Black/Silver Sony Z Canvas 12.3 Inches Laptop Review

The version I own is the i7-4770HQ/16GB DDR3L RAM/1TB SSD (dual 512GB PCI-e) (full specs can be found online, this is a review of my personal experience with this device instead of a benchmark).

I also own the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 i5/8GB RAM/256GB SSD so I will do a comparison (although the Vaio out specs the Surface Pro 4, this is the only comparison of a Windows tablet that I can make).

First impression of the Vaio Z Canvas… EPIC! The specifications are what caught my attention, but that’s not it, it’s very aesthetically beautiful; it is organized and sleek.

The pen feels like a real art pen (I’m going to call the stylus a pen), I love the button placement and the grip, although I would have still liked to have seen them add an extra button/eraser… and some tip options would be really nice. Even with the couple drawbacks, I prefer drawing and editing photos, and all around navigating, with the Vaio pen. The Pro 4... Read more

Following up on the review above about the keyboard disconnecting from the wireless connection to the tablet, I would add:

I have the 1TB 16g i7 top of the line configuration and have the same issue with the keyboard disconnecting every 10 minutes or so! Very frustrating. Vaio support asked me to wipe my HD and return to factory defaults to test...not very helpful with 1TB and 50 applications perfectly loaded and configured.

They will not / cannot sell me another KB even if I pay for it ;-( TBD what I and others do about this.

To make matters worse, their proposed solution is:

1) Wipe HD and restore to factory defaults
2) Ship to them with 14 day estimated turnaround
3) If they make the KB work (with no programs other than windows running) they will charge $150 and return to me as-it as being non-defective.
When I suggested the problem is likely their driver and issues with its compatibility, the reply was "well that's... Read more

I purchased the Vaio Z Canvas, base version i7-4770hq/8gb ddr3l ram, 256gb sata ssd. I'm a software developer, desktop publisher and 3d modeler / renderer so needed more mobile horsepower than the Surface Pro line could provide. Before getting into specifics, on pure ability the Canvas really doesn't have any equal in its market. You can buy gaming notebooks of greater power and other tables of lesser power for similar prices but the Canvas really is the only device in the market with its CPU muscle.

I've had the Canvas about a day... so this will be a bit of a mix of first impressions, little things I've noticed that might be of interest, etc. I'll likely follow up once I've had it longer.

The Screen
The screen is quite bright, but not as bright as the surface line. At 100% its equivalent to a surface 3 pro somewhere between 75% and 100% brightness. The color is noticeably better than the Surface Pro or just about any screen I have ever looked at... Read more