Sony Vaio Z (2011) VPCZ21M9E review

Eagle eyes

As intriguing as the Light Peak-based Power Media Dock is, there’s more to the Vaio Z than just fancy new technology. The 13.3in display is also unusual since it has a high resolution of 1,600x900 pixels whereas most 13in laptops have resolutions of 1,366x768 pixels. This means there’s plenty of room for working with programs that have lots of windows and palettes or for working on expansive content such as large spreadsheets or panoramic photos.

The high resolution could be hard to see if you have less-than-perfect eyesight. It is very bright though thanks, in part, to the glossy finish. The glossy sheen does reflect light quite easily, but the resulting glare isn’t as distracting as it is on other glossy laptop screens we’ve seen. Image quality is less than perfect which is disappointing at this price - viewing angles are restricted and contrast is noticeably less than perfect.

Control freak

We have mixed feelings about the Vaio’s keyboard. It’s large and backlit, but the flat keys have a very short amount of travel and don’t give much feedback when pressed. They’re very responsive though, so it is possible to type quickly and comfortably on it, although it does require a lighter touch than usual which will take some getting used to. It’s a keyboard you learn to live with, rather than one you love and can work on straight out of the box.

The keyboard and touchpad of the 2011 Sony Vaio Z

The touchpad is reasonably large and feels accurate. As with some other laptops, the buttons are built into the pad itself but the action is stiff it’s still more practical to press on the lower half where physical buttons would have been anyway.

Nestled just below the touchpad is a fingerprint reader. Fingerprints can be used instead of passwords for logging into Windows and websites, although the web browser plug-in responsible for handling the latter was a little unstable, crashing frequently. Still, it’s a useful feature to have for security-conscious users and it works well enough for logging into Windows.

The warranty lasts for just two years and only provides collect and return service. At this price we’d expect more generous warranty coverage.

So what's our verdict?