The Sony SZ270P - My thoughts after 1 week

I walked into a local electronics store a week ago asking for the SZ160 and was told they were out of stock and not expecting to get any more. So I poke around for a while longer, looking at some of the other laptops and after a few minutes the manager comes up to me and says "Aren't you the guy looking for the 160?" I say yeah, he smiles and says "Well then, you've got to see this. They just came in this morning." and out he pulls a brand new 270p.

A small crowd of sales guys form as we gawk at its looks and styling. We plug it in and up it fires. The display simply amazes. The construction is top notch, the looks are sleek, the features... well nothing else compares. I bought it on the spot.

After a week of use, I can officially say I've found my holy grail. I could cover all the positives (like the screen, weight and size, features...) but thats been done to death here already. Instead I'll try to highlight some of the surprises and maybe a few negatives.

-The keyboard: I'm a programmer and as such type all day long. This keyboard is certainly different than anything I've used before. I'm coming from a Thinkpad, so anything is gonna be a tough act to follow. But, I can say I've come to like it. It has a muted clack sound when pressing, and before I got used to it I'd sometimes hit a key and it wouldn't register. The space bar is biased to the right (meaning a left side press needs to be a firmer press than the right side). But, after learning the layout, I've adapted well. For me, the keyboard is no longer an issue although I'd stop short of saying its a really good one.

-The WWAN modem is limited to EDGE. I didn't even think to ask at the store if it was 3G. Hopefully, at some point an upgrade will be offered (anyone know if there already is a replacement? Obviously I could go with a PCMCIA card but I'd much rather have it built in)

-I'm getting 4ish hours of bat life in stamina mode, full screen brightness, full wireless and bluetooth. I just ordered the extended life bat, so we'll see how that goes (only .4 lbs heavier, and right now it can be had for $170ish after rebate).

-The touchpad is small. I'd rather have had a larger pad and buttons. Again, though, it just takes some getting used to.

-The MySafe feature is great. I've been concerned in the past about my source code... with this now I don't need to worry should the SZ just wander off one day...

-The speakers. For laptop speakers, these things crank. You're not going to rock the house with this guy, but its certainly on the better end of the spectrum for a laptop in terms of sound.

-The cooling fan can almost never be heard. I'm a stickler for "white noise" and this laptop is a pleasure to work with in a quiet room.

-As others have noted, the case and fitments might make ya wonder about longevity. But, in my experience, the "tighter" a laptop is at the start, the more it creaks and weakens later on. Might be that this construction allows for aging without undo stress.

-The webcam is nice, and I'm using it far more than I thought I would. Again, one of those things you didn't know you needed...

That basically covers the areas I've found myself noting over the last week. Generally, if you can afford it, I just don't think you'll find a better made, lighter, nicer speedier unit than the SZ270. I've had some of the best over time, and this one might just top them all. If you're at all considering an "ultraportable" you owe it to yourself to go and feel this one out before deciding.

 

i also wondered about 3g. i've posted twice and noone answered as to whether the built in wwan is upgradeable or changable

 

Jeez man what a cliffhanger you left us with! Show us some pics bro! Thats like telling us.. "As i opened the box to view this incredible i laptop, i can only describe it in ONE word....to be continued." : ) hook us up with some images and specs when ya get a hot minute.

 

Did you try playing any games on it? Is the screen big enough or does it seem a bit soo small?

 

holy grail? heh, you sound like me when i first got the SZ last week.

does this have other features (besides the WAN) that are different from the SZ18?

 

lol...I need to decide to either get the FE or the SZ..any suggestions?

 

May I ask where you got the extended battery for about $170? I'd like to get it but haven't found a price like that!

 

SZ2? does that mean it's the generation of the SZ series? Any difference in its design to the SZ1s?

btw, I absolutely hated the cheap look and feel of the first series SZ keyboard

 

Dang, there is such thing as 1st or 2nd gen of this SZ? I might get the 1st gen then because i feel the keyboard's cheap Good review Op, keep it up! Do you mind to share us where you get your large capacity battery? I'm thinking to get one too, although I think it might hang outside the back a bit but not bad for the extra 2hrs I'll get.

 

It looks like the SZ1xx and SZ2xx Premium series are exactly the same keyboard and all. The only difference is now the HD is 120gb vs 100gb and some models have the Cingular EDGE wireless card.

 

LOL sorry guys. I'll do my best to get some pics up later tonight. I didn't realize this was such hot news!

To answer some questions:
Here are the specs on my particular SZ270p:
-1.83GHz Core Duo
-1GB 533MHz RAM
-WinXP Pro
-120GB SATA HD @5400 RPM
-WWAN via Cingular EDGE/GPRS
-802.11a/b/g
-13.3" WXGA X-Brite
-GeForce 7400 & Intel 950 Graphics chipsets
-DVDRW-+
-2 USB 2.0 ports
-all the other std interfaces and ports

Regarding Games:
The only game I've played on it so far is Oblivion 4, The Elder Scrolls. It runs great on medium settings, and I've found it to be a bit laggy on anything higher. I've yet to run a benchmark, but I'll try to do so later and post back.

Feature different from the SZ1s:
As far as I know, th only real difference is the SATA 120GB drive vs 100GB. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I've heard more than once that another difference between the 1s and 2s series is the battery life. I do know I'm getting (as I said above) 4 hours under pretty heavy use, and I don't think the 1x series touches that. I really don't know that for sure though.

Extended battery:
Buy.com had the best price @ $248 ( http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202293489&loc=101&sp=1). I then used a $15 coupon (SKU: 88301879) to drop that to $232. Combine that with Sony's $75 rebate (http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/documents/rebates/VAIO_battery_$75.pdf) and Buy.com's free shipping and your right around $157, and then I had to pay tax.

Pics later tonight!

 

If you bought a SZ, you can register to get 20% off accessories from Sonystyle.com. From $300 that brings it down to $240, plus the $75 rebate which brings it down to $165. Free shipping and you have to pay tax if applicable. Almost the same price.

 

Thanks for the info on the extended battery. Buy.com charges tax? I didn't know that.
As far as the standard battery I checked and the SZ160 and SZ270 use exactly the same model battery so I'm not sure about the difference in battery up time. I also see about 3.5 hours or so in speed mode with the display half to 3/4 brightness. I'm going to order the extended battery tonight. I'm also really enjoying the SZ!

 

Just a few questions; which local electronics store and did you buy the particular one they fired up on the spot or did they sell you the same model sealed in the box?

Are you using the Cingular edge and if so how much faster is it than dial up? I have Verizon EVDO which rocks as long as you are near a tower, which is near my home, but $80/month is getting to me. I have a voice contract with Cingular and expect a discount if I subscribe to unlimited EDGE, I hope...I dunno, maybe keep what I have for now and wait for HSPDA. Would be nice if I do get an EDGE contract I won't have to get a new contract, just an HSPDA card.

Thanx

 

cingular edge sucks compared to verizon evdo. which is why i dont understand why you cant get a choice or built in evdo like lenova

 

Maybe Sony tweaked a bit here and installed the USB-Fix hence the longer battery life. It would be interesting to see how long it lasts under light usage (screen dimmed a bit, wifi/bt off, etc.)

 

I love my SZ. I think I've said this somewhere before. Best computer I've ever had, (but I still love my hx4705/Familiar just as much.)


I don't think that the 2 is for generation. The only difference I can see is that the 2xx models have built-in EDGE and GSM.

 

If you are getting those 4 hours with the extended battery, than there is no diffrence in battery life. People with the extended battery have been getting 3:30-4 hours on average and under normal use. With the normal battery it goes down to 2:30-3hours under normal use. But again if your getting 4 hours with the extended battery than the only diffrence is the HDD and EDGE.

Also you noticed the space bar issue, which means Sony has not fixed that, so the keyboard is also exactly the same as the SZ1XX.

 

The 4 hours is on the standard battery. I've yet to receive the extended bat I ordered a couple days ago. And I did verify it again... 4 hours right on the money. This time 1/2 backlight, full WiFI & Bluetooth the entire time, and some serious websurfing. Pretty impressive.

Sorry bout the no pics. Digi camera issues... but I think ya'll have seen the SZ 1xP's before, so there isnt much new to show I know I know... I'll still try to get some up before too long.

 

If you'd like to do a real easy test of battery life, check out "Battery Eater Pro". Set all your normal sleep/power save options to "off" or "never" before beginning. You know, the normal hibernation, standby, LCD off time, hard disk spin down. Turn em all off. BE Pro will start automatically if you tick the box on the main screen and will proceed to run your battery flat. Oh, one more thing. Go to the "alarms" tab of power management and turn that stuff off as well. Once finished, BEP will give you a nice html report with all the stats. Cool stuff.

Congrats on the SZ!