Sony SZ650 vs Dell XPS M1330

I know there probably a lot of threads that probably do exist like this..

I currently have an XPS M1330 and was thinking of returning it to get a Sony SZ650 and just wanted some advice/opinion. The reason i wanna get rid of my dell, is that for the price you pay ($2000+), I feel like im not getting my money's worth. Build quality seems cheap (quite plastic-y). CPU whine will drive you absolutely insane, especially if your in a quiet room. heats up a lot at times, my overall experience with dell, lol, etc

So basically, I was just curious of what the SZ has to offer in comparison to the M1330, like the pros and cons.. Thanks..

 

go to this site--Laptopsinc.com
go to SZ section, pick out ur favorite and then modified to what u need. they will also remove the bloatware for your sz.

 

lol...i would, if that is what i was asking for... there a million places to buy it from..

i just wanna know the differences between the two.. things such as build quality, etc.

 

those are the exact reasons I did not get the xps. On paper the XPS looked great, and honestly, Im not a big fan of sony at all. My work pays for whatever machine I wanted, and our CDW vendor ha the 691NX in stock, so I jumped on it, knowing that I would put the 7200rpm drive in it. Im loving it so far, and compared to the build quality ive experienced on the dell, the SZ blows it away.

No whining of the CPU either. The ability to use the two vid drivers is fantastic as well.

 

Sony looks better but is not a brand that is suited to making notebooks. Read http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=183524

 

dont listen to him^

sz's are great notebooks and everyone here can tell you that (except szvaiouser, he had badluck and hates sony now)

and, if theres anything wrong. sony will fix the problem for you

 

Sony's quality is definitely top notch...everything they make is superb. Their laptops are high-end products. Comparing Dell to Sony is like coming Old Navy to Prada... Besides, their stuffs are made in Japan, not China. Can't go wrong with that.

 

So overall, sony is just a better build laptop... i guess being able to switch between the two vid drivers is a huge advantage when it comes to battery..
this model comes with bluetooth im assuming?

is there really a disadvantage when it comes to optical drive vs slot tray DVD drive?

Also, I've heard that sony's support is HORRIBLE.. its what ive hard thus far.. can anyone comment on this?

Also, would you guys recommend me buying this laptop from a retail store (best buy) or ordering it online? Best buy has it in stock, so i was thinking, after i get rid of my XPS, to go pick one up sometime this week..

 

If you order the Sony, I recommend getting it from Portable One. They even have a free service to remove the bloatware on the notebook, and they provide warranty support for 1 year. I've read many bad things about Sony support, so they probably aren't the best. The Sony comes with Bluetooth.

A slot-loading optical drive is nice because it won't pop out when you don't want it to, but it is noisier and more expensive/difficult to replace than a traditional optical drive.

 

I second the Portable One recommendation, it's nice to have no bloatware. And I also found that the Dell XPS M1330 had terrible quality control problems. The Sony screen is also definitely a cut above Dell's even though it also has LED backlighting.

And like Ken says, the slot-loading drive had its own unique problems.

 

ubercool the XPS M1330 does not seem to suffer from the same screen issues that SZ users are reporting. The Led screen that i have is fantastic.

Now XPS M1330 owners maybe reporting other issues but screen issues are not really one of those but they may come up rarely. There are no long running threads in the Dell forum about Dell's LED screen with this notebook. That should be pretty telling in itself.
These are some threads on this issue-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=178257
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=177982

As for the XPS M1330 being plastic i think that the frame is that supports the screen but the top case is made out of magnensium alloy. You might find out that the SZ has some plastic in it to.

I don't have any build or CPU whine issues so i am very happy with my notebook. The XPS M1330 looks might not be to everyones liking but each to their own and all that. I do prefer the XPS M1330 looks to the SZ. I also think that the white lid colour looks best on the XPS M1330 which is glossy and then the red and then black which are matt. That is just my opinion though.

OP the Dell is more of a multimedia notebook than the SZ is with its touch screen buttons and multi media remote.

Also a lot of people seem to praise the Dell XPS M1330 keyboard. Have a look at the first review that i linked to.
The Dell XPS M1330 also has a HDMI port and it has 128MB of dedicated VRAM compared to the Sony's 64MB.
The Sony offers a hybrid graphics card so you can switch from dedicated to integrated graphics and that is about all of the differences.

I cannot really comment on the Sony after care but Dell's i do find is pretty good. They will replace things if they need replacing without much fuss and they will send you out user replaceable parts such as the HD to replace yourself without much fuss. With the SZ the HD is not a user replaceable part. The onsite repairs is good with the XPS service but you can get onsite repairs with the Sony as well.

 

When it comes to looks, it all depends on personal preferences. I suggest u take a trip to your Bestbuy anyway, to check out the Sony in person if you haven't done so. I prefer the Sony's expensive Carbon Fiber over the Dell's cheap plastic. In my opinion, the Sony is much classier than the Dell.

I notice Dell has been praising about their new backlit LCD screen being brighter and thinner (which cost $300 more than the regular one), something that the Sony lines has been offering for quite some time now. Now, put all details and specs aside, no advertising gimmicks or watsoever, this is personal experience, I've seen both of the screens in person and through MY EYES, the Sony's screen is much brighter and thinner than the Dell's. It's unbelievably thin. I'm not even exaggerating, but I don't think I have seen any Laptop Company that produces better LCD screen than Sony does.

 

It seems like some Sony SZ users don't agree with you.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2352216&postcount=20
I have seen both and the SZ screen is no better than the XPS M1330 screen.
Also, they probably may use some of the same screens. Dell though stopped using some certain screens some time ago as there was a quality control issue on these screens i don't know what screens manufacturers Sony are using though.

Edited to add:
In regards to your other post Dell XPS M1330 notebooks are made in Maylasia and Ireland and not in Japan.
Also about the price of the screen if you call into order you can often get a notebook for much cheaper than what they offer it for on the website. It is a shame that more people don't know this though.
The SZ notebooks are also very over priced in the EU as well.

 

Someone said Sonys customare care sucks well just happens I visited a Sony Centre today regarding my screen (every other led is failing ie black stripes). As soon as I pulled out the thing a guy checking out the notebooks said "thats the one I want" . Hmm got a bit sidetracked there.. Hmm.. Yeah so I had a Sony rep check it out and he instantly stated this is messed up and called the sony fix it line or whatever. Turns out DHL is coming to pick it up today or early tomorrow so they can ship it to FRANCE.. ehm.. They said its going to be about 10 business days, and I'm frustrated over this. The process itselfdidnt take more than 5 min but had to hang on the phone for about 20min. GG error on a almost 3000€ laptop. Well I'll judt need to wait I guess. : (

 

its good to hear that Sony has good service in Europe, but until I test them in the US, the jury is still out. I know for a fact that Dells XPS service is great, XPS ONLY. They have fast online reps that fix things quickly if you know what needs replacing. They send techs out on site or send parts next day air if you choose to install it yourself. I dont know about SOny yet...

 

rachuk, im glad that your experiences have been fairly good with dell.
Mine, on the other hand, have been disastrous.. I receive my first Dell a month after ordering, comes with a CMO screen with extreme backlight bleeding.. CPU whine,etc.. 1st replacement, extreme flex in keyboard, cpu whine, bad screen
2nd replacement- loud keyboard, cpu whine, heats up, at times, like crazy
3rd- wobbly base, cpu whine, backlight bleeding
4th- (this is where it gets good) I get a manual in Czech, although I live in the states, get Microsoft works suite, although thats a $100 value and didnt pay for it, get 1gb of ram when i payed for 2, wobbly base, obnoxiously loud hard drive and optical drive (even louder)
5th- after a customer rep manger pleaded with me to give dell another chance... a get the same manual- in czech (we speak english in america right? lol), wobbly base, CPU whine...

--dell has some awesome LED screen, thats if, you happen to get one..
there you go..my experience with dell..what does it show? inconsistency. every replacement getting worse, not better.

About sony's customer care, are they AS friendly as dell? because i know the notebook comes with 1 yr warranty.. If there is a problem, will they send you a replacement, or how does it work?

does sony's 64 MB of VRAM make much of difference to dell's 128?

 

Gyp0 now maybe the time to try something else. Others may have done so sooner. Good luck with what ever you try next. I think that they may have pulled that CMO screen some time ago.

About the video card some owners who have tried both have said that the Dell's video card feels faster. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2540567&postcount=2445
The Dell also gets higher scores in benchmark tests. If you are not a gamer then it should not be an issue. The difference shouldn't be that major.

 

Quick question for all--

whats the difference between the sz650 and the sz660???

also, a bunch of you have recommended me to buy from premium one because they can remove the bloatware.. but what exactly, bloatware, does actually come with the notebook? will all the sony applications n stuff be there? like the sony sound management software or whatever..?

are there any other websites that you guys would recommend buying from? believe it or not, sony is out of stock for the sz650, who would have thought..

i appreciate the help, thanks again.

 

The SZ660 has WWAN, and the SZ 650 doesn't.

Almost all the essential Sony applications will be there, but they remove stuff like Norton and AOL from the notebook.

Check out techonweb.com as well.

 

Make that a third recommendation for ordering from P1, lol. In fact I've convinced my IT at work to buy from them now.

I agree with roor, szvaiouser had a bad experience recently with Sony, and I know a few people that had bad experiences in the past, but the quality of the build and the styling on the products lately are very good, and P1 totally eliminates the bloatware and having to deal with Sony customer service - or lack thereof.

I looked at both the SZ and the M1330, and after deciding that I didn't need the gaming power of the XPS I went with the cheaper SZ (by $400+) and I'm glad I did...plus I didn't have to deal with the ordering fiasco. The SZ is well worth the money versus the XPS.

 

alright..im really appreciating the feedback right now...

final question, before i decide which notebook to buy..
i know i have narrowed it down to the SZ650, but are the differences to the high end FZ series? the ones that are around the same price range?

Like beside the weight being an obvious factor.. are the screens the same?? what are the differences?

i will probably get shot for bringing up a completely different notebook into the equation, but after my experience with dell..i need to make a better decision..what do you guys think?

 

personally... i don't see one way that the fz is better than the sz except for a br drive.. and that's debatable

 

Well, the graphics card will be better, and the FZ has more ports, including HDMI. I wish the SZ had HDMI.

 

same...i have it on my current dell..but it seems soo expensive to use...

any ideas why the sz650 is no longer listed on the sonystyle website??

 

I was browsing Sony Style's site yesterday and the SZ650 was there but you couldnt order it because it was "out of stock"

 

that was yesterday...i noticed that...
but if you go right now, it isn't even listed anymore...

 

Umm you wont propably be getting any more sz's this year. Atleast I got the information that their battery producing factory burnt up in Kina (or Japan cant remember). Dont know if this only affects the Fin market but atleast this is what I heard about 3 weeks ago. They told me that theres going to be new batteries in january or smth.

EDIT: Oh yeah I heard it affects TZ aswell

 

sonys been having a good time with batteries :|

 

Where did you get this info from? How reliable is it?

 

yaa...where did you get this info??

so no more sz's this yr?? sz650 is STILL no longer on sonystyle website...

 

I had my SZ4XN 7month now...
I just compared mine SZ with my friends Toshiba ,HP F-simens. Only I have to say is, SZ has much better build quality than both of them. Get the one with the carbon fiber
The build quality is on top, and the screen is just amzzing

 

No, I think it means that you won't be able to order extra batteries until early 08. I'd like to know the source of the info too.

 

Well this info has been handed to me under the table so dont go shouting it everywhere(ie BBC:Breaking news from Sony......) Got this info from a high ranked Sony representative. I have absolutely NO reason not to believe him. The reason I got this information was because Finland was getting a very limited supply of sz and tz (because of the battery issue) and he just wanted to point that out as a coincidence, and reassured me I was getting my unit but a little bit delayed. This might not even affect other countries so dont take this as an definitive setback, but this is just a reason I thought of when seeing all sz/tz being withdrawed from sonystyle.