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Sony Vaio PCG-Z505/Z600

I bought a pair of two old Sony Vaio laptops; a PCG-Z600RE and a PCG-Z600TEK in February 2025 as more candidates for a top-end DOS gaming laptop.

Actually, on delivery and closer examination, the PCG-Z600TEK turned out to be a PCG-Z600HEK - The difference being it had the better Pentium III 800MHz, rather than the 700MHz.

The PCG-Z600xxx models are the UK/European version of the PCG-ZR505, and hence not really mentioned much. There are a lot of variations of these machines.

Z505HE Z505HS Z505LE Z505LS Z600RE Z600NE Z600LE Z600TE Z600HE
Processor Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III Intel Pentium III
Processor Speed 450MHz 500MHz 650MHz 750MHz 500MHz 650MHz 700MHz 700MHz 800MHz
Graphics Type NeoMagic NeoMagic ATI ATI NeoMagic NeoMagic ATI ATI ATI
Graphics Model MagicMedia 256AV MagicMedia 256AV Rage Mobility M1 Rage Mobility M1 MagicMedia 256AV MagicGraph 256XL+ Rage Mobility M1 Rage Mobility M1 Rage Mobility M1
Graphics Bus AGP AGP AGP AGP AGP AGP AGP AGP AGP
Graphics RAM 2.5MB 2.5MB 8MB 8MB 2.5MB 6MB 8MB 8MB 8MB
Screen Size 12“ 12” 12“ 12” 12“ 12” 12“ 12” 12“
Screen Resolution 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768
Audio Type Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha
Audio Model

That is not all of them!

They share a common (slim) chassis, with a 12” 1024×768 screen, the same battery and no internal FDD/CD/DVD capability (they were modelled as an ultra portable). The main differences are the use of the NeoMagic graphics versus ATI Rage Mobility. The ATI option is much, much better with the typical smooth scaling of non-native screen modes to the LCD panel.

PCG-Z600RE

PCG-Z600TEK

Port Replicator

Condition Summary

PCG-Z600RE

  • Missing speaker covers
  • Missing both hinge covers
  • Missing hard drive caddy/cable
  • General scratches and wear

PCG-Z600TEK

  • Missing one hinge cover
  • Missing keyboard/trackpad cover
  • Missing hard drive caddy (but not cable)
  • General scratches and wear

In addition, only one battery is present.

Documentation

  • blog/sony_vaio_z_series.1738950883.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2025/02/07 17:54
  • by john