Killer SZ deal?! (refurb question) + WWAN question

Hey Vaio fans!

So I have decided a vaio SZ is the ultimate lap top and I NEEDS it! I know I want something with at least a 2.0 GHz (t7200) and 2GB RAM but for as little money as possible as my budget REALLY should be under 1350$.

At first I figured I´d buy a t7200 with only 512MB ram and 80gb HDD and then uppgrade it myself to 2GB ram and 160GB HDD but then I found out that the warranty is voided if you replace the harddrive your self

Then I found a deal on a refurb SZ330P/B ( http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech4less/VGN-SZ330P/B?id=4QB8HpU3&mv_pc=48 ) for $ 1326 with shipping.

It has the Cingular crap which I really dont want as it drains battery and I wont be needing it.

My two questions are:

*Is it safe to buy refurbs? This particular model seems ridden with problems as its one of the only ones on refurb. The salesman tells me that its only refusbished bc of missing manuals and has NO dings or scratches.

* If I disable the WWAN EDGE Cingular crap, will it perform just like SZ without it? Battery life-wise mainly?

Third bonus question:

I know from experience that Vaios are stocked with a load of junk SW so I wanna install my authentic Vista business edition, is it really as much of a hassle as everyone says?

THANKS, any and all responses are appreciated!!

 

When I bought a refurbished Toshiba Satellite M55 last year, it came with everything except the original box and only had one tiny scratch on the lid where the logo is. Excellent condition and I got it at a great price.

The WWAN will be off by default and so consume no power, don't worry about it.

 

I just ordered a refurbished sz370 and I know how you feel, I was a bit apprehensive about it but I couldn't pass up the savings and I did purchase a 3 year warranty to put my mind at ease a bit, now I just have to wait for it to arrive

 

You probably could find a brand new or almost brand new 330 on eBay for that price.

 

330 on ebay is 200 dollars more

 

I've seen plenty of 330's with warranty, and are within his price range. You just have to look a harder and often.

 

OKay, thanks for all the replies, you´re making my decision easier and easier

I forgott to mention; the refurbished vaio is sent with a full 1 yr warranty (parts and labour) and a 30 day return time. In other words, all I have to loose is time and shipping costs (?)

I am still hesitant about the battery life though. The rated battery life on the SZ w/out WWAN is 6 h compared to 5.5 h WITH WWAN and a lot of reviewers on pricegrabber and amazon complain of a battery life of 2 hours or sometimes even less!?

Does anyone have any experience with the battery life on a WWAN SZ??(remember, I´m never gonna use it = disable it)

Or maybe know if this particular batch (SZ330P/B) is known to drain the batteries?

 

I checked Ebay, can´t find ANYTHING near 1330$ WITH full warranty. Feel free to link, I know you can find different stuff all the time.

 

Remember that whenever manfacturers say things like the SZ can get "up to 6 hours of battery life", that 6 hours is doing something unrealistic like having the screen, optical drive, etc. off and the laptop just sitting there idle doing nothing.
Although 2 and less hours of battery life also sounds not right to me.

 

Right, off course I don´t expect 6 hours (haha), but I´ve read reports of at least 3 to 4 hours and sometimes more with the graphics off and brightness to lowest and no WiFi etc...

 

Well I ordered the computer now anyways so if anyone´s interested I´ll tell you how it went It should arrive monday!