Sony has refreshed its thin beautiful laptop, the Vaio Z, with some truly outstanding performance options. Hardware 2.0 has the details, but essentially the Vaio Z is thinner and lighter than the MacBook Air while having some great options that permit tricking out the laptop to handle any task requiring performance. The only question about the fully configured Vaio Z is who can afford the price tag.
I set out configuring a Vaio Z on the Sony UK web site, which is the only place the new laptop is currently available. I figured that if I was going to spend a pretty penny on the system, I wanted it tricked out with every option for maximum performance and battery life. The system I configured has the following system components:
- Processor: Intel Core i7, 2.7GHz with 4MB L3 cache
- OS: Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit
- Keyboard: English, backlit option
- SSD: 512GB SATA Gen 3 Flash
- Memory: 8GB DDR3
- Power media dock: Blu-Ray writer
- Display: 1600x900 (1920x1080 available but not chosen)
- Wireless WAN: Not selected
- Slice battery: Provides 14 hours with included standard battery
This is one sweet system, and with the maximized components is one of the best laptops ever made. The media dock is innovative in that it uses a Thunderbolt connection to the laptop, and in addition to lots of ports adds the ability to drive three external monitors in addition to the internal display. It also adds discrete graphics to the mix when connected to the Vaio Z. The slice battery is hot-swappable and pops on the bottom of the laptop to double the battery life to 14 hours. Yes, this is one hot system as configured, and all for the lovely price of:
For those of us on this side of the pond that converts to a tidy sum of $5,671. Yes, for less than $6,000 this sweet piece of mobile technology can be yours in just 3 or 4 weeks, provided you are in the UK. That includes VAT, without it's only $4,725. It will likely be coming to the U. S. so perhaps the price will be a little more palatable over here. Otherwise, the purchase decision will be awfully tough. Keep my car, or buy a Vaio Z? Tough, indeed.