Sony VAIO VGN-Z11WN/B 13.1in Notebook Review

I bought a SONY VAIO VGN-NR21Z last August. It looks like the one reviewed here. It had a faulty hard disc. The help people were friendly but kept making me try things out rather than fix it. I eventually got a new hard disc in January having spent months messing with an intermittent fault that kept loosing all my work. It is very heavy to lug around, and very slow when doing calculations even with dual core Intel. The power lead keeps falling out the back. It only lasts for an hour an a half without power. It often hangs up for a minute or so for no obvious reason. It doesn't always connect to the Internet. The Sony Vaio connection panel is a pest because it doesn't give the obvious options. The keyboard keeps missing key presses unless you tap much harder than you feel you should. I bought a Panasonic Business Toughbook recently at the same price and it is miles better on every count. Very lightweight, instant connection to the Internet. Zips along. Lasts 5+ hours unplugged. I wouldn't buy another Sony computer unless they can match my Panasonic point for point.

This is my 3rd Vaio in the last 5 years or so ..
I got the Z48GB, with 2.8GHz (P9700), 6GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and Vista Business 64Bit. I wanted to have Bluray drive as well, but for some strange reason, you have to choose either SSD, or Bluray, but not both in UAE!!!! The salesman explained un-logically that it would be too expensive to buy with both options!!!!

Anyway, I am replacing my 1 year old SZ79, and all I have to say: WOW .. That’s a big improvement from the SZ, and it's worth its high price. It is much better in almost all aspects, faster CPU, much better responsiveness, and best of all much better looking!! In fact, the attractive design of the Z looks much better in real than on paper!!

In short... what to like: Well, almost everything, but especially:
1- The handsome design.
2- The dedicated buttons of DVD eject over the keyboard ... very convenient.
3- Switching between Stamina and Speed without a reboot ... very convened.
4- The shortcut keys, S1, and S2.
5- The quality of the LCD screen.
6- The keyboard buttons style.
7- Built-Quality... better than the SZ!
8- The design of the 9-hours extended battery... makes the Vaio even easier to type with angled keyboard.
9- Some of the bundled software, BUT I am just wondering; why on earth would Sony bundle competitor’s applications such as Adobe Premier Elements?? Why they do not bundle Sony's own Vegas Studio instead??!!! It just does not make any sense to me!!!
10- The light weight..

Anyway...What I disliked:
1- The speaker sounds very thin comparing to the SZ!
2- The battery sometimes harder to remove than the SZ!
3- The keyboard keys sometimes dose not register unless I press hard! Same problem with SZ!!

Finally, what I would love to see in future VAIO Z next year is:
1- Multi-Touch OLED display with ambient sensor.
2- Bigger & faster SSD drive.
3- Much faster CPU for hardcore work such as 3D graphics, and video editing.
4- Better battery technology to last 24 hours or more on Stamina mode.
5- Back lighted keyboard with ambient sensor. This feature is so important and convenient when working in dark places. I always have a very hard time to see what to press in such conditions.
6- Dedicated buttons for sound volume, and mute.
7- Multi-Touch panel.
8- Much better speakers with deep bass.
9- Standard Bluray burner.
10- Smaller power-supply adapter with the LED light on both the adapter, and at the socket that connects to the Vaio. They had such feature on older models.
11- Better build quality.
12- Optical finger print sensor which does not require sliding my fingers, instead placing my finger on it to register.
13- Finally, built-in laser projector for on the fly presentation of PowerPoint.

@Yasser Saeed

"Better battery technology to last 24 hours or more on Stamina mode."

24 hours?

*sniggers*

Sorry.