Buy the Sony VPCEJ28FXB VAIO Laptop Computer

$794.79

Conclusion: So Close, Yet So Far

The Sony VAIO Z2 is a series of fantastic ideas undone by a few bad ones. On paper and with the price tag out of the equation, there are very few ultraportables on the market more compelling than what Sony hopes to offer the end consumer. A beautiful carbon fiber chassis, stellar quality 1080p screen, powerful Intel Core i7 dual-core processor, excellent battery life with or without the sheet battery, and an external dock that both expands the connectivity and utility of the notebook but also adds dedicated graphics for gaming performance. Who wouldn't be excited about this?

With so many things going for it, it's a shame that Sony missed the boat on the actual user experience. While having a good screen is a major part of the user experience and Sony does indeed win that battle in a landslide victory, the rest of it is a wash. Fan noise isn't just irritating, it's actually potentially painful. The keyboard ranks among the worst I've ever tested, actually provoking more ire than Acer's floating island keyboard. The touchpad was clearly designed with aesthetics first and functionality a distant second. The hinge design is bafflingly ill-conceived, and while the Z2 is certainly light it also lacks something in sturdiness.

That's before you even get into all the bloatware Sony has a tendency to pack on to their notebooks; at this point they're actually the biggest offender. Notebooks I've reviewed from other vendors are seldom as bogged down as the Sony systems I've seen have been (though granted, the SSDs in the Z2 help in this regard), and most of that bloat is just other Sony applications. All this, and the external dock's dedicated graphics are both crippled by lower PCIe bandwidth and at the mercy of Sony to keep drivers updated.

What Sony has here is the potential for a great notebook that seems to have been almost completely undone by one poor decision after another. If you can live with the rash of compromises you'll have to make, there's an awful lot to like about the VAIO Z2, but the concepts Sony is putting forth here are in desparate need of a revised design. All we can do is hope Sony takes the best ideas of the Z2 and rolls them into a Z3 that doesn't have the same glaring weaknesses.