SZ3/SZ4 xp/vista 2.0Ghz vs 2.16Ghz

Well I'm interested in buying an SZ series.

Right now I have the choice in Europe of buying an SZ3 with 2.0 Ghz or 2.16 Ghz, but the latter is nealr 300 Euros more expensive. Is this justified and would it 'futureproof' the laptop a little?

The other option is an SZ4 with a 2.0Ghz processor, at an intermediate price between the two SZ3 models. The SZ4 comes with Vista so seems like a better bet in the long run?

 

I'm not sure what the status of the SZ3XX series is at the moment, but one advantage several people here have over the SZ4XX series is the fact that we all have a working copy of XP Pro installed on our machines, and also have the opportunity to get a free upgrade to Vista Business.

The advantage being, of course, the choice between two OS's (one of which is stable and well-known), in case (more) problems arise with Vista.

As far as the processor speed differences, I personally don't see much of a reason to go from 2 -> 2.16 unless you have (or anyone else that knows better can think of one!) a specific reason to do so.

 

hi, thanks for your thoughts.

my main concern with the upgrade to Vista is that I regularly reformat my computer, so having to first re-install XP from factory settings then do the vista upgrade every time sounds like a major hassle.

on the one hand, i think it's inevitable I'll end up on Vista so I might as well go the whole hog now and get it pre-installed

on the other hand I dont have any issues with XP so why not stick with it for now...

 

I'll just add my $.02 - Vista Ultimate on my SZ has been very stable so far. Moreso than XP.

 

vista more stable than xp? lol how long have you used it for?
probably more stable because you JUST installed it.

 

SZ4 (premium) series now have faster (better ?) DVD drives. One plus for SZ4

 

so now the premium writes dvd's as quick as the non-premium did before?

 

Believe it or not - yes.

Both Premium and non-Premium now have same read/write speeds.

 

Yep. According to the specs...

 

In fact, It may not be important improvement to lure more customers. Sony should take into consideration seriously about the quality of SZ as many people has complained.

 

I think Windows XP is fine right now.

Its running all my applications are running fine, hardly hangs and somewhat safe with all the security patches.

Changing to Vista will only make things worst seeing how many forum topics related to Vista "help". Every forum has a topic do with the drivers and application problem.

The only advantage SZ4 have is bigger hard drive and more video memory. That is not going to make a whole lot difference for a average user.

 

What do you mean ?

What are the problems in Premium SZ 3xx family ?

 

all issues regarding the build on the sz has been fixed for quite some time.

keyboard problem/shock problem etc has all been resolved

 

Except the fact that it's 'ultimately' incompatible with majority of the softwares out there, sure.

 

I second this. SZ4xx, even SZ3xx only matters if you need more speed beyond first Core Duos but Vista is so far an almost worthless upgrade for $200-300 except if you have to use RDP to a another Vista or Longhorn Server with NLA enabled - Microsoft, as usually, ****ed up the RDP 6.0 XP client update release and NLA is completely broken on XP as of now.

 

I have to agree. That is why I rushed to buy SZ381 before SZ Vista model replace it. Vista is not compatible with some of my applications, not to mention that it takes more CPU resources that could have been used by my applications.

 

afaik vista is compatible with all the software i use, and the driver issues are related to people trying to 'crowbar' vista onto XP systems prior to sony making the full set of drivers available (also, sony would obvo prefer that you buy one of there pc's to get vista, so they're not going to make it too easy!)

so that still leaves me unsure what to do...

I can get a slightly higher spec machine with XP straight away, I'm tending to think that's what i should do...