Some questions on the SZ series

Hello, I'm originally from [H]|Forums but everything in the nootbook forum there seems to point back here lately. I've been looking for a new notebook for me for school and I ran across the SZ series.

A bit of background: Due to severe injury to my left arm/shoulder I have aproximately 10% use of that arm. As such my lifting is limited to my right arm only so I need a notebook that is easily managed and light. I used to have a larger Dell that was a 15.4" and ~6.5 lbs and ended up selling it within 2 weeks of purchase due to my inability to lift and manuever it correctly.

As I stated before, the notebook is primarily for school to take notes, use Office, work on programming, web development, and other programs related to these. However, I also enjoy a bit of gaming (HellGate London Beta and WoW atm) and during downtime it would be a plus to be able to do these things at school.

I have run accross several different SZ Models and I'm a bit confused on what the differences are since I can configure and purchase them nearly identically yet they have different model numbers (from 640-690 I believe). What are the differences that warrant the different model numbers?

Also, I know I'm not going to get a desktop replacement gamer at 4 lbs. but will it run WoW and Hellgate at native resolution (I don't need eye candy)?

What other laptops do these compeet with around 4 lbs with discrete graphics? The one I was looking at had 1GB of RAM but says it has 2 memory slots so will a DDR2 667 1GB Crucial stick be fine to use with the laptop? And finally aside from Newegg and Sony, where is the best place to buy a SZ? Do you know of anyone who offers an educational discount like other computer manufacturers?

I know it's a lot of questions but I'm using the remainder of my savings on a laptop for school and I don't want to make a mistake. I appreciate any help anyone can give me on any of the questions in the post. Sorry it's so long.

 

The SZ640 is the lower end model of the SZ series. It weighs a little more, has different build materials, and it uses fluorescent backlighting for the screen. The "premium" models (650,660,670,680,691) implement LED backlighting in their screens which extends battery life, saves a minimal amount of weight, and should be brighter/whiter than the more common fluroescent backlight. Some of the premium models come with WAN (Wide Area Network or mobile wireless) preinstalled.

I don't think you would have a problem playing World of Warcraft on the SZ, but I'm not sure. It has the 8400M GS graphics card. You can do a search for that and WoW to see what results other people have gotten.

Portable One is an online retailer that sells the full SZ series. They have an excellent reputation here, and they will remove the trialware on the notebook (which often slows it down) before you get it, if you want. You can call SonyStyle to possibly receive a discount on a system. Various people on the forum have reported that you will get a better deal if you call them.

The Dell XPS M1330 is a very similar laptop. It has the same graphics card with more on board memory, so it will be able to handle games a little better. The weight is about the same, and you can even get the M1330 with an LED screen. Dell offers educational discounts. This notebook has received very good reviews, but there are reports of some people with build quality issues.

Another alternative is the Asus W7S. It is 4.3 lbs, and it has also gotten good reviews. It will be cheaper than the Dell or Sony, but some people have complained of it getting hot, and the battery life isn't stellar. It also has a weaker video card, the 8400M G.

 

Sorry to read about the injury to your arm. The Sony VAIO SZ is a pretty light notebook. Configure it with the Intel Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa platform (T7100/7300/7500/7700) and 2GB RAM and you will see Vista perform. Obviously with any OS you'll have to make a few tweaks (probably the system restore settings and basic defrag) but you will treasure your SZ.

VAIO's are stylish top of the line notebooks and I'm proud of my FZ. Just go to a few electronic stores to test out the SZ model you are looking into, and then make your decision. Dont worry about Vista...since you're getting a new notebook, configure it with some upper end specifications, and Vista will perform.

Good luck.

 

Thank you very much for the info, I kept seeing everyone mention "P1" but had no idea what it meant. I went to Circuit City and tried to look at the SZ but it was chained up better then I do my bike in Downtown Detroit. I couldn't find a representative to get it out of it's cage.

 

Yeah, Circuit City makes it difficult to handle their notebooks. If you have a Best Buy nearby, that would be better. You can actually pick up the notebooks there.

 

+1 on Best Buy for looking at computers.
I would never buy there but looking is no problem.

I'm guessing the SZ and the Dell M1330 would work fine for your needs.
I bought mine from Sony directly and the price was comparible to Portable One due to a discount Sony was offering but most people seem to rave about P1

 

The best Buy's I've been to all have the SZ under bars so you can't pick it up. I have only been able to do that at the Sonystyle store.

 

yah same here, all best buys ive been to in missouri, which is quite alot have it just like circuit city

and i think the sz would be a great option for you, because it has a very light weight but the power of a full desktop replacement. you can go lighter if you wanted an ultra portable but the processor will be a low voltage and alot slower. i just got mine a few days ago (signature) and i upgraded the ram and hard drive a bit and i absolutely love it. never use the video card yet because i havent played games yet but love having the option. its not hot at all like other laptops (atleast when the video card is off - havent tested the with it on yet too much) and the screen is an absolute beauty. its such a sleek looking laptop too, so thin like the all black. The keyboard would be nice for you too having the use of only one arm because it has bigger keys than most laptops ive used. thought i didnt like it at first but now i love it, even after 2 days.

hope this helps! and i would get the sz650, best specs for the price, unless you want the sprint wwan, in which case get the sz660 - i only got the 660 because i got an really lucky on ebay which made it cheaper than the 650 even on ebay

 

Just an update guys, thanks for the answers and pointing me in the right direction. I ordered a sz650 today and should take possesion sometime next week. Thanks again.

 

great! hope you enjoy your new laptop!

 

I also have some more questions to ask about the SZ, in particular the SZ650.

How does this Hybrid HDD really work? Is it a risk to go for it knowing it has a shorter life than a regular HDD? I read about this and I dont want to be scared away. I know flash based technologies only have a finite life, but is it safe to say 4-5 years?

 

That's true, but the number of uses is so many that it's irrelevant.

 

Thanks for the response...I did some research on this just a while ago and came to the conclusion that the H-HDD will just cache a lot of information, so hopefully expect to see faster boot times, and faster times in opening files/folders/etc. That would have quite a lot of similarity to Vista's Superfetch functionality, and Vista's core overall....caching data for faster access. Otherwise the H-HDD will perform almost identical to the regular HDD. HDD's also fail but those kind of stories are like of 4, 5-6 years ago. Technology today is much improved so H-HDD's will last the lifetime of the average product in technology before it becomes obsolete/etc....4-6 years.

 

Actually the hard drive is one of the most likely, if not the most likely, components to fail in any system because there are so many moving parts. I have a desktop hard drive that I have returned to the manufacturer four times because of failure, and one of the ones I got back only lasted a couple days.

This is one of the reasons that SSDs are superior, especially for mobile applications.

 

Well in that case isnt that an advantage of a hybrid HDD? The parts are not always moving. Of course SSDs are superior for mobile applications but they are also offered in rather small sizes.

 

They are also ridiculously expensive right now, but they are technically superior. In five years, most new notebooks will have SSD.

I've actually read a couple negative comments about the hybrid drives. Tom's Hardware has some benchmarks with the drive the SZ650 uses. Those might be worth checking out.