Sony SA or a Xoticpc.com laptop?

Sad news. The Sony sz220b from 2006 finally died on me two weeks ago. It put up quite a bit of fight though. Lasted through 8 deployments and all kinds of int'l power differences and never ever let me down. Now it's time to shop for another and I was considering getting into a 14" or 15" from Xoticpc.com. I believe it was one of the new asus models however battery life SUCKS! and no figerprint reader. However with the upgradability of them it makes it an interesting situation. Do I go with another Z/SA series from Sony (which was a top quality product despite some flaws) and limited upgrades or do I go with the quote "offbrand" of ASUS. I know asus has great quality. I build desktops too but I haven't heard too much about their laptops. I do love the portability of the Sony and the new shelf battery is very very tempting. One thing that does bother me is the laptops coming out with 1.5 or 2gb of VRAM....Isn't that a little overkill? I know in gaming computers in a desktop form running 24" screens I can see the purpose....but in a 14 or 15"? Just wanted your view points. I travel a lot so I'm sitting on the side of Sony right now but opinions are welcome. The other thing that I am VERY concerned about is build quality. My old sony had brushed aluminum for the hand rests and that came in handy for more than asthetic good looks. When it finally died it looked like a WW2 helmet and I was gentle with it. Military life is pretty hard on laptops and I can't afford to buy one every few years.

 

Toughbook?

I've heard of various quality experiences with Asus. My twin friends bought twin Asus 15" computers. They never treated it hard but after 1 year one had a busted hinge, terrible looking keyboard, it was a mess. The other one was in pretty good condition. Based on that experience, it seems like the same computer can vary a lot.

I certainly wouldn't say any Sony is robust or bulletproof, and definitely not the Z. I have to baby the thing around to make sure it'll stay in tip top shape. It sounds like in your line of work, this might not be the best computer for you. Which leads me back to the original question, ever consider a Toughbook?

 

post this in the what notebook should I buy section, and fill out the stickies

 

I think the Z is quite durable, you have to baby it if you want to keep it looking all pretty. I believe it will hold up to some pretty serious abuse though. I know that I have heard some users hear claim that theirs have survived many drops.

 

I do baby my laptops the best I can. I clean them out after deployments and keep them in a hard or at least cushioned storage when I can. Sometimes my pack in the middle of my clothes is the best I can do though. My last sony took it pretty well and it sounds like if their build quality hasn't diminished then I will go ahead with the sa. Keep in mind that it did last 5 years. I moved twice and took many trips to see family and sightsee in Japan as well and it didn't die from a drop.....just old age.

I have considered toughbooks but the price is a killer. On top of that performance for the price is extremely low. I don't need a waterproof laptop...just one that isn't put together with bubble gum and tape. Thanks for the info though and I will probably post in the what laptop should I buy as well for the comparison.

 

In regards to the SA's build quality... I can't speak for that particular model. My friend did buy an SC which is the low end version of the SA made for Best Buy. Some say that the quality is lower on that model. But basically, after only a few weeks the plastic lid started separating from the bezel and just looked like it's been broken in for a while. Now he doesn't baby the computer, but it's not treated roughly either. I can't speak on behalf of the SA or SB but those are said to have a higher quality build.

 

hmmmm....I will say that I got my sz from Bestbuy and I was quite pleased. Sad to say that they dropped the quality from the lower end....but I will keep this in mind. Thanks.

 

I bought a Vaio F11 last year. My next one will be xotic pc. Not sure if Asus or Sager. But the customization for me is the thing.

Something else, I recently saw some comparisons online and the Asus G73 (which was the runner up for me to the Vaio) runs about 10 deg C cooler than my Vaio does. That is a lot of fan rpms.

There are two things on my Vaio that I genuinely dislike: screen quality and fan noise.