Sony Vaio PCG-Z1M

Although they both carry the Centrino badge, Sony’s latest VAIO couldn’t be more different from the Toshiba Portégé R100. While the latter dumps every scrap of ballast in its bid for ultra-light status, the Z1SP weighs in at a portly 2.15kg. This is far from useless bulk, though – there’s more laptop here in whichever direction you look. The Z1SP boasts the faster 1.5GHz version of the Pentium M processor, it has twice as much memory and twice as much hard disk – there’s just about twice as much of everything, in fact. Except battery life – you get three times as much of that. Sony has opted to keep the size and spec at the top end of the VAIO range, but has used the Centrino architecture to ramp up the endurance to almost a whole business day. This is despite the 14.1-inch screen and internal DVD/CD-RW drive.
DESIGN ELEGANCE
VAIO laptops are never underdressed, but the styling on the Z1SP is particularly eye-catching. The brushed aluminium-effect chassis is scooped out at the screen end to provide a recessed area for the side ports. This protects the connectors from accidental knocks and also provides a running-board area that enables you to see the port labels without peering around the side. The keyboard and stereo speakers are inset as a contrasting black block that looks as if it ought to detach from the main unit. It doesn’t, but the effect conspires to lift the Z1SP away from uninspiring boxiness without making it unnecessarily bulky. Even the illuminated pushbutton 'on’ switch at the side is smart.
The lithium-ion battery is located at the back, and besides the socket for the mains adaptor, the only ports along the back edge are the external VGA port and the wired Ethernet RJ45 socket, both of which are hidden behind a discreet plastic hatch.Tucking these out of the way was a good call, because the TFT display is so bright and clear you won’t often need an external monitor: the viewing angle is almost 180 degrees horizontally.The Ethernet socket is likely to gather dust too, because the Z1SP comes with both 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. These features can be turned off to save power, and Sony’s BlueSpace NE software automatically launches when Bluetooth is activated to make locating nearby devices a cinch.
The software bundle, which includes Adobe Premiere 6.0LE and Photoshop Elements 2.0,is generous, albeit targeted at the rather narrow market segment of digital media editing on the move. Audio quality is good enough for you to watch DVDs without headphones, and the battery life is ample to make it through to the end of any film.
Looking for bad points on the Z1SP is like finding reasons to hate The Simpsons. To pick nits, the eject button on the DVD drive sits a little too flush and can be fiddly to find. The screen lacks a proper catch, relying on the stiffness of the hinge to stay closed. And, of course, it’s a little heavy by today’s standards. That, however, really is it. Regardless of your laptop requirements, the Z1SP won’t let you down.