The VGN-TZ11XN/B comes in a range of colours, including this fetching gold
Then we come to the six media control buttons that allow you to play music and movies or to view photos without powering up Windows, as the controls use an instant-on facility that is built into the Bios. In truth, it takes about five seconds to power up, but that’s considerably faster than Windows Vista under any circumstances and especially so in the case of the TZ11.
It’s bound to be a slow laptop with a 1GHz processor, even if it is dual core, as the low bus speed and slow hard drive all contribute to battery life, but subtract from system performance. The Windows Experience Index figure of 2.0 is fairly pitiful thanks to the Intel graphics, but the other elements only score four marks, which is unimpressive.
Sony hasn’t helped as it has chosen to install its standard laptop bundle of software when it is clear that the TZ11 needs all the help it can get - so when you start Windows you may as well go and make a cup of tea.
Once Windows Vista Business Edition has cranked into life you have to endure the Club Vaio marketing puff, which is followed by Norton Internet Security 2007. This is especially annoying as the new Norton 360 has a small footprint, but the 2007 suite is a monster that is an unfair burden on the TZ11.
COMMENTS
what's new
Isn't this one fairly similar in size, specs (and price) to last year's TX3, now replaced by the TX5?
Herbert
Great for portability but frustatingly slow.
I got one recently. It is disappointingly slow but a great toy otherwise. Dr. Haq
Also worth considering, the Flybook V5 HSDPA
Cheaper, faster, tablet and laptop form factor, and built in HSDPA 3G comms. Just as cool and classy looking too...
Just got the model up
Don't know if it's any cheaper for you UK-fellows, but in Australia I ordered the Sony VGN-TZ90 from Japan. It's the model up; and the performance is notably better for simple processing tasks;
Main Changes:
- 2GB ram standard
- 32GB SSD HDD
- Wireless a/b/g/n
And with the extended battery (quoted 18hr, haven't had time to test that yet); it's quite an amazing thing to use. As for people above comparing to the TX- core 2 duo isn't a faster clock speed, but does result in faster performance for myself (running linux tho; kernel-level stuff on one core, user apps on the other...)
Also just got one
Very impressed with the look, feel and battery life. Didn't think there was much point going back to XP so I just removed most of the installed apps. Why they don't allow you to start off with just a clean install of Vista I don't know. Once most of these are stripped out performance is more impressive, with Vista welcoming you to sign in before it's time to take the teabag out.
Performance generally is not very impressive, but it was never going to be. I bought this specifically to take on travels with a digital camera - and with a 100gb HDD and built in SD reader it's perfect for that.
The fingerprint reader is also pretty neat, allowing you to log on/lock Windows with a swipe, and also to save website username/password combinations to replay later with another swipe. And I can't believe the review didn't mention the Webcam?! Possibly because it's so unobtrusive they may not have noticed it was there.
