Sony VAIO PCG-Z1A Laptop (1.30-GHz Pentium-M (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)
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(5 out of 5)Super style and performance
In my opinion, this is the only Windowns laptop that rivals the superb industrial design of the Apple PowerBook G4. The Z1A is also a terrific performer with a very fast chip, lots of RAM, huge hard drive and built-in wireless capability . . . all at 4.7 lbs with the battery! The whole package feels very solid and of high quality.
Don't be misled by the 1.3 GHz rating of the chip; the new Pentium M operates noticeably faster than a P-4 or P-III with a higher GHz rating. Furthermore, the laptop does not operate at too high a temperature. I almost never hear a fan, and when I do, it's more like a soft hum of a hard drive being accessed.
The monitor is very high resolution (1,400 by 1,050), which provides brilliant clarity for photos and videos, but can cause some eye-strain with numbers and text. To improve legibility without turning down the resolution, I suggest changing some of the settings under Display - namely, increasing font size and especially calibrating Windows XP's ClearType font, which made a huge difference for me.
My prior laptop's OS was Windows ME, which crashed a lot and had steadily degrading functionality. Windows Home XP on the Z1A has been terrificly stable; furthermore, it's restore function worked like a charm to undo file or registry or program mistakes.
The CD-RW/DVD ROM drive is very good. There was absolutely no interruption or hesitation watching a 2-hour DVD. Built-in stereo speakers are acceptable, but I listened with headphones and the sound quality output was shockingly good.
The piece-de-resistance for me was built-in Wi-Fi. Very cool! For [$$] bucks, I set up a wireless broadband network in my home and now I cruise the internet, chat and e-mail in the living room and dining room without any wires or cables! I cannot tell any difference in speed between my cable modem and Wi-Fi. I've even tried some hot-spots around town and it worked like a champ. Definitely the future!
Finally, the battery. One of the great advantages of Centrino is battery life. Although the Z1A does not excell in this category, it beats any non-Centrino laptop, but probably falls in the lower range of other Centrino laptops. In normal usage, I found that the battery lasted about 3.5 hours. I watched a 2-hour DVD and had about 1.5 hours left to cruise the 'net.
The only negatives that I've found so far relate to the keyboard and a lack of a diskette drive (an[$$] dollar external option). Since this is a highly portable laptop, the keyboard is missing some keys and some keys are smaller than I'm used to. Specifically, there's no dedicated page-up, page-down, home and end keys. They are activated by pressing the Fn key and an arrow key simultaneously. Also, the left shift key is the same size as letter keys, so I am always missing it or hitting an arrow key. However, these seem like mild inconveniences considering the overall stellar package.
Conclusion: Highly recommended.
(5 out of 5)Beautiful, Fast, Quiet... Almost Perfect
I initially bought a heavy P4-2.4GHz laptop, but the loud noise of the fan started to really annoy me. Also, the battery would not last more than an hour, and carrying it around large airports was a pain. I was considering a downgrade to a P3-M when I read a review on the Intel Centrino powered laptops.
After evaluating some options, I narrowed down the search to a Dell Inspiron 600M (best value and performance from a reputable manufacturer) and the Sony Z1A1 (best looking, but most expensive). The 4 week delivery time quoted by Dell (vs. 3 days by Sony) prompted me to try the Z1A1.
It took just one look out of the box for me to really start falling in love this machine. It is by far the best-looking laptop on the market. As an engineer, I didn't think that this would be such a big deal, but the aesthetics really makes it a joy to work on this system.
What's more, the system really performs. I was worried about the fact that this laptop had an older ATI 7500 graphics chipset with16MB of memory vs. Dell with the newer ATI 9000 and 64MB memory option. I must conclude that the Dell system must kick some serious butt, since doing a side by side comparison with my P4-2.4GHz laptop proved to me that the Sony Z1A1 significantly outperforms the P4 laptop in everything I've tried so far.
This system is definitely more than adequate for my needs (frequently running Outlook, Word, Excel, Power Point, Internet Explorer, Photoshop, and Illustrator at the same time). It is very quiet (no fan noise), and I consistently get over 4 hours of battery life.
Unfortunately, it is not perfect. There appears to be some problem when you are running your WiFi with encryption. It frequently gets disconnected. This isn't a huge problem since reconnecting takes but two mouse clicks. Also, the Considering the fact that I spend more time with this laptop than any other product that I have purchased, I think the appearance is worth extra cost. I totally recommend this system. I bought this laptop about three weeks ago and am extremely happy with it. The display/weight combination got me interested in this product. I love the display. It is truely highly portable, and the battery life is indeed much better than for any laptop I ever had. I'd rather not have a floppy drive (which I almost never use anymore) and economize on the weight. I got a USB flash drive to exchange data. The price might be a few hundreds more than your budget... But if there's something I have learned as a consumer, it is not to scrimp on a computer! A computer is meant to be used for years so you might as well invest on something as powerful as Sony PCG-Z1A. It has a big memory, it's fast, and it's much lighter than its counterparts. I mean, just look at the specs! Other computers may have the same specs but they will be twice as heavy. The resolution of the monitor is also fantastic! Try using another computer after you have owned this one and you'll see the difference especially when watching DVD's. It's truly awesome! The sounds seem unimpressive when listening directly from the speakers but you'll be surprised by the good quality upon using a headphone. Be aware too that this doesn't have a floppy drive. It shouldn't matter though since it has a CD-RW/DVD drive. The lightness of the computer, of course, doesn't prevent you from bringing it with you and doing your work wherever you want. The wireless internet connection also allows you to regularly check your e-mail and write back to your family, friends, or co-workers. I thought I don't need it, but now, I can see how it makes things more convenient - a good thing for people always on the go. With it's matted silver finish and slim compact design, you'll always want to bring it with you. I say, don't stay with a computer that you're not completely happy about. I didn't. That's why I replaced my old laptop with this beauty. Trust me, you'll fall in love with Sony Z1A! The Z1A is very portable and stylish. Performance is very good even though it's only 1.3ghz, it outperforms 2.2ghz notebooks in my kind of benchmarks (doing side by side comparison). The screen is kind of small and I was outraged by the fact that it doesn't accept Sony Memory Sticks that have capacity larger than 128mb, unbelievable! I would really loved to use a Memory Stick that's widely available in 1gb size. (5 out of 5)great display, battery life, and surprisingly light-weight
It is also extremely quiet. The only time when you hear it is when you copy Audio CD's to the hard drive. So far, I highly recommend this machine.
The only drawbacks: it comes with Windows XP home edition, which I had to upgrade to professional. It also comes with Microsoft Works instead of Office XP, which is very annoying. However, Sony included some multi-media software that some people might find useful.
Other things to keep in mind, in addition to the floppy drive: this machine comes without a serial/parallel port. So if you have older peripherals, be prepared to upgrade them. Both my Canon Powershot Camera and the Visioneer One Touch scanner are not compatible (this seems to be an XP issue rather than Sony though). (5 out of 5)The apple.. I mean, The Sony of my eyes!
(3 out of 5)Surprisingly impressive
After some extensive use, I can say the Z1A is worth being in the +/-[$$] price range notebooks, the rest I guess is for its style.