The Worst Features of the New 2011 Sony VAIO Z Series Notebooks

The new 2011 Sony VAIO Z series notebooks boast beautiful displays, fast hardware, awesome battery life and are impossibly ultraportable, but the Sony VAIO Z is far from perfect and has a few issues that might concern enthusiasts.

No Optical Drives

While the new Sony VAIO Z sports a pancake-like thinness that has its predecessor beat, its new physique comes at the expense of its removed optical disc drive. Optical discs will soon become a thing of the past as streaming services and cloud-based services become more common, but optical discs are still very well alive today and the removal of the optical disc drive from the Sony VAIO Z series is a bit too forward thinking on Sony's part.

Lacks Graphics Support

In addition to its optical disc removal, the Sony VAIO Z notebook series also did away with its dual graphics card support. The graphics card of the updated Sony VAIO Z is still powerful enough to handle basic gaming and watch HD movies, but it's lacking when compared to its predecessor, which is a big disappointment for lots of enthusiasts.

Relies on Power Media Dock Support

While the lack of optical drive and graphics support is a big bummer for lots of Sony VAIO Z fans, Sony did give fans an "out" by providing a Power Media Dock peripheral device which gives the new VAIO Z added graphics support and an optical disc drive. Although the Power Media Dock provides an alternative to the lost features of this notebook series, it's a bit of a hassle to carry around an added peripheral to get more out of the Sony VAIO Z.

They Can Run Hot

One of the most disappointing features of the new 2011 Sony VAIO Z series is how noisy and hot it can run at times. During startup, while playing games, and when watching graphic intensive videos, these notebooks make a blaring sound with their fans and after extended use, the Sony VAIO Z can run burning hot to the touch.

Price

Price will likely be an important factor to consider whenever purchasing a gadget and if you're already family with the prices of the original Sony VAIO Z notebooks, you'd likely have anticipated a heavy fee for the new 2011 models. The new Sony VAIO Z series notebooks will cost between $1,969 and $3,000 - which might be more than most computer shoppers are willing to spend.