Drop, charge, and lose the cords
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- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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17 out of 17 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"Does It All -- Great Product"
Pros: Duo Processor, Full Size Keyboard, Light, great display
Cons: Loaded with unwanted software and trial ware
Summary: For me, cost was not a factor. I wanted a cool laptop that did everything without compromise, at least 13 inch widescreen, glossy coating, long battery life, fast, large drive, lightweight. This laptop does it all in a very light 3.7 lb. package. The screen is excellent, all connectivity options, a very cool and so far perfectly working fingerprint reader that also allows you to register web pages requiring passwords so that you can just swipe your finger and the passwords are entered automatically. Fullsize keyboard, although the travel is a little long and soft for me. Connectivity is a snap. Plus, its got a built-in low res videocamera and mic for perfect for streaming video over an instant messenger. The speakers are OK (little tinny things, but better than most) and a 100 gig 5400 rpm hardrive (most are 4000 rpm). This model is carbon fiber and comes with 1 gig of DDR memory. Great battery life and switchable graphics chip from an onboard Intel to an NVidia GeForce chip for more intensive graphics work or when using AC power. The touch pad works great. In short, this laptop does it all, very well.
The only drawback is that Sony includes a bunch of software and trialware that I would prefer not to have on there. I had originally planned to wipe the drive and install my own software, but I understand that there is a partition where Sony stores all the stuff for a default setting restore,and it is problematic to wipe the drive an get everything running again. I did not want to screw with it, and just uninstalled most of the stuff I didn't want. Also, there are no backup CD's for anything and no documentation included with the laptop. Everything is apparently online. Highly recommend this laptop if you can find one. I got mine from Datavision, $110 less than list!
- 4 replies to this review
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All you have to do is follow the instructions to make baqckup DVD's (requiring you supply the DVD-Rs). I have done this and gained back 6 gigs of HDD space by repartitioning the basckup to the main partition.
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There are so many SZ models--which one does the user have?
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I am in the process of looking for a notebook for school. My money is valuable to me, and I unfortunately do not have the ability to waste it. As such, I have been scouring the Internet for the best deals. Time and again, the best deals always come not from the major vendors but the white box distributors. The specs on this laptop hardly make it worth the $1859.95 that Eagle Computer has listed it for right now. There are several things that de-value this notebook. First off, the graphics solution, while decent for basic business needs, should not be considered adequate for mainstream gaming or media works. Secondly, the processor is the T2400, Intel?s lowest spec processor in the T2x00 family. Thirdly, the switch between the Intel graphics mangler and the nVidia solution is a ploy. It was obviously included in order to reduce battery life by allowing the user to switch to the Intel mess when working in basic programs. However, nVidia includes a low power option for this exact situation in its tuning software. Thus, the ability to switch to Intel?s solution is irrelevant.
For the amount of money paid, both Alienware and Ibuypower.com offer faster solutions. For several hundred dollars less, in fact, the Alienware includes the newer, faster Core 2 Duo processor, and a faster nVidia 7600 Go graphics chip with 256mb of video ram. It also has 1gb of DDR2 clocked at 667mhz. However, it one-ups the Sony again by including a 100gb HDD spinning at 7,200rpm! That?s the same speed as a desktop drive! The final price for this clearly superior machine? $1529.00, or $46/mo through financing.
The Ibuypower.com laptop model Battalion 101 HEL-80 Notebook [2] comes with a 1.3megapixel webcam, fingerprint scanner, and optional artwork on the laptop. It also has 1gb of DDR2, a 100gb HDD, the Geforce 7600 Go, and the Intel T2600, which is not one, but two steps above the Intel processor included with the Sony model. These are all standard features, and you can upgrade from there! The price of this Sony-killer, as configured? $1,435.00!!
These prices also include the priceless excellent tech support and customer service that these companies have built their business on. Such support is not something you can easily buy.
I hate to waste money, and I love getting the best deal for my hard-earned dollars. Clearly, Sony and other large name brand manufacturers do not share my feelings. If you would like a great laptop with much better support and quality, look to the pros in the white box community! If you absolutely must have carbon fiber on your laptop, there?s always the Acer Ferrari line, another great alternative to Sony, Compaq, Dell, etc. -
I'm not sure how Sony does things now, but with my 1 year old VAIO S380 (predecessor of your SZ), you can make the backup disks (OS and whatever crap was preloaded) and then wipe the drive clean and recover all that space the hidden partition takes up. The only downside is that in order to do this, you have to reformat.
