SZ Series on the way out?

By the way, I found out last night, that although the SZ is no longer officially on the SonyStyle site, you can find several there under Outlet, which are refurbs, returns of configure-to-order laptops,each one a little different.

I ended up with a great deal. (The only one exactly like that though.) For about $1465, a SZ 780 premium, with the very fastest CPU (T9500), and the 200GB 7200RPM HD.

Furthermore, between now and Thursday (9/18), if you use the coupon code AFFB10 on checkout ( http://www.coupons2grab.com/couponhelp.php?coupon=185543&merchant=2636), 10% is taken off the purchase price, in this case about $150 lower, making the computer price a little over $1300.

I did pay for the very expensive 3 year accidental damage warranty, adding $350 to the sales price. After the California sales tax was added (no shipping charge), the total I paid was $1782.88.

Although that particular configuration and price I bought was only for one particular unit, there were a lot of SZs there, each configured and priced differently. Don't know how long they will last.

Note--the regular warranty on the Sony refurbs in only 90 days. So really essential to get some kind of extended warranty.

Has anyone reading bought a refurb sony laptop from SonyStyle? If so, how was it? I sure hope mine is in good shape.

That web site sure is a pain though! I had so much trouble trying to place the order, spent over an hour trying to do it, that I almost gave up on the purchase. Finally I tried from a different computer, and I was able to do it.

 

im actually like the sz, but unfortunately after playing around them at sonystyle shop, the build quality is just mediocre (especially the hinge) unlike sr and z..

back to topic, sz now is discontinued.

 

Maiki congrats on your purchase. You could have bought the Sony warranty cheaper elsewhere though. You coud have bought the Sony warranty from Provantage they sell the actual Sony warranty for quite a bit cheaper than what Sony sell it for. Once you get the warranty from Provantage you can register it on the Sony site just like you would do with the warranty you can get from Sony as the Provantage warranty is Sony warranty.

http://www.provantage.com/scripts/search.dll?QUERY=sony+warranty

Miyabi if you read some reviews you will see that some reviews have complained about the Z hinge and in reviews in the past they never complained about this with the SZ.
http://www.notebookjournal.com/tests/638
Also a few posters have complained about the same thing also. Maybe you either like the current Z hinge or you don't.

 

What'S your problem witht eh SZ's build quality?
Could you be specific?

I'm perfectly happy with mine and so where many other people.

 

Your URL didn't work for me, but try this:

http://www.provantage.com/sony-pcga-3sylpa~7SOVA03W.htm

The price listed there is $333.21. Yes, that would be a saving, of about $16, not a major amount, in a purchase like that. I guess if I had known, I might have done it that way, but it's no big saving.

Perhaps in writing "quite a bit cheaper", you were looking at the regular 3 year extended warranty. The one I bought for $349, like the one in the URL I listed from Provantage for $333, is 3 year with accidental damage. That is a major difference, covering screen breakage, etc., which is not covered by a regular warranty, and can cost tons to repair.

 

The one with 3 year warranty and express ship is $208.96 with accidental damage coverage.
http://www.provantage.com/sony-vgp3sylpad~7SOVA08U.htm

I didn't know that you were going for the onsite service this warranty on the Sony website the warranty is dearer than $349 anyway so you must have bought the onsite warranty cheaper from Sony.

The 3 year express ship with ADH is normally $349 on the Sony website.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665411982

I was just thinking about the SZ do you think that another docking station that had an in built HDMI port might work with it if they had the same connection?

Edited to add:
I came across this the Sony price guide for the warranty packages and they are the same model number that Provantage is selling. Also the selling rrp of the 3 year onsite warranty with ADH is $399. Some of the prices that they are charging seems to be cheaper than they what they are charging people on the Sony.com website.
http://b2b.sony.com/documents/ExtendedServicePlan.pdf

 

If the hardware is recognised I can't see why not.

 

What does onsite mean in this context? What I cared about was extending the warranty to 3 years, with the accidental damage coverage included.

If this one from Provantage does the same, do you think I could return the Sony warranty for a refund (without registering it), and buy the Provantage one? Anyone done that? (Or is it automatically registered on purchase of a notebook and warranty together from Sony?)

I'm supposed to receive the notebook today. Fast free shipping.

 

maiki onsite warranty means that Sony will come out to wherever you are within 72 hours and fix your computer for you.

The express ship means that you will need to send your notebook away but because it is express ship i should imagine that your computer would be dealt with within a decent amount of time.

I am not sure what warranty plan you bought but if you did actually buy the 3year express ship with ADH and you paid $349 for it if that were i would ask for a refund of the warraty pack and buy it cheaper elsewhere.

If you did buy the onsite warranty for $349 then i would just leave it as it is as you got a good deal for that.

DetlevCM thanks i am going to look into the docking station thing and see if any other would fit the SZ models.

 

At Rachuk

Another thought:
You may want to try to get it from another European country.
Germany had SZ longer than some other countries... maybe places like Poland, Ukraine (tax as non-EU??)...

 

My SZ just came, 5:30 PM. (Fedex Ground always seems to be later than other services.)

Strange, no warranty included with it at all, other than a little paper saying 90 day warranty, since it's a refurb. (I would never buy a computer with only a 90 day warranty, without it being upgradeable!) I don't know if they send the 3 year warranty in a separate package via postal mail, or what. I certainly only got a shipping notice about one package, the one I received today. Guess I have to call Sony Style.

Also, it came with the big extended battery, sticking way out the back. I guess that was in the description of this CTO refurb (not configured by me, but by someone else, then returned), but I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't realize how HUGE it would be, sticking out so far from the case, ugly and heavy. Might be a good thing to have as an extra, on a long airplane ride or something, but I don't want it as my main battery. I think it will be very hard to fit the notebook in a sleeve case, like I intended to buy, with that monstrosity hanging out the back. Does anyone know where I can buy one of the regular size batteries, that come with the 780?

No CDs came with it at all, which is surprising.

I haven't played with it really yet, just turned it on, so can't comment on the machine itself.

 

Sony probably will get the warranty out separately to you.

You are not missing that much with the CD's the only one that i received with my laptop that was bought new was an XP downgrade disc. People who buy the Z now i think are not even getting that. You are supposed to make a back up CD with the Vaio recovery centre.

I think that your best bet to get the BPS10 battery might be on ebay. Maybe you could sell on the one that you have if you want to keep your costs down.


Edited to add:
Probably the best bet if you need HDMI output for the SZ is to just buy the Sony docking station and buy a DVI-HDMI cable as well.

 

No interest in HDMI, not in the least.

I called Sony Style about the warranty. They say the send it separately, about 3 to 4 weeks later, I think already processed. I don't understand why they would do that, wait a few weeks?

I asked about getting a refund on the warranty, so I could purchase it from Provantage. She said sure. I then asked about whether there would be any problem in registering the warranty purchased from Provantage with Sony, since the Sony notebook is a refurb. She had no idea, and I don't think even understood my question, although I explained it a few times. So, I didn't yet cancel the warranty from Sony, as I want to be absolutely sure first.

The reason I ask about that is the following. The refurb unit only comes with standard 90 day warranty, rather than the one year one on the new unit. No way I would purchase a computer with only a 90 day warranty, regardless of price. There are too many things that go wrong with computers, very expensive to fix.

However, SonyStyle had the extended warranties for sale for the unit, right on the checkout page. So, I assume, in buying the computer with warranty from Sony, that the extended warranty would be honored, although a refurb.

That probably means, that buying the extended warranty through a third party, and registering it with Sony, that it would also be honored. But I want to know that with absolute certainty. I don't want to cancel the warranty with Sony (which since they sold it to me with the computer, I assume they have to honor), and purchase from Provantage, only to find out when I try to register the warranty with Sony, giving the serial number on my computer (which Sony would know is a refurb), that I cannot register it, due to being a refurb.

The sales girl at Sony Style, suggested I speak to the third party reseller (Provantage) to answer my question. Of course, they would know nothing about that question, as they only sell the warranty. I guess I should speak to someone in the Sony warranty Dept., as the sales girl didn't have a clue. Any suggestion on whom to call about this?

The BPS10 battery-- Strange, very difficult to find in the USA. As said, didn't see it on the Sony Style site, did not come up in a search. I saw many more listed in the UK, Australia, and other places, than in the USA. I think I saw it one place for $250 or something. Someone in Shanghai China is selling one for I think $178, which they said is an authentic Sony battery, but who knows? Someone on Ebay is selling one for $100. I wrote some questions to him about it, and didn't get a reply yet.

Today, when talking to SonyStyle, I asked about that too, and she put me in touch with the parts dept. The guy said they have it for $138 plus $6.95 standard shipping, and CA sales tax, total $150 plus. I purchased one. I hope, however, he is sending me the correct battery, as BPS10 is not even listed on the SonyStyle site.

 

They may want to get rid of leftover stock.
That's why they may be very willing to sell BPS10 batteries at reasonable prices.

Medion (!!) gave us a free XP keyboard on a laptop that went in for repair (screen electrics) andhad a key missing before.

 

Spoke to Sony repair dept. about the warranty, and surprisingly, the tech guy didn't have a clue either! He said that if the warranty is purchased from a third party site, you have to go through that site to get repair under the warranty! I explained to him that it was not a third-party warranty, it is a Sony warranty, sold by a third-party reseller. He still did not seem to get it, and continued to say that I would have to send the computer to Provantage for repair, if I bought the warranty from them, etc. Ridiculous! And, I don't think he knew about the refurb question either.

Any suggestions on how to get absolute clarity on the warranty question, before ordering from Provantage, and canceling the Sony one?

 

Well you can run a search on Provantage in this forum and you will see that some people have bought the warranty from Provantage and registered it on the Sony website and have got their laptop serviced by Sony for repairs.

That person did not know what they were going on about. I bought my Sony warranty from Ebay and i registered it on the Sony website. You can buy Sony warranty from many different retailers in the UK and then register your laptop with Sony and send it to them for repairs.

 

I just wondered if there was any difference in mine, due to being a refurb.(There is a difference in the regular warranty--90 days rather than 1 year.)

However, I think you're right, that it is doable. I cancelled the Sony warranty, and will be refunded. I'll buy one from Provantage, unless I find somewhere where the price is still better. (Anyone know?) I may even spend $65 more and get the 4 year accidental damage warranty from Provantage(I think about $275), still quite a bit less than the 3 year one from Sony ($349). (If I still use the computer after three years, and something goes wrong with it, the repair cost could be much more than $65. Of course, the computer might be a dinosaur by then!)

 

You cannot find it with an internet search?

http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/ec...&searchOperation=modelSearch&searchText=sz780

 

Wow, nice find SPEEDwithJJ! I looked all around for the BPS10 but I just couldn't find it in the US.

On top of that, it only costs $140!!! That's actually reasonable for a change. SonyStyle charges $200 for the inferior BPS9. Another reason to dislike SonyStyle. They've literally given Sony a bad reputation when it comes to battery pricing by doing this.