SZ or SR ?

Hi All,

I am planing to buy an SZ and I had my mind almost made up and sony relased their new SR series.

So what would you recommend between

SONY VAIO SZ Series VGN-SZ730E/C NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T8100(2.10GHz) 13.3" Wide XGA 2GB Memory DDR2 667 200GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS and Intel GMA X3100

and

SONY VAIO SR Series VGN-SR129E/B NoteBook Intel Core Duo P8400(2.26GHz) 13.3" Wide XGA 2GB Memory DDR2 800 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470


SR Advantages: Better processer, better FSB, better RAM speed, Bigger HD, better graphic card

SZ Advantages: Hybrid graphics, carbon fiber casing, slightly lighter, established that it is an excellent notebook

major reason I am confused is, that with how the new keyboard feels for extenstive typing and how it fares in the market, they say battery life is upto 6 hours standard, but with dedicated graphics card, there is no mention and only time will tell how the SR series performs in time. SZ has ha solid built and the hybrid graphics gives the option of switching on the onboard graphics to get most of the battery when on the move. I am limited to a budget under 1500 so I am out of the new Z series.

I am looking forward to hearing suggestions.

 

I would take the SR, it has a even better battery life while only running the HD 3470. also a lot faster than the SZ.

 

This one will be discussed a lot. Good luck!

By the way, I'd probably choose the SR, myself.

 

The sony website says upto 6 hours, but is it with the dedicated card or the on board card because when you configure the SR you have the option to choose between HD 3470 or Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4700MHD??

what I fear is if this "upto 6 hours" has a catch like the sales upto 90% off.

 

The advantage of the SZ is that its been "tried and tested", thus most initial faults have been removed.
I've read somewhere about loose batteries or dilocated space keys on the first one...

There is an issue with the NVidia graphics card (see forum), however no Sony laptops seem to have failed due to that, also amongst the non hybrid ones.

Thus there are definitely plus points to the SZ.

I'd say if you can get one reduced, do it on the spot, if you have to pay the full price, do a bit of thinking.

I go an SZ maybe 3 weeks back, and I like it, I prefer the design, the specs are fine, and I like the keyboard (although some don't).

Now, the "better processor" probably won't affect you because you won't notice it. (At least most people don't)
So being picky about those little issues might not be a good idea.
The SZ can do anything fine, especially if its office work.

You might need more power for gaming (depends what, Anno 1701 and Age of Empires 3 run fine) but then you have to think whether you want a laptop.

I hope that helps a bit.

All the best when making you decision.

 

Thanks Detlev, I am having the same thought of "tried and tested" and the better is just "slightly better". I am not a big gamer, so gaming is not the concern, what is confusing is that I am getting both at the same price and SZ has the hybrid graphics and we know the battery life, while the SR claims to have UPTO 6 hours. This UPTO is scaring me!!

 

also depends how soon u need it. getting the first batch always make me worry about something going wrong.

 

Well the battery time is always dodgy.

I know I can definitely (from 80% charge) run my SZ7 for at least 2 hours on the integrated graphics.

Now, I've got WLAN, WWAN and Bluetooth running all the time, if I switch these off then it'll run longer.

I think the same applies to the SR.

Then it depends how HHD intesive your tasks are.

I noticed that on a Medion notebook, if I defragmented the harddrive it migh just last half the time of normal usage.

I think it would be nice of people could add their experience with battery life on the SZ here...

Then there would be Vista (or XP if you "downgrade") switching off components to conserve power...

So, plenty of aspects.
You might want to read this about the older SZs:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4113

Oh, and you're welcome.

 

If you aren't using the ATI 3470 can't it power down so that it doesn't use up battery life?

I would go with the SR.

 

Only the Premium SZ (model numbers SZx50-SZx90) is lighter and has carbon fiber... and the premium is out of your budget. This SZ should weigh about the same as the SR, and not have carbon fiber or LED screen.

The SR has LED backlighting and newer components. The SZ has the hybrid graphics. Also, the keyboards are different. Those are the main differences, I think.

I think it comes down to this: do you want to do any gaming? Because the dedicated graphics in the SZ will give you more power. However, for desktop apps, it won't matter. And the SR's LED-backlit screen will improve battery life a bit.

 

the specs for 730E/C is actually confusing.
From sony website:
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/b2b/d..._c2357062b42ae9b35a779924cb1757877df978e3.pdf

it says color: "charcoal black carbon fiber" does that mean it is colored like carbon fiber?? and it does have the LED screen. I am having hard time decoding sony's secret code for the notebook numbering.

EDIT:
it has been asked on the forums before and it seems it had been asked and 730E/C is lowend premium model
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=227766

 

Yes... well... ok then... you're correct... I thought I had Sony's model numbering all figured out, and then they go and change stuff around on me.

I also didn't realize in my earlier post that the HD 3470 was a dedicated graphics card. So I guess they'll be fairly comparable in graphics power (with the SR graphics being probably slightly more powerful I guess), but you do have the hybrid thing in the SZ which should help with battery life.

So I guess the pros and cons are about as you put them... the slightly better specs and more storage space of the SR, plus its nice new design, vs. the tried-and-true SZ with probably slightly better battery life due to hybrid graphics.

 

It's black and it's beautiful.

 

very true and Yes, it is so very difficult to figure out the sony's model numbering. .. I think E is vista home premium and C is for carbon fiber for the SZ.

 

There is no debating to that for sure!!.. It sure is black and beautiful

 

I was meaning to say, the 'charcoal' means it's the black carbon fibre, where some of the earlier premiums have darkgrey carbon fibre.

In my opinion the black ones are more beautiful.

 

I like the SZ keyboard, styling and carbon fibre so i would probably opt for the SZ over the SR if i was to buy now.

I never use the dedicated card i think that i have used it once just to check it out. If you don't need the power of the graphics card that the ATI 3470 has then the SZ is a worthy option.

With the SZ with 2/3 brightness, in stamina mode, with Vista's power saver, with wifi on web surfing pretty much all the time, with bluetooth and WWAN of i can get at least 5 hours battery life. If it was just being used for office work and i disabled wifi i could of course get more battery life.

You will probably get around 4 hours with wifi on and with wifi of about 4.30 hours with the SR with the dedicated card in power saver settings. You might get up to 6 hours battery life if you buy the model with the integrated card.

 

Thanks Rakchuk, well yes it is the fact that I want to buy now. Cant wait for 2-3 months for the reviews to come in on the SR. Also I don't think there is a huge graphics difference between the 3740 and 8400 (Maybe I am wrong, but I looked some graphics performance charts and 3740 was like rank 69 and 8400 at 72). Also I wish to put Linux (for occasional use) on to a partition and my personal experience with Nvidia is better than ATI graphics on Linux.

Still thinking though.. and biased towards the SZ over SR.

 

Went to sonystyle today and they had the new SR series on display. the keyboard, although lacking the PG-UP/DOWN keys.. is nice to type and is quite silent compared to the SZ keyboard. But the overall build is not as sturdy and compact as an SZ, actually if you bend the screen a little when you fold and carry, which might be one of the first problems with SR's. With the LED screen which is so thin.. it is very fragile I believe..

So my first thoughts are already biased towards the SZ's. The screen packs very well against the body compared to the SR and Personally I would prefer the carbon fiber exterior to the shiny mg alloy.

 

xrules, check out the Z, the Z is the replacement to SZ.

You are right about SR, it uses cheaper materials than SZ.

 

I was hoping to look at the Z series at the sonystyle (although over my budget).. but they had for display only the SR and FW from the new range of computers and they told they haven't received the Z series.

 

May I ask the end of the story? I have the same problem, a month later...

To be precise, my options are the VGN-SR190 or the VGN-SZ780N8. The SR has a larger HD (320 GB against 250 Gb), Vista Home Premium instead of Professional.

I am also interested in installing Linux.

Any advice?

Thanks a lot

 

other advantage you are ignoring is the option of 2 graphic cards in the same machine and the ability to switch between the two... a dedicated graphic card reduces the battery time to about 2.5/3.5 hours.. you will have to decide on an SR if you want the dedicated card or not.. which is not the case with SZ or Z..


Well I have gone with the SZ... just for the added benefit for the two graphic cards... SZ is a very trusted and loved notebook.. a followup on SZ is Z.. SR is a followup to CR.. so I would say the quality of a SZ notebook is probably higher than an SR although I might be wrong.. I went for a trusted product and I am happy sofar... I too want to put Linux on it.. but havent got time .. but afaik you can find lots of guides to even get all the buttons working on various linux distros... ubuntu being the most favourite.. I have personally seen an SZ running opensuse just fine... out of the box installation..

as far as the question goes, I think the answer is.. that you have to make a choice between the latest in technology vs a trusted reliable product... Performance vise at this stage they are very similar..

 

I "love" my SZ.
Go with the SZ, its tried and tested.

 

Hi folks,

just got back from my vacation , As an SZ71vn/x (EU top model) owner I would advice following:

if you're after top model (like carbon, 2.5GHz, WWAN, 4GB ram...) than you should go for SZ. If you want "newer" technology (that's slighty better) but with consumer materials, not premium than one should go for SR. You shouldn't also overlook price difference between SZ and SR. From price point of view SZ is in the same league with Z series, so if you decide SZ over SR, than another "OR" starts: SZ or Z.... and than if you decide Z (this can be really confusing now) there is another OR, should I take Z11 or wait for next Z series iteration (Z21).....
My advice would be, go to a store, check all models of your interest and dicide one you like.

Anyhow I have pre-ordered my Z11VN from Sony.at, so by the end of month I hope to get it, than I will post some SZ vs. Z images (if someone doesn't post it before me

Cheers,
Miki