The best laptop that I have used, by far, is the Vaio Z. That laptop tolerates shocks resulting from 6-feet drops, is very fast, is very reliable, and, is one of the few laptops out there that are made in Japan (and trust me, there is a huge difference in build quality between Japanese and Chinese made laptops).

For some reason, Sony halted all Vaio Z laptops production indefinitely at the end of 2012. It was a very disappointing move for many Vaio Z owners who have used this laptop for ages. That Laptop was the business laptop – it was also great for development (I’m also a developer, by the way). Everyone loved this laptop (or wanted to have this laptop) and some were buying it since the early 2000’s. Sony’s offering right now for these people that used to buy the Vaio Z is the Chinese made Vaio Pro (a laptop that can’t even connect reliably to the Internet) or the non-practical Japanese made Vaio Duo (a laptop that can’t be used to do actual work, with very small keystrokes and very small fonts that are barely visible). Both run Vaio 8 which is a horrible system for business people and developers. (I’ve never criticized a Windows version by the way, but I think that Windows 8 is just hideous in every sense of the word).

I have no idea why Sony canceled the Z line of product – it was a prestigious, beautiful, and solid laptop that people were happy to shell out a few thousand dollars to buy – and now they can’t, because it’s no more! The thing is the other options that Sony is offering (the Pro and the Duo) are not good at all, so high end users are looking at other brands now, mainly Lenovo and Samsung. Sony lost a whole market by doing this move.

I think Sony still has a chance of regaining this market if the Vaio Z line is revived as soon as possible. They should make sure of 2 things though: that the Vaio Z is produced in Japan, and that it uses Windows 7 ( and not 8 ) as the OS, at least until Windows 8 becomes usable.

I love Sony and I love the Vaio Z line – and I suspect there are thousands – if not tens of thousands who are willing to buy the Vaio Z if it’s revived, regardless of its price. Not everyone out there wants to buy $300 laptops.

By the way, Sony’s stock (NYSE:SNE) has doubled this year – but mainly because Sony is selling a lot of assets (including its US headquarters) to reduce its overhead and make it look as if it’s profitable. Sony still has a chance though, by remembering that everyone is willing to pay a premium for their brand, and by remembering that they can still produce the best technological products.

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