Tried to leave TZ for M1330...

So, I've used my TZ190 for a few months, and just bought an XPS M1330 because they were so cheap. I know some might say they are of different class entirely, but despite the power and looks of the Dell, I am typing this post on my little TZ. Am I crazy? I've posted a review and comparison of the two at my site ( www.techmoments.com) if anyone is interested.

 

No, your not crazy.
The Sz is more inline with the XP M1330.
I prefer the TZ or my SZ as well, in the short time I have had it.

 

I read your review. Very nice, by the way.

 

Also read review... nice job.

Despite what others think/say, I too compared these models closely when choosing my next laptop. I went with the TZ 191N --- SSD. Very few complaints (space bar, touch pad rubbed off quickly, external hard drive is slow through USB) --- but those aside, this little puppy is AWESOME. and very nice looking. so portable, its silly. battery life incredible, and the screen to die for.

Did you get the premium carbon fiber? I did, and it takes the TZ to another level yet in terms of looks. if / when Sony can figure out how to keep a lappy this portable and battery efficient, but able to play some decent games, that would be euphoric!

 

I had no choice of Carbon Fiber. I picked this up at the NYC midtown CompUSA when they were clearing out laptops. I initially had my eye on the 170 model, and waited patiently for the price to come down. However, when the manager brought out a brand new 190 model, I bought it within a week. I think maybe 30% off MSRP at the time... Still over 2K easy though

 

how do u find the performance of a tz, if i dont game, but multitask and do a lot of office junk will it be slow or lag?
thanks

 

Well, I'm certainly not the expert, but I find the performance satisfactory. I use it basically for web surfing, but at times can have Sling, Trillian, Firefox and maybe Picasa loaded at once. The SSD helps a lot I'm sure, but this is only available in the higher end TZ models.

It's interesting to note that even the newer model TZ's on the site today, there isn't much difference from the 190 that I have. Just the faster 1.33 proc and various types of hybrid and ssd hard drives. When does Sony typically announce their upcoming product lines?

 

all TZ models have a carbon fiber shell and lid.

 

Yes, thats true. I assumed he meant the Premium Carbon Black color choice which is a $100 option.

 

No more info than this, but I think I recall the TZ was brought stateside in Jul. 2007. So perhaps Jul. or Sep.? It will be interesting to see what Sony can come up with a small form factor (SFF) Montevina chipset.

 

Is the premium black carbon fiber the one that looks somewhat purple?

 

Hi Gazelle

No the black one has "the black matte like finish"...




The Premium carbon fibre has a grey/silver/glitter speckles depending on what angle and light you see it in. It Also has the gradient diagonal effect to the texture of the lid and when you see it you can definitely tell the difference to whether it is the normal black one or not.

The are all carbon fibre lids for durability and light weight requirements, its just how they paint and finish them.

 

makaveli2g - Can you please either link to the photos or embed smaller or thumbnail size... thanks

 

my bad... didnt preview the post...

 

I have the Premium Carbon Fiber. And from different angles it can look purple, brown (like wood almost), silver, gray or black. I love it. it looks really, really nice. I wouldn't have paid extra for it if i had chosen from Sonys site because i don't know that its worth it. But i got a great deal ($2,200) off ebay on this little puppy.

As for the person who asked about performance: i find this TZ is terrific for multi-tasking (Word, Excel, Outlook, several browsers open, and all of vista's eye candy going.) I think the 1.2 processor and 2 gigs of ram is key though. I even use photoshop fairly comfortably with some large files. but using an external hard drive is really quite poor. that's my only complaint.

 

I don't use the ports much, but I have heard from at least one user that the USB and Expresscard slots on the TZ perform slowly. Hope they can fix this in the next models.

 

I'm not sure about the Express card slot but the USB transfers are the same as my other computers and they are not slow.
Actually this computer is pretty peppy with all of the bloat ware gone.

 

Actually, Duckfart - when you use the USB ports for external hard drives, something about the technical structure of the laptop slows those data transfers considerably. its noted several times in this forum. i don't have enough know-how to explain why, but its important note for those of us with SSD and planning to use external drives for alot of data transfers. just doesn't work hat well. i have to wait several minutes sometimes for my brand new Westrn Digital external drive to be very useable. i don't have bloatware anymore, so that's not it.

 

Have you tried running Adobe Lightroom on the TZ? It needs a bit more oomph than Photoshop does, and I'm wondering if the TZ can handle it comfortably -- or if the SZ is needed to comfortably run Lightroom.

 

I am guessing that you sent the Dell back?

Andrew

 

No, I haven't used Adobe Lightroom. I would guess you are right that it might need more muscle than the TZ can deliver. If i get a chance to download a trial version, i'll report back...

 

Excellent... thanks!

 

The only thing this laptop has problems with are video/graphic card related. Lightroom shouldn't be a problem.

 

Would that include HD Video editing?

 

The TZ is not a machine for video editing. You can buy machines for 1/2 or 1/3 it's cost that are. The TZ is for being small and light. That's what you are paying for.


Andrew

 

I use photoshop CS3 intensively on my TZ195 series and it works fine. I also use Lightcrafts Lightzone, tried lightroom but prefer the previous two softwares metioned. I can do quite complex manilupations without any problems. The video card doesnt let you down with that sort of stuff... definitely would or games...

Having said that, I have 2gb ram, the 1.2Ghz processor and SSD drive... you may struggle if you have any of the lower configs with a standard hdd...

 

I went through the same process when the 1330 had just come out in August. It took no more than an hour for me to decide that the TZ was a far better computer than the M1330. It was chintzy and cheap-feeling.

 

I was afraid of that. The pricing on the SSD drives are a bit outta reach (for me) right now. It would be too hard to justify the cost.

 

Kinda sarcastic, Andrew..... the question is worth asking if we're in the forum, right? he's just asking about how far he can take the notebook.

 

Not at all sarcastic.
I don't own a TZ, have considered one, and meant no dis' toward it whatsoever.
If I am wrong about the TZ capabilities, please feel free to correct me.

However, it is quite obvious that this is not a product intended as a desktop replacement, or anything close to it.

Andrew

 

Well, I wouldn't buy this laptop specifically for video editing... that would be silly. But I wouldn't mind knowing if it's capable of it.

Asking doesn't hurt, and maybe someone here has tried it -- so I asked.

 

Point taken... sarcastic wasn't the right word. I suppose your post came across as a little sharp. no matter... you're right about the TZ, but I like to encourage everyone to see how far they can take their notebooks. gives everyone best information /benchmarks when considering their needs and purchase.