Guest bifnewman Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I have been falling in love with the Sony Vaio Z11/Z12/Z13 (they are all basically the same, someone point out the difference for me) over the past few days. In my opinion, this is an on-the-go programmer's dream notebook. 13.1" Full HD 1920x1080 LED Display is perfect for programming. I am still sorting some last quirks with Dell on my M17x. Dell is very slow to sort out my problems (I usually notify the guy via email since calling in is such a pain in the ass and it takes him like a week or more to reply to me now) even though I have a next day tech support warranty. I called in a few days ago to extend my warranty and the lady said that I don't have CompleteCare which I didn't realize when I bought this laptop. I guess I just saw warranty and assumed it was completeCare . I didn't even notice that I don't have CompleteCare because they never seemed to care how my problems originated. I am not having a good time with Dell, and I should considering the price point of this laptop. I am not saying Sony is any better. I actually despise them because of the whole PS3 incident. How they handled that should be a crime (Atleast I consider it to be.) As things are not going well with Dell (I am sure you all have better luck than I do, I seem to have very bad luck ALL of the time), I may get rid of this machine and go for a refurb Z1. It still has a dual-core processor though vs my 940xm quad. Does anyone know if the CPU is soldered or installed via socket? I would love to see a quad in this (probably will suffer thermal issues, power issues, and way worse battery life even if it is possible... sigh). Dual SSDs is awesome (Both 1.8", I've even seen people replace them with after-market ones and even put a third one in the drive bay and use them all in RAID 0). My Dell Dilemma may end up with them issuing me a brand new/refurb M18x, but I may even sell that. Having one of these giant laptops has completely changed my outlook on the whole thing. I am thinking of emulating a setup like this:Z1 + ViDock + GTX 570 > FTW (the Z2/PMD killer)It'd be great to just dock up for the night and game and unplug it while I'm mobile. Will a desktop be much better for this? It would be more convenient and cheaper if I could keep it all on the same system. Any opinions on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreybaks Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Well if you didn't know sony has a new Z series out that comes with a docking station and its cutting edge. I would look into something like that before buying older and making your own vidock, its what they designed it for, people like you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Well if you didn't know sony has a new Z series out that comes with a docking station and its cutting edge. I would look into something like that before buying older and making your own vidock, its what they designed it for, people like you.The external GPU is only a AMD 6630 vs the GTX 570 that was in the ViDock 4+. I should be able to find a refurb Z1 cheaper than the Z2. I am interested to see what ViDock/hwtools do with LightPeak. eGPU solution with that would be much faster.The reason why I think Dell will issue me an M18x is because I am complaining about the scratches and dents on my replacement R2. I was never told that it was going to be refurb (it doesn't look like "Certified Refurbished" more like "Scratch & Dent"). I wasn't even notified when it shipped, it just showed up. This will be the 4th time (I think) that I have had to send the entire laptop back. I strongly believe that I can push Dell for a 2920XM and at least dual 6990M. I am going to try for 2 580m's. That is if they offer me the M18x. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreybaks Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I would think having a brand new system with a vidock which is what you want would appeal. Having new technology to me would be more fun and exciting then having the extra power of a 570 card. Either way I hope you get what you want in the end and resolve your troubles that you have experienced with dell. Its definitely not fun when things dont work out especially when keeping your laptops running smoothly. IV screamed and shouted many times at the laptops Iv owned for various reasons, I like myn to run the way I want them to run and when they don't like anythings its frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 IMHO, i dont see the big attraction to the Z2 vs Z1. I really don't see the big performance upgrade. It still has dual-core i5 and i7 but now its sandy bridge, will it really make a difference? The chassis looks thinner this time because they did away with the barrel hinge, but that's not to say that the Z1 doesn't look sleek (i've seen much worse than both, look at qosmio lol). They shrunk the right shift key on the Z2 and it looks like a PITA to type on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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