SZ questions

1) I know the premium lcd screen is thinner than the regular model, but is the image they produce the same?
2) are they both lit up with a LED backlight?

3) what is the battery life with the integrated video card versus the 7400.

4) is it possible to upgrade the GPU at a later date or is it burried deep inside?

5) I saw a thread about a semi-solution to the problem of doing a clean reinstall of Vista. Has an easy good fix been found? Are the drivers on the sony website still wrong?

6) I read that Sony does not send a backup copy of Vista with their laptops, but that they can send you one. How much does that cost? I know Dell sometimes doesnt send hard copies of the OS with their computers but if you ask for one then they send it to you for free (afterall, you paid for it).

 

Regarding your questions, I had an SZ390 and several S series. The SZ had the thinner screen and carbon case.

1) the image was just as good on the thinner screen.
2) I believe both are backlit.
3) Battery life on the intel chip was longer than 7400. I had a large capacity battery and was getting 4 hours on 7400 and 6 hours on intel.
4) I don't think so, I believe it is buried, but don't know that for certain.
5) I was running XP- can't say.
6) Don't know but I made a backup per Sony instructions when I received the unit.

Hope this helps.

 

2) Only the premium version uses LED backlit and that's why it's thiner.
6) You can purchase the Recovery Disc from Sony for $17.95+shipping and tax(Please, note that it's not Vista copy which you can use on some other machine. It can be used only on Vaio to recover Vista and sony applications.)

 

Oy!

[1] ONLY THE PREMIUM MODELS HAVE THE THIN LED SCREEN!

[2] Yes! The LED screen is SIGNIFICANTLY brighter, sharper, and has much better color accuracy/fidelity and is much more evenly lit. Anyone who can't see the difference inside of three seconds should be considered legally blind. Whether or not this is worth the difference in price is a personal issue.

[3] Battery life will always be a bit less with the Geforce7400 but precisely how much so depends on a bunch of other factors [screen brightness, HD usage, etc.]

[4] Unless you are [a] a whiz with a soldering iron, have a set of manufacturing diagrams for the motherboard, [c] feel confident about coding your own new BIOS for the SZ and [d] have an inside source at nVidia who will actually sell you a single notebook version of the 7800 or 7900 then no, the Geforce7400 IS NOT upgradeable.

[5] In the U.S. the SZ install discs can be purchased from the Sony parts department for $17.95

 

thanks for the quick informative responses. just another 2 q tho

7) I read about it being very difficult to get a clean install for the SZ, but the posts (on another website) were kinda old and were for windows XP. do the current 440, 480 models with vista have similar problems with attempting a clean reformat reinstall such as the Sony website not having working/the correct drivers

8) I keep seeing on newegg and etc that the nvidia 7400 card that comes with this has only 128mb of dedicated ram. However, i thought that this card is only made with 256mb of dedicated ram. The Sony website isnt very clear, but the Dell website whos similar
m1210 has the 7400 card says its 256 dedicated. Are there two versions of the 7400 or is the information incorrect?

on a secondary note, Kinda sucks that the SZ premium only comes with vista business

 

bump bump bumpidty

 

The Nvidia 7400 on the SZ is 64MB dedicated...

 

Hah! Best #4 answer EVER.

 

I dont underrstand how the recovery copy would work only on a VAIO. If I would format it, would I be able to put it back with that? I went on thw sonystyle website and I cant seem to find it. Is there anyone that can tell me where I can find it cuz I'm planning to order my VAIO SZ in about a week or two and I would like to add it to my order so I dont have to pay shipping feess. Thank you.

 

You can always make the recovery DVDs once you received the laptop.

To purchase the SZ recovery DVDs for the SZ (Note that the link that I'm giving is or the SZ3 series & the SZ4 series is currently not available yet):
http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/web/productSearch.do?searchOperation=partSearch&searchText=Y8315701A

 

Thanks, but that one is in the US and I live in Canada. How do I make the recovery disk with the laptop?

 

i read that you just need the DVD burner option and therell be software on the computer to make the disks. But the disks force you to install all the bloatware anyway.


this 7400 only has 64mb of dedicated memory? i cant believe that they do that for teh SZ but that theres another 7400 version with 256mb of dedicated

 

[

It's not clear (from Sony's description) as to whether this is an XP or Vista recovery disk. Can anyone confirm?

 

I thought so too. I added the business-to-ultimate upgrade afteerwards, even though I only wanted Premium, as changes only seem to 'go up', not sideways...

 

I know this has been answered, but for your information the "Centrino" is a package which includes the Intel 950 Integraded Graphics. As a result its ment to be low power configuration.

 

I have never seen a 256MB dedicated on a Go 7400.

 

Only a portion is dedicated.