Images of the SZ691N/X premium carbon finish

Hi all,

I'm posting this in response to a request by jimmy-floyd for some pictures of the interesting premium carbon finish on the SZ691N/X. Mine came from P1 and has the 4GB RAM and 200GB 7200rpm HDD upgrades as well as a clean P1 Vista image. Ivan G from PortableOne is the best and I highly recommend doing business through them.

I have noticed that the carbon lid has at least five different light facets, which makes its appearance very interesting. This finished is shared with some of the Type G notebooks (that have the fibers aligned vertically rather than on the bias) and the premium TZ models (that have a black tint rather than a brown tint).

If I'm not mistaken, the finish is created by using either a tinted resin with the unidirectional carbon fiber, or a tinting treatment on the fibers before being wetted. This is then painted with a satin finish paint that has a very subtle blue-metalic speck in it.

The effect of this is at least five very unique light facets that I have noticed so far. It is difficult to capture them with a camera, with the eye you tend to only see one at a time, but with the camera you tend to get transitions between them:

Facet 1, this is what you mostly see in indoor lighting. It looks much like the normal finish except that instead of being black it is a dark chocolate brown.


Facet 2, this is what we most like to see; the light reflects off the resin immersed fibers rather than off the diffuse satin surface.


Facet 3, this is where you see nothing but diffuse white light reflected off the satin finish


Facet 4, at some angles and lighting you will notice almost nothing but the speckle of the blue-metallic flecks in the surface paint. It doesn't show properly in my pictures


Facet 5. I'm pretty sure you'll only notice this one in sunlight. The light tends to glow off the tint in the resin, which highlights the slight waviness in the direction perpendicular to the fiber alignment. Perhaps the waviness causes variation in resin thickness and hence tint thinckness. This is a glowing golden syrup brown rather than the flat dark-chocolate brown you normally see. Again, it's hard to get with the camera, but notice the pattern that runs at a right angle to the fibers


There is arguable a sixth light facet which annoyingly seems to show nothng but scratches. Even the tiniest scratch shows up prominently - but you don't usually notice this angle. I didn't try to capture this, but other people have posted it.

I also notice that there is just a hint of brown in the palmrest, which seems to match the lid nicely. I don't know if it is different to the normal models


-Drvec

 

Cool, nice pictures from a very nice notebook. I didn't know it was a chameleon

Maybe i misunderstood, but do you mean Sony offer there Vaio's (or some of them) with a clean Vista install in your country, and where do you live?

 

No, Sony don't offer it. A company called "Portable One" in the US, who are certified Sony resellers, are offering the clean install Vista on their SZs as well as offering a DVD image for $25 to people who purchased their machines elsewhere. It seems they did this in response to a large number of requests to remove bloatware/crapware from the otherwise excellent machines. Their decision to do this goes above and beyond the normal expectation of a retail store, but as a result they have recieved a lot of positive feedback and interest.

I am in Australia, where you can also buy the Santa Rosa SZ, but I shipped my model from the US instead because it was better value, a better configuration, and because of the clean operating system.

 

Drvec
I'm about to go down the same path as you (ordering from P1, ship to OZ)
Did customs hit you with tax?
Any other hints?
Oh - the EVDO antenna - any way to make use of it here?

Nick

 

You mean you actually put this beautiful laptop on your dirty concrete?

 

I ran home from work after I saw this thinking someone stole my laptop!

I have the same model with the same configuration and upgrades! As they say in your neck of the wood, nice laptop, mate.

Also, nice photos to show the detail of the weave. When I first received the laptop, I thought it was nicely crafted but I couldn't really tell the difference between the lid on the 691 and the others (I went to look at the other models at CompUSA). However, given certain lighting I'm amazed with the details.

I snapped a few photos but the lighting didn't capture the true beauty and never bother posting. It must be the weird sun Down Under.

 

Drvec
you made a great job, thanks. the photos are amazing, and professional, and all the photos are accompanied with the comments, thanks again. this eye candy sz691N/X looks like a supermodel on the podium.

 

nice pics. i saw one of these at a sonystyle store and it was a beaut.

 

i actually own one from past three days and i am sure there are more facets. wherever i go, be it my school , a cafe, anywhere, in different lighting conditions, the appearance of the outer lid changes very dramatically and sometimes even when the wave pattern is not visible, the glossy lid looks gorgeous.

 

SZ691 is really very beautiful.
Is SZ691 or SZ670 made in Japan?

 

Ah, cool.
I was just having a discussion about why Sony doesn't offer buyers a choice to get there Vaio's with a clean Vista install or with the "extra's" with some guys on a Dutch FZ model forum, and i thought maybe Sony USA had seen the light when i read your post. Unfortunately not, but it's a good effort from Portable one. Thanks for the additional info.

 

The lid of the SZ691 is gorgeous. I just wish one could get it without the WWan antenna.

 

Actually, according to a quote I read in a review of the TZ-191, Laptop magazine reported that Sony is aware of the bloatware problem and is "working on a solution."

So, it appears that all the negative feedback has finally reached enough of a crescendo to make Sony do something about it.

 

they make a chrome cap like the other side that takes the space if you want to take the antenna off

 

Yeah unfortunately I did have to pay tax, however I have an ABN and it's for work use so I believe I can get all the GST back at the end of the finanical year. Otherwise you could ask P1 to declare the value as much lower.

Other hints: get the docking station (they sell it at a good price compared to here - about half) and the 200GB 7200rpm drive. It is worth every cent.

The EVDO Antenna: Well, I'm hoping someone attempts swapping the EVDO module for the HSDPA module that the UK model has (which accepts a sim card in the battery bay). Otherwise I think Telstra NextG is still EVDO, although not for much longer. Also it seems you can take it off and plug the hole with the same machined cap as is on the left side.

Haha! It was the only place on the property with full sun that morning. I just couldn't get a photo that showed the detail under electric light the night before.

Yep, mine is made in Japan. I think there may be a China made version out there that some companies are importing?? I don't know if all the model are made in Japan, maybe a few other people can flip their SZs and let us know.

Great,

a) do you know where to get the chrome cap?
b) do you know if there is a trick to getting the antenna off?
c) some people have been talking about swapping the EVDO module to proper sim-card toting HSDPA. If that were possible I go that path instead. Anyone know more?

Cheers all.

 

Now that is good news, i hope they figured it out in a year or two when my FZ needs to be replaced

 

tell me more about chrome cap. removing antenna is easy, just pull it outside using some force. and how to remove that evdo module. coz i thik i cant use it in INDIA. i will be using wireless internet which goes through CDMA networks. will that work here

 

because they pay sony to include their software in the vaio's. they have to put it in.

 

roor...where do you get chrome cap if one wants to take WWAN antenna off? I did hear the antenna just snaps out.

 

nice pics Drvec.

 

i couldnt find any place through a google search that has it

but i did find this thread that might help you http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=168311

 

i have the antenna too and dont use the cingular wwan, but i think the antenna looks cool but thats just me. i mean its not like you see antennas on many other laptops do you

 

roor....thanks for the link to the other thread. The WWAN is something I would never need and after reading through the link you suggested it sounds like some people even have lost their antenna. It is just something sticking out that might break! But otherwise you are right...it does look cool.

 

The cap on the left side of my SZ looks like it is machined aluminium, and definately not chrome. Are there different types of cap or are people just mistakenly calling this a chrome cap?

You can tell by the radial reflection and whitist color. Here's a generic image:

 

yea i just looked on mine and its aluminum. but i think ive seen a picture of someone putting a chrome one on the other side though. but, i said like, not exactly the same as the other side.

 

Click quote to read the thread.

 

It's neither aluminum nor chrome. It's rather a black plastic piece painted chrome and about a half an inch long. See page 6 in this review. Unfortunately, I don't know the part number for this piece, however you may be able to find it by emailing the picture in page 6 to Dynamism, Portable One, or Sony DAPC and ask.

 

i cant read any of that site.

 

and it doesn't look like painted plastic to me, not with the reflection it gives. and the texture you can clearly see. that wont come from paint.

 

Is SZ691 available in Europe??

 

as far as i can tell, it's plastic with chrome plating on the outer surface. very common process with mobile phones.

 

Thanks for that. To save people some time, here is the little devil:



It looks to me like you have to insert it internally, which would make the replacement of the antenna a tricky job indeed.

 

There is an equivalent model, which is the SZ61VN/X I think.

Perhaps it's arguably better than the SZ691N/X because it has HSDPA instead of EVDO Rev A. But they both have the crappy 4200rpm drive. If you buy from P1 you can get them to swap it for a 7200rpm drive and clean OS. On the Japanese model you can select a 200GB 7200rpm drive but, well, you'll have a Japanese OS too, which is a real pain.

http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowPro...N/X&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+SZ+Series

 

The difference it that SZ691N/X suports up to 4GB of RAM while SZ61VN/X 2GB

 

you can put 4gb in all sz's. but you cant use all 4gb unless you run a 64bit os