Poll: Sony Z-series vs. MBP 13"

[tigress666]

I am glad we agreed that people do prefer Windows by a huge margin. I am not sure why you felt the need to comment on my feelings for Apple. That was not the subject of this thread.

I won't argue that.

What I will argue is that this thread is one person trying to decide between a Sony and a Mac. And the fact he's considering a Mac (particularly with not as good specs) says to me he most likely prefers OSX (but probably is weighing if better hardware is worth not having OSX). So in the case of trying to help the original poster make a decision, saying the Mac has OSX is an advantage in its favor to list when considering between the two.

 

[gman901]

I'll say this much, I don't even have a Macbook Pro, still using Windows 7; the Sony Z seems flimsy when playing around with it at the Sony store. I would be worried that the screen is going to snap off. The MBP is the most beautifully designed and solid notebooks out there. It feels solid like nothing will break it. Besides, you can dual boot into Windows if needed. MBP wins for the design, function and dependable OS. This is coming from a PC user!

 

[Covart]

It's not as if Sony, Dell and others can choose to install OSX. Apple pulled the plug there without ever licensing to the big players in the PC market.

What Apple should do is design -soon- a new line of laptops -say the Mac Book Nano- that have the power of the Pros but the weight of the Sony Z across the line. 13" three pounds, 15" four pounds, 17" five pounds.

Then Apple could maintain the Pro line but slash the price to increase market share. They should also get rid of the Mac Book and make a $600 netbook with a backlit keyboard instead of bricking Dell Mini's.
--

Yep, Apple made everything proprietary, which limits the consumers choice. You either buy a Mac or try and Hack your Dell/Sony/whatever to run OSX. Most people choose not to hack their computer. This is something that will never change while Steve Jobs is alive, so kind of pointless to debate.

I do think we'll see lighter and lighter laptops are electronic components become more advanced, regardless of make.

As for market share, don't think that is much of a concern for Apple. It's around $250 per share now! Compare that to Microsoft. Holy crap. And an Apple $600 netbook? Why? They have the iPad that fills this niche and at that price or lower. And while I have no plans to buy a first gen iPad (waiting for 2nd gen specs), I would def choose an iPad over a Netbook.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I'll say this much, I don't even have a Macbook Pro, still using Windows 7; the Sony Z seems flimsy when playing around with it at the Sony store. I would be worried that the screen is going to snap off. The MBP is the most beautifully designed and solid notebooks out there. It feels solid like nothing will break it. Besides, you can dual boot into Windows if needed. MBP wins for the design, function and dependable OS. This is coming from a PC user!

Interesting argument though I think it's stronger than you'd first think. For instance how many Mac users here would be willing to pick up their MacBook/MacBookPro's like this?

 

[chuckflip53]

Interesting argument though I think it's stronger than you'd first think. For instance how many Mac users here would be willing to pick up their MacBook/MacBookPro's like this?

That image makes me nervous - I would't do that with any notebook
I think what gman901 meant by 'solid' though is that the MBP's aluminum unibody structure gives it that bit of weight - not too much that it loses its portability - but enough to create that sturdy sensation.

 

[DVD9]

Yep, Apple made everything proprietary, which limits the consumers choice. You either buy a Mac or try and Hack your Dell/Sony/whatever to run OSX. Most people choose not to hack their computer. This is something that will never change while Steve Jobs is alive, so kind of pointless to debate.

I do think we'll see lighter and lighter laptops are electronic components become more advanced, regardless of make.

As for market share, don't think that is much of a concern for Apple. It's around $250 per share now! Compare that to Microsoft. Holy crap. And an Apple $600 netbook? Why? They have the iPad that fills this niche and at that price or lower. And while I have no plans to buy a first gen iPad (waiting for 2nd gen specs), I would def choose an iPad over a Netbook.

Apple's stock has been very high before and then completely collapsed. Without growth it will again.

Laptops are lagging cell phones tremendously. I don't understand the reason for this. It's time that some serious American nano engineering invaded the area. The processor is the only nano engineered part of a laptop.

The iPad is not a netbook, which is a small, low powered laptop. For millions a netbook is enough, the iPad is not. The iPad is a gadget, a novelty for people with too much cash to burn to go ahead and smoke some more of it.

Netbook sales have not fallen off a cliff due to the appearance of the iPad.

Typing on an iPad sucks. Typing on a netbook is far easier and the 160 GB hard disk looks huge, and the HDMI and USB ports quite useful.

And this from a netbook hater.
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[TopHatPlus]

Carbon fiber
Sorry, try again

haha my bicycle gloves have carbon fiber in them =D not real carbon fiber... just looks like it. (Fox mx gloves hehe)



you guys are all missing the point of the windows 7 and how terrible it is.... i would still buy a macbook pro 13" if it had its current specs and was priced the same as the sony, i just love snow leopard, and imovie and final cut pro and THE GOD BOX (god box = finder, i decided to rename it because finder just did not to it justice)

 

[Covart]

Apple's stock has been very high before and then completely collapsed. Without growth it will again.

Laptops are lagging cell phones tremendously. I don't understand the reason for this. It's time that some serious American nano engineering invaded the area. The processor is the only nano engineered part of a laptop.

The iPad is not a netbook, which is a small, low powered laptop. For millions a netbook is enough, the iPad is not. The iPad is a gadget, a novelty for people with too much cash to burn to go ahead and smoke some more of it.

Netbook sales have not fallen off a cliff due to the appearance of the iPad.

Typing on an iPad sucks. Typing on a netbook is far easier and the 160 GB hard disk looks huge, and the HDMI and USB ports quite useful.

And this from a netbook hater.
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Understood on the iPad, but I can't really comment on it to much at this point, as I haven't even touched one. Been avoiding them, as I don't want to be tempted.
The main reasons I haven't bought one is because of what you mentioned. I want more hard drive space, front facing camera and HDMI capability with at least 2 USB ports before I buy one. That's what I am hoping for in a 2nd gen iPad. That said, I have my MBP's, which negate any need for me to buy a Netbook.

 

[HLdan]

Interesting argument though I think it's stronger than you'd first think. For instance how many Mac users here would be willing to pick up their MacBook/MacBookPro's like this?

TBH, this pic is a fail unless you have another one like it with the screen turned on facing us so we can see it. From that angle there's no telling if the LCD has been cracked or not. There are plenty of rich douchebags on the internet that would be willing to break their stuff just to prove a point. Even if I owned that Vaio Z and new for a fact that it was damage proof no matter how much the screen was flexed, I still wouldn't do it. I don't take risks like that with my money.

 

[CaoCao]

I've been hearing lots of people urging Apple to include higher resolution options on the MBP 13", add a faster processor, etc. Sony's Z-series laptop offers almost exactly what people been asking for: a faster processor, higher resolution, even a lighter overall weight. However, as soon as somebody points this out, everybody begins to suddenly defend the MBP 13" again. I haven't yet seen a poll for this so I decided to make one.

Macbook Pro 13" base model (Sony Vaio Z-series laptop base model):
2.4GHz C2D (i5-540M 2.53GHz; Turbo Boost 3.06GHz)
250GB SATA 5400rpm (128GB [64GBx2] SSD RAID0)
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM)
13.3-inch LED-glossy 1280x800 (13.1" 1600x900 w/ anti-reflective coating)
Mac OS X v10.6.3 (Win7 Home Premium 64-bit)
iLife: Photo, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb (Adobe Bundle: Premiere Elements, Photoshop Elements, Acrobat Standard)
256MB shared GeForce 320M (1GB discrete GeForce GT 330M GPU)
SD slot, 2 USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Mini DisplayPort (3 USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, ExpressCard/34 slot, MemoryStick, SD slot)
10 hours battery (7 hours battery)
Multi-touch trackpad (touchpad)
4.5 lbs. (3.04 lbs.)
$1199 ($1919)

Now, before I ask the question, don't forget the Macbooks (as of now) still come with the free iPod (or up to $199 rebate) and a free printer (up to $99 rebate) so, depending on what you're looking for, that essentially "equals" paying less by about $250 (after taxes have been applied). Also, knowing that this is a Mac-forum, I expect most of the replies to be biased toward Apple's MBP but at the same time there is no denying that Sony has created a beast of a 13" laptop. SO! After seeing these specs side-by-side, which laptop would you buy?
(For the sake of leveling the playing field, let's say you have $1550 saved up)

upgrade to Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-bit, roughly equivalent to Snow Leopard and
include Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (3 year subscription) (Macs don't get viruses but Windows does)
include Large battery

Macbook Pro 13" base model (Sony Vaio Z-series laptop base model):
2.4GHz C2D (i5-540M 2.53GHz; Turbo Boost 3.06GHz)
250GB SATA 5400rpm (128GB [64GBx2] SSD RAID0)
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM)
13.3-inch LED-glossy 1280x800 (13.1" 1600x900 w/ anti-reflective coating)
Mac OS X v10.6.3 (Win7 Ultimate 64-bit)
iLife: Photo, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb (Adobe Bundle: Premiere Elements, Photoshop Elements, Acrobat Standard)
256MB shared GeForce 320M (1GB discrete GeForce GT 330M GPU)
SD slot, 2 USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Mini DisplayPort (3 USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, ExpressCard/34 slot, MemoryStick, SD slot)
10 hours battery (10.5 hours battery)
Multi-touch trackpad (touchpad)
4.5 lbs. (3.04 lbs.)
$1199 ($2239.98)

double the price? nah, I'm content with Mac


and yes I've done that to my MacBook, and it doesn't flex though I wont normally treat my baby like that

 

[DVD9]

include Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (3 year subscription) (Macs don't get viruses but Windows does)

Yes they do.

Go troll through urls such as teens.ru and cracks.ru and you'll find out that your Mac does indeed get virus'. It will however take you much longer to discover since you have no protection and assume the problem must be hardware related due to your virus free belief.

Many Windows users with their virus scanners installed will still blame a virus for their hardware issue believing as you do that Windows is somehow fatally crippled.

You would be amazed at how smooth Windows 7 operates when it does not have virus and spyware scanners running, which do act like a virus, along with those "tune up (!)" software programs.

And remember, the only virus/trojan you need to worry about is the one planted by the FBI or similar three letter agency, and neither scanners nor OSX will protect you from that.
--

 

[noorulla417]

Sony Vaio Z12M9E/B Laptop

Sony Vaio VPCZ12M9E/B.CEK Laptop

Sony Vaio Z12M9E/B Core i5-520M 2.4GHz 4GB 128GB DVDRW 13.1TFT BT Cam W7Pro - VPCZ12M9E/B.CEK

• Sony Vaio Z12M9E/B
• Intel® Core™ i5-520M Processor / 2.4GHz
• 4 GB RAM
• 128 GB HDD
• DVD±RW (+R DL)
• 13.1" TFT
• Web cam
• Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

 

[tigress666]

Even if I owned that Vaio Z and new for a fact that it was damage proof no matter how much the screen was flexed, I still wouldn't do it. I don't take risks like that with my money.

Exactly. I don't like to test my stuff honestly and even if you showed me you could do that with a MBP I'd be content to just let some one else show me with their MBP or some demo rather than testing it out with mine.

When I bought my glasses the salesman showed me how you could twist the metal around completely and it just popped back into shape. Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I still won't try it with my glasses (though I have to admit they are pretty tough so far but I really try not to test them.

 

[chuckflip53]

upgrade to Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-bit, roughly equivalent to Snow Leopard and
include Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (3 year subscription) (Macs don't get viruses but Windows does)
include Large battery

double the price? nah, I'm content with Mac

..but you failed to realize that the price was already about double due to double the specs
and windows 7 ultimate does not make it "equivalent" to snow leopard, in fact most of the added functions of Ultimate are security and business related that the average user wouldn't benefit from

 

[Kavier]

The MBP 13" is just outdated to me. I would not be able to justify spending over $1000 on a C2D machine.

 

[chuckflip53]

The MBP 13" is just outdated to me. I would not be able to justify spending over $1000 on a C2D machine.

I know a friend who did just that because he said his top 3 requirements for a laptop were:
1. Small form factor but sturdy in build quality
2. user-friendly; capable of running Office, checking email
3. battery life

I told him that there were hundreds of notebooks with i3/i5's, much less C2D's, and for hundreds of dollars less. However, he still opted the MBP 13" due to those 3 things he felt were most important to him. Plastic-framed laptops were out of the question, and most 3rd party batteries sucked. To my friend, because internal specs weren't a priority, the MBP won him over - even when I showed him the Sony Z (which was beyond his budget)

 

[SmackP]

Sony's Z 13.1 comes in a whopping 1920 x 1080 pixels too!

After using mac os I could -never- go back to windows as my main system.

I think Apple should learn from Sony Z specs though:

My dream 13.3 macbook pro would include:

+ 1920x1080 screen
+ a 1GB GAMERS graphic card.
+ i7 processor
+ the screen can come off and turn into an ipad - HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE.

What more could you want?

 

[SmackP]

Well,I contacted Apple about feature enchancement of the Macbook Pro 13.3".

Here's what I wrote:

I would be extremely grateful if you could consider the following proposal:

1. Include a high resolution screen such as 1920x1080.
2. Include a graphic card suitable for pro gamers minimum of 1GB
3. Make the laptop screen detachable or rotatable so it can be used as an iPad - with iOS and full functionality.
4. Give option to swap optical drive with extra hard drive/graphic card/other device. - DVDs/CDs are today seldom used and would be better offered as an external option. Such a solution already exists but needs Apple's support.
5. Consider the above options for the next revision late 2010 or 2011 as Sony Vaio Z are already offering similar capabilities.

Thank you kindly for reading this message.

I look forward to using future Apple products.

 

[HLdan]

Sony's Z 13.1 comes in a whopping 1920 x 1080 pixels too!

After using mac os I could -never- go back to windows as my main system.

I think Apple should learn from Sony Z specs though:

My dream 13.3 macbook pro would include:

+ 1920x1080 screen
+ a 1GB GAMERS graphic card.
+ i7 processor
+ the screen can come off and turn into an ipad - HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE.

What more could you want?

1920X1080 on a 13" screen is retarded, period.

Well,I contacted Apple about feature enchancement of the Macbook Pro 13.3".

Here's what I wrote:

I would be extremely grateful if you could consider the following proposal:

1. Include a high resolution screen such as 1920x1080.
2. Include a graphic card suitable for pro gamers minimum of 1GB
3. Make the laptop screen detachable or rotatable so it can be used as an iPad - with iOS and full functionality.
4. Give option to swap optical drive with extra hard drive/graphic card/other device. - DVDs/CDs are today seldom used and would be better offered as an external option. Such a solution already exists but needs Apple's support.
5. Consider the above options for the next revision late 2010 or 2011 as Sony Vaio Z are already offering similar capabilities.

Thank you kindly for reading this message.

I look forward to using future Apple products.

You made your note too personal. No pun intended but you made your letter sound like a teen getting permission from his parents if he can hang out with his buddies.
If you're asking for feature updates your letter should be written with more than just you in mind and how it would benefit many others. Also it doesn't benefit you by just telling them that the Sony Z offers better capabilities. It might have been better to just mention several other companies.

 

[SmackP]

1920X1080 on a 13" screen is retarded, period.



You made your note too personal. No pun intended but you made your letter sound like a teen getting permission from his parents if he can hang out with his buddies.
If you're asking for feature updates your letter should be written with more than just you in mind and how it would benefit many others. Also it doesn't benefit you by just telling them that the Sony Z offers better capabilities. It might have been better to just mention several other companies.

I disagree, as an xcode developer I could use the higher resolution and real estate. 13" would make everything seem higher ppi - almost like retina display.

I also totally disagree with your views on the request. You obviously have no clue how to converse on a more professional level. If you don't like it, then you are welcome to write your own.

 

[416049]

I disagree, as an xcode developer I could use the higher resolution and real estate. 13" would make everything seem higher ppi - almost like retina display.

I also totally disagree with your views on the request. You obviously have no clue how to converse on a more professional level. If you don't like it, then you are welcome to write your own.

I think the best would be to offer 2 resolutions with one being the current 1280x800 and the other one being 1920x1080. This way most ppl would be somewhat satisfied

 

[sturmnacht]

To be honest, I think most prefer the Apple's based on the ability to run both OS X and Windows. I can guarantee that the if the Z can also run both there would be hordes of people in SonyStyle stores too because the Z is the laptop with no comparable opponents. That's why I choose the Z without any doubt.

 

[HLdan]

I disagree, as an xcode developer I could use the higher resolution and real estate. 13" would make everything seem higher ppi - almost like retina display.

I also totally disagree with your views on the request. You obviously have no clue how to converse on a more professional level. If you don't like it, then you are welcome to write your own.

Completely unnecessary for you to get so upset and snitty about it. You need to have thicker skin if you're going to join a forum. You wrote your views, I wrote what I thought of it and for your information, I teach classes on creative writing and I do some advertising so I think I know a thing or two on how to converse on a professional level.
Yeah, starting a "professional" letter to a corporation saying, "I would be extremely grateful....." It doesn't sound like someone who's trying to converse on a professional level, it sounds personal.

My views weren't meant to offend you, but rather to give you some insight as to what others might see it as. What if I was the one at Apple that was in charge of handling future request letters like yours, that's how you have to look at it rather than just getting upset.

You're not going to get a lot of people agreeing with you about a 13" screen with a 1920X1080 resolution.

 

[Gabriel GR]

I think full HD resolution is an overkill with a 13" monitor.

But I would be perfectly content with 1680x1050

 

[HLdan]

I think the best would be to offer 2 resolutions with one being the current 1280x800 and the other one being 1920x1080. This way most ppl would be somewhat satisfied

Exactly the point I was trying to make earlier, if we expect Apple to honor future feature requests we should ask for options that could suit many people and your idea is exactly what I meant. That would be great to have multiple resolutions to satisfy most people.

I think full HD resolution is an overkill with a 13" monitor.

But I would be perfectly content with 1680x1050

Same here.