SZ 381 Premium vs. Lenovo Z Core 2 Duo

Guys
Im a bit disappointed at the new SZ 381. I was shown the specs of the upcoming Lenovo Z Titanium Core 2 and there are significant differences:

Lenovo has (which sadly EVEN a Premium SZ doesnt):

1. 802.11n
2. HSDPA builtin
3. 7200rpm SATA HDD
4. About 500-600$ less
5. May have Blu Ray or HD- IBM hasnt yet decided.If not a DVD Super Multi RW (Sonys option is proprietory)

Though i admit at 6lbs the Lenovo is heavier than the SZ and not a carbon fiber top.

 

Hey athreya,

I noticed your post about the upcoming Z-series Thinkpad line. How do you know the specs already? Are you referring to the 15.4" model at 6 pounds, because they also have a 14.1" model as well that weighs in closer to 4 pounds. Do you know if the 14.1" will get dedicated graphics in the upcoming revision? Do you have any idea when they will be available? I was hoping to get a new PC soon!

Any and all info is truly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

both get released mid October. thats all i know.

 

I noticed you mentioned the price difference; I mean, if you're looking at the SZ 381, you should be prepared to pay that; it's the highest end SZ model, and you are basically paying a lot more for those extra materials, and to be so light.

If you don't care about the weight and thickness, then the Lenovo clearly makes more sense. What you're paying for is to not have a 6 pound laptop, pretty much.

 

Lenovo makes high quality business oriented notebooks.
Sony makes fancy cosmetic-oriented notebooks.

It depends on your priorities:
Do you have an excessive amount of money to spend?
Do you care a lot about your appearance and what others think of you?
Do you want a reasonably light and powerful notebook?

K, then go with the SZ.

And, if you drop a notebook, likely, it's screen will shatter, and the HD will break--
regardless of what kind of metal it is made of.

 

Hey Athreya,

If you only know they get released Mid-Oct, how did you find out the other specs you listed above? Was there any mention to Dedicated Video cards?

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

As far as Cingulars HSPDA goes in the U.S... where is it? Last I heard it hasn't taken off really yet and it's been over a year I think. If no dedicated GPU the IBM is not an option for me, besides, who knows when it's comming. May as well be vaporware. I want no bigger than 13" and gotta be widescreen. The SZ is not perfect but it's the closest form factor to what I need and it is attractive.

 

i am talking about the significant difference in features between two high end notebooks. Form factor is just one difference in favour of Sony. UMTS/HSDPA is already available in about 20 markets. Dont know about the video card.

Release date is around Oct 15th.

 

I am not encouraged by Cingular threads like this and have finally switched to Sprint about a month ago after waiting in vain for Cingular HSPDA in my area.

http://forums.cingular.com/cng/board/message?board.id=pccards&message.id=2745&page=2

Just browse the forum and see what I mean.

Personally I use my Samsung A-900 with phone-as-modem Sprint plan at only $39/month. I can tether the phone to my laptop via USB or use wireless Bluetooth connection either with my 17" Powerbook or my little T250 10.6" screen laptop. I will consider a PCMCIA card however if I decide on the SZ; the phone modem is about 100 to 150 Kbps slower than the card.

 

Personally I would be much more interested in the upcomming ASUS A8js than the Lenovo.

http://laptopmag.com/Review/Asus-A8Js.htm

 

I was very interested in the A8js myself until I found out there was no Asus Docking station available for it. Thats a deal killer for me as I need a good docking station for my next lappy.

 

isnt tethering on sprint supposed to be $15 unlimited per month and not $39?

 

Not unless you know something I don't. My bill reflects $39/month. Good thing about it is it's not part of a contract so I can terminate it without penalty and get the PCMCIA card if I desire as long as I keep the $29/month voice contract for the phone. You are probably mistakenly refering to one of the other Powervision features like watching video channels, but I am not that much of a sportsfan for such video clips.

 

how did you manage to keep it off the contract? did you add it later, separately? can you do voice on it? the $15 is on their website

 

I added it after I bought the phone. Guess I need to look into what you are saying; no link? I see no unlimited phone-as-modem deals for $15.

 

UMTS is available, they have just started trials HSDPA. Few countries have announced availability this year, many of them being late, and I only know of 2 handheld devices supporting HSDPA at present..

So HSDPA is far from being *already available*
JY