SZ Series Input Requested

I am trying to decide between a Dell 1330 or one of teh Sony's. The two that I am looking at are:

SONY VAIO SZ Series VGN-SZ780NW
VGN-SZ750N

The main problem that I see w/Sony is the price. The Dell offers a great dealat a very good price while the Sony offers a great deal at a very high price. Any Sony owners please let me know your opinions of the above mentioned laptops w/ pro's and con's. Also, would you buy it again? Any convet from Dell? If so, why? I use Dell at work (gov) and have been very happy. I have conssidered the Mac, but I am not fond of the cult following that Mac seesm to have as well as the fact that some of the programs that I will be using will most likely NOT run on a Mac.

Thanks!

 

I was in the same boat a couple of months ago - same two choices and opted to go with the SZ770. The deciding factor was my vist to a Sony Store. The fit and finish on my Sony are superb and I really like the carbon fiber form factor of the Sony. I like the switchable graphic modes and indeed use both but use the stamina mostly as I am on battery power most of the time. The built in Sprint broadband is a plus for me. I have activated it and enjoy the freedom I have with it. To me, the Sony is a classy machine and is in a class all its own. I played with the MacBooks but decided that I need the Windows environment in my work.

Simply put, for me the Sony is one of the nicest machines I have ever owned.

It boils down to a matter of choice. I live in Dell country (Austin, TX) and am surrounded by Dells. When I am out and about with my Sony, I feel pleased to pill it out - just the "I got a Sony and you don't" factor don't ya knnow. LOL

Hope this helps.

Jim

I forgot to address price. I believe you get what you pay for in this world and am williing to pay a bit more for the luxury of the carbon fiber casing on the Sony as well as Sony's build quality. I also got the Sony $300 off which I applied to a 3 years extended warranty plus accidental damage warranty for the same time frame. Was it pricey? Yes. Was it worth it? Definitely yes!

 

The two below lists are not really intended to be a pro and con list the lists just highlight the differences between both of these laptops

SZ
Ability to use docking station
Superior mobile broadband
Switchable graphics 64mb 8400GS and x3100 graphics.
More traditional looking business laptop
Screen not as glossy as the majority of 13.3 notebooks
Fingerprint reader with TPM allowing info to be encrypted to the BIOS.
Carbon fibre/premium carbon fibre lid.


M1330
Dedicated card is 128mb
HDMI port
Easier to upgrade the HD.
Remote and media buttons
Slot loading drive


Battery life is better on the SZ if you go for an M1330 with dedicated graphics.

I don’t game and the majority of the time I use my notebook in stamina mode. If you game games will play a little bit better with the M1330 128mb dedicated card than it will play with the 64mb card.

The M1330 screen I had was a bit brighter than the SZ screen at the highest brightness level and it was more glossy in appearance. The SZ screen would work well in my opinion if you were not that keen on glossy screens and wanted something in the middle a bit. I also find the SZ screen to be bright enough and good in colour balance. The M1330 screen was good were colour brightness goes and i didn't have any grain issues with either laptops.

The SZ is a little bit better made compared to the M1330 that I owned. Still the M1330 that I owned was ok though where build quality goes.

The keyboard clicks are more clicky sounding on the SZ keyboard but in my opinion the SZ keyboard looks better. Both keyboards type well though. The trackpads are about the same.

Customer service I found with Dell could go from good to being awful. I haven’t yet experienced Sony’s CS yet to be able to comment on it.

In the UK the SZ is very expensive I didn’t pay full rrp for my notebook they are more reasonable in the US price wise.

Both notebooks are good but what is better might depend on what you are looking for in a laptop as to which one will suit your needs the most.

 

i agree that sony is often prohibitively expensive; but i dont feel as though comparing a luxurious sony sz with the fairly common dell xps m1330 is fair; they are both in two different leagues concerning quality, brand, etc. I dont mean to knock Dell in the least, especially their xps line which is quite nice, i own one; personally though when i look at my xps and then my sz, and hold it, they dont compare in the least.

both are great machines with great performance, but not truly comparable in terms of brand rep, quality and just overall experience.

if i could afford the sz, and am particular about my tech, i would splurge on the sz.

 

It is kind of hard to give suggestions on whether to buy the Vaio SZ or XPS M1330 because both are great laptops.

cduke123, I guess it depends on what features you really want/need & buy your laptop based on that. I believe that rachuk has already stated the major differences between the 2 laptops. Good luck.

 

I had the exact same dilemma with you and I think with many people who look into the thin and light segment. So I went to Best Buy; spent some time with both and the decision was very easy. The Sony has far better build quality, much more appealing design (to me at least) and I even found the keyboard more pleasing to type on. Look for the refurbished products at Sony’s site and the coupons that Sony occasionally offers.