+Ross Wheeler Dude! Your review for the VAIO Z should be up by now. No more commenting on RU-vid for you until you upload a review or send me a VAIO Z :)
+Ross Wheeler And those temps are fantastic. My Surface Pro 3 routinely hits 70c in lighter tasks, and gaming? 90c+ until throttle to death. I returned it, for an HP Spectre x360. I LOVE the idea of this thing, and I always wanted a Vaio Z, but that's a tad pricey for my wallet.
I've owned mine for 8 months. I keep it plugged in ALL the time and because of this, the battery shut itself off. I contacted Vaio support - who were FAST in replying - and they had me reset the battery with a pin press in the back of the laptop. It works like new again and I won't be keeping it permanently plugged in now. I ADORE this laptop. It's fast, has an amazing resolution, and actually runs some modern games quite well.
Great review Lisa! Very in-depth. This looks like a great Pro tablet. As a Painter Master I was impressed that you'd put the piece in the about Corel Painter - Thanks for the video!
It feels really good to see Vaio again. I have really missed their computers. The 2010 Vaio Z was possibly the best computer I have ever owned. I would love to see a new Vaio Z with an (on board) dedicated GPU.
I love your reviews, been watching for a couple of years. I love the tech knowledge as well as the corporate background knowledge. Great content, thanks
I watched this review and recently played with the canvas recently and wow.. It was incredible..The stand is very sturdy, super sturdy? The keyboard is quite good and the pen is incredibly comfortable, it felt and writes with the easy of an actual pen! it is a bit top heavy but still very nice.
Lisaaaaaaa!!!! You're making my wet dream comes true! XD I've been waiting this review!! It's so amazing this VAIO come to US market too! I love +MobileTechReview !!
I hope other manufacturers get some 'inspiration' from the cooling design. The fact they were able to keep such a powerhouse from becoming a grill is fantastic.
Lisa, 3 years ago in 2012 I bought the Sony Vaio Z mainly based on your glowing review, and I had three wonderful years of using that 12-16 hours per day. Today it is still standing strong, with a bit of dust in the vents that require some cleaning. Battery life remains good because I used battery saver at 50%. Thanks for adding the tidbit about most of the Vaio Z engineers followed from Sony to the private company, which explains how the Vaio Z is coming back full force into innovation. Unfortunately, my 3 year old Vaio Z is still so powerful. You can get a new ultrabook on the market with my Vaio Z configuration and size/weight for a little less than $1000. So now what is the recommended upgrade cycle for Vaio Z owners? Seems like longer than average.
The best reviews bar none.SO great to see how the unit performs in Clip and Painter.Missed the bit about the vaio control centre, that would be good to know about. Onscreen shortcuts ( like autohotkey) are very, very useful. I'm surprised there isn't a bunch of apps for this type of functionality. Is that what the control centre does? Also it would be good to see the performance with thick more thirsty brushes and different canvas resolutions.
Lisa,you are one of my favorites! I love seeing females that know their stuff! I know we are out there but you know your stuff, lady! lol! Thanks for another great review! You are always very thorough...more so than...well...just great!😉
+Martin Arteaga Ah okay, my bad. I hope my Sony Vaio Pro will last me a good while. I take extremely good care of it because I don't see any other laptop that compels me.
Breathingspace Yeah, I have three Vaios... never get anything else even if it doesn't have Sony's name anymore. Looks like the video confirmed many of the Sony Vaio engineers work for Vaio anyway so it will always have Sony vibe.
Why aren't other companies making these? It's very tempting over the surface book although I never really trusted Sony/Vaio laptops after they tended to die very quickly. It seems to wipe the floor with the surface book for the same money. If they upgraded the graphics it would be insane.
Great review as always, Lisa. One of the local used stores here in Tokyo had this in stock and I got to take a look. Personally I found the design to be quite lacking in light of the VAIO Z's pedigree. In particular the final Z (traditional) laptop was truly an incredibly designed product. Maybe it's just that there is only so much that can be done with a tablet form factor...
I love VAIO computers I have three of them and I think this one here is a big winner. I do a lot of high definition video rendering so I think this computer can help cut down that rendering time.
Great review, Lisa! This is a machine for people who can really appreciate quad-core i7 CPU in a mobile form. A totally different beast from Surface Pro (mobile but lacks CPU power), Surface Book (lacks CPU power and not mobile), or Macbook Pro 15inch (powerful CPU but not mobile). Do wish to see a Skylake version next year. Note: "mobile" as a mobile phone, not a mobile laptop.
Two years later, and this is still the most powerful tablet on the market. I never should have sold mine. I've tried pretty much every single 2-in-1 (including a couple Surface Pro 4's), but the Vaio is still the best. Love the screen, love the stand, love the fan setup. I can't stand the trackpad though, it's garbage. But that (and the weight) is about the only con.
Lisa, have you reviewed the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2? I think that a comparison between the Z Canvas, the Companion 2, and the Surface Pro 4 and/or Surface Book would be great if you happen to have all of them on hand.
Great review. Led me to purchase this bad boy after a really negative pre-order experience from Microsoft with the Surface Book. I jut received the Vaio Z Canvas yesterday -- did a unboxing on my channel. So far, I'm thinking it was the right decision. Turned out to be about $220 cheaper than the nearest equivalent Surface Book (with extended warranty) and so far it seems a lot more flexible (and powerful) than the SB. Will try to do my own review, since there's a dearth of information on this thing.
***** The Adobe apps (Photoshop, Illustrator) initially had some bad pen lag, but after I updated drivers from the VAIO site, they're lag-free. Sketchbook Pro and Clip Studio are both even more responsive.
***** A week later: Adobe apps seem very touch and go with lag. Sometimes they are lag-free, other times, incredibly laggy. I recorded a few test videos today, will be posting soon. I've got a SketchBook Pro test up now, I've found that it's insanely responsive and a joy to use on this tablet. So I think the lag issues are definitely an Adobe problem.
+3212adolfo 15 hr battery life! on a Windows machine, i'm really impressed on how much improvement since the first 2012 windows 8 machines release, i know the powerful processor, the better battery performance, and keeping in mind Windows 10 it's a tochable OS , i think apple can't never do the same on its macs (no macbook has that battery life) plus mac os won't never be a touch OS.
for sure!! that's why I'm so interested in the Vaio Z 2015 - it has the same design. I just wish it came with a larger screen. right now they're only offering a 13" model, which is nice, but I'd REALLY want a 15" one. that'd be the ideal laptop for me...
I do like it, and the surface book. I'm not crazy about eithers' prices though. I guess I'm just spoiled having my own office with almost no space constraints and being able to beef up desktop pcs...for much less money. I suppose if I traveled a lot I would get this or the surface book, even though I'd like to see beefier gpus. Kudos to them for doing a gigabit ethernet port. I just never got into wireless and love my gigabit physical wires, even when I trip over them :-p
Looks like there are a few things Microsoft could take notes from. Turn off touch screen instead of just palm rejection after hover, yes please. Either that or go to a Wacom. The palm rejection on my Note 10.1 2014 Ed is pretty amazing.
Hey Lisa, that's a very nice machine you're sporting there :-) I was hoping to hear the speakers though, I was hoping that you would play one of the MobileTech videos so we could hear how the speakers sound. Anyways Lisa, this was still a great video :-) Have a great day! :-)
I've been having a debate whether I should get the Wacom Cintiq or the Vaio Z Canvas, and they seemed pretty equal until the very end of the video where you pulled up Tomb Raider (wonderful game, although when the released the newest one they should have chose a different date than Fallout 4...). With a passion for art and videogames, this has definitely intrigued me. Thank you for making these videos!
Hi Lisa, great review as always. Are you also planning to do a smack down between Sony Viao Z DNA Laptop and Surface book? It will be an interesting bet!
I like it, but I'm more into the Vaio Z in terms of form factor. I think, for me, the Vaio Z would be ideal if it had a larger screen - I've been using 11" or less for the last five years and am itching to upgrade to 15" with my next laptop!
hi lisa, love your reviews. you are often my final authority on any tech i want to buy. i was wondering what the physical footprint of the VAIO Z was - is it bigger than the surface pro? i currently own a surface pro 3, and as much as i love it, it's rather buggy and i wondered whether the VAIO might be a better choice. but of course, physical size is quite important to me, and the surface pro is rather perfect in that respect.
in this video you mention a couple times that the keyboard connects via Bluetooth but I've read that it's actually RF Link and that there are problems with the connection and no way to "prod" it into reconnecting aside from a reboot. that could be kind of a deal breaker if it's happening a lot but otherwise I like the specs. hmmm
You said that Surface book wouldn't work as well as a graphics tablet. But couldn't you flip the screen around and attach it to the keyboard and then it would be the best graphics tablet. It would have the best battery life and, and would utilize the graphics card.
Great in depth review - it's great to have all the specs laid out! I was wondering whether the pen supports hover click and if the buttons on the side of it are configurable? Thanks
Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 had the magnetic side for the pen... Not the best placement seeing that it was attached to the power port, but still, magnetic spot for the pen! :)
Great review, I'm impressed about the nice performance of Iris Pro graphics, I just saw them on MacBook Pro, glad to see Intel is using Pro graphics on the starter model. Compared to Surface Book base model, this is better because of Iris Pro, of course if you get the Nvidia GPU on the Surface Book, it will be better than Iris Pro, so keep this into consideration for which device is better for your needs and what is your budget.
Nice review. I have always rated the Vaio range, they use to make some cutting leading edge machines. I still think Sony should not of given up so easily and sold of their business, that is should my opinion of course.
re. the pen. Have you tried the test where you hold a ruler against the screen and then draw a line (horizontal & diagonal). This gives you a pretty clear idea of how well it does.
I feel like with the keyboard, they could've at least designed it so that the tablet has a groove to sit within and then maybe use flexible material for the groove effectively making it into a hinge allowing it to close like a portfolio case, rather than having the two parts that is attached via magnet/the little pin.
Please please please can you do a thorough review & comparison of Wacom Mobilestudio Pro and Vaio Z Canvas? No one is comparing these two devises for some reason. Just Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro which is comparing apples to oranges to me. Mobilestudio Pro & Z Canvas both target the digital artists in mind. Only big differences being processesor and pen technology. I am torn between these two but I really want the best device for Photoshop and Illustrator, working with large files and multi-tasking.
+MobileTechReview Lisa Gade: In your Nov 12, 2015 smack down (Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, Vaio Z) you mentioned / speculated / indicated that the Vaio would likely be refreshed in (Spring 2016). What was your source? I was looking for a Skylake equivalent processor. Thank you. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for news of the refreshed Z Canvas.
I think the Ethernet port would be really useful, when you got to a hotel for instance that has Ethernet, but not wifi. Or you just want to plop it on a desk and use it like a desktop with Ethernet
+Kathrin Gerz Because several weeks ago Microsoft Store had a crazy crazy crazy sale on them. So what you see on Amazon and eBay are probably flippers. Since there are so many flippers competing with each other, prices are driven down and their profit margin is shrinking. But based on the prices I see compared to the Microsoft sales price, flippers are still making a small profit. So the sale was pretty crazy. I think it is totally worth it at the current flipper rates because it is still much cheaper than the retail price.
If you do Surface Book vs Vaio, I like to know battery, how keyboard weight compare to balance with the tablet, the performance of Book extra GPU vs quad core. Can't wait...
hey Thanks for the review. From ur video I've noticed that he uses 19.5 v power supply but how much does it needs in terms of amps? 2-3-4-5? I'm looking to get Vaio Z Canvas + external battery to get at least 8h of work usage out of this tab in field but not sure if there are any batteries that can support it. Would you mind checking your charger and letting us know what are the power requirements?
did I miss the dedicated shortcut button demo?, was trying to see if you can place Shift and Alt functions in photoshop on it. Cant decide between this and the Vaio Z 2015.
+Clement Siby it surely can. Quad core and those high specs. I use Visual Studio daily with lower specs and it runs fine, so this can certainly handle it. I would suggest the Vaio Z 2015 instead of this. Easier to code than this machine.
I pretty much like this device but i want to see an upgrade maybe next year. Skylake cpu and usb type c with thunderbolt 3 and if it is possible, a different type of charging port something similar like MS surface's got. A bigger display will be good tho. Dont care about price (anyways this is not a budget device) i will be sold. 2 fans than 3 would be nice with sp4 style cooling.
Hi ! Does the button on the stylus acts as the right click (like SP4) ? You mention one note shortcut for the smaller, but for the other I'm not sure I got what you meant. Thanks.
sony is a hardware manufacture which ultimately has been its achilies heal as it never developed an eco system like apple until BSC Consulting Group mentioned when they had sold their Vaio brand like IBM did with levinio. I am glad to say it after 10 years there are now building an offering around their very good Z5 series mobile and tablets.
How do they cram a i7 4770HQ in this one is beyond me. I wonder if it has thermal problem that would throttle down the CPU when running intensive tasks? Even the SP3 with i5 4300U has thermal issues.
Disappointed it only has a Haswell CPU. Was hoping for something that would bring as good battery as possible. Also, that price. Looks like the SP4 it is for me.
