Sony VAIO VGN-SZ750N/C

Customer Reviews:

VGNSZ770N a mixed bag (XP Downgrade, Camera, Antenna, Battery) [Posted on 2008-06-11]
I have had this laptop for a month, and these are my experiences: Upon opening, I attempted to use the included XP Downgrade disc, but it was faulty (apparently not an uncommon problem). While support sent me another disc, I used Vista and decided it was okay but not good enough. When the replacement XP downgrade disc arrived, it worked. The webcam didn't work though. Many frustrating calls and chat sessions (Sony chat support is better than phone support), they said I needed a fresh install. So I installed XP Downgrade again, and it still didn't work. As it turns out, several drivers were not working with a fresh install and they had to be downloaded from Sony. After that, the webcam works, though the framerate is not as high as on Vista (15fps on XP). XP is quite a bit faster than Vista on this computer (not surprising).

The antenna attached to the notebook is cheap and flimsy. In the hustle of the airport, I put the laptop back in my bag, and the antenna got caught on the side of my bag and is now bent. I wish there were a way to take it off as I don't need the WWAN.

The battery (like other users attest) loses power even if the whole system is turned off. This is annoying as I do not use my laptop every day during the summer (I am a student), opting for the convenience of my desktop quite often. Therefore, I have to worry about my battery much more than I did with my previous laptop, which was a Gateway. I'm not sure by how much it loses power as I have only recently realized it has this problem, but it's ~10% per day. I have not attempted to contact Sony regarding the battery due to other reviews which make it seem futile.

In the end, this laptop is pretty cool. It looks nice, runs fast, says Sony on it, the keys make a satisfying click for fun typing, the screen is pretty, etc. However, I wish it had a slot-load disc drive, more USB ports, a backlit keyboard, better battery which didn't drain even when powered off, and a sturdier and removable WWAN antenna.

Satisfied but not delighted [Posted on 2008-06-26]
Overall it is a great computer. Some facts to keep in mind:
1) Windows Vista is nice but really slow, sometime it can be annoying, but I didn't install de XP that comes in a cd because I didn't want to mess up things.
2) Video memory is not as powerful us I expected. But it still works for some light applications.
3) The keyboard is not us nice us expected for this kind of product.
4) Brilliant processor, really fast, specially on 3D rendering.
5) Ram memory is enough for almost any task, what will keep your times down is video efficiency.
6) Screen is good. Size is good but not as light us expected.
7) Battery leakage is a problem if you are travelling and don't want to carry the AC adapter.

Took me a year to buy, but I'm glad I finally did [Posted on 2008-07-14]
I've been debating buying this computer for nearly a year now. I started out wanting the SZ650 then the SZ670, but I always thought it was more than I wanted to pay for a laptop. I finally got it and I have to say that I have wasted a lot of time that I could have been productive with this incredible laptop. The SZ has exceeded my expectations in every way I've owned 4 other Sony laptops (SR, FZ, AR and the LS). The SZ beats them all. Performance is on par with any desktop, the screen is on par with my best desktop screen. I was extremely surprised when I sat this next to my 24" Dell screen and the Dell's whites seemed yellowish compared to the bright white on the SZ screen.

The full-size keyboard is great. It has both PCMCIA and ExpressCard slots, so it's more expandable than 99% of the laptops out today that only come with a single ExpressCard slot. Sony was even nice enough to include a multi-card reader that plugs into the ExpressCard slot so that you can read SD cards without an adapter. The carbon-fiber case is very nice. Doesn't show fingerprints at all. The differet power-saving mode including the abilty to switch from Stamina to speed mode will give you up to 4 hours of battery life on a single charge.

In "Balance" mode, I get 2 hrs of battery life
In "Power Saver" plus "Speed" mode, I get 3 hrs, 15 min of battery life
In "Power Saver" plus "Stamina" mode, I get nearly 4 hours

Keep in mind that this is with the standard battery. I can only imagine what the 1.5X extended battery would provide.

If you are on the fence about this one, get it. You won't be sorry.

Severe Touchpad Problem, Ignored by Sony! [Posted on 2008-07-19]
This computer eventually develops a problem with the touchpad that causes the touchpad to operate backwards. For more info, Google "sony vaio touchpad backward." Sony responds to complaints about this problem by insisting that it is a "new" issue, denying that they have had previous complaints, and delaying action while hoping the customer's warranty will run out. Literally hundreds, if not thousands, of customers are experiencing this problem and Sony has no intention of doing anything.

Unless you want to waste a lot of money, avoid this and other Sony notebooks until this issue has been addressed.

Great [Posted on 2008-07-23]
I think Sony Vaio are the best notebooks on market. I have chosen SZ because of it's power and mobility. It's great. The only thing I don't feel good about is speed of the hard drive. Well, I was using desktop with Raid 0 before so 5400rpm drive may seem slow :). It's not a bug, it's a feature :).

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