Advice of which SZ model to get?

Hi everyone this is a great forum and I'm looking for advice,

I'm planning to purchase a new SZ however I'm trying to figure which is the way to go. I'm looking at the SZ 491N/X with the premium carbon fiber, 200 GB, 2.16 GHz or a custom made SZ 480 with regular carbon fiber, 200 GB, 2.33 GHz. Unfortunately the 491 doesnt come with the faster processor and the 480 doesnt come with the premium carbon fiber. I've been searching the forums and trying to find out if there any major advantages/disadvantages to getting the premium carbon and then losing some or the processor speed.

Now is the premium carbon fiber that much better than the regular carbon fiber or is it just for looks which is real nice by the way?

Or do I sacrifice the looks for the 2.33 GHz processor which is not a whole lot faster. But better in the long run?

Thanks for the help in advance and please help because I'm itching to make the purchase within 24hrs.

 

I just got a 460, I like it so far, and the 2ghz processor is not that much slower, and will give you more battery life. I recomend getting the extended battery if you need more than 5hours.

 

Thanks for the advice. But if you had the pick the SZ I described, which would it be and reasons why?

 

I wouldn't pick either of that two because both have 4200rpm hard disks. I went for SZ450 (160GB 5400rpm HDD and C2D @ 2GHz, no WWAN).


But, if you insist , I would go for SZ 491N/X just for the looks of premium CF, nothing else.

 

KKSigua, the difference between them (premium and regular) is that significant?

Have you seen them "personally" or just their photos?

I think I'd go with the SZ480, but like Matta said, you should consider the 4200rpm HD's.

Good luck with your choice!

 

The premium is better, the hand rest is made out of carbon, and should not scrash so easy, and the screen is a lot thiner, and I think its brighter.

 

Both them are Premium SZ's but the 491 has a premium carbon fiber and the 480 does not. The 480 however is customizabel and can get it with 5400 rpm Hd and the 2.33 Ghz processor but no premium carbon fiber casing. Both of them have the super thin LCD display

 

Once again, premium carbon is only better by looks, nothing else ! Everything else is the same, sony support confirmed that when someone from the forums called and asked.

Basicaly, it all depends whether you want looks or faster components...

 

If you look closely, the premium is slightly thinner (about .2 inch thinner). If you decide to buy directly from Sony, beware that they charge taxes for all states and there has been report here for their poor customer service.

 

actually, they have very good customer service. I have my laptop for a week now, and my webcam was buggy, I went on sony's support site, and went on the live chat, and the guy pointed me to the updated drivers. And if you get their accidental warranty, you should not be worried about hurting your laptop, but I didnt test how the warranty works yet.

 

I am on the same exact position, should I get the 491 for the premium carbon fiber or should I go with the 480 for the faster processor

So which one you got and are you happy with your decsion ?

 

I am waintng for SZ new model with DX10 support but if I have to buy today. I want 5400rpm Harddisk for faster bootup and wakeup from sleep.
I will pick 480 and custermize in www.sonystyle.com.
T7200 2Ghz for battery time.
160GB 5400rpm.
2GB ram (if money is not limited factor then 4GB)
and give up premium carbon fiber.

 

The SZ currently only supports a maximum of 2GB of ram.

 

I bought the SZ260p on discount and bumped the ram to 2gig and processor to 2.33 (T7600) myself. Cost me $2300 for everything. It came with a 120gig hard drive but I am upgrading that when Hitachi releases the 200gig 7200rpm model sometime this quarter. At this time I prefer Windows XP.

 

premium model is nice and light...the european model sz4vwn has premium carbon and you do see the pattern from their finishing process...nice coloration other than that nothing special imho

the other thing is the led backlight which so far has been good

the normal black may be better for board meetings but only you could judge

 

Is go8500 256mb and SSD likely for the new SZ ?

 

Go8500 is likely, but SSD is not.