Sony VGN-SZ61WN/C, anything to watch out for?

Right, I'm thinking of getting a Sony VGN-SZ61WN/C (I think thats the SZ680 (carbon fibre edition) over in the US with a few modifications, such as a 2.2GHz CPU, 160GB Hybrid HDD, Black keyboard & 2GB of RAM) after having endless trouble with my Dell M1330 and getting a full refund (they're collecting my system on Friday, and my other (replacment) system some time next week).

Can anyone shed some light on problems with the Sony VGN-SZ61WN/C and what to look out for when I get mine?

I'm gonna be buying in the UK if that makes any difference, and hope to order it round about the 16th of December!

Cheers!

 

I got no problem with mine!.....great laptop; fast(faster with XP), runs cool....The difference is WWAN.

 

good to hear! Much better than what you hear about the M1330 over in the Dell forums!

I swear to never buy a Dell again...it was the 1st and last time!

 

i have not ever been a Fan of Dell......

 

I am pretty much in a (some what) similar boat. I am a tad concerned about the yellow bands on the screen that some people have reported seeing on their screens and that I've seen for myself at Best Buy. If not for that, I think I'd order right this second!

 

If you can, order from P1. They not only check the computer for screen banding before they ship, but will, if you request, remove all the bloatware and supply recovery dvds.

 

I would do, but P1 are only in the US aren't they?

And how common is the yellow banding accross the screen? Is it just a handful of people with the problem, or is it quite common?

I'm going be ordering off the internet, (cos its £200 cheaper than the shops) and I dont want the hassle of sending it back and forth till I get one with a good screen if the screen problem is available in most of them! But if the screen problem is only in a handful of machines (expected really, no machine is 100% perfect), then I'll go for it, and buy it after Dell collect the two I have here.

 

Exactly the same with me! Had 2 Dell XPS m1330 systems, both had whining an no solution was offered.

Now I'm thinking about getting a SZ6, although the specifications of m1330 are better and it is cheaper....
Unfortunately there is no alternative notebook, with similar specs, similiar look and similar price

 

yup, I had southbridge whine, wobble, teeth along the top, a small dent, etc, etc between the two of them!

Here in the UK the Sony that I want has the same (if not better) specs than the M1330 I had, but its £600 more expensive! However, for piece of mind, I would pay an extra £2000!!!

The Dell has given me nothing but headaches, had to take days off to sort things out/take deliveries, stress, etc, etc! To avoid all that I would do anything, money will come & go, but all this stress is not worth £600!!

And the Dell is cheap (relatively) for a reason...cos its built cheap!! I've got a PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, Sony Digital Camera, Sony Digital Video Camera, Sony Bravia HDTV, and NON of them have ever missed a beat!

And I dunno about other countries but Sony customer Service in the UK is one of the best!

For example, a guy I know has a 360 and a PS3, his 360 messed up, so Microsoft collected it fixed it and returned it in 3 weeks (fair enuff).

Then last Saturday his PS3 broke, he called Sony, and by Tuesday lunchtime a guy came to his house with a brand spanking new one, and an empty box for the faulty one....now THAT is what I can customer service!!

EDIT: A guy just collected my original M1330 about 10 seconds ago! Just have to wait for the 2nd one to be collected! Then once I get back home I will be ordering my Sony!

(Unless there's some major problems that I need to know about first....??)

And can someone please tell me what is the most intensive game the Sony can run? I know its not a games machine, and will mainly be used for work, but I wouldn't mind playing the odd game here and there...

 

153 views and no-one has mentioned any problems. Sound like the Sony doesn't have any problems at all!

Is this true? I just dont want to fork out £1500 (just over $3000) for a machine that has known problems!

 

The two major hardware-related problems on the SZ6, which are only apparent on some models, are the yellow candlelight LCD banding issue discussed here and the short battery life (6-12 months). Although no one has reported any sudden-death battery problems on the SZ6, wait a few months and I'm sure someone will make a thread about it. Also note that there's only 64MB dedicated RAM for the nVidia 8400 GS device.

All Windows XP/Vista driver and utility issues have been resolved with the latest BIOS update.

 

Cheers mate! Is the yellow tint a big problem with the Sony SZ series, or is it only a hanful of people that have it? Same for the battery problem?

And I've heard that the custom made ones (not available in the UK) from the Sony site are more likely to have the yellow bands than ones from off the shelf?

Is this true? Cos here in the UK you cant get Sony to build you a laptop, so I'll be buying off the shelf.

 

Well, I don't know how widespread the banding problem is for certain, but that 8-page thread should give you a general idea. There may be more threads about that issue too. Search the Sony section and Google with the "candlelight", "banding", "yellow AND LCD" keywords.

Many owners of the previous SZ models have had their batteries suddenly die for no apparent reason after 6-12 months of use. Maybe Sony has fixed this problem on the SZ6, but no one knows for sure yet.

Not sure if that's true.

 

cheers! When I google, the only results that actually come back with what I want are on these forums...think I might make a poll and see the results...

 

so other than the yellow banding and (possible) degredation of battery life, is there anything else?

Or is that it? If those are the only things, then I think I'll take the plunge! Folk with iffy screens seem to be getting them sorted with their 1st replacment, and if the battery goes within 6 months its still under warranty so thats not a problem either!

Right now my poll for yellow banding is saying there's a 50/50 chance of getting a defect free screen, but only 6 people have voted so far, so the results dont really mean much right now!

 

I've just bought this model (in the UK), and it seems absolutely fantastic.

I just wondered if somebody could point me in the right direction on what to do next - i.e. how to get Vista running well. I don't have any extra discs (e.g. Vista OS discs) or anything, so far just the actual laptop as it shipped to me.

I've read a few long threads on semi-clean Vista installs, but for the life of me I don't know if they only work with US models.

I would be really grateful if somebody would recommend a method for removing bloatware that works with the (UK/European) SZ61WN/C.

 

Mate, I cant really help you with any of your questions, but I was wondering if you could please tell me the following?

1) Where in the UK did you purchase it (city and shop or website)?

2) do you have ANY problems with it, such as yellow bands on the screen, or dodgy space bar?

3) Roughly when did you buy your laptop (dd/mm/yy)?

Cheers mate!

 

Work got it for me - from Dabs.com. Delivered today, so they can't have bought it long ago.

Doesn't seem to have any yellow bands, and the space bar seems to be OK - but then, I haven't really used it a lot yet. With the yellow band thing, I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for, but without trying to find fault I don't notice anything with my screen. Looks very bright, sharp, and clear.

Seems very well made - but that's just an initial impression to be honest.

 

cheers mate! Is yours made from Carbon Fibre or Magnesium alloy? The reason I ask is that the one on the Dabs.com site looks like the magnesium one, even tho the model number is for the Carbon Fibre one.

The yellow banding is usually more noticable when you reduce the screen brightness. In which case, if you have the problem the screen will show what appears to be big vertical yellow bands.

The spacebar problem is shown here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H8s0qTjNFKQ

Cheers!

 

I thought the spacebar was issue fixed in the 200 or 300 series SZ's? My SZ650 doesn't have that problem, nor did my 320.

 

I've heard other people say that too, but I wasn't 100% sure, hence I was asking.

 

Carbon Fibre. They just have the wrong picture up on the page.

If I turn the brightness to the lowest, there is slight vertical banding, but it is very, very slight, and not yellow. I don't know if this is the yellow banding problem, but to be honest I'm not fussed by it if it is.

 

JobyRB;

Screen banding issue is especially seen on low brightness level + white background... (set wallpaper to solid white and set taskbar to autohide...)

 

cheers mate!

 

Hi the only problem with the Sony is the keyboard I got mine in Washington dc while on bis sz660 The space bar on my sz did not work when you press it at the edge, right side or left but only worked in the centre, But Sony would not repair it in the UK, as I got it in the USA, so on this forum there is a fix, a small piece of tape under the space bar fixes the problem, but it makes me mad that you pay $2169 for a top laptop and get crap keyboards, so my advice to you is check the keyboard out while in the shop, but apart from that great laptop, and to much bloatware.