Sometimes you wonder if marketers ever pay attention to their price lists, or just hope that customers really don’t care about finding the best price possible. Case in point, the Sony VAIO Signature Collection Z Series (model VPCZ21TGX/X) is $2,999.99 on Sony.com. That’s a lot for a laptop, but hey, it’s a signature edition so it must be special and a unique deal. Right? Until you start configuring the Sony VAIO Z2 customizable machine, model number VPCZ2290X CTO, and find that you can get better specs than the Signature VAIO Z but for less right on Sony.com. Here are the specs for the VAIO Z Signature laptop:
- Screen: 13.1 in Full HD LED backlit (1920 x 1080)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-2620M 2.70 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.40 GHz
- Memory: 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz
- Storage: 256 GB SSD (RAID 0 x 2)
- OS: Windows 7 ProfessionalPC
- Optical Drive: External Power Media Dock with slot-loading Blu-ray Disc
- Intel HD Graphics 3000 with shared graphics memory (1 GB graphics card in dock)
- Battery: Internal lithium-polymer (4000mAh) and external lithium-polymer sheet battery (4400mAh)
- Color: Black
Those are impressive specs for a light weight 13.1-inch laptop that weighs only 2.57lbs. However, I can go to Sony.com and configure the VAIO Z2 CTO model with all the same specs and a slightly better Core i7-2640M 2.80GHz processor for $2,619.99, screenshot to prove it and specs below:
- Screen: 13.1 in Full HD LED backlit (1920 x 1080)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-2640M 2.80 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.50 GHz
- Memory: 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHz
- Storage: 256 GB SSD (RAID 0 x 2)
- OS: Windows 7 ProfessionalPC
- Optical Drive: External Power Media Dock with slot-loading Blu-ray Disc
- Intel HD Graphics 3000 with shared graphics memory (1 GB graphics card in dock)
- Battery: Internal lithium-polymer (4000mAh) and external lithium-polymer sheet battery (4400mAh)
- Color: Black
That’s right, you pay almost $380 less and get an ever so slightly faster Core i7 processor by going the CTO route with the VAIO Z2. Apparently the Signature series has a slight gold tint to the lid finish (it’s hard to tell in the product shots) and if that floats your boat and is worth $380 to you then it could be worth it. However, I doubt many people will see things that way. This is just another example of folks in marketing not looking at their price sheet for components and slapping a price tag on something and calling it premium. It’s also another example of the fact that if you’re buying a laptop you really need to shop around and even if you’re buying direct from a website try different ways of building a machine and looking for promo codes to get a better deal.
Andrew,
That was excellent reporting you did, but in fairness (to Sony – what am I thinking??), the model you priced had special promotions going that lowered the price by some $300. If you price the exact same configuration you did today, you get a price of $2,979 (see below) for the same specs as the “Signature Collection” Gold model, which lists for $20 more. Like Lenovo – but not nearly as whacky! – Sony just plunks down some discounts from time to time without really promoting it very heavily. About twice a year, they have an across the board 20% off sale but, like Lenovo, some of the configurations “disappear” during the sale. For what it’s worth, B&H Camera is presently selling the Gold model for $2,825, no sales tax.
You really have to stay on top of these guys. Good work.
Order Price
$2979.99
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Estimated Ship Date 01/06/2012
how is this estimated?
Intel® Core™ i7-2640M processor (2.80GHz / 3.50GHz with Turbo Boost)
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
13.1″ LED backlit Full HD display (1920 x 1080)
Power Media Dock with AMD Radeon HD 6650M (1GB) graphics and Blu-ray Disc player
256GB (128GB x2) solid state drive with RAID 0
6GB (4GB + 2GB fixed onboard) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
No wireless mobile broadband
Internal (4400mAh) + sheet (4400mAh) lithium polymer batteries
Carbon Fiber Black
No Engraving
No Fresh Start
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter (Click More Info for details.)
Norton Internet Security™ 2012 (30 Day Trial)
None
None
$2979.99
No interest financing available.
Explore your payment options >
Estimated Ship Date 01/06/2012
hey Jeff, thanks for the feedback. I see that pricing has come back in line now. I hear what you’re saying with pricing being here, there and everywhere, you have to know when to time a purchase and where to look. B&H had a great price on a VAIO SA3 the other day that I purchased, great store, so long as you don’t live in New York and have to pay the sales tax