VAIO SZ - Stickers On Or Off?

I'm new to the forum (2 weeks) but not new to Sony VAIO's (6 years, 3rd notebook) and have a simple etiquette question:

Does one remove the decals from the wrist rest or does one leave them there?

The Centrino, nvidia, Vista cluster of decals; leave them all on, take them all off, leave one on, what's the right answer?

I know to remove the big in-store advertising decals; talking about the little ones.



Don't want to look foolish; with such a great machine, must look good too.

BJ

 

It's a matter of personal taste, comfort and preference. Keep in mind that stickers on the palmrest will always cause some amount of uneven wear, meaning that because the stickers cover some portion of the palmrest, when you remove them down the road, the area underneath with look immaculate, while the remaining area will look worn.

 

you will look foolish if you keep those stickers on.

 

Keep em' on. Gives your notebook a little character (and you get to advertise)

 

I leave the badges on(like vista capable, Intel Centrino, etc...) but take the ones that list the specs off...

They are always on the edge, so it isnt like they rub against your wrists when you type.

 

I'd take them off (certainly at least the big giant stickers with the feature-list, etc.).

Some people seem to like to leave the Intel and NVidia logos though....it seems like they treat them as the equivalent of the decals people put on their cars to show what kind of performance parts they have, etc.

Personally I think most stickers look kind of silly, especially with the clean interior design of the SZ, but I guess they look ok on too.

I'll never understand the people who leave ALL the stickers on though........ I swear it always boggles my mind when I see someone using a Toshiba or a Gateway and they have left on even the big giant advertising stickers.

 

Yeah, I think it's common sense to remove the big in-store advertising stickers. I'm talking about the little ones on the rightmost edge of the wristrest area.

BJ

 

Yeah, as others have said, it's just a matter of personal preference. Do you like how they look or not? That's the only thing that really matters.

 

If someone has pictures of a SZ without the stickers it may help his decission.

 

I've only had my SZ for less than a month, so my stickers are still on, but after reading about the uneven wear down the road I think I'm gonna remove it.

 

No such thing as "personal preference". You either wear a black belt with brown shoes or you don't. You either pick up a soup bowl with two hands or use a spoon. You either leave the tiny stickers on your Vaio or you don't.

I don't want to be that guy who leaves the tags on the sleeves of his new suit jacket.



BJ

 

The took the larger stickers off a while ago, but just yesterday I decided to remove the smaller ones as well. I think it gives the laptop a much cleaner look.

 

i just left my vista nvidia and intel logos on there, i removed all the rest including the dlna certification thing

 

I left Intel Centrino Duo, Windows Vista and NVIDIA stickers on for a reason. I think it will be more appealing when I resale my laptop in about 2 years.

 

removed everything before i even turned on the computer. Looks much, much cleaner

 

Whats the best way to take them off?

S.

 

True, I know that the first thing I look for when buying a used laptop is the presence and condition of the branding stickers.

 

They should peel right off, don't need to do anything special.

 

I retain all the Original boxes, docs, packaging so that I can ask for more money when I have to cash out on my used laptops/cameras/camcorders, etc

 

I save that collateral too, but those decals are really bothering me.

I just sold my beloved Z1 to help cover the costs of the SZ, and I do think that the decals helped seal the deal (got $800 for her). Thing is, those decals were shiny and metallic and on a light silver wristrest. The SZ's decals are white and non-metallic and on a dark carbon wristrest. Two different looks entirely.

I am torn. Don't know what to do.



BJ

 

I still have mine on... Well I want to write a review soon, then I'll take them off, cause the Vista protective layer and that DLNA Certified is 1/4 off - which is very annoying!!! Whatever that logo even means!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance

 

Yup, Worked a treat, had to use a little rum to clean some goo off, but it looks great!

 

Hey thanks for the info.

Just haven't seen that logo before on any other electronic devices.

 

I think that tell syou something about how effective the whole DLNA thing has been.

 

I tried to take one of the decals off today, but I got scared and decided not to.

I don't know what to do. This is very troubling.

BJ

 

Just use your nail and pick the a corner, slowly, very slowly, remove the sticker with smooth action. If, very unlikely for these high quality stickers, some residue left on the palm rest, I would use the sticker you just took off and stick it on the residue and pull it off quick, the glue on the back of the sticker would most likely pick up the residue.

If not, I usually use WD-40 to clean off the residue.

 

That's my method too. I always take off all computer stickers before evening booting up any new machine. Tacky, tacky, tacky!

The stickers on my SZ were super hard to pull off. I used my fingernails to lift up an edge, and then used some pliers to pull those suckers off. After that, I used the back of the sticker to get all the goo off. Easy peasy!

 

You can also use plain old rubbing alcohol to remove any sticker residue.

 

just don't throw them if you took them off.
that's what i do to all my laptops.. carefully take them off without bending/tearing them and when reselling it, i'll put all of them back including the huge advertising stickers.
by the way, i use lighter fluid to take off stickers which works very good since years

 

My first sticker is off. Nvidia was hard, left glue residue.

I will report back when the second sticker is off.

BJ

 

Second sticker was a breeze! Intel decal came up in the corner, grabbed with needlenose pliers, came off in seconds, no residue.

I will report back when the third sticker is off. Pray for me.

BJ

 

Third sticker, Windows Vista, was the hardest one of all. Required a lot of fingernail pressure. Once I got it up at the top right corner just a few millimeters, needed to use a plastic pen cap to get under there and bunch it forward a bit. Then the needlenose pliers and it came off. The Vista sticker is a trick sticker; there is a top portion held on by glue that is a clear protector. Then the actual sticker is extremely thin and hard to lift up. The Vista sticker is also the best sticker at removing the glue residue left by the Nividia sticker.

So, let's recap:

Nividia: Removal is a "B" as it was a bit hard. Aftermath is a "C" because of excess residue. Not my favorite sticker.

Intel: Removal is an "A". Fantastic design. Comes right off. Aftermath is an "A" as there was only a minute amount of residue. My favorite sticker by far.

Vista: Removal is a "D". Very hard. Does not want to leave the Vaio ecosystem. Aftermath is an "A". Not only did it not leave much glue residue, but it was the best at removing the residue of other stickers. I may put it up on eBay as "The Ultimate Wristguard Glue Residue Remover" or I may keep it to take tar off my car's windshield.

Thank you for all your help in this time of need, and thank you Intel for designing such an easily removed decal and thank you Microsoft for designing an entertaining trick sticker with multitasking technology.

BJ

 

That's funny BoltJames, I almost had to pop some pills to keep the anxiety level on "low" while you were peeling them off.

I like my VAIO naked. no stickers at all.

 

Thanks. Everyone marveled at how clean my Vaio looks. I'm considering de-badging the "SZ460" decal as well. Why let a competitor know how much horsepower is under the hood? When opening apps in business class, I'll shock them with all the muscle.

BJ

 

I would do that if I had the SZ491, not just to surprises the others, but also keeps it under the radar of laptop thieves

 

If you want to sell the notebook you can get these stickers again. I've seen some peeps getting aftermarket logo stickers. There's a good selection on eBay.

 

I saw you on Engadget. You're famous now.

BJ

 

Lotta sticker hate here I see.

 

I guess you edited your post after it was originally posted.

I don't think there's any problem, and obviously people can do whatever they want with their laptops.

I do understand the instinct to keep the Intel/AMD and NVidia/ATI logos on, as it is sort of the equivalent of people who add decals to their car so people know what is powering them.

I have to admit though that I still don't see the reason for keeping the advertising stickers on; the "badges" I can understand, because there is an intention that a user might actually keep them on.

But the advertising stickers (i.e. the ones on Toshibas listing the features of the notebook, the accessories available for it, etc.) are ONLY designed for the purpose of advertising when the laptop is on display in a store. I just honestly can't see why one would keep those stickers on just for the sake of "preserving the original condition" of the laptop.

-Zadillo

 

It's all about opinions. You're entitled to mine and I am to mine too. Just was expressing an opinion about the general attitude here about this subject. Nothing else. I obviously don't want to get into the specifics about leaving stickers on VS taking them off as I don't want to start any long winded debates much ado' about nothing. So I'll leave it at that.

And yes, since you felt the need to point out the obvious--I did edit my post simply because I felt I may have come off too harsh in my original and didn't feel like starting a silly flame war. Hope that explanation suffices.

 

Taking the stickers off was the hardest decision I've ever had to make regarding computing, and one of the most rewarding.

When those stickers come off, well, you feel so free.

BJ

 

If you take your stickers off the system is .00014 pounds lighter. I say remove them at once. It is just a joke

 

Tomorrow I take my first flight with my SZ. I will expect many comments from other passengers now that the stickers are removed. I will report back here with my experiences as they occur.

BJ

 

Heck yes. Also, the plastic under the stickers will discolour at a different rate than the other plastic.

 

I'd NEVER remove component stickers.

A. Because they help in resale. (In fact, if I upgraded an OS, I'd want to upgrade the sticker too)

B. They look cool!

Large vinyl descriptive "features" stickers have to go though. However, I can see why some would want to keep those. Having all your original stickers makes it that much closer to being new, but the ones that cover half the laptop are just too much to bear.

 

I took all of mine off except for the Nvidia one because I like that one.

Why is everyone making this such a big deal?? They're only stickers.

boltjames - I can't tell if you're being serious or not with all this sticker business, but either way you gave me a good laugh. Thanks.

 

I laughed at this thread when i first saw it. but then it really got me thinking. in the end i decided to remove all of my stickers. the most convincing thing for me was looking at the dell that my new SZ491N was replacing and noticing that the stickers came off by themselves, but the outline of their old location remained. As for the really harsh elixirs (lighter fluid?!) that people mentioned using to remove excess residue, i was shocked. it's not necessary either. i used the stickers to remove the majority of the residue (GREAT suggestion--hadn't thought of that one before!). Then i used one of the eye glass lens cleaners to clean the rest. it's mainly just rubbing alcohol on a nonabrasive cloth. i use one every morning to clean: First my eyeglasses, second my cell phone screen and thirdly the case of my laptop. great little multitaskers in 1 little sheet!

 

I believe the first thing I do whenever I buy electronics devices is to take any sticker off. I have had bad experience with them (my old R505 had some stains due to stickers across the time).

I just bought a SZ360P/C and the first thing I did was to remove the stickers. It is not only about the looks (I believe it looks cleaner without the stickers) but also to protect it.

 

only stickers? some of us don't have personalities that allow us to say " only..." for anything. some of us obsess over every little detail of every major (and minor) purchase and decision ever made. it's a curse and a blessing all rolled into one. you'll be glad to be with one of us one day if you are ever caught in need of something since we'll have first aid kits in our cars, umbrellas and gloves in every bag and at least 3 types of mustard in our refrigerator.

you are right, however... it is only stickers!