Sony Vaio Z2: Everything is Peripheral
by Dustin Sklavos on February 13, 2012 12:55 AM ESTBut the Screen is Amazing
For all of the weaknesses the Sony VAIO Z2 has, the one aspect of it that can't be denied is the quality of the screen. While it still fails the TN panel test (looking at it from a low angle for washout), overall picture quality is absolutely stellar. High pixel density screens have historically performed exceptionally well for us, and the Z2's is no different.
Fantastic contrast, color accuracy, color gamut...the Sony VAIO Z2's 1080p screen is among the best screens we've ever tested and embarasses the competition. While other manufacturers continue to dump poor quality 768p screens in their portables, Sony shows everyone else how it's done. There's a measure of backlight bleed at the bottom, but uniformity is generally superior to other notebooks in the Z2's class.
Viewing angles are also pretty good; the gallery doesn't tell the whole story. Finding the sweet spot for viewing isn't difficult at all, it's only at extreme angles that the screen suddenly washes out dramatically. There's a little bit of latitude before everything goes to hell, which is better than can be said for most notebook TN panels.
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quiksilvr - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
The ONLY comparison you had for these benchmarks is a 17" laptop with one of the most powerful notebook GPUs in the market?Dustin Sklavos - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
We just refreshed our benchmarking suite. I explained that. In the review.nbgambler - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
Wait a second... you want us to read, BEFORE flaming??? I'm going back to Yahoo answers!JarredWalton - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
Note that we also include 3DMarks for precisely this reason. You can see how graphics performance stands up to previous laptop reviews there, and as we add more laptops to our 2012 test suite, we'll have more comparison points (which will be added to Mobile Bench).kenyee - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
For this expensive an ultrabook, I would have expected a 16GB max :-PI've seen it in a Sony store though...this new 13" 1080p screen is indeed amazing...looking forward to the next generation of tablets w/ 1080p or higher displays :-)
MadMacMan - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
After reading this review and last night looking at HP EliteBooks and considering their respective price points, who was it again that came up with the whole thang about Apple notebooks being prohibitively expensive!?? I applaud HP for bringing IPS back to notebooks (at 10-bit color no less) but that bag of tricks will set you back way north of $3k unless you'll settle for mediocre specs and a dual-core CPU.As for the whole low-wattage deal, Ivy Bridge will do away with those issues in a couple of months and 1080p being considered high screen density? Let's see if those 2880x1440 so-called "Retina" display rumors will come to fruition for MacBook Pro's, because if they do, even a 12" 1200p screen will pale in comparison, and don't go any lower either or you'll bump into a certain "1536p" panel in a 9.7" shell of sorts I keep reading about. Yea, baby. ;-)
Dianoda - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
Hi, I'd like to request that future display reviews include comments specific to the display's ability to reproduce smooth gradients (ie, black to white, reds, greens, blues) without any noticeable banding, and the ability to reproduce the minute differences between white/extremely light gray and black/extremely dark gray. The gradient banding, black level, and white saturation test images available at http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ come to mind.I know that great LCD monitors are rare in laptops, but to truly distinguish an exceptional laptop display we need to examine more than just resolution, contrast ratio, color gamut, and viewing angles (although those aspects of the display are very important as well!).
Thanks and keep up the good work!
polyzp - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
This is by far the most powerful ultrabook out now. I have a feeling AMD's ultrathin trinity will give this a good run for its money!http:// AMDFX.blogspot. com
JarredWalton - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
Except on the CPU aspect, but yes, Trinity should do wonders for IGP performance. 50% faster than the Llano IGP means it should outperform the 6650M and use less power at the same time.bji - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
My friend's Dreamcast broke pretty early on in its lifetime. My PS2 never went bad.I believe I have just refuted your entire anecdotal evidence rampage.