Going in to pruchase the SZ 230 P/B...Concerns about battery life and software bundle

Hi everyone, I need some critical advice. Im pretty set on purchasing the Sony 230 P/B from CompUsa, especially due to the $200 price drop. I've been tirelessly doing research because I do not know much about computers, and at this point Im pretty nervous. Obviously people are going to have lemons or bad situations, but it seems like the SZ's have some major flaws and sony customer service is miserable. I really could use some go-ahead advice: Should I buy it or wait/find another computer?

Also, the two major complaints about the sony were the battery life and the pre-installed software. So two questions:
1) How bad is the battery life? I see that there's an extended battery that I wouldnt mind purchasing but was wondering how much extra life it gives the computer and how much added weight/size it adds?
2) I read tons of complants on how the pre-packaged software unnecessarily slows the computer down and how difficult it is to remove it. I found a great link in this forum, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=44587, but it seems like there is room for a lot of mistakes and I definitely do not have the knowledge to correct any issues on my own. Is it safe to follow these directions to clear the software? How terrible is the software and how much can be accomplished by just deleting program files.

Thanks so much again, this forum has been so helpful.

 

The battery life is about 4 to 4.5 hours(normal use like internet). Turning of wireless and switching to stanima mode increases battery life by another 40 min.
The software that comes with it is mostly junk except maybe roxio and winDvd. The rest is relativly easy to remove.

 

I would consider looking into the Asus W7J. I like my Sony very much, but it does have its build quality issues, and the customer support does seem to be lacking for the most part.