sony sz 13" as a desktop replacement?

Quick question for sz owners -

Do you think the sz would be suitable as a primary computer / desktop replacement?

I've been eyeing the sz for many months and with my old laptop (old 15 inch compaq, don't ask) about to die, I'm tempted to finally pull the trigger. My only concern is that I am so accustomed to using a 15 inch screen. Will the 13 inch sz screen seem limiting as my primary computer?

thanks for any perspectives from sz owners on this.

 

I did the same thing u are planning to do.

I was using a 17" desktop PC....and moved to a 15.4" dell laptop 2 years back.

and now i have a 13.3 SZ430N/B VAIO......and i dont think its that small.

I dont have to strain my eye even a little to use it.

Why dont u check one at shop and see for urself?

 

Similar sort of situation here. Been using a 15" Dell for ages as a desktop replacement/semi portable laptop, just got hold of my SZ61 last week, and it's not as much of a size difference as I expected. Still a good sized keyboard, screen is fine - the major difference is that it's about half the weight of my old laptop!

 

why not? just buy a nice 22 inch LCD and you're good to go.

if you have some cash left you can buy a dockingstation, even better.

 

i uses a sz483n/c full time now, and overall it has been satisfactory as a desktop replacement in my case. the 13" LDC is great in my opinion, as i use to lug around a behemoth 14" (same resolution) toshiba m100, so the sony is a godsend.

the 1" reduction in screen size may look insignificant, but if you consider everything that is attached to the lcd, the size and weight reduction is very obvious.

 

I use mine as my main PC. Just hook up an external monitor at home and a mouse.

 

As long as you keep on using the 13", in a few days, you will not notice a difference. But if you start using the 15" and 13" side by side, you will obviously enjoy the 15" more.

The SZ does not come with a HDMI or VGA port, so you need to buy a docking station retailing at 200 bucks. So hooking up an external LCD can be expensive but worthwhile.

 

get the dock and then plug in a 42" cheapo westinghouse lcd at 1920x1080, you'll have plenty of screen real estate.

 

Really? I'm pretty sure it has a VGA port...

 

it has a vga port and a dvi if you use the dock, however, using the dock enables the DVI and disables the vga on the side of the notebook

 

Ever since i got a SZ my 17" desktop sit unused. Only use the desktop for storage or overnight downloading. I could hook 17" inch LCD to the SZ Vga port but the 13.3" LED screen is fine. When i started using the SZ as a desktop replacment i found it hard to go back. However, using a desktop i find is less strainful on the eyes and easier to type long reports on. i don`t have a docking station so i don`t know what difference it makes.

 

i use my sz as a dekstop replacement, i got the dock (which has vga,dvi, 3usb's and a lan port) plus you can still use the 2 usb's on the side, for a total of 5. i got it hooked up to a dell 17" monitor, with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

 

Same here, been using my SZ650 as a desktop replacement since day 1 back in early August. I leave it on almost 24/7 (plugged) + mixed use (on battery) while on the road ... Except for a few glitches with Vista itself, excellent workhorse !!!

 

thanks for all of your insights.
rb

 

I have a new sz-680 which replaced a 2 years old sz-190 that replaced an older s-series sony laptop. When I had the s-series, I'd still use the desktop for more intensive tasks such as photoshop and illustrator, but ever since I bought the first sz-190 laptop, my 4 year old desktop pretty much just sits for storage and downloads.

Now my sz-680 replace all my computers at home and work. I have 4 docks set up; one at home, one at the office, one at my home is Taipei, and one at the office in Taipei each connected to their monitors/networks/etc. I have the same logitech dinovo bluetooh keyboards at each location I need to do is
plop the laptop into the dock and it's like have identicle desktops that live syncs infomation at every location.

Once in a while I still think about getting a more powerful desktop to handle super big photoshop and illustrator files (work related), but the new sz-680 handles everything else quite adequately.