SZ160 - Just Purchased!!!

The wait is over. I picked up the SZ160 at Fry's in L.A. this morning.

I didn't know what to expect from the Premium model after spending time with the SZ120. My initial impressions of that machine were not good. I found the screen washed out and the overall feel less than stellar.

As to the 160 these are my first impressions:

Screen: Outstanding. Birght and crisp. I am very sensitive to sceen quality and I must say this is one of the best in the current marketplace (the FE x-brite high color is still a notch above).

Build Quality: Very good. I returned a thinkpad Z60t a few months ago becasue of the average screen quality. However, the Thinkpad's build quality was of the highest caliber. The SZ160 is a different animal. If the Lenovo is a SUV the SZ is a porsche - you wouldn't want to sit of the hood. Regarding the thin screen - as long as it's handeled with care I see no problem. Of course, it will flex if you bend it... of course, it will ripple if you poke it. So I won't bend it or poke it. The carbon fiber is very strong - but like an egg - fragile.

Heat and fan: I checked out the new MAcBook Pro yesterday and I was very surprised how hot it was. Not warm but reallly hot (underneath)! I was concerned this might be due to the core duo chip. I'm happy to report the 160 is very cool after 4 hours of run time and is very quiet. A slight, soothing fan noise exisits and the dvd drive is noticable upon loading.

Color: After studying the pictures of the SZ120 and the SZ160 I detected a color difference. When I called Sony I got mixed messages about whether the 120 and 160 were both silver/black keyboard. The 160 is NOT the same color. It's frame and aluminum plamrest are dark metallic. A very serious.

In short - this is one mean machine. Very powerful, very light, very, very cool. $2,500 is a lot of money but I must say I believe this laptop warrants the price.

Oh by the way, I couldn't get bluetooh activated - called sony and learned that is must be tuned on through the LAN setting.

 

Congratz!! Can you take some pics please? How is the battery life? Is it as long as Sony stated it? Thanks a lot, waiting for your more detailed review!

 

i am curious how good is the screen on SZ Premium... Still I don't think it's worth $1000 more for me just so to get a better screen (if that's the case with LED screens) of course my wife will never approve of this either

 

klas, an sz160 costs less than $300 over a comparably equipped sz140. For that money you get the carbon fiber shell, slightly lighter weight and thin led lit lcd screen. There may be other advantages in the premium line over the standard but IMO the screen and shell are worth the less than $300 difference.

I'm not sure where you get a $1000 difference in price but I'm guessing you aren’t comparing apples to apples.

 

Glad to hear the premium model is significantly better than the standard. Could you tell me what exactly was the verdict on the silver/black keyboards? I've been really excited about those since I saw the pictures in another post.

 

well initially I was planning to get premium, but than good deal came up to get a barely used sz110b from user on this forum who was in the same city. It was a great deal and I can't thank him enough. So basically I got it for $1500. SZ160 is 2500...

 

I am also curious about the silver and black keyboards. Is the silver keyboard an upgrade in quality? Or is it just a change in color?

Timelockmind, have you seen an SZ standard model? Is the premium keyboard different or any better than the standard line?

 

Is the case the same as the TX? That is what I was told in the Sony Store today, but they didn't appear very knowledgable.