Ladies and gents, i present you the VAIO SZ :)

I remember owning Sony notebook for 3k and had to send twice for repair. It was 850 Mhz FX190 if anyone remembers 4-5 years ago... They fixed it and I ended up selling it 6 month later for half the price on ebay. I had no feedback back then so it's the first item I ever sold (now I am at 120)

a little off topic... I just noticed that word sorry resembles word sony in a weird way... I guess that's how they come up with their name on the first place

Sony(Sorry if our) products are more expensive than competitors
Sony(Sorry if our) products will break more often then they should.
Sony(Sorry if our) customer service sucks
Sony(Sorry if we) got your money and don't care

Hey! I am still getting a Sony!

 

Thank you for contacting Sony Style Customer Care.

In regard to your question, the SZ release has been pushed back to March 22nd. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you for choosing Sony Style!

This is what I got from Sony style..

 

is that for the other premium models?

and does anyone know if that SZ with the silver keyboard will be avaliable in the US? That thing looks great.

 

silver does look nice

 

Ordered the SZ160 Premium on 1/24 and just got email shipment confirmation that it was shipped today via Fedex and scheduled delivery on 2/27 - YeePee After reading this thread 3 times a day and trying to find out if anyone else received it - finally it's my turn. I'll post pictures as soon as I receive it on monday. Stay tuned.

 

HI fellas.
I have a question.
I really wanna buy SZ.
Can you recommend a store, should I buy at?
like Bestbuy, compusa or sonystyle.

I have to use installment.
Is sonystyle the only web-site that support installment?

also service plan is pretty much important to me.

 

Well, I broke down and prebooked an SZ160 Premium from Sony Style Canada, ETA March 20th. Sony seems to be limiting distribution of the premium model up here - it's not availabe in their stores. I hate paying list price on anything, but I did find a $150 discount coupon, so not all is lost!

 

Check this out,

http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/Computers/Notebooks/SZ/SZspecs_a.html

I've been dying to get the SZ 170 so I can have the builtin Edge Wireless card. Funny they dont even mention that as a feature anywhere! Do you think its possible they scrapped this feature?

 

What are the differences between the sz120 and the sz160? Is it just casing? If so, is carbon casing better than magnesium?

thanks

 

Some progress on my SonyStyle order... Ordered my SZ-140 on 1/31, and now have an estimated ship date of 3/2, and now listed as "scheduled for production". This is real progress from 'ship date unkown'

For you other SZ-140 owners, did it come with a multi-card reader for the express slot?

Thanks for all the incoming information and reviews. If anyone's up to it, would they be willing to run the (cool just to watch benchmarking application) 3DMark06 ( www.3dmark.com) using the NVidia card and post their results?

- ncdave

 

Pls share the coupon. thx

 

Does anyone know which US model this is? Looks slick.

 

The SZ-90 is the U.S. SZ-160. This one has the silver keyboard option as well.

- ncdave

 

There is no way for us to get the SZ160 with silver in US is there? Only seems like stock model.
thx

 

Not currently. SonyStyle is not offering customization on the SZ-160 yet, but they will after the preorders are completed and the build up a parts inventory. Selecting between black or silver keyboard is already an option on the SZ-140.

- ncdave

 

Is the silver keyboard just a different color? Or is it a better keyboard (i.e. less key press/stroke distance)?

 

So whats the difference between the SZ140 and the SZ160?

 

Many differences but the main is the 140 is the standard line (magnesium case) and the 160 is the premium (carbon fiber case). The 160 has a different screen (led lit lcd) similar to the thin TX screen. Also, the premium is about half a pound lighter.

I think some 140s can be customized to have many of the same features as the 160. IMO if you spend the same for a comparably equipped 140 you might as well have gotten the 160 with carbon fiber body and more efficient LCD.

 

Very weird... I ordered a customized SZ140 from sonystyle a few days after they were released but cancelled it at the beginning of this month cause I decided to wait for the premium ones. So everything's good, the order status on sonystyle.com says cancelled but yesterday I get an email saying my new notebook has been scheduled for assembly. I sent them an email about this but all I got was some generic response about cancelled orders.

 

Funny you say that. I just received a "good news, your laptop is scheduled for assembly" email this morning on a canceled sz140.


I'm guessing it's an autogenerated email sent when the order is "updated". In our cases, updated to canceled.

 

Since they pushed back my Sz140 order another week, I almost bought an SZ 110 at Bestbuy yesterday. The guy from the geek squad there told me that the SZ110 only has 32mb dedicated vram on the 7400 card. I guess he bought one himself a few weeks ago and he could not even run Battlefield 2 on it. That's troubling! What's the point of being able to toggle between two graphics systems if your card only has 32 mb dedicated? It seems kind of bizarre, but I guess for most people 32 mb is probably enough. I'm going to hold out for my SZ140(according to Sony it does have 128mb dedicated). Regardless of the Vram thing, I think it's going to be a fabulous machine.

 

I have a sz110 and the Nvidia card has 128 dedicated. I just played Battlefield 2 and UT2004 with absolutely no problem.

 

That's interesting. Maybe the guy from the Geeksquad made a mistake. That's strange because he told me he got in touch with Sony and Nvidia reps and that they told him it was 32mb. Do you think that that there is variation among the SZ110's videocards or do you think the guy from the Geeksquad made a mistake? The thing that made me believe him is this link :
http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/Computers/Notebooks/SZ/SZspec_b.html

The chart shows that the SZ140 has more total ram at 256. But I definitely believe you flashram- how would you explain it though?

 

Just picked up my SZ120P/B at Circuit City today (in NYC)! They didn't even know they had one until I had them search their stock. Lucky for me they received ONE box on the truck this morning so I bought the only one they had! I'm kinda stoked about that!

I've been waiting for this computer since I heard about it after CES. My last laptop broke down late last year (vaio z1va) and CC gave me a gift card for 1369.00 to replace it! So i waited 4 months for this! So far I love it but gotta get rid of some of these unwanted programs. The screen is nice but definitely inferior to the FE model I was playing around with. I haven't tested out the battery life yet so I have nothing to report there.

One thing that scared me was when I was creating the recovery discs, the cd-rom started to get really noisy and the recovery wizard stopped, ejected, and told me to insert another disc. Luckily I didn't have to start from the beginning being that I was on disc 6. Later, the noise happened again (somewhat a slight rattle) but it got better right away. For all this money and time, obviously I want it to be the perfect machine. No problems since then tho.

The computer is very light. There is some flex to the keyboard (which doesn't really bother me) and some warmth at the bottom, but nothing worth really noting. I'm confused as to why the MS Duo Pro is separate from the other media slot. I'm not as technically inclined like most of you on this this forum so I can really only review what I (a common user) notices. Now, I just wonder how much better it gets with a premium model!

BTW, thanks to all who have contributed to this thread and the others about the SZ, I'd much rather hear comments and complaints from you lot than reviews from large published sites (if that makes any sense). Hope yall get yours soon!

 

it is 32MB dedicated, the rest it pulls from the main RAM

 

can that play or handle the latest games? doom 3, farcry, battle field 2 at mid settings?

i'm about 90% convinced on buying this. not 100% because of the doubts in the video card

 

-Don't mean to rub salt in your wound...but I was number 5 on the list.

My 160 would have been here yesterday, but according to Fed-ex, Sony botched my address on the shipping label...left out one digit...so I won't get it until Monday (Feb 27th). I was hoping to use it all weekend, but instead I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs... -Guess I can't complain though...

 

From what I've heard, the Premium models have FAR superior screens.
I'll find out for sure on Monday (Feb 27) as mine will arrive... I'll post here when it comes.
-Mark

 

Please let us know about the screen and any other differences.

 

Well, I re-placed my order for the SZ this morning. Since cancelling, I had shopped around and for what I want, the SZ is really the only game in town. The reviews here and elsewhere have been pretty good so far. Don't want a trimmed down version through BB, CUSA or CC, so I guess I'll have to wait. I figured I'll keep it on order and if I see something else, just cancel again. What do I have to lose?

Anyway, I upped my hard drive to 100 GB and got the silver keyboard. The CS rep. was actually pretty cool and gave me some inside info. The machine might ship in March but April is a very real possibility. Told me the demand for these things is through the roof. Also told me the camera and fingerprint reader were the 2 components causing the delays. Don't quote me on it but I took that to mean ordering without these 2 options might get you a machine a lot faster.

 

Went to the Sony website and configured with and without a camera and finderprint sensor. With both there is no ship date. Without both it says it would ship tomorrow. With the fingerprint deal and no camera it says it will go into production tom. and ship within 5 to 7 days.
I certainly don't need the camera, especially with USB issue. Hmmmmmm.

The Sony website is unclear though. Does going without the camera mean no bluetooth as well?

 

Bossy, my SZ140 arrived a couple days ago and I've got it pretty well configured now. MetaStock runs great!

Keyboard is a little squishy, but I can get used to it. I wish the backspace and delete keys were on the same row, too.

Full of bloatware and stupid crap; once I turned a lot of it off it ran much better.

Video cam quality is LOUSY!

I don't do games, so I can't answer any questions about that. Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Jim
Who's going to reformat the old Z505 and give it to a friend....(bye-bye! I'll miss you!)

 

What did you turn of or remove. specifically?

 

Hi all;
I ordered SZ110B on Firday...

before ordering; I specifically asked the guy (best buy- geek squad) if I can play BF2 because I was thinking of buying Gateway 4000+) with ATi X700 card which I know it runs BF2 pretty well but it's more than 7 pounds and The guy said he was certain that it runs BF2. So I went for SZ instead of gateway as it's lighter and newer technology...

Then google gave me this : -

this makes me feel a little better

But it has 32 mb dedicated but still gets 224 mb from the main... so as long as memory is there I should be fine... What do you think?

 

Like I said, the sz110 has 128 MB dedicated video memory for the Nvidia card, not 32 MB. It runs BF2 with no problem at 1024x768 and medium details.

 

thanks; i'll try runing at medium settings..

 

Hey Hardin- How did you get rid of the bloatware?

 

I FINALLY got to see one of these bad boys tonight at Best Buy. What a great looking lappy! I'm glad I reconsidered, the machine is exactly what I need.
The screen was pretty d*mn good, not great, but very good. They had the SZ right next to an FE. The FE's screen, now that is great. Best screen I've ever seen on a notebook, period. If I was in the market for a 15.4 lappy, I'd buy it without a seconds hesitation. Beautiful machine.

The SZ's build is solid as a rock. There is no latch when you close the thing. Instead, there seems to be a spring mechanism or magnets which keeps the thing closed. Pretty cool!

I didn't mind the keyboard so much but it is different. It doesn't look cheap at all, IMHO.

I can't wait to get mine to see what it can do beyond the looks!

 

glad you liked it... I am enjoying mine a lot

 

Yeah but you actually have it. I'm waiting until Sony gets around to building and shipping mine....

Your review of the screen was pretty dead on. There were definitely better screens in the store but it is more than good enough. Did it get any better as you made some adjustments?

 

So we all know the screen can be better, but how is the screen with some sunlight on it? The one thing I hate about my 700m screen is that its difficult to see when there is some sunlight on it.

 

For those who have it, can you do a test on battery life? This is a crucial point in me buying this notebook. Thanks.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=42283

 

these are not actual tests, just what Windows reports, I will do more testing later on... charging takes a long time though (3-4 hours for full charge)

 

if 700m is difficult to see, this one would be too... I have Fujitsu s6231 and it's the brightest screen I've ever seen even that isn't great in sunlight

 

Ok well, I got under 3 hours today with wifi on and brightness at max. All I was doing was light web browsing every 5 minutes or so, the rest of the time it was idling. Very disappointing IMO and may end up being a deal breaker for me. I can't justify spending another $330 for the extended battery in additon to the $2050 I already dished out.

 

That's alomst half of what I'm getting on my SX160. I let it run again with wifi off... and I got just over 5 hours.

Perhaps there's something different between the 110/120 and the 160.

The battery life far exceeds my expectations.

 

i will do battery test with battery eater pro as soon as it charges... which is very sllloooww compared to my Compaq... but the battery life on that one was under 2 hours

 

nVidia seems to want to keep the actual amount of dedicated memory hidden in the Geforce 7400. Some say 32 MB, Some say 64 MB and some say 128 MB. This article says 512 MB?

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-11193-Samsung+X11+Core+Duo+!.html

I give up...

 

It's not really a secret. I have one (sz110) and as I've stated before it's 128 MB dedicated.

Also, that article you linked to is for a completely different notebook than the Sony. The amount of memory can differ between notebook models and brands. Not all 7400's will use 128 MB just like there are x700's out with 64 MB and 128 MB, etc.

Again, I assure you that the sz (at least the sz110/120) has 128 MB dedicated for the Nvidia card.