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12 out of 12 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent portable laptop for both business and home"
Pros: Light weight, Intel Core Duo processor, full feature set, big hard drive
Cons: sony software bundle, a little pricey, docking station
Summary: I purchased the SZ280P/C and have been using it for almost three weeks. I looked at the Lenovo Thinkpads, Panasonic, Dell and even the Apple Macbook running Bootcamp (for windows support). I decided on the Sony because of the Intel Core Duo processor, battery life (about 4 hours), lightweight form factor, the flexibility of the integrated graphics processor and the Nvida processor for more demanding applications, large hard drive space and the durability of the carbon fiber chassis. Also, the Sony has many of the ports and integrated optical drive that the Lenovos do not include. I believe the express card slot will be utilized in the very near future. I highly suggest going with the upgraded chassis (all model numbers will end in p/c) because the laptop is a little lighter and seems more durable than the standard chassis. I have not had any problems with the keyboard or space bar. I am not sure if it was a problem and now it is corrected. The fingerprint scanner is great! I was reluctant to use it based on what other posts have said about it not being reliable but it is truly awesome. It saves time for logging in and has a nice feature about remembering all of your passwords on website login pages. Very nice! What i found is that if your finger is dry, you slightly wet your finger with your tongue, it works 98% of the time (i know it sounds weird but biting your nails is slightly grosser). With all of these features and the performance of the machine, it was a clear winner above the others.
Now for some negatives (if they are negative). The Sony bundle of software sucks. I would suggest very carefully removing a lot of the included software. If you are not good with computers, find someone who is and they can easily remove all of the demo software. Also, beware that the Norton virus software will need some adjustment for networking this computer with others. I have also heard that the docking station is not as good as the Lenovo (i am not docking it so it is not a problem) but I can not see what the docking station can possibly lack. The integrated camera is not great but for video conferencing and chatting it gets the job done.
Hope this helps your decision.
