Sony VAIO Centrino Z1WA

[M114]

Anyone have any experience with this laptop? I was looking into getting one and was hoping to find a review. Also, ahyone know the best place to buy a Sony laptop, pricewise?

[ECA]

Hmmm,
suggestion...
LOOK around.
you will pay upto 25% more for a sony then any other laptop, with the SAME features.
And for that 25% you can add more ram, or other accessories.

If you got the money to spend, and you REALLY like sony, go for it.

[M114]

Well, the features that I like about that Sony model are the fact that it is compact and lightweight, great battery life, centrino, and has integrated bluetooth. I would gladly pay less for another brand that has all of those features, I just haven't come across one yet. Does anyone have a suggestion?

[techfreak]

This is a fantastic laptop and is basically the newer version of the Z1A Designtechnica reviewed last year (and gave an award too). I see a faster CPU and Bluetooth support in the Z1WA though which is sweet.

Here is the Designtechnica review: http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review61.html

Make sure to read the user reviews too (http://reviews.designtechnica.com/user_reviews61.html), they will help your decision a lot.

[ECA]

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/pc/pc_cf_prodChassis.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1842185042. 1078345122@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdadcklgfjmgicgfkceghdgngdglk.0&comm=ST&pfam=Tecra&pmod=M2

I would ask WHY you want blue tooth?

Look at last system, it has everything and is bluetooth ready, not sure if its an addon//

[gr00vy0ne]

Some people actually use Bluetooth...if you've never used it then you probably won't know how useful it can be. Of course, it has some setup headaches sometime but once everything is setup correctly, it's awesome. Being able to wirelessly connect to the internet on your notebook or PDA anywhere just by pressing connect is great feature. You don't even need to take your phone out of your pocket...it will connect automatically.

The Toshiba model you point out is a decent competitor but it's specifications are not necessarily the same as the Sony Z1WA. In addition to not having built-in Bluetooth, it has a lower resolution screen (1024x768 vs. 1400x1050), it weighs a little more, and has lower standard battery life. To Toshiba's credit, you do get XP Pro, more ports (assuming you need legacy ports) and a much longer standard warranty.

Yeah, you do pay a premium for a Sony product but they do make high quality machines (only the higher end ones though since they're still made in Japan) and at least they spend money on design and R&D unlike a lot of competitors that simply put out boring looking products.