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‘WITH
the VAIO, we are not just selling a notebook, we are
selling a solution,” said Toshiya Kagita, Sony president
and managing director, back in September during the
launch at the Makati Shangri-La of the much-coveted
passion brand of desktops and laptops, the Sony VAIO. He
was, of course, referring to VAIO’s seamless integration
with Sony’s other high-profile consumer brands—the
Cyber-shot digital cameras, Handycam digital video
recorders, Bravia high-definition TVs, Network Walkman
portable media players amd Sony Ericsson mobile phones,
among other Sony products and accessories—allowing for
effortless transfer of data to and from the VAIO
notebook.
But what
about the Sony VAIO strictly as a mobile workhorse?
Well, over the past few weeks, I have had the luxury of
playing around and toying with the Sony VAIO
VGN-TZ17GN/B that was loaned to me for the purposes of
this review. I must say, however, that while the
experience has been altogether most luxurious and
utterly compelling, it didn’t start out that way.
But
before I get ahead of my story, first things first:
The VAIO
TZ Series comes in two models: the, VGN-TZ17GN/B and
VGN-TZ17GN/N. It is, bar none, the most travel-friendly
notebook I have come across with, coming in at
dimensions and a weight that won’t literally break your
back, while remaining perfectly and beautifully usable.
Of course, there are smaller mobile computing solutions,
notably those so-called ultra-mobile portable computers,
or UMPCs, but with screens only marginally bigger than a
smartphone's and keyboards tinier than a pencil eraser
stub, you would be doing a lot of squinting using them.
Not a pretty picture.
With the
VAIO TZ Series, however, Sony has found an utterly
perfect balance between portability and usability, with
no compromise whatsoever on the compelling aesthetics
that Sony has been known for. The TZ notebook loaner
that I have been joyfully using for some weeks now is a
stunning black beauty of carbon fiber material that
allows you to peruse it minus kid gloves, the solid
construction—no creaking anywhere—certainly adding to
that particular sense of security.
Open it
up and turn it on—the green-lantern touch to the power
button can be hypnotizing, by the way—and you are
greeted by the TZ’s 11.1-inch LCD—crystal-clear vibrant
and sharp, yielding such rich and vivid colors that
working digital movies and images on this baby is not
unlike a wondrous epiphany. Then, of course, there is
the keyboard, which Apple fanboys like to say is ripped
off from the MacBook design but is seriously not. In
piano black, the keyboard is obviously inspired by the
submerged stones of a Japanese water garden, but beyond
mere minimalist styling, it is an absolute joy to
use—and frankly I can’t say if that supposed “secret
dent” that Sony has been crowing about in its VAIO press
releases accounts for this ease-of-use. Whatever, the
keyboard is definitely one of the VAIO TZ’s strong
points.
Apart
from these, the TZ packs in all the current and
cutting-edge in mobile computing goodness, including
fingertip sensor for easy log-on and solid security,
motion-eye web camera, Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11a/b/g,
Bluetooth Version 2.0+EDR, ExpressCard /34 x1 slot,
various memory expansion options (Memory Stick
Standard/Duo, MagicGate, Memory Stick PRO, SDHC, SD/MMC).
According to the Sony release, the bundled lithium ion
battery enables up to 11.5 hours of usage, although from
my own testing it maxed out at some nine hours, although
that could be on account of me keeping the brightness
setting at its highest—the TZ automatically decreases
the screen brightness when running on the battery—while
watching a DVD and two episodes of the fabulous new
series Women’s Murder Club along with doing
mundane mobile computing stuff. Even then, the numbers
are more than impressive since my own Apple iBook wonks
out after four hours of usage, sometimes even less.
Given
all this glowing stuff that’s come before this, my
initial experience with the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ17GN/B was
egregiously unpleasant, which was a surprise—and the
reason for this was Microsoft’s ostensibly latest and
greatest operating system, Windows Vista.
Yes,
there is a label on the notebook certifying that this
Sony VAIO model is Windows Vista-capable—and it is. And
if you are thrilled with the prospect of twiddling your
thumbs while the OS goes through the various
nonstrenuous tasks you put it through under normal usage
(say, connecting to a wireless network), then you will
be happy to know that the VGN-TZ17GN/B comes with
Genuine Windows Vista Business (English Version)
preinstalled. But if that scenario makes a trip to the
dentist seem far more pleasant, then you’d be wise to
request to have instead Windows XP with Service Pack 2
(a third service pack is on the way) installed on your
newly purchased Sony VAIO.
In my
case, I chose a dual-boot solution: installing the
Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Linux distribution alongside the
preinstalled Windows Vista, and I believe I don’t need
to tell you which OS I now always boot into. From that
point on, I was—and am—a happy camper, as the latest and
greatest Ubuntu distribution recognized the hardware
packed into this sleek sensation, save for some of the
more proprietary features of the Sony VAIO TZ, like the
media controls on the notebook’s front side and the
memory card slot. No doubt, there’s a solution to these
issues out there in the various helpful Ubuntu community
sites, but time keeps me from hunting them down.
All
things considered, if I had a surplus of money and was
in the market for a new portable computing solution, I
would look no further than the Sony VAIO TZ series. It
is an amazing, lustful piece of design and technology.
Paired with a robust and secure OS—and given Dell and
HP’s adoption of Ubuntu for their desktop and laptop
solutions. Sony should seriously give Ubuntu some
serious thought—the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ17GN/B brings sexy
back into mobile computing.
■ For more information about the VAIO such as services
and availability, call Sony’s Customer Contact Center at
(02) 878-7600 or visit www.sony.com.ph. |
