Sony Z Series Review (i7, Bluray, 1080p, Raid SSD, AMD HD6650, dual battery)

1. Introduction2. Sony Z Series (Premium Carbon Version)3. Sony Z Series (Super High Res Gallery)4. Extended Battery (VGP-BPSC27)5. Extended Battery (Super High Res Gallery)6. Power Media Dock (VGP-PRZ20A/B)7. Power Media Dock (Super High Res Gallery)8. Installed Software, Hardware Configuration and Testing Methodology9. Synthetic: SiSoft Sandra10. Synthetic: PCMark 711. Synthetic: Cinebench R11.5 64 bit12. Synthetic: 3DMark Vantage13. Synthetic: 3DMark 1114. SSD Drive Performance15. Real World: BluRay Playback Performance16. Real World: MKV Performance17. Real World: Flash HD Performance18. Real World: Media Encoding19. Gaming: Resident Evil 520. Gaming: Dead Island21. Gaming: F1 201122. Gaming: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 323. Technical: Acoustics Performance24. Technical: Thermal Dynamics25. Technical: Battery Life26. Closing Thoughts27. View All Pages

The Power Media Dock arrives in a box with the product ‘illustrated' on the front.

The bundle is extensive, including another power adapter, user literature, various multi country plugs and a heavy, ‘anti slide' chrome styled base.

The power supply for the Power Media Dock is larger than the main Z Series power adapter as it can be used to power both the media dock and the laptop, rather than having to use two power supplies at the same time. The image above right shows the size differences between the two.

The stand for the Power media dock is very reflective and is very heavy, to offer stability on a desk or table.

The Power media dock ships in a protective bag, which has to be ripped open by hand.

It can be used laying flat on a table, or slotted into the stand as shown above.

The Power Media Dock might look like a simple optical drive, but it includes an AMD Radeon HD6650 graphics solution with the bluray drive. This drive can be used to burn CD's and DVD's as well. Additionally, the Media Dock offers docking station capabilities. At the rear is a USB 2 port, USB 3 port, Gigabit Ethernet and VGA and HDMI video output. At the top of the unit is a USB 2.0 port, hidden underneath a cover. This is ideal for quick connection of USB flash media.

The connector between Power Media Dock and Sony Z Series laptop is actually a unique header based on Intel's Light Peak/Thunderbolt technology. This can handle the data stream for the AMD HD6650 discrete graphics and the USB and networking throughput between devices. When this is plugged in, the screen flickers for a second, as the more powerful AMD HD6650 takes over from the onboard Intel HD3000 solution.

It is important when removing this plug that all games and active video programs are quit. A button on the plug has to be pressed and the light will change indicating that it can be safely removed. If you don't follow this procedure, the computer will crash.

An elegant solution, although if you want the Bluray capabilities and added power of the AMD HD6650 discrete graphics then a plug socket has to be close by. The only real downside with this methodology.

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