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 Sony Z1 LaptopErnest Lilley 04/19/04 "The Z1 isn't just another pretty face. Every design element serves a functional purpose as well" Model: Sony Vaio Z1 Product Website / Spec/PR / Availability: 02/04 MSRP: $2,299.99 Amazon Price $21847.94 I've been intrigued by the styling of the light but full featured Z1 since I first saw it a few months back. Thin and sleek, tapering down to less than an inch - with a signature curve along the sides that looks like it's just there for coolness. In fact there is a fan vent set into one side, but the curve also protect the ports and strengthen the already sturdy magnesium case. The unit I got to play with had 512 MB of DDR SDRAM, a 60 GB hard drive and a 1.7 GHz processor running Windows XP. Though I didn't benchmark it, I was completely happy with its speed. As far as I'm concerned, unless you're doing editing of 12 Mega Pixel digital camera files, there's not much this laptop won't breeze through. Even then, you can expand the memory to 1 GB and I'm sure you'll get even better performance. The real strengths of this laptop are its ergonomics. Ironically, desktop systems are crippled by their traditional keyboards with their long key travel and big keys. While the Z1 has a full sized (18.5 mm pitch) key layout, the key travel is only 2mm: short, crisp and responsive. If it was a sports car, I'd say it has a precise short throw stick shift and is a pleasure to drive. The display, driven by a ATI MOBILITY RADEON (16MB Video DDR SDRAM and Dual Display Support) should make anyone happy, even the occasional gamer. Ironically, at 14.1" SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) the TFT display's text is considerably smaller than SVGA on a 1024 x 768 machine even on a 12.1" screen. The extra sharpness makes a tremendous difference here, and I didn't find it difficult to work with...but if you were opting for this unit to get a larger screen, just remember that while you wind up with more space, you'll also get smaller characters. Battery life is impressive, even with the standard battery. Though it's estimated at anywhere between 2.5 and 6.5 hours, my experience with the unit is that it worked as long as I wanted to, and in order to drag the time down towards the minimum spec, I needed to watch a full length movie with the monitor turned all the way up. Even then, I was able to get through the movie with power to spare. If you want, you can pick up the double capacity extended battery, but for once I don't think it's needed. Maybe for flying to Australia. The cooling system is very smart, optimizing speed to keep the Intel® Centrino™ chipset comfortable while keeping the noise and power consumption down to a whisper and a trickle. Should you manage to use up the battery, bringing along the slim AC adapter isn't the hassle it's been on earlier units. Sony style has been extended even to this mundane device, and the plug glows green when in use. Unsurprisingly, the A1 is also well connected, coming with plenty of ports: two USB 2.0, I.Link (1394/Firewire), a PC Card slot, and of course, a memory stick slot. It's eminently networked as well with Ethernet, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) and even Bluetooth built in, if you're lucky enough to have another Bluetooth device for it to talk to. Though it doesn't come with much in the way of business applications, You can get started with Microsoft Works and a host of Sony media apps onboard, as well as the usual demo software suspects. The only thing lightweight about this laptop is it's weight. I'd be happy to make the Vaio Z-1 my desktop replacement. |
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