Sony VAIO VGN-Z11WN/B 13.1in Notebook

@SAM

The Z27 appears to be a model only available in Asia. The models available here are the Z11 & Z21. There's doesn't seem to be much difference, only that the Z21 has a 2.53GHz CPU and costs about £250 extra. That's a lot of wonga for a minimal performance gain! I presume it will have a knock-on effect on battery performance too...

Link here: http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=voe_en_GB_prof&category=VN+Z+Series

Hi TR and all writers, thanks for your valuable input. Sony did it again. This Z series is a jewel. I travel 10 times a year and have a heavy Thinkpad. Fast and robust but the keyboard is rubbery/crap, the screen will make me go blind and it weighs 3 kgs+ (on top of my cabin luggage) with its bag and adaptor. Even though I get it for free at work, I am going to buy the Vaio next spring with my own money for work. It is really worth it. I was not surprised by the positive review.

DO NOT BUY THIS NOTEBOOK if you need to use a docking station. It does not work with the docking station. My experience with Sony "support" was extremely disappointing. After many phone calls and countless hours on hold I gave up and returned the product. Sony initially refused to accept the return even though it was within the 30 day window. I am extremely dissatisfied.

Thanks for an excellent review Andy. I am in the market and choosing between this, the TT, Lenovo X200s/X300. Do you know if the hard drive in the Sony Z or TT are easily replaceable? I think in a year or so I might want to swap with a new fast SSD drive (& likely more affordable then) but on some of these 11/13" it is virtually impossible to get to the drive? (Lenovo is easily replaceable)