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    Thinking of buying a SZ notebook

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by mwatkins7, Mar 6, 2008.

  1. mwatkins7

    mwatkins7 Notebook Guru

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    The model ive been looking at closely is the SZ71MN/B Core2 Duo 2.1GHz 2GB RAM 200GB 13.3" LCD. But one of the things i dont really get is how the ghx card works as its specification is NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS graphics processing unit with Total Available Graphics Memory of 831 MB which i dont really get? - does it mean its an integrated card? If so, will it run new games well?
    Just a few questions for owners of the laptop;

    How much battery life can you get from one of these?
    Do you like your laptop? is there anything else you would want from it?
     
    mwatkins7, Mar 6, 2008
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  2. darthsat

    darthsat Notebook Deity

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    It offers a dedicated 8400gs, as well as the integrated Intel card. The sz has a hybrid graphics system, so there is a switch to toggle between the two. It can runs games such as Half-life 2 pretty well with setting medium to high. You will really struggle to run any brand new games though. The 8400 GS isnt a gaming powerhouse.

    You should probably expect between 3-4hrs of battery life with standard usage(medium brightness, wifi enabled)
     
    darthsat, Mar 6, 2008
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  3. SpeedyMods

    SpeedyMods Notebook Deity

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    That video card isn't a very powerful one, but it is much better than the Intel x3100.

    The SZ is unique in that it has two different video cards, the 8400m GS and the Intel x3100. When you need the performance of the dedicated card, you flip a switch and restart the computer and you use that graphics card. If you want the laptop to operate cooler and with a higher battery life you flip the switch the other way and reboot to use the Intel card.

    Greg
     
    SpeedyMods, Mar 6, 2008
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  4. mwatkins7

    mwatkins7 Notebook Guru

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    Oh, right okay - I will only be running games on it such as Counter-Strike, Warcraft 3. Not very new games, but it would be good to have the option. It sounds like a very good laptop overall, i did put an order in for the Alienware m15x, but i decided against it, as it will be such overkill for what im going to be using it for.
     
    mwatkins7, Mar 6, 2008
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  5. bunbuns

    bunbuns Notebook Consultant

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    It`s a dedicated card with 64MB of GDDR3 dedicated video memory.

    831MB is quoted as the total with turbcache technology in use or 256MB if your under windows XP. Turbocache being that it "shares" some of your main memory for video texture storage. (64MB+767MB # 64MB+192MB) However the card doesn`t have the bandwitdh to use the full 831MB total so it`s more a marketing gimmick.

    If you doing just WOW or Counter-Strike (All the source games run very well) you will be quite happy with it.
     
    bunbuns, Mar 6, 2008
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  6. mwatkins7

    mwatkins7 Notebook Guru

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    Ok, sounds like an awesome laptop - Cheers.
     
    mwatkins7, Mar 6, 2008
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