Just wanted to share with you my initial reaction: I bought a Z590 through Costco, two weeks ago. For $1499, here's what I received:

Sony VAIO Z590
2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo P9500 (1066 MHz FSB)
3 GB RAM (DDR3 1066)
128 GB SSD 'hard drive' (~10 NANOSECOND SEEK!!)
1600x900 LED Backlit screen
NVIDIA 9300M GS and Intel GMA 4500HD graphics
Built-in WWAN, 802.11abgn, Bluetooth, 1Gb Ethernet jack, dial-up modem, express-card slot, 2 USB, HDMI, VGA, Fire wire, microphone jack, headphone jack & webcam
plus a fingerprint reader, SD & Memory Stick readers
AND an integrated dual-layer DVD+-RW, on a 3.4lb chassis.

Whew, that is an exhaustive list!!

This machine is a monster! By that I mean it has been able to unyieldingly deliver in any scenario. But... took a little tweaking, and likely will take just a little more. I'm not sure how many laptops you purchase, or run through. I'm a technology entrepreneur, and am pretty rough on my machines, so I try to keep things lean and mean. Pretty much the FIRST thing I did was run the CD Recovery application, backup the factory installation, and then COMPLETELY wipe the SSD with a fresh install of Windows 7 64bit RTM (MSDN Preview DL).

I had a few hiccups until I ran the install from USB. (These directions were superb, and had me understanding the issue & overcoming it in under 20 minutes) Specifically, the laptop's next-generation BIOS is called EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface). When the EFI engages the Windows 7 installation CD through the SCSI driver, there was a Windows 7 expectation that the SSD (Solid-State Device) 'hard-drive' would be running the more flexible & forward EFI compatible formatting scheme known as GPT... The traditional MBR (Master Boot Record) partitioning scheme is entirely incompatible with the new GPT (GUID Partition Table) & threw the Windows control app into a freeze. The directions details above, that direct you to boot from the USB (because of the native interface) circumvented the Win 7 installer expectations and navigated around the conflict.

Once past this hurdle, I had Win 7 64-bit SCREAMING to a stable login screen in roughly 25 seconds from a cold boot - 20 SECONDS IF YOU DON'T COUNT THE VAIO EFI POST SCREEN!!!

Admittedly, I am a power user, and I really attempt to push the envelope in several areas, not just my zeal for the most current OS. Prior to purchase, I had taken a hard look at what was arguably a particularly poor Sony imposed limitation decision on the Z Series platform, whereby they diminished the user management of the EFI (BIOS), and prevented hardware enabled virtualization. While this doesn't prevent you from running a 'virtual machine' or second active operating system, inside of your primary operating system, it does prevent that second OS from directly accessing the CPU, RAM, SSD & Peripheral devices. This means you can run another OS, only through the interpreted layer of the existing host OS... slowing down the capacity of the second OS SUBSTANTIALLY. It makes absolutely no sense to me, why Sony would prevent access to this technology... and I never found a Sony sponsored explanation to yield any clarity. Suffice it to say, I accepted there would be something of a challenge, and committed to overcoming the issue.

As I explored the topic, it was clear that there is a brilliant, expansive community of go-minded tech-forward leaders in the fray that have shared lessons learned of their exploits. The vastness of the community enabled two specific individuals (and likely scores that supported them) with entirely different objectives, to have the necessary experience & reason to outline the framework that details the flipping of the single EFI bit to enable hardware virtualization. Bernhard Froemel shares a very easy to understand approach with explicit instructions on his blog, here. Of course, once I ran through these, I installed a virtual Windows 7 64-bit OS... and started kicking myself giddy, as I recognized the extraordinary R&D / testing platform I had enabled.

The 1600x900 screen, with the combination of integrated & discreet NVidia graphics acceleration, provides me with the ideal level of screen real-estate, processing speed, and extreme ease to expand that to a flat panel, through the integrated HDMI & VGA ports (you may only use one or the other). While the graphics horsepower is the most substantial bottleneck of the system, I believe there will be a pretty reasonable boost in the efficiency of the drivers that Sony/NVIDIA are busy tweaking for the native Windows 7 compatible release... not due out until October 22.

To give you a sense of the speed, I just re-assessed my Windows Experience Index:
CPU: 6.1, RAM 5.9, Primary Storage: 6.7!!
Then, the bottleneck: Graphics 4.4, Gaming Graphics, 4.4.

Ok, perhaps there is a bit to be desired on the graphics end of things... but realistically, a WEI of 4.4 on a featherweight 3.4lb laptop is indicative of far more moxie than I had ever expected, and more than I had on my last desktop! In fact, I installed the trial version of Maya 2010, and found I was very capably modeling, animating & rendering 3D using these capabilities.

So, that is likely a bit longer-winded answer than you may have been expecting. I must share that I am really thrilled with my selection. After spending about 6 months looking for the ideal laptop, and then having to overcome the initial ownership hurdles... I don't anticipate feeling technologically deficient anytime in the foreseeable future. In fact, the capabilities integrated into this platform are continuing to surprise & enable me in new ways every day.

Hope that helps you to evaluate the opportunity!

Best of luck in your shopping adventures