Review Sony Vaio SV-Z1311Z9EX Notebook

"Absolute mobility and speed in an ultra-thin notebook" is what Sony's Z-Series laptops for business clients want to offer. Particular emphasis was laid on an extensive communication and safety equipment.
Our SV-Z1311Z9EX test model comes with a Quad-Core CPU of the Ivy Bridge generation, 8 GB Ram, and a fast RAID-0 mass storage solution. With the respective configuration, the provided Power Media Dock can improve the graphics performance with its AMD Radeon HD 7670M. Can the configuration deliver what it promises?
Case
For the elegant and timeless black casing Sony uses carbon fiber and aluminum. Since the materials are so light, the laptop weighs less than 1.2 kg. Fortunately, the matte surfaces are less sensitive to dust than high-gloss surfaces and feel fantastic. Fingerprints are only easily visible on the shiny touchpad buttons, which have a little bit of a sticky haptic.
While there is nothing wrong with the processing, the stability could be better. The casing creaks no matter if it is being held on one corner of the main unit or the screen. The area above the fan unit gives in considerably under pressure and the torsional stiffness of the screen case ought to be better as well. The weight reduction definitely comes at the expense of stability.
The hinges at the underside of the main unit do a good job. When opened the display lid pushes itself underneath the main unit and raises it at an opening angle of more than 90 degrees, which slightly tilts the keyboard.
Connectivity
In comparison to the predecessor, there have only been slight changes to the interface equipment (Review Sony Vaio VPC Z23N9E-B). Unlike other slim subnotebooks, HDMI and VGA are available on the notebook and useable without any adapters. The RJ-45-Port (LAN) is located behind a flap on the left side edge. The front edge not only accommodates an SD-card slot but also a Memory Stick PRO-HG compatible slot with Sony´s MagicGate function.
Unlike the predecessor, the notebook has two USB 3.0 interfaces now. The rear interface is simultaneously the plug for the provided Power Media Dock. The Media Dock offers a Blu-Ray burner and an AMD Radeon HD 7670M as external video card. Furthermore, the manufacturer expands the interface by two more USB ports (1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0), RJ-45 (LAN), HDMI and VGA. The VGA-signal is good via the docking station as well as when connected directly.
The array of the interfaces on the notebook works for left- as well as right-handers because Sony has consequently placed its ports towards the rear on both sides.
Communication
The communication equipment is excellent. Ethernet-connections can be done via Realtek RTL8168/8111 Gigabit-LAN (10/100/1000MBit) in gigabit speed. Due to Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 (abgn), internet surfing with standard-n via Wi-Fi Hotspot is possible. A broadband modem, which supports LTE, is also on board. The accompanying SIM-card slot is on the underside. Unlike the predecessor, the laptop has Bluetooth 4.0 + HS now.
Accessories
The scope of delivery is extensive. Besides necessary accessories such as the power supply unit and the battery, it comes with a few information brochures, a cleaning cloth, and the Power Media dock with tripod and a bigger power supply unit. Furthermore Sony offers various accessories at extra charge. For example, a docking-station for the independent docking-port at the bottom costs between 400 to 500 Euros (~$516 to $645). A bigger battery costs 130 Euros (~$167).
Maintenance
On the underside, the battery can be changed after unscrewing 8 screws. Maintenance openings are not available.
Warranty
The warranty contains a 24 months bring-in service. Warranty extensions are possible against a surcharge. For a 3 year standard-warranty you have to shell out 149.90 Euros (~$193) and for a 4 year full coverage 349.90 Euros (~$451).
Input Devices
The input devices have not been changed in comparison to the predecessor (Review VPS-Z23N9E/B). Therefore we will only summarize swiftly:
Keyboard
The chiclet keyboard with standard layout offers background light. It can be configured in the Vaio Control Center when and if the background light is turned on. The three additional keys are typical for Vaio. “Assist” starts Vaio Care, “Web” the standard web browser. The functionality of “Vaio” can be configured. The keys themselves have a short stroke distance and an imprecise pressure point. However the keyboard works relatively quietly.
Touchpad
The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures. The sensitive surface has a slightly rough comb texture with good gliding traits. The surface of the according keys is shiny and rather sticky. Their stroke distance is also short and the pressure point not very sharp. For that they also function quietly.
Like the predecessor, the 13.1-inch screen offers a 1920x1080 pixel Full-HD resolution and therefore has a format of 16:9. The resolution is exceptionally fine for a 13 inch screen. Fortunately the surface is very free of reflections.
Sadly, the brightness of the screen has dropped further in comparison to the predecessor. While the VPC-Z23N9E/B still reached 241 cd/m² on average and its predecessor VPC-Z21Q9E/B even scored above 284 cd/m², the new model did not even reach 200 cd/m². The monitors of the Z23 and the Z13 are identical though. Maybe Sony has changed something on the display controller? Thanks to the low black level of 0.32 cd/m², the screen achieves an exceptional contrast ratio of 609:1.
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Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Contrast: 609:1 (Black: 0.32 cd/m²)95.6% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
97.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
88.6% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
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Brightness Distribution: 80 %
Contrast: 797:1 (Black: 0.32 cd/m²)95.6% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
97.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
88.6% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Subjectively, the colors seem crisp and fresh and the writing sharp. Due to the high resolution, the screen offers a lot of overview.
But how about the color display? Same as the VPC-Z23N9E-B, the screen of our test model achieves a great coverage of the color space. sRGB as well as AdobeRGB are almost fully covered. A high coverage of the color space is especially important for professional graphics and photo editors. That way the SV-Z1311Z9EX would be suitable for them as second laptop, provided they do not prefer a laptop with a significantly bigger screen for their graphics.
The surface of the screen is reasonably free of reflections. Depending on the perspective and incidence of light, diffuse reflections can be observed in everyday use. The contours, however, are blurry, which causes them to be a little bit annoying. As mentioned above, the screen is less bright than the one of the VPC-Z23N9E-B. The wish for more brightness arises especially when using the laptop outside in direct sunlight.
In spite of its high price, our test candidate offers only a viewing angle stability that is typical for notebooks. While the stable operating range in horizontal direction can be considered generous, image manipulations can be observed in the vertical direction when being only slightly from the ideal vertical angle of view. When viewing from below the image darkens quickly. At rather flat angles the colors also invert. When viewing from above the picture seems outshined.