Sony Vaio VGN-Z17GN

Specifications

Reviews for the Sony Vaio VGN-Z17GN

Sony VAIO VGN - Z17GN/B, it's pure class
Source: PC Authority
It’s testament to its fine design that despite these faults, the Z-Series is an alluring prospect for the frequent and deep-pocketed traveller. But the VGN-Z17GN/B’s battery life lags behind that of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300, and the lack of Blu-ray and SSD options will disappoint those looking for the ultimate do-it-all luxury ultraportable.
Mobilität mangelhaft
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 01/02/2009
Rating: mobility: 50%

90% Sony VAIO Z Series - VGNZ17GN Explored
Source: Hardware Zone
From its arrival to our labs to the time where we had to pack it up for return, the Sony VAIO VGN-Z17GN has definitely lived up to our expectations. Its sleek design and attractive looks helped cement our opinion of this drool-worthy notebook, though we would like to point out that it's not 100% perfect (close though). From its cylindrical spine to the isolated keyboard design to the carbon fiber casing, the VGN-Z17GN is well, one heck of a notebook. We're still none too happy about the flimsy feeling screen, but with care, accidents can be avoided. Performance too is another good thing the VGN-Z17GN has in its favor. Our benchmarks showed the unit getting pretty decent scores with a slight oddity with regard to the Quake 4 benchmark.
4.5 von 5, Display schlecht
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/25/2008
Rating: Total score: 90% display: 40%

Foreign Reviews

Milyen jó a VAIO?
Source: Prohardver.hu HU→EN
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/07/2009
Rating: price: 30% performance: 90% display: 60% workmanship: 80%

Comment

NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS: Compared to the 9300M G, the GS has only 8 unified shaders but a higher clock rate. Therefore, the performance should be similar according to Nvidia. Supports 
Hybrid-SLI (GeForceBoost and HybridPower) with Nvidia 9100M G and PureVideo HD (VP3).

Only some 3D games with very low demands are playable with these cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

Intel Core 2 Duo: This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).

The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.

P9500:

The P9500 is a fast middle class dual core CPU for laptops and basically a Core 2 Duo T9400 with only 25 Watt TDP.

13.1": This is a common display format for subnotebooks. Netbooks, UMPC and some subnotebooks have tinier displays. Nevertheless, the majority of standard laptops has a higher format. The advantage of a small display is, that the subnotebook can be small dimensioned and can be carried easily. Further the small display needs few energy, which improves the battery runtime and in consequence the mobility. The disadvantage is that the reading of texts is a bit exhausting for the eyes, especially with high resolutions.» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

1.5 kg: This sub-notebook weighs less than the average of all notebooks and represents a medium class of weight among the sub-notebooks. 11 inch displays are normal for this class of weight.

Sony: Sony Corporation is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Japan. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from sonus, the Latin word for sound. The company was founded 1946 with another name and renamed in 1958. Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments—electronics, games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. Sony is a notebook manufacturer of medium size according international market shares.

Sony reviews

90%: There do not exist many models, which are rated better. The most ratings get ratings, which are a bit worse.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

Notebooks from a different Manufacturer and/or with a different CPU

Laptops with the same GPU and/or Screen Size

Notebooks with the same GPU