it cost quite a bit more than what you're looking for in a 13" MBP, you'll need to ask youself...is it worth it for you? Finally, if you answered yes, then you're in a small segment of the market Apple doesn't aim at. Apple aims for the largest segment because they sell a small range of computers and want those to fit as many as possible.
Click to expand...

Apple doesn't care about anyone who cares about specs.
 
Once upon a time a company came along, stole a bunch of ideas from smaller companies implemented them better s GUI stole from them by a higher evil and then said this.

Think Different :apple:

Apple has there stuff together and quite honestly 2 inches isn't that much to trouble over as far as portability and yet offers so much usability and I can't understand why one would want all that power in such a small screen area.

Sony better specs? YES.

Sony better value? MAYBE

Sony better built? NO

Sony better computer. BIG NO

Specs are great but usability and speed don't always rely on specs, for example I compared a Sony Z with an 2.67 i7 8 gigs of ram geekbench score to a MBP i7 2.66 4 gigs or ram geekbench score the MBP about 1500 points higher. Sony has some great designed computers but I'm not a PC and don't ever plan on using windows unless its bootcamp or virtual machine for school.

As well Apple Care = Peace of Mind. Mmmm my house cost several hundred thousand I shouldn't be prepared for the roof to leak or a pipe to burst, just because its new. Always be prepared for the unexpected and for such a small price Apple Care = A BIG WIN!
 
They also offer a $4,499.99 model that has an i7, 8GB RAM, Blu Ray, 1080p screen, 1GB dedicated graphicz card and x-ray vision to look through wallz!!!

BTW you could buy 3 MBP 13"s with a Windows license for each, and a PS3 and a new TV for that price.

My point is that the MBP is a lot cheaper than the Z, not really in the same class at all. The cheapest Z is $700 more than the cheapest MBP.
 
Size is a matter. Although both sony Z and MBP are 13", sony Z is actually thicker than MBP (32.7 mm vs 24.1 mm). The extra 86 mm allows sony to have a discrete 330m GPU and better ventilation. Also, the case of sony Z is made of aluminium and carbon fibre. You can feel that it is much thinner than the aluminium case used for MBP.

There are lots of comparisons between MBP and vaio Z in terms of size and spec. But I think OSX should also be counted while you are comparing. With no doubt that It is a better OS than Windows. And it allows MBP has the same performance with lower spec compared to those windows laptop.

For those who are comparing the 13" MBP with Vaio Z, simply pick the Z if you want to have a 13" laptop of higher spec, of course at a higher price.
 
ttran88 said:
and people say macs are expensive? People don't realize that yes they are expensive compared to, let's say, a HP dv series(~600?) but in reality if they compare it to the more premium windows laptops they are about the same or even more compared to a MBP like the Sony Z. Maybe they have slightly better performance but Windows will slow it down making it about equal to a mac.
Click to expand...

The Sony Vaio Z has the hardware performance superior to the 17" (GT335, dual SSDs), in a form factor smaller than the 13", for the price of the 15". It's just on a much higher level than any of the MacBooks.
 
the z is very nice but doesn't support 2560x1600 resolutions. so I have to go with the new MBP 13" - would it support resolutions higher then 1920x1200 i would go with sony :(
 
Speaking as someone who is about to 'jump ship' from PC to mac I must admit I asked myself the same question as the OP.

I'm in the market for a portable laptop with enough power to allow me to carry out my uni work which involves some 3D modelling, rendering, photoshop, illustrator etc. etc.

I patiently waited for the refresh and was hoping that the 13" MBP would get something a little closer to the Vaio Z, at the very least a graphics card with a bit more oomph.

Unfortunately that isn't the case and I have now decided that I'm going to go for the 15" i7 because I can't justify to myself paying the price of the 13" with old technology in it.

The reason for not going for the Z series? I've had several Vaio's and although they have been great laptops, none have lasted me longer than 3 years (melted GPU's and failing hard drives). I'm graduating from uni this year and want something that lasts me a few years, hence I want the build quality of the mac.
 
Compared to the 13" mbp, the vaio has off course a lot better specs.
But it nearly costs twice as much. So the comparision is not really fair.

As for the 15" and 17" mbp, they offcourse lose any spec/price comparision. They are totally overpriced, thats just a fact.
 
ReallyBigFeet said:
Talk to your Sony Vaio friend in about 12 months. In my experience, having owned many Vaio's over the year, they are incredibly shoddy build quality.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Right. My friend has older model Z series (1.5yrs old). It looks like new, thanks to very good quality materials.


The Z11 and MBP13 are not directly comparable.

Probably, S series is more like MBP13. They are really nice machines indeed. At virtually the same price point they offer marginally better specs, e.g. for 999 pounds you get i5-430, 500gb, 310M, 4gb RAM rather than C2D and 250gb.

On the other hand, the battery is rated for 5hrs only. In addition, the screen is much worse. Finally, the are no offers for students and warranty extensions are more expensive.
 
As far as I see it MBP is not a good gaming platform. A lot of people on this forum who are angry about the "new" specs are gamers. The fact is that the MBP is not designed for gaming. Definitely get a PC if gaming and having access to all of the latest "features" (many of which will turn out to be gimmicks but you get to test them) is a priority to you. If stability, quality, and efficiency of the OS and hardware- as well as resale value are at the top of your list, then you will want to go for an :apple: system. I've got a C2D 13 on its way. I would have liked it to have an I5 processor, but I purchased it anyway because I know that I will take care of it and be able to sell it for most (or even all) of what I paid for it when the next update starts to come around. Also... what kind of battery life does a Z get? I bet the MBP 13 can be used without recharge for twice as long :)
 
I think I'm putting things in wrong terms here and offending lot of Apple fans. My point of posting Z11 v/s MBP 13 was because ArsTechnica and Steve mentioned that because of technical reasons they opted for lower specs for MBP 13. All I'm trying to point is that is not entirely true, It is possible to cram lot more in 13" form factor than what Apple managed to. I dont care if you buy one of other, it is your money and your needs. But please stop thread crapping - this are kind of behaviour that makes one feel Apple users are clueless.
 
mjoshi123 said:
I think I'm putting things in wrong terms here and offending lot of Apple fans. My point of posting Z11 v/s MBP 13 was because ArsTechnica and Steve mentioned that because of technical reasons they opted for lower specs for MBP 13. All I'm trying to point is that is not entirely true, It is possible to cram lot more in 13" form factor than what Apple managed to. I dont care if you buy one of other, it is your money and your needs. But please stop thread crapping - this are kind of behaviour that makes one feel Apple users are clueless.
Click to expand...

Sure, it is.

But not if you want to keep it running cool and quiet, and at the same time staying at the price point Apple needs it to.

Apple hardware hasn't been top of the line for at least 5 years, but they are innovative and the best in a lot of other categories, that can't be printed on a spec sheet.
 
DLovett said:
Sure, it is.

But not if you want to keep it running cool and quiet, and at the same time staying at the price point Apple needs it to.

Apple hardware hasn't been top of the line for at least 5 years, but they are innovative and the best in a lot of other categories, that can't be printed on a spec sheet.
Click to expand...

Exactly- it's about quality and stability of the product. Not quantity of specs. Sure apple could have fit a core i5 and better graphics into the new 13", but at what cost? It would have taken a redesign and it would have raised prices of the base MBP which are targeted at semi-professionals, amateurs, and college students who usually have limited cash. Also, to many users the operating system is everything, and frankly OSX can do more with less while windows does less with more.

edit: typed from my Win 7 clarksdale desktop
 
If apple can do unibody, high quality enclosure, durabile and stable macbook pro, then why cant sony vaio z do it ?

Vaio z is a plastic toy..
 
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