Looks Like I May Be Swapping My Z90 for the HP 2530p

FenderP, didn't you try R500 before and didn't like it? Or was it someone else? You know, the way you are trying all of them out, you can probably write a "battle of SSD" review for this site and recuperate a little cost back.

I was really impressed with 2530's specs on paper, but I guess your experience is why I still stick with Sony -- not that it's the greatest or has not shipped out lemons, but it's just my luck that I haven't had any bad experience and I hope I can continue to be lucky if I stick with them.

 

No, I didn't try the R500. It's been on my list for awhile as contender. I've seen it in person and it's not bad. It's more like the G in terms of its looks, and I'm fine with that. I've had plenty of ULV laptops so I know what I'm getting, and the few reviews I've seen of the R600 is that it's improved over the R500. It can have up to 5GB of RAM, and I can reuse one of the 4GB memory DIMMs I got for the HP. Assuming the Toshiba sticks, I'll sell the other one.

You're not kidding about the SSDs. I've had the first gen 32GB (VGN-G1) and 64GB (VGN-G2), the RAID0 (VGN-Z90), and the X18-M in the HP (which I'm keeping and going to put into an enclosure). Now onto the Toshiba 512GB lol I'm not really a numbers guy since things always look better on paper, I go by real world experience.

Outside of the virtualization issue, I've had no problems with my Sony laptops. I'm thinking with Windows 7 Ultimate coming down the road this fall, they're going to have to enable it to support the XP mode. I won't hold my breath, though. Knowing Sony if they do, they won't back-rev it, meaning it'll only be on newer notebooks that "officially" support Windows 7.

People can knock Sony all they want, and I have my own problems with some of what they do (i.e. virtualization), but they make some of the best laptops out there that balance power, weight, portability, looks, and features. You pay for that, though

If my job as of late didn't really require the VT-x support, I'd wait until the fall when Sony may support it. I just can't afford to lose business in the meantime because my Z doesn't support it. I'd rather pay my bills than be loyal to my laptop heh

 

Quick update: the R600 with the 512GB SSD shipped; I should have it by the 29th in the AM. It's winging it's way from Shanghai at the moment.

The HP is officially going back today. No hassles from HP on the return, which was very cool.

 

I dunno... With the amount we pay, I'd love to get 16.7 million colours, and not 262,144 dithered to 16.2 million...

 

Cool, keep us posted on your new R600!

 

what about the dell studio 14z?

 

and please be honest and uncensored

 

This is why I tend to always gravitate to www.notebookcheck.net for their home-base reviews because they are an English-language (translated) version of the German site www.notebookcheck.com and exhibit far more of a technical interest than most American reviews. Not to mention the fantastic benchmark charts for all graphics cards and mobile processors they provide, as well.

 

I agree, I think Notebookcheck and also Notebookjournal.de make the best reviews. As far as I know they are the only review sites that actually measure brightness, black levels and contrast of a screen. Well there's one or two more German magazine sites that do it, but that's it.

Why no American review site has bought the equipment to measure screens puzzles me. It's not even that expensive.

 

Post #4 should clarify for you.

Plus, I looked back - I touched on it briefly in my original post, but anyone who has seen any of my posts for the past few years knows that over 4lbs is really too heavy for me (that Dell starts at 4.3lbs). And a 14"? Ugh. Too big.

If you like Dell and a big laptop, by all means, get the 14z.

 

The R600 just arrived. It's setting up now. I'll back up the Vista config (x64) once it's done and install Windows 7.

 

I am curious about the performance of the 512gb ssd. Please let us know!

 

I've spent most of the day figuring out a Windows 7 issue which had to do with newer drivers. I finally figured out how to get everything working (had to do it via an Upgrade and not install some newer drivers). Unfortunately, VMware screws a few things up under W7 that I have to live with.

There's very little bloatware on here which is actually really nice.

 

Look at the disk numbers (see graphics) and compare to the Windows Experience Numbers. This shows how every component can make or break a system. The Toshiba falls about where I thought it would based on my ULV computer experience.

What this also tells me is that the LV processors are really a good bargain, and if more manufacturers used them, they could make lighter and faster notebooks in small form factors that really would come close to their bigger siblings. I'd love to see Sony do that ...

I was copying from a USB 2.0 hard drive, downloading some ISOs from TechNet, and installing in VMWare with no problems. That would bring the G to its knees.

Windows Experience Numbers
Vaio VGN-Z90NS (Windows 7 with Build 7000 x64)
Processor 6.1 (P8600 2.53 GHz)
Memory 5.9 (4GB PC3-8500 1066 MHz)
Graphics 4.4 (Speed, not Stamina)
Gaming Graphics 4.4
Primary Hard Disk 7.0 (RAID 2 x 64GB)

Toshiba R600-ST4203 (Windows 7 RC x64)
Processor: 4.4 (SU9400 1.4 GHz)
Memory: 4.9 (5GB PC2-6400 800 MHz)
Graphics: 2.8
Gaming Graphics: 4.9
Primary Hard Disk: 6.9 (Toshiba 512GB SSD)

HP 2530p (Windows 7 RC x64)
Processor: 5.3 (SL9400 1.86 GHz)
Memory: 5.7 (8GB PC2-6400 800 MHz)
Graphics: 3.8
Gaming Graphics: 4.9
Primary Hard Disk: 7.8 (Intel X18-M 80GB)

Vaio VGN-G2AANS (Windows Vista Business SP1 32-bit)
Processor: 4.4 (U7600 1.2 GHz)
Memory: 4.2 (2GB DDR2 533 MHz)
Graphics: 2.1 (Intel 950)
Gaming Graphics: 2.8
Primary Hard Disk: 5.3 (64GB SSD 1st or second gen)

 

I'm not following your last post. Are you talking about the bad graphics score of the Toshiba?

PS. I'd like to see the HDTune scores from Sony RAID SSD & Toshiba 512 SSD.

PS2. How about using a better benchmark than WEI? Passmark for example. Free for 30 days. Notebookjournal has a large database of scores that can be compared.

 

No, the disk scores which are highlighted in the graphics I attached.

I'm a bit busy at the moment finishing up my book (which is one of the reasons why I needed the Toshiba). Maybe if I get a chance I'll run some of those tests next week.

 

But the Crystal Mark scores of the Toshiba are excellent. Better than the RAID SSDs. I'm still not following you... And I don't see any parts highlighted.

So are you saying the Toshiba is a good performer?

 

Yes, the Toshiba is a great performer. To be honest, I don't perceive a ton of difference from the Z90 to the R600. Today alone I had a few browser windows open, Outlook, Word, and five VMs (including some 64-bit ones) in VMware. Other than an odd lag here or there (which, to be fair, sometimes happened on the Z as well), the R600 handles everything great. I always loved my G (even after getting the Z), and this seems to just be the widescreen version of the G. Similar designs. The new G with the RAID would probably perform like the R600, but my G2 couldn't do any of this well. When Outlook would kick in and get e-mail, the G would grind to a halt.

What's nice is that the Japanese tip (the one you use to put it flush with the wall instead of using a cord - see http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?currency=USD&products_id=201) for the adapter for the G works on the R600's (same tip as the one Sony ships with the TZ/TT I believe in Japan as well). The R600 also fits in the small VGP-CKG1 case ( http://www1.jp.sonystyle.com/Qnavi/Product/VGP-CKG1/) that was made for the G (that case apparently also works for the TZ/TT), so when I'm local, I don't have to schlep a backpack.

So far, I'm a happy camper.

 

Interesting how the one-gen older 2510P compares as shown here:

HP 2510p u7600 @1.2/@1.6
Processor: 3.7 / 4.4
Memory: 4.2 / 4.6
Graphics: 2.7 / 3.3
Gaming Graphics: 3.0 /3.2
Primary Hard Disk: 3.7 (80GB 4200RPM 1.8" ZIF) / 6.3 (64GB Runcore ProIV ZIF SSD)