Sony Vaio Z vs. Macbook Air 2012 for College

[Slivortal]

The Sony also has 1GB of Discrete graphics through its external gpu, the Power Media Dock, just plug it in to the laptop and then it is running on discrete graphics. The Sony still has the smaller form factor...it's still smaller and lighter than the rMPB and packs much of the same power.

Apple definitely has great, if not the greatest customer service no denying that. Hardware wise apple does make great stuff, but these LG screens in the MBA seem to be a little lackluster, and Sony seems to have put a high quality screen in the Vaio Z.

I think for a 13 inch laptop the Sony is top notch, and for a 15 inch laptop the rMPB is top notch

By hardware, I was mostly talking about trackpads. I've had numerous issues with non-Apple trackpads.

Not arguing that the Sony isn't a great computer; I just personally don't see the appeal of it over the RMBP at the same price, especially since you still need to buy an external graphics card to make it as good.

 

[stchman]

I almost did too. They have a slightly slower processor, and I heard the trackpad isn't quite as nice. The corners are supposedly a tad too sharp to rest your hands on. Finally, the 1920*1080 resolution sounds appealing but isn't handled by all apps very well and requires adjustments to scaling pretty frequently.

That's not to say that the zenbook still isn't very nice, but I figured for the few bucks in price difference I'd try the macbook air out. I hate to admit it, but the zenbook doesn't look as nice either and that played into my decision.



For this comparison you really can't overlook the processor. It's loads faster (being a quadcore and all). If you do very cpu intensive things you'll enjoy the faster vaio.

I agree, besides I wanted an ultrabook style laptop and had been curious about OS X. If I would have bought the Zenbook it would have gotten Ubuntu installed in favor of Windows 7.

 

[Vyruss]

What I have ultimately decided to do is return the MBA and buy a 15 inch cMBP. I can deal with the added weight and the even higher res screen along with the discrete graphics card is nice to have.

 

[ZacT94]

If you're looking at buying a Sony Vaio Z, forget it. If you have that amount of money, buy a Retina MBP instead. It is quite portable, has a better screen and faster processor & longer battery life (not counting the sheet battery on the Vaio Z). I bought one for university myself and am not looking back. I absolutely love my rMBP.

 

[raptorstv]

Sony Vaio Z is $1,999... still cheaper than the Retina Macbook Pro

 

[coldmack]

Sony Vaio Z is $1,999... still cheaper than the Retina Macbook Pro

Last I saw in store, at that price it's with the quad core, without the dock, or dual core with the blu-ray burner dock. Base without the dock is like $1500 now, but point is moot as the rumors of it's demise has not been exaggerated.

 

[Mito]

I had hands on Vaio Z. It was noticably faster then 2011 early Pro 13" but it had cheap feel compared to Pro. Anyway someone stoled it and it was frustrating :/

 

[coldmack]

I had hands on Vaio Z. It was noticably faster then 2011 early Pro 13" but it had cheap feel compared to Pro. Anyway someone stoled it and it was frustrating :/

I'm sorry to hear that :-( messing with a person stuff is wrong, no matter what it is.

 

[TSE]

Sony Vaio Z is getting temporarily discontinued until perhaps next year. Sony Vaio S and Duo 11 are taking it's place.

 

[2IS]

I'm not impressed by the newest Z series. I'd rank that below the Air.

The new Asus Zenbook is another matter. Nice looking laptop, solid construction, and with a 1080p IPS display, i'd rank it above the Air. If you don't have an OS preference, it's the way to go IMO

 

[Lance-AR]

I would spend $1299 for the 13" with upgraded RAM and put the rest in savings. Then sell it next year and upgrade to Haswell.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

MBA 13" with the upgraded 8GB RAM and a 1TB external is all you need. With the left over buy a used 24" Cinema Display and you'll be super happy.

 

[great high wolf]

We recently got a Z in at work for someone and I had to set it up. The screen looked gorgeous, but lots of programs didn't quite understand hiDPI so you had odd sized text and blurry PDF rendering. Other than that, was really not enamoured of the bizarre hinge structure that means the machine floats on the bottom of the screen when you open it. Not nice for on lap. Powerful, though.

 

[limesmoothie]

MBA 13" with the upgraded 8GB RAM and a 1TB external is all you need. With the left over buy a used 24" Cinema Display and you'll be super happy.

This.

Or get an Apple TV and hook it up to a nice big TV, BT keyboard and magic trackpad.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I have both the Vaio Z1 (VPCZ135GX/S) and a 2011 MBA. For your college use, personally, they are both fine computers. I tend to drift more to my MBA because it's easier to type on. I use it as my daily computer. But when I'm on the go and traveling for work, I gravitate towards my Vaio Z, because it's lighter (@ 2.5 lbs.) to carry around. When working with multiple photo applications, I prefer the Sony over the MBA because of the quad core. I like them both. In fact, I'm planning on purchasing the new Z - SVZ i7, 8GB Ram, 256 SSD very soon to replace my current Z.