Sony VAIO Z Series VPCZ22UGX/N 13.1" Notebook Computer (Carbon Fiber Gold)

Comments about Sony VAIO Z Series VPCZ22UGX/N 13.1" Notebook Computer (Carbon Fiber Gold):

Notebook used for home office, photo and video editing, lightweight CAD design. I spend months out of the year on a sailboat, portability and power for CAD are biggest requirements. Prior "Z" owner. Loved earlier "Z": small footprint, extremely light with included optical drive, great if small screen, powerful (for the era) and portable if pricey. New "Z" is thinner and lighter but larger foot print with same size screen. 1080p screen not a big improvement. Dislike larger bezel. Screen feels flimsier. Dislike new square corners: sharp edges, harder to slip in and out of case. Dislike not having integrated optical drive. Slight decrease in weight not worth carrying around external optical "dock" with large, clumsy, permanently attached power cord. Slightly thinner design means nothing to me. Lighted keys are nice but timeout on light is annoying. Extremely shallow keystroke takes getting used to but OK now. Old style larger battery packed easier than new slab style. Slab battery does last longer (as in all day the way I use it) which is a plus, though I don't have this need often. I used 4 displays at home with old "Z" via USB. New unit supports natively with dock, a plus but no great improvement in functionality. Much faster with Sandy Bridge processor which is reason for upgrade. Overall, extremely fast. It seems Sony took a unique, full function ultra small notebook and turned it into yet another ultrabook (albeit very high end) and packaged it with a dock/graphics processor/optical drive unit so it could function as a full function desktop. Does that I guess but for my use I would much have preferred an upgraded version of the old "Z" form factor and integrated design. It's still a unique product and meets my need. I like it but I loved the old unit.

Comments about Sony VAIO Z Series VPCZ22UGX/N 13.1" Notebook Computer (Carbon Fiber Gold):

This Sony Vaio Z laptop is a top of the line ultraportable. It is full-featured and does not sacrifice performance for mobility. If you're like me, and you need a lightweight and extremely durable, yet uncompromisingly quick machine, you'll be very happy with this purchase.

A few things to note -- my model came pre-installed with Windows 7 Professional and not Windows 7 Home Premium, as described in the details on this site. (Note that the manufacturer's website indicates that this model # includes Windows 7 Pro, so perhaps just a minor oversight by B&H, which is IMHO an otherwise extraordinarly thorough and excellent retailer.) This is not a problem because Windows 7 Pro has more features than Windows 7 Home Premium, so it's a benefit for the buyer. Also, while it's clear that this model's optical drive (included in the Power Media Dock that comes with it) can play Blu-Ray discs, it's not 100% clear from the descriptions on this site (or on the manufacturer's site for that matter) that the drive can burn CDs and DVDs. It does.

The carbon fiber gold design is not typical. I'll admit it stands out in a crowd of black, white, and silver. To those with doubts, in person it does not look cheap or gaudy. On the contrary, it looks as expensive as it is.

The full HD resolution is fantastic, and this is the quietest laptop I've ever owned (thanks, in large part, to its SSD). A backlit keyboard, HD webcam, fingerprint sensor, and Bluetooth make this a cut above the rest.

Admittedly, I don't love this keyboard. While I think tiled keyboards are great for liquid resistance, in my view they don't have as natural a feel.

Finally, the boot up speed for the laptop is absolutely incredible. It's nearly as quick to boot up from a complete shut down state as it is to boot from Hibernate or Sleep modes! This laptop is up and ready whenever you are.