To Sony VAIO SZ Owners...

How reliable/stable and overall nice of a laptop are the Sony VAIO SZ series? In particular, I'm considering getting the VGN-SZ791N/X model. I'm trying to decide between it and the MacBook Air as both would to varying degrees fit my needs but I am still a little worried/aprehensive about Vista (and I certainly don't want to go back to XP).


Side Note: How good is the webcam on it and also, do you like the keyboard? Do you find it to be too loud?

 

J Untitled
"the webcam" is a real lemon, like a piece of crap.
i like the keyboard, i like it more than one in my dads macbook. its not loud for me.

 

That's not good to hear... .

 

Vista is different. Personally, I like it much, much more than XP. My experience in Vista has been that things "just work".

The only reason I can see for a person not wanting Vista is a gamer who wants 3 extra FPS or someone who needs to use older, incompatible software.

I can't comment on those other things, since the SZ I have used is an older SZ4 model.

Greg

 

I have a VGN-SZ150, one of the very first SZ series ever made. I have to say its been the best laptop i've ever spent money on by FAR. over two years old and still going strong, relatively current specs and overall a great machine. My specs are a little outdated now, but still good
1.83ghz core duo(not core2)
2gb ram(1gb originally)
160gb 7200rpm hd(80gb 5400rpm original)
geforce 7300 and intel integrated(awesome feature having the option at the flick of a switch, i use it daily!!)
bluetooth, wireless A/B/G, fingerprint, <4lbs, etc...

That being said i think its getting a little long in the tooth now days and is due for an actual replacement soon instead of just yet another spec bump so i'd be a little skeptical buying a machine that has essencially been on the market for just over 2 years now, with a bump to the new cpu's, and a bump to the video from 7300 to 8400 series of geforce. Other then that its essencially the same machine. I think the macbook air is overpriced for what you get. One partially obscured usb port is not going to cut it for me.

 

forgot to add that the keyboard is...different. It takes some getting used to, but it is mostly quiet.

 

Uh... are you sure you are comparing to the right SZ? I don't think the "premium" model that I am interested in has been out for two years... maybe a year or somewhat over, but not two to my knowledge.


So, you're saying you'd just wait then for their next line of laptops to arrive? I unfortunately can't wait so I have to decide between the VAIO and the Air now.


Side Note: I'm not a gamer, but is the GeForce 8400 crappy or something for watching streaming videos or trailers/clips?

 

My SZ330 is about 1.5 years old and going strong. It came with XP but running Vista SP1 right now. You might check to see when Sony will ship with SP1 preinstalled.

Macs are nice hardware, but OSX is a very different game from Windows. If you don't mind starting over from scratch with software its an alternative.

 

... Anyone else? Please, I need as many opinions here as I can get!


Also, how is the battery life typically on an SZ? Good? Fair?

 

Do you have an SZ??? or you have just been some old typer before buying the SZ???

I have the SZ780 CTO and I love it. The webcam is great! It beats my external notebook logitec which cost me $120 less than 10 months ago. The only problem is the keyboard. First, it takes time to get used to... but then, same thing applies when you buy any new laptops anyways. Second is the noise. It makes 5x louder noise than my FS630. It sounds like an old typer for some reason too.

 

Oh, almost forget to add that if you're a student and not too much of a technical person then a Mac maybe a good idea. If you're a technical person then stick with windows. Vista is great! I, myself, gave a try with the Macbook pro. The graphic is great but OS X sucks. I find myself installing windows, then as expected, sold the macbook pro.

 

It is very good as far as reliability concerns. You can get it working with Windows XP by downloading drivers for SZ645P4. The motherboard is almost identical, only the CPU is different. Use 3rd party extractor utility such as Universal Extractor to by pass the model check.

The webcam is no good. Too low resolution and the color is not that vibrant. I think Dell has better built in webcam at 2 Megapixel. SZ is a bit too loud in my opinion. Due to its smaller size, it has small heatsink and therefore the fan has to work harder to keep it cool. FZ on the other hand has much bigger copper heatsink and therefore the fan doesn't have to work as hard to keep it cool. FZ is nearly silent but SZ is a bit loud.

 

I'd stay clear of the MacBook Air. While it's nice and light, it's missing so many things that are necessary.
1. Your only option for WWAN (like Sprint or AT&T) is an external clunky usb device since it doesn't have either an ExpressCard or PCMCIA slot.
2. You only have 1 usb port.
3. The battery is not swapable, so you're limited in how long you can use your laptop.
4. No internal optical drive.

 

hi,
the webcam is bad, considering especially that in this type of notebook it should be excellent.
the keyboard is on the loud side.
but i dont think it is comparable to the mbair, the specs on the sz791 are in a whole other league for the size; not in the same of the mbair, maybe a tz is more comparable.

 

my sz6 is phenomenal, i owened the m1330, the hp dv2500t, the asus c90s, dell 1520

and the sz is BY FAR my favorite....i love everything about it and think you in no way wil regret buying it!

the keybaord, after getting used (2 days of getting used to) has become my favorite keyboard of all those laptops

 

Well, it sounds like most people think the webcam is crap and that the machine is a bit on the louder side... which isn't exactly what I wanted to hear to say the least.


Anyone else have experience with an SZ that might help aid me in deciding?

At least two of of your four reasons for being against the Air don't apply for me (actually more or less three as even though the battery is indeed stuck in it, once it's drained you can always just plug in the adaptor and still work on it).

 

Hey Kickace
Whow, what do you do with your old laptops? You've gone through a few...

I'm dieing to pull the trigger on the SZ.... I'm just wondering if/when Sony's going to come out with a new model.

The current model is sweet, just somehow, every time I make a major purchase, two weeks later the newer model is announced!

(I purchased an HP1000, and a couple of weeks later, HP announced a total redesign on their laptops, with some really nice features. Luckily, I was able to return my HP1000 and get the newer model)

Guess is history is any indicator, it doesn't seem that there is all that much difference between the SZ models....

 

The SZ still has the best balance between portability and performance. No other notebook of its size has the same features or performance. Light enough to be carry around and powerful enough for everything but games and Blu-Ray.

 

How's the SZ compare to the m1330 in particular? Why do you prefer the SZ?

 

i own the model you are looking at and am very happy, only the quality of the webcam is particularly annoying and the keyboard is a tad loud
its the nicest powerhouse ive everu used: i have had dells, hps and mbps...by far my favorite.
though i was playing with the air by mac and found that it felt more solid than my sz and very cool, but useless to me,maybe not for you.

 

yes I do own an SZ, and i love mine also. but being that the SZ line has been out for over 2 years it is due for a real refresh, not just a spec bump IMO.

 

could be replaced with the G (or GN?) series over in Japan. But then again probably a 'real refresh' around when the new motherboard comes in mid-end year. With that comes price increase (or no discounts) etc etc and there's always improvements

 

I don't think that is true. If you've look at how the price has been going (even for the SZ), you'll notice that the newer technology is selling for the same & in some cases even lower (although slightly) prices than the previous "equivalent" technology (for example, a T7300 (newer) 2.0GHz Intel CPU is cheaper than an T7200 (older) 2.0GHz Intel CPU).