Sony VAIO VGN-TZ36GN/W

Matthew Sparkes | Jun 16, 2008 10:35 AM
Sony | http://www.sony.com.au
RRP: $2999 (time of review)
Performance:  3
Features & Design:  6
Value for money:  4
Overall Rating: 
User Rating:  No user ratings.
This impressive ultraportable fills a narrow but significant niche between the MacBook Air and Lenovo X300
Until recently, Sony had the high-end ultraportable market almost to itself, but the lack of competition didn’t stop it achieving great things. The VAIO TZ18 we reviewed in December impressed us with its unprecedented portability, even if the price put it well out of most buyers’ reach.

Since then, the MacBook Air and Lenovo X300 have launched, and they look set to steal some of Sony’s market share. Its new TZ series laptop, then, should be aiming to defend this position, but has it got what it takes?

The TZ36 shares the same compact chassis as its predecessor and comes in ‘Silky White’ though other models appear in Onyx Black, Platinum Pearl, Crystal Pink, Ruby Red and Premium Carbon Black which is a little heavier due to a slightly more rigid case. That isn’t to say it’s weighty – at 1.48kg, this is still one of the lightest laptops with an integrated drive on the market. Even with the charger, it weighs only 1.6kg.

The TZ18’s screen was impressive, so we’re happy to see it here, too. With a diagonal of just over 11in, its resolution of 1366 x 768 seems incredible. Colours are vivid and the backlight dazzlingly bright. Text is superbly clear, even at a battery-friendly dimmed setting. The screen surround is also slightly more rigid than the TZ18’s, so we’d be less worried about transporting this in a soft bag.

The keyboard is very compact, but its quality matches that of many larger laptops. Keys have a surprising amount of travel, depress gently and give good feedback. Their diminutive size means a single fingertip almost covers the key, but, as with the MacBook, a valley around each prevents accidental key presses. With laptops this small, usability is pushed to the limit, but Sony has done well to squeeze the most into the space available.

With the touchpad, space is again at a premium. It may be just 38mm tall, but it still pushes the mouse buttons to the very bottom of the chassis. Despite this, they fall comfortably under the thumb when typing, and are protected from accidental activation by a thin plastic strip at the front of the case.

The front edge also features a cluster of switches and buttons. A hardware wireless switch on the front activates Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a full set of media buttons control audio playback. Unfortunately, the rightmost of these is an eject button, which can be pressed accidentally by a protruding belly. The media buttons also control the Instant On feature, which lets you play music and video without booting up.

Upgrade options aren’t usually a consideration with ultraportable laptops, but the TZ36 nonetheless offers an ExpressCard/34 slot, as well as two USB ports and a mini-FireWire port. There are Memory Stick and SD card slots, too, so it has roughly five times the number of options provided by the MacBook Air.

While the TZ36 is comfortable to use, extremely portable and has an unrivalled battery life – a stunning eight hours under light use, almost four hours if the CPU is pushed to 100% – there’s a trade-off when it comes to power. It feels nippy and apps load without delay, but the 1.2GHz ultra-low-voltage U7600 processor didn’t break any records in our 2D benchmarks. It scored 0.62, which is lower than both the X300’s 0.68 and the Air’s 0.69.

So, has Sony done enough to defend against the newcomers? The laptop is impressive, representing a slight but welcome update to the TZ18. It may be thicker and slightly heavier than the razor-thin Air (web ID: 105978), but it offers a host of useful ports and an optical drive, which Apple has sacrificed. The TZ36 also beats Apple’s sub-four-hour battery life twice over and is equally portable and stylish, albeit for some $500 more.

However, it’s harder to justify the VAIO over Lenovo’s X300 (web ID: 108025). The VAIO has a larger hard disk and greater battery life (the X300 only offers six hours), while the Lenovo’s $4000 price puts it in another bracket entirely. But the X300 serves equally well as a desktop replacement or mobile device, something the TZ36 is far too small to do.

Nevertheless, the VAIO TZ36 occupies a happy medium between the Air’s bare minimalism and the Lenovo’s usability, while easily winning on battery life and value for money – as long as you also have access to a desktop PC for more intensive tasks.
This article appeared in the July, 2008 issue of PC Authority.