Sony SZ display vs Sony S

Hey

I currently own a SZ320 and I am looking to get a new laptop, but I cannot afford the Z.

I am just wondering if the Sony S13 (best buy exclusive) has an inferior display compared to my SZ. It seems to me that the color and contrast do not look at good on the S, or is it just me? It'll be weird downgrading the display, I think.

If so, do you guys know any other notebooks with screens on par with, or better than SZ's?

Thanks

 

Not sure why you find it strange the display was downgraded, the S isn't even half the cost of the upper end SZ models.

Yes, prices fall and technology marches on, but even used upper end SZ's are getting almost what a new S goes for.

I'm not sure about how they compare side by side to the SZ but the Toshiba R700 and R705 are something you may want to look at as a replacement. Look carefully as the differences are subtle between the two.

Other options...
Dell has the Vostro, which looks impressive, but at $500, I'm skeptical. The XPS line also has model you might like for around $1000 if I remember right. Asus also has one, but like the Vostro I think it uses a UL processor. The XPS is a gaming system (and looks horrible I.M.O.).

The 13in category isn't really a competitive category and Sony has dominated it since the start pretty much. Pickings are slim.


I would seriously consider picking up a used SZ6 at half the price before I really considered a new S. Just seems like a step down. Keep in mind, I don't need the graphics power.

 

I respectfully disagree! You can't compare old technology to new technology, which doesn't necessarily mean new is always and in every aspect better!

However S is the second most expensive Vaio model in its class after the Z (at least in Europe where the model is customizable and many good pre-configured sub-models are offered)... and there is a reason for that!

I've said that 100s of times already and whoever made the effort to read and try it, is thanking me now - S has a VERY GOOD display, without being superior! The only problem is - the default settings are far from optimal! Boosting the saturation with about 15% (depending on your taste) makes the display look from another class! But you can't really imagine that while looking at it in the store with its standard settings!

But saying that you'd rather buy X years old model instead of what modern technology offers is far from being reasonable, even though certain new model might happen to have one or other feature worse than your old one.

But honestly - I am tired of people explaining me how bad the screen of the S is and 10 minutes later asking me what model notebook I have as my screen looks so vivid...!

I am a hobby photograph myself and claim to have an idea about white, black, color, gamma, contrast, brightness, vividness, etc. I am not going to say this is the best screen I've seen... by far not. But it is quite a good and accurate screen above the average on the market ONCE you invest the 10 minutes to set everything the way it should be! This has been confirmed by people who have used screen-calibrators on it too.

 

I would be surprised if the SZ3 has a better display than the S series. The older SZ models some are around 5 years old now. The same display wasn't used for the SZ series. The SZ was amongst the first laptops to use LED technology and progression has been made since then.
Looking at reviews from 5 years ago expectations again may be different so it's harder to make a comparsion and you need to rely more on your own judgement.

However, the SZ7 did have a very good display. When the SR came out it was compared to the SR and it compared quite favourably, at least the SR with a Toshiba panel that is. Most people seem to agree on here that the S series display is not quite as good as the SR series.

Sony may with store models have left the ambient light sensor on which will make the S series not seem so bright in store. I've seen a few posts where people seemed ok with their S series display when settings where tweaked. Viewing angles though were still judged to be unacceptable and it lacks the brightness of the later SZ models.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/475297-my-two-months-vaio-s-review.html

This is a review of the S13 which includes measurements of the display
Review Sony Vaio VPC-S13X9E Subnotebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

This is one for the SZ7.
Review Sony Vaio VGN-SZ71WN/C Subnotebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

If you want a very good display look at the Z series (and possibly the SA series) and the 13" MBA. The Samsung S9 may also have a very good display.

Some more links
You can translate them with google translator
http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/sony-vaio-vgn-sz3xwp-c-182

http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/sony-vaio-vgn-sr19xn-628/2

http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/sony-vaio-sz71wn-483/3

http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/laptop-review-sony-vaio-vpc-s11b7e-b-core-i3-nksz-1136/4

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VGN-SZ61WN-C-Subnotebook.7820.0.html

 

The quality of Sony's displays has declined along with their prices so only the premium models have displays that stand out from the competition. Until last summer I was using a VGN-S560, which was the predecessor to the SZ series. The only 13" machines I could find with a display equal to or better than my old S were the Z, MBP, and Envy 13 - and the MBP & Envy were way too reflective.

I have a VAIO Y and F now and I'm still having trouble adjusting to the poor screen quality. The screen quality of the current S is about the same as the Y and better than my F.

The primary issues are light bleed, black level/contrast, and poor vertical viewing angle. For general use, e.g. web browsing, these issues are not really noticeable. But videos & movies look bad, especially in dark scenes. Not quite as bad as what you get from a typical Acer or Lenovo, but definitely worse than you are used to.

Color gamut is average. You can adjust the display to make the colors appear more saturated as Gracy suggests, but that doesn't change the color gamut it just distorts the colors in a subjectively pleasing way. Colors won't look as good or as accurate as your SZ.

Basically, if you want a screen as good as your SZ, you have to pay a premium price just like you did for the SZ.

 

One of the reasons people compare such screens is that even though the SZ is 5+ years and at the time was one of the first screens to use LED technology its not the tech but the filter on top of the screen or the quality/company the screen that matters more. One thing I really really miss in the new Sony screens is their X-Black Technology, to those who havent seen or heard of this before, might think it sounds something gimmicky but if you look at the Screen older Sony laptops had, like the SZ, FE, and various others of that time, their screen had abit of a dark blue-ish/black tint and to me I'm guessing it was a type of filter that was applied on top of the screen but it really brought out the blacks and contrast in the screen. I remember at that time all Sony laptops were considered High end in a way, due to the Name brand, the quality/looks, and the screen.
I had an SZ4 with an LCD panel, then moved on to an SZ6 with an LED panel, and now I have an AW m15x. maybe I havent had a chance to look at the screen of the S series throughly but I miss my SZ6 to the point that I want to sell my AW m15x and buy back an SZ series laptop or a Z series now I guess but would always want an SZ as a 2nd laptop.

I just think that you cant compare new tech to old tech but that works vice versa as well in CERTAIN conditions, even though the S series is there as a 1K+ laptop, its not a flagship laptop, the SZ was a flagship laptop the same way the Z series is the flagship or has been for the past year. The S series might have a good screen but the SZ screen holds its own, from what I heard at that time, SZ had one of the best screens in terms of quality.
I dont mean to offend anyone with this post, so please take what I've written very lightly

 

^
You raise good points.
A forum member purchased a S13 to replace their SZ6 and are very happy with it. They felt that it was just as good as the SZ6 display but was also brighter.

Of course there has been some progression with LED displays but of course purchasing choices will come into it also.
When i think of things like this-this progression with early LED displays i sometimes think of the progression that we saw in the T series line.
Interview with VAIO TZ developers

I was reading Phil's old post here about his mini review between the SZ and SR. He felt that the SR had a better panel than the premium SZ6 or a 7 (not sure on that). He felt that it had better viewing angles and colour accuracy. May be here again there was a slight progression. So sometimes at least may be you don't always need to buy a premium laptop to get a good as display as your 4 year old laptop.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/276632-sony-sr19vn-pictures-comparison-sz-screen.html

 

I agree on the points you've made as well. At the time of release of the SZ series LED was new technology and only high end laptops had such a screen, now fast-forward 5 years and here we are with over 60% of laptops being produced coming equipped with LED screens from Acer's mainstream and entry level laptops to higher end notebooks from Sony, Samsung, AW, DELL etc,. Its now become the norm to have LED that all types of screens (types referring to quality-wise) have LED.
I have to admit when the S series was revealed I was really into the S series but my only complaint was the screen resolution and several users saying it wasnt on-par with screen like that of the SR series for example. The S series screen isnt bad at all, a friend of mine own an S series laptop and I havent noticed anything wrong with it at all, its just that there is room for it to be BETTER, thats all

On a side note, I remember when the E series and few other lower model laptops were added to Vaio line-up several people were..... let's say concerned Sony was all about being a top of the line brand, one of those companies that was above most other laptop manufacturers'. Only Sony could pull off selling a low powered ultra-portable at a high price (e.g. TZ, TT $1,700+ if I remember correctly) but there was a market for such laptops and by God were they BEAUTIFUL, I still love the TZ design over TT and TX and it has one of the most stunning screens I've ever seen. When consumer-friendly "multimedia" laptops were introduced several people raised concerns over Sony's over-all quality and product control, how would that affect Sony's High-end laptops and then when the A,AR, AW series was replacement with the EC that was big change. Sony's biggest desktop replacement, with Dual Lamp screen, high end features at the time like Blu-ray when it was first introduced and several other features, great looks, sturdy quality, a real looker but to me personally, the EC isnt anything like that at all.
Over-all Sony has kept its flagship models to continue the legacy of its high-end products.
EDIT: oh yeah one other thing I'd like to note is that I loved how the SZ and previous gen Z had a carbon fiber body, whereas the current gen only has the LID carbon fiber while the rest of the top chassis is plastic.

 

This is not true, but not the place to discuss it

 

My Z must have me spoiled! I went into the local Sony store to see the new S line and I thought the displays were trash. No better than any other midrange laptop.

I didn't post this to be an a%$. I just wanted to let everyone know what my thoughts were and not to be hyped about getting something you wont receive.

 

ahh sorry, I just realized my mistake lol I was up late last night typing that so I got a bit mixed up. its just that the SZ carbon fiber was sturdy and by far the most durable laptop I've had. my ribbon attaching from the mobo to the TPM chip and card reader and then another ribbon from that small board attaching to the mousepad caught fire by an electrical short of somekind and the ribbon had 2-3 wires burned all the way through and it melted the plastic under the touchpad along with the tape holding the ribbon to the bottom of the palmrest and there was thick junk left on the underside of the palmrest what was leftover from from what got burnt and when i cleaned everything and replaced it I checked to make sure I didnt need to replace the palmrest and to my amazement with everything that happened there wasnt a single mark or scratch. I know its a 1 in a million type of situations but Im glad that even if it happened to my laptop was able to withstand it I doubt the Z could handle a situation like that.
I realize I'm starting to go off-topic so Ill stop commenting on the whole ordeal about the SZ Good luck to the OP with your purchase on whatever you decide to pick.