SA Questions. About to Pull the Trigger

Hi everyone,
I'm about to pull the trigger and purchase a SA series in the coming days. However, I wanted to clarify some things before I made my purchase.

1. Is the screen matte?
2. Does the computer make a lot of noise under heavy load?
3. Is there a high failure rate with RAID0 SSDs in the series?
4. Should I get the additional 4GB RAM or buy my own and install it (voids warranty)?

Thanks

 

The screen is matte. Very nice for reflections -- color is OK, viewing angles are nothing special -- resolution is very helpful.

The computer will rev up like a jet plane at full load, under normal circumstances however it tends to be very quiet/inaudible.

To this date I have not see anything ( on this forum or elsewhere ) to suggest a high SSD failure rate. I would say at this point in time you would be very unlucky to get a bad egg with the SSD setup.

Adding ram would likely void the warranty, however all you need to do is remove it before sending it in for repair and everything is just fine! ( There is no seal to break as the Hard Drives/SSDs and RAM are accessible via a single panel.

The amount of money saved for the small hassle of removing RAM before warranty repair is well worth it.

I hope that helps out! Ask away if you have more questions.

 

I don't think adding RAM voids the warranty, nor HDD...everything is accessible when you open the bottom cover to replace battery, so it,s kind of hard to enforce warranty violation...I definitely didn't come across any warranty seal that I had to break when I replaced my HDD and added RAM.

 

I am also about to purchase a S A VAIO model.

However, having read numerous poor reviews for the SB model (particulraly concerning the screen) I need re-assurance that the better resolution / graphics card on the SA will not disappoint.

Can ANYBODY offer guidance on this please?

Replies ASAP would be appreciated - my old VAIO died last week and an upgrade is URGENT.

Thanks

 

I'm also about to buy an SA and have researched and gone into the Sony shop several times... They haven't had any SA's just SB's but I have to say the screen looks fine, its nothing special but for a matt screen is average/good (of course gloss screens usually have better colour,etc but you can't take them outside). Also, its no Z screen, but then again the laptop is like half the price. When I get my SA i'll tell you what the screen is like if you want...

PS also, I recently made/asked a thread on here about the screen, it should be on the first few pages of the Sony forum.

 

Changing the RAM or HDD doesn't void the warranty but if you have bought your own third party RAM and HDD and you get some kind of RAM/HDD related problem - i.e. HDD failure or a dud stick of RAM, Sony obviously cannot repair or replace them. They can only cover what they sold you directly.

 

Last question, how do they get 2 SSDs in there if it only has 1 HDD bay?

 

The SSDs they use are built into a proprietary format with a unique cable -- two drives on one board. They are not enclosed as a traditional 2.5mm ssd would be.

 

Well, what old VAIO do you have? For me, coming from VGN-FZ and VGN-Z 1366x768, SA screen really is not an upgrade -- it's not a downgrade, either, because now I have 1600x900 res.

On the other hand, the only 13" screens that beats VGN-Z screen hands-down are the two VPC-Z. (MBA/MBP are glossy, even though some specs of the screens should beat VGN-Z or even VPC-Z).