You might want to skip over this drool
fest of a review if the $2800 asking price is a bit too steep, but Sony's new
VAIO SZ line -- headlined by this here
VGN-SZ170P -- sure looks to be an attractive choice for those in the money. Powered by a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo T2400
processor, the 3.8 pound laptop has plenty of horsepower, and even manages to best Gateway's 6.3 pound Dual Core M465-E
in benchmark tests. The processor also runs surprisingly cool, which is always a good thing with a laptop that is actual
small enough to sit on your lap. At 1.2-inches thick, the notebook still manages a 13.3-inch 1280x800 widescreen
display, and also includes a DVD±RW optical drive, an EDGE radio for Cingular service, and a VGA webcam to fill
up its carbon fiber body. Perhaps the most interesting feature, the SZ's ability to switch between NVIDIA and Intel
integrated graphics for the sake of battery life, happens to be a bit of a letdown, since at 4 hours 15 minutes it only
offered a 42 minute improvement over the all out NVIDIA usage. PC Mag recommends a larger battery if you really want to
try and compete with Lenovo's
7 hour strong X60.
posted Mar 25th 2006 6:51PM
I would give my left testicle if someone could figure out how to install OS X on this.
its nice and small
but i'd rather spend my money on a macbook pro 15'' at 2ghz for the same price (if not cheaper). And if I ever really wanted windows xp (not likely) I could dual boot it on my macbook pro. Thats priceless imo.
but I do like the size of this, and I wish apple made a black laptop.
I have the sz160, it is well worth it. My other choices were a macbook, but they are too big or an ibm z60.
I would give my left testicle if someone could figure out how to install OS X on this.
Totally not worth that.
edge card? no 3G card for a top dollar laptop??
I personally think that this laptop is awsome but would have been a tad bit better if it had a nicer video card , maybe just one up in the series of nvidia cards but still would have been nicer. Still for a 13.3 inch laptop it has alot of stuff in a little light package. No i don't work for sony but man i have a s28 and know they are good stuff.
They do have a 2GHz model called the SZ180p/c. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these. I do wish that they came out with an EVDO version like the thinkpad Z60t instead of EDGE. *Hint* *Hint* SONY!
I was really interested in the SZ series (I currently own a Vaio s360 and love it), until I tried it out in the store. Just about everything seems excellent about it, but the new keyboard they have switched to for the SZ series is absolutely terrible in my mind. Very spongy and the keys are almost totally flat. It's a total step backwards from the previous S-series keyboards.... I know it sounds petty, but since I do a lot of typing, I couldn't deal with the SZ series as it currently stands. I really hope Sony gets this worked out with the next revision, because otherwise it seemed pretty excellent.
"Totally not worth that."
Right testicle?
Some of the nicest laptops going for several years now.
Hell YAY! huh.....mac os would be amazing on this machine..it reminds me of sonys answer to the macbook pro...but the only thing is its Windows baseD:!
_BEGIN_PRGM_HATE
BEEP BOP BOOP...TOTALLY WORTHLESS...BOP BEEP...
WILL BUY ONLY IF...BOP BOOP...WILL BOOT OSX...BOP
BEEP...MICROSOFT SUCKS...BOOP BOP...TOTALLY GETTING
MACBOOK...BEEP BOOP...PRETTY GRAY METAL...UNNNNNNGH!
_END_PRGM_HATE
i'm a Vaio R505GL since 2001 and i think i've found it's successor.
OMG they got Windows to work on a VAIO..
... er.. for a few minutes anyway...
I agree I definitely didn't like the keyboard. I think I might be able to get used to it in time, as the keys are pretty near full-size, but the key travel and mushiness definitely didn't leave me with a good first impression.
I have the cheaper ($1999 at best buy), slightly heavier (4.1 lbs), slightly thicker (1.5") SZ120P and it's absolutely the BEST laptop I've ever owned. I just leave it in Intel mode to save the battery, and since it has dual channel RAM, it doesn't take that much of a bite out of memory performance. Tested some games on the Nvidia, and it works well too. Only wish it offered a 7200 RPM drive, but oh well, good enough!.
nice for VAIO ...
http://www.apponkey.com
If they can cool this thing why can't Apple cool the MBP?
Totally agree on the lack of 3G/HSDPA radio. Since the 3G cards can also receive the EDGE signal, it makes no sense to ship EDGE-only radios - Bad move Sony and definitely the #1 reason why I would not buy this laptop.
Oooh. This is a cool looking laptop. Wonder if it will ship to other parts of Asia first.
I think first he will be in USA
took a test drive on this machine, and liked everything except the keyboard. I especially diliked the under-sized right "shift" key. There's nothing worse then going for the shift key, and hitting the up arrow!
Cheap? Get MacBook Pro and good mobile phone with bluetooth. Volia!
So close - good weight, good processor for the SZ180p/c but I'd really want at least a 14+" screen. I'd also rather get the ati or nvidia video card. I'm hoping Dell has something like this in the sub 5lb duo core 2GHz when they release the new models next week. I'm pretty dissappointed in Toshiba - they used to lead in laptops but their smaller units are woefully underpowered in my opinion.
I would recommend a longer battery. My VAIO is down to only 45 minutes of battery time after about 8 months of use.
a great alternative which is smiliarly sized, comparably equipped and looks even (i said it) for hundreds less = the Asus W3J
Asus W3j 14" Widescreen Lightweight Core Duo Notebook
Intel Pentium-M T2400 Yonah (1.83Ghz; 677mhz w/ 2mb Cache)
14" WXGA (1280 x 768) Color Shine (glaretype) LCD Panel
Asus W3J w/ Intel 945PM Chipset
1024MB DDR2 677 (1024mb x 1)
100GB; 5400RPM
ATI Mobility Radeon x1600 PCI-E Graphics w/ 256MB VRAM (512MB Hyper Memory)
Built-In Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 A/B/G miniPCI
8x Dual Layer DVD Burner
8-Cell Li-Ion; Approximately 4-5 hours of normal use life
Windows XP Pro w/ SP2
13" (length) x 9.7" (width) x 1.18"-1.28" (height)
~5.0 LBS w/ US standard 8 cell and travelers drawer
~5.4 LBS w/ US standard 8 cell and optical drive
Price = $1850
pics at - http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=w3v&btnG=Google+Search&sa=N&tab=wi
As far as the screen size, if you are used to a 14 in widescreen laptop (like me), you will not notice the difference going to this laptop, I thought it was 14 in looking at it the first time. And boe, you do know this has a nvidia 7400, very impressive for this size of notebook and the main reason for all the drooling.
This machine is the reason I'm switching from Mac to PC. If Apple won't make a non-crippled small notebook, I'll go to someone who will. Unless Apple spits out a 12" or 13" MacBook Pro with the same CPU/GPU/backlit keyboard/card slot as the 15" model before I order the Vaio, well, so long and thanks for all the fish. Just because I want a smaller machine doesn't mean I want a weaker one.
Crappy screen resolution at 1280x800. I don't mind the smaller screen, but with a 128mb video card and costing nearly 3000 bucks, you think Sony could have put in a higher rez lcd. Near perfect cept for the screen resolution, soon or later to be legacy edge network, and lack of dvi.
I have a vaio s380 (2.0ghz Pentium M w/1 gb ram and Geforce Go 6200) and I have to say its one powerhouse of a little laptop... Of course, I got it may of last year for school, and naturally this behemouth of a damn good laptop shows up as its replacement... too bad laptops arent like mercedes... trade in and trade up :(
give information a bout compuer
I have the SZ160, which is the same wihtout the EDGE chip. Sure, the keyboard is a little spongy, but please, after looking at what is available, this does it all. Full size keyboard, 13.3 widescreen, dual layer DVD burner, 100 gig 5400 rpm drive, 1 gig DDR ram, very cool fingerprint reader and webcam? All in a very light 3.7 lb package? Cost was not really a concern -- having the features I want was my concern. As an added cool feature, you can open password protected websites and files with a swipe of your finger instead of entering passwords or having them remembered in Windows. I am incredibly pleased with this and highly recommend it.
I have been using a T140P for since it came out and love it. When I saw the SZ, I fell in love and may get one later today. No 180's here in Canada, though.
Anyone have any idea why CDW and TechDepot just listed the SZ170 and SZ180 as DISCONTINUED???
OMG!!!
I have the predecessor of this laptop, and i can swear that it is sooo brittle....i mean 7 months of useage and the LCD's gone, the HDD's slow as heck and the keyboards screwing up. Not to mention its hell to clean and get stained and scratched easily. Oh and don't belive the stuff about dual modes (stamina and speed) i really couldn't notice much of an improvement in battery life
But man is it a sweet laptop, i love it so...