Anyone have experience with BX 14" X700?

The Sony BX 14" with the X700 is pretty much the perfect notebook for us (at least after the wife decided she wanted regular screen instead of widescreen!). It is powerful and portable, and it can be customized when you order it through Sony's business website. I would outfit it with the smallest hd and the least RAM possible and then upgrade myself. I would probably choose the 760 (2.0 GHz).

This is a pretty new notebook, so I don't expect it will get an update anytime soon, so I'm prepared to go shopping very soon!

I saw the review that was posted on the BX, but that was the 15.4" model without the X700. Does anyone have any experience with the configuration I'm looking at? I'd be interested in any type of comment from battery life and build quality to gaming performance and looks! I'd even be happy to hear educated guesses!

Thanks!

 

I heard that the bx series has DREADFUL battery life! Plus they are very expensive. The x700 is a good gaming card, however, it has been superceded by the x1600 - this is a much better graphics card.

Not too sure about regular 4:3 screens though, they are getting more uncommon. I know a lot about widescreens though and the best at the moment in your price/configuration/size range would be the Acer 8200, that is one nice laptop.

Edit: otherwise just go for an ibm. They have a large 4:3 range and have great battery life.

 

Thanks. I've heard horror stories about the battery life of the BX. In the review posted here it is mentioned that the 15.4" version without the X700 only gets around 2 hours with regular use. I assume that number will shrink with an X700, but some underclocking might get it up again. Still a problem, though.

The Acer 8200 you mention looks absolutely awesome. It would be perfect if the screen was 14"...! 15.4" is too big. 13.3" (Sony S and SZ) is too small. To me a 14" embodies the perfect dimensions of a laptop. Big enough to be useable as a good second computer at home, and light and small enough to not make it cumbersome wherever you want to go. There are just too few 14" notebooks out there with a decent GPU (X700 and up). The Lenovo offerings are nice, but have crap graphics.

I might still end up getting a BX. Might just get a second battery to make up for the poor battery life. I don't mind the price, especially since it's absolutely unique. I have not been able to find any other 14" non-widescreen (4:3) laptop with an X700 or better.

 

Otherwise the asus w3v is a 14" with x600.

However, that is being refreshed into the w3j with yonah and x1400 - out in a couple of months. The changes it makes are worth the wait in my opinion plus it would be a lot cheaper than the sony's. By the way the x1400 is about on par with the x700, however, it consumes less power and puts out less heat!

 

I considered the W3V a couple of months ago, but I don't like the (relatively speaking) low-end GPU (X700 or GO 6600 is my minimum), and my wife demanded non-widescreen.

Seeing that the BX is suffering from low battery life, and it seems to be the only option available in its class, I realize I might be forced to look at a widescreen model after all. The big challenge will be to convince the wife...!

Can't seem to find much info about the W3J out there. Since Sony doesn't offer any 14" widescreen models with decent GPU I guess I should take this thread over to the Asus forum.

 

not really much point in worrying about the 14" BX with X700 - as far as I'm aware its never been available - despite being announced long ago

typical Sony

 

I mean how hard is it to follow through on the products you announce - I understand reasonable delays but when you talk months it is ridiculous

I've bought SOny for years - all my desktopps and notebooks - in fact I have a Z1, a 850mhz 505 and an early 450mhz 505 in my office now

but unfortunately think I've had enough

 

Is this really true? It is actually not available? Where did you get that info? I would be very interested, since that would obviously send me looking elsewhere and stop wasting time on Sony. I guess that would also explain why nobody has any experience with the X700 BX!

 

What are you talking about? You can go to Sony's buisness website right now and configure the BX with the X700 with an expected ship date of 6 days from now.

I've seen several AX's in Best Buy, and all their covers are beaten to hell, chips, scrapes, etc. I know they get wear in Best Buy, but this was much worse than the other notebooks on display.

Personally, if you want to go Sony, I think you should go with the FJ. If you aren't attached to Sony, go with an Asus or an IBM.

 

IBM z60t has same battery life as BX 14". z60t's screen is very dull and brightness is ridiculous. BX's battery life is 3 hours exactly what I have on z60t. I had both notebook and I know BX's battery isn't that "terrible" and those horror stories about Sony's battery life are really BS. Since it's same battery life as z60t, but no one mention any about z60t's battery life because it's from IBM?

 

Please do some research. 14" x700 has been available for purchase since the end of december 2005. x700 is only available under 1400x1050 resolution. Perhaps you forgot to check customize BX section?

 

so is IBM/Lenovo. It took 3 months to get z60t to ship out and they announced it 3 months before I ordered.

 

OK, I'm confused...

sparta, you're talking about the AX having bad build quality - scratches etc. However, the BX 14" model apparently has a magnesium alloy case. I assume this would take care of any build quality concerns?

ASG, you're talking about this model not actually being available. However, as RZ points out, you can customize a 14" X700 model on the Sony business website, and it looks like it's ready to go. However, I must admit that I have never seen anyone actually claim that they have bought this model and have it in hand. That is partly why I started this thread in the first place. I've heard people say that they were communicating with Sony about this, and the answers they got were ambiguous at best.

RZ, you mention 3 hour battery life, but this review says he only got 2 hours out of his 15.4" non X700 model. I would assume the X700 would reduce that number significantly.

Anyone able to clear up any of this confusion?

 

You'll get lower battery life with the X700, but that's assuming that you actually use the X700 for gaming and other intensive applications. If the card is on idle, it shouldn't drain very much if at all.

 

BX 14" x700 is ready to go. It is available for purchase and should be shipped within a week or so. Battery life could be shorter with x700 with intensive usage. But regular usage like surfing website, mid-brightness will last at least 3 hours I think. Remember 15.4" uses two light bulbs behind the screen while 14" only uses one. Standard battery capacity is different for 15" and 14" and I assume 14"'s battery has better battery life then 15.4". If you don't mind, give it a try by risking shipping fee which you order it from Sony, test it out, if you are not satisfy, return it to Sony.

I can list a few Cons about BX 14" 1024x768 version (not x700 and 1400x1050)
-Battery physical size is huge and ugly
-Keyboard has flex problem which makes rather loud clicky noise when typing
-It is 1.3 thick same as z60t. Fujitsu are thinner @ 1.1"
-Battery life is mediocre same as z60t
-Glossy can be annoying with reflections
-it is hotter than z60t under full load
-no built-in microphone (its a standard feature on most notebook and very useful for video conference)

Pros
-Very nice looking, definitely better looking and more professional than z60t but z60t is not bad
-Screen is very sharp, BRIGHT and nice glossy screen compared to z60t
-Sound is good enough for notebook but others have better notebook speaker sound quality
-very high quality built, magnesium alloy casing, higher than z60t

 

BX 14" has magnesium alloy casing while AX, and BX 15.4" or higher are only cheap plastic case. magnesium alloy are a lot stronger against scratches.

 

Thanks a lot. Really helpful feedback.

I would probably aim for the SXGA+ (1400x1050) version. I hope that won't make text and icons too small though. Unfortunately, I don't think that version will take care of any of the cons you list.

I have seen pictures of the BX, and I can't see any problems with the look of the battery. I know they have extended life batteries available. Is that the battery that makes it ugly?

The flex and clicking noise of the keyboard worries me. How bad is it? Does it seriously hamper your ability to type? Will it wake up people sleeping in the bedroom next door?

I'm expecting heat in such a small package with an X700. With a GPU like that, I will obviously be playing some games. Mostly Civ IV probably. I just hope the heat won't kill the laptop eventually!

I can live without the microphone - not much video conferencing going on in this house!

The question now is whether to get this machine (perhaps risk the shipping fee as you said), or wait for the Asus W3J and convince the wife that widescreen is OK!

 

If you don't need the security features like Fingerprint scanner and pointstick which I wanted on a notebook, you could always wait for W3J. But I personally prefer 1400x1050 than widescreen if you ask me but thats my opinion. The keyboard makes clicky sound but I don't think it would wake the people up in next door, if it does, Sony should recall those notebook back. Some say BX's keyboard is decent and excellent... I would say the keyboard design is nice but the feel isn't.

 

sorry - I've been going to SOny Biz site for seems like months? - at least weekly pretty much - since the BX announced - and the 14" with X700 has been unavailable - hadn't been there for a week or ten days apparently and when I went back today there is a whole new look to the BX pages

but again - this has occured in last few days - regradless the availability of the BX x700 was zero for wayyyy too long after announcement

 

I currently have a IBM T43. Why? Well I was deadset on getting a BX with x700. I started looking in early September before there was much info on the site. I called Sony B2B, they told me a few weeks, I called back every week for 2 months and they said one or two weeks everytime. I got fet up. In light of a lot of bad reviews, and the horrible salesmen, I went with the T43. My girlfriend has a T42, and I knew it had very nice build quality, and IBM's are known for their reliability.

ASM, the BX webpage has not changed its "look" in 3 months. Late October through november there was a customize option where it said the x700 would be available mid-November but didn't allow it as a choice. Early October the page was very buggy and listed the 17" and it was more expensive to get it without the camera. But mid-December (2 months later than they their press statement said) the X700 option was available, and has been since.

The AX's at Best Buy really surprised me when I looked at the back. Big chunks chipped out. Not scratches, chunks. I don't know, felt like magnesium. I had a magnesium Sony discman way back when, was the 15th anniversay DE-J01, cool looking and expensive as hell, but the madnesium scratched and cracked like nothing before.

 

sorry sparta I disagree - this page:

LINK

is substantially different than what was I remember available 10 days or 2 weeks ago and the page above still lists a bunch of models that have no info on them

and when you go to the order page - which is what I usually checked it is unchanged - it still shows the 1400x1050 model as NA _ and since the 1400x1050 I thought was required to get X700 I never clicked through the customize button - in past it always said X700 & SXGA NA :

HERE

when I go to the customize link I can select the 1400x1050 option even though the main screen says it is NA - it also give a ship date of 1/30/06 so they are not available now in reality

no big deal as it finally it appears is available - at least to order- unfortunately like you and I, I suspect Sony drove away most of the customers that might have been interested

I too was ready to buy this machine - but between the months long delays - the poor reviews and frankly the clunky boxy design compared to the typical Sony "cool" - I doubt the BX will last long

keep in mind the prior "business" version was a rebundled Z1 basically - minor upgrades -still way behind any kind of leading edge - and if if I recall they lost the cool silver case (same neat design but gray or blackish if I remember) - I looked at it, and as a Z1 owner it said "blah" - just like the BX does

if I wanted clunky theres lotsa choices - cool is why we buy Sony

the FJ was another disappointment - IMO anyway - the BX w X700 specs are what the FJ should have been - they would have sold a ton of them

better yet build a 15.4 wide screen with the new thin LED screen on a FS body - make it 5 lbs and yo would have a world beater

IMO of course ....

 

I got my z60t after going through delays and shipment nightmares. True is that Sony customizable section does give you a lot options while Lenovo doesn't. But prices for Sony's options, such as CPU and RAM, are total ripped off. Especially RAM, 2GB selling for $800. I got 2GB PC4200 DDR2 for z60t for $180. One thing that I really like about Lenovo's notebook is the parts. Almost every parts on the notebook you can purchase off from internet and DIY repair unlike other brand which makes you send it back to manufacturer. This is one of the reason I'm keeping z60t.

 

Hmmm, seeing that there really are no other options out there for a 14" good GPU laptop, I might still go for the BX despite everything that's been said in here. Rumour has it that the Asus W3J will come with the X1400, and early tests I've seen of that card ( here) shows it running slower than the X700 - not very promising.

I'm not too worried about the high prices Sony is charging for harddrives and RAM. I would go for the minimum specs and upgrade it myself.

This is what I have in mind:

Base Unit
VGN-BX540B

Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2.0 GHz)

Memory
256 MB (DDR2-533, 256 MBx1)

Hard Drive
40 GB SATA 5400rpm

Optical
CD-RW, DVD Drive

Graphics
ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X700 256MB HyperMemory™

Wireless LAN and Bluetooth technology
Integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth® technology

LCD
14.1" SXGA+(1400x1050) with XBRITE-ECO™ and integrated camera

Wireless WAN
No Wireless WAN

Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Battery
Standard Battery

Pre-installed Office Software
Microsoft Works 8.0

Office Trials
Microsoft Works 8.0 with Office 2003 Business Trial Edition

VAIO Entertainment Software
No VAIO software

AOL
AOL Trial

RDVD
RDVD Pro No WAN

VAIO Overseas Service
No VOS Service
Subtotal:
$1,700.01

Considering what you're getting, I don't think that price is too bad. An extra 1gb of memory (2x512) should cost me between $120-150, and a 100gb harddrive (5400 rpm) should be around $160. That's an extra $300, which brings the total to just around $2000. I can live with that, especially considering the favourable exchange rate for getting this shipped to Canada!

 

ASG, the link on the buisness frontpage and the one under the buisness notebookpage has linked to your second link since september. There are several vaio pages,

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...=hid_bx_microsite&DCMP=BXSERIES&HQS=vanityURL

some are updated less than others. The NA is the precustomized model. January 30 is a ship date, its one buisness week from the date you customized, which is good for a customized notebook. My T43 had a 3 week ship date from order. But I havent ordered one, so I wouldnt know for sure that you can order it, but it shows every indication that you can.

 

Well, considering that Sony just INCREASED the price on the customized BX by $100 I think I'll pass on it for now and see what Asus is up to instead.