Viao VGN-SZ71VN/X - help & opinions needed

I am about to purchase a Sony Viao VGN-SZ71VN/X from the US and ship it to Australia however i was wondering if there is ANY way i can adapt the Sprint WWAN to work as 3G/HSDPA here in Australia on my own network?

I have noticed that the same laptop is available in Europe but cannot find if it is locked to a network.

Would it be possible to buy the laptop in the US and then if need be buy the respective internal HSDPA reader thing from Europe and have it installed?

I ask this because the laptop itself is the closest thing i have found to being perfect for my needs howevert they dont sell it here in Australia - we are a little behind the rest of the world.

Cheers.

 

I have written on this area.

Please click on the following, then scroll down and read Post 3 to Post 5 :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=218133

I suggest that you use those USB type wireless-modem (eg. Vodafone) so as to ensure compatibility with 3G network within your home country.

Naturally, it is best that the model of the USB wireless-modem is that suggested / supplied by your network provider.


rgds.

 

I bought it 2 weeks ago. I already had a 3G-SIMCARD, which worked.

But then I tested the recovery: I created the Recovery DVD and tried to install VISTA from scratch - it failed. I tried to install from the recovery Partition - it failed again. Now I don't have a working VISTA anymore.

VAIO Support dosn't have a Recovery DVD either, they told me. But yesterday they sent it to me, after my initial post here. I did the complete installation process again, there was an error, saying that a certain installation failed because I didn't have admin rights. I clicked it away and the installation went on and finished without a visible problem so far.

I bought the extra 3 Year Onsite Warranty. Now I know, that it covers only Hardware failures. VAIO support refused to replace the notebook because this is a software failure.

I bought the SZ71VN/X-VPPS.G4 at SonyStyle.de.

 

Hi,

I bought an SZ6 last november and didn't want to use the bundled WWAN (in the UK it was an expensive T-Mobile contract). The way around this is to download the XP driver for 3G mobile on the Sony support website - you may have to type in that you have an Sz4 or earlier as I recall.

Anyway, the driver stack is called 'Globetrotter Connect' which is basically what the telecoms companies package in their own livery and lock you into their contracts with but the one you can download from the Sony site as an XP driver is company contract agnostic and it's Vista compatible

You can also get it from other download sites on the net, but the Sony site is probably safer. Anyway, I asked Vodafone for a pay as you go 3G contract (because I'm only an occasional user) and it works brilliantly.

FYI I've just bought a SZ71VN/X, good choice for business.