Which Sony Laptop

steverashi

steverashi

steverashi

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Got to get a laptop for someone at work and have narrowed it down to 2.
They are both Sony Vaio one is VGN-SZ71WN/C the other is VGN-SR19VN.
The first has a Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9300 and the second is P8400. Is there much differance between these processors?

Cheers
 
The T9300 is 250mhz faster plus has a bigger L2 cache @ 6mb compared to 3mb L2 cache on the P8400, I doubt you'd notice much difference in performance between the two unless they are doing video encoding etc, then the extra cache on the T9300 may edge it ahead.
 
Its just going to be used in an office environment so think I'll go with the P8400. The person that needs the laptop just liked the fact that the SZ71 has a carbon fiber case but it costs about £600 more.
 
I've got the the VGN-SZ71WN/C and the case doesn't look much different to a regular black laptop case from a few feet away. Not worth it if it's really an extra £600.

The CPU isn't the only difference, the SR has a newer chipset and an ATI GPU. What about RAM, HDD, screen res etc.

The VGN-SZ71WN also has a built in WWAN adapter, is that something he will use?
 
I'll be completely different and say if you're looking around and have some freedom; *DONT* buy Sony! The build quality these days (which is the main reason bar looks that people buy Sony) isn't all that amazing, and is outshone by cheaper manufacturers. Im seriously not joking; they're reasonable laptops, but they don't justify thier price difference; and reliability wise I see as many faulty sonys as anyone else.
 
Alexrose1uk said:
The build quality these days (which is the main reason bar looks that people buy Sony) isn't all that amazing, and is outshone by cheaper manufacturers.
Click to expand...

The build quality varies between Sony models. I owned bought an S1 nearly 4 years ago and the person I sold it to is still using it. I moved on to an SZ2 and after a year decided to try a Dell M1530. I read many statements like yours saying "cheaper" laptops were just as good. The Dell was worse in every way and after a few weeks I returned it for a refund.

I shopped around for weeks comparing features vs price vs looks and eventually bought another SZ. I wouldn't say Sonys are worth their RRP though, I paid £900 for this laptop on an auction site when most places were selling it for £1700.

The build quality is as good or better than the Thinkpads we use at work. I now keep my thinkpad in my locker and use my SZ for home and work. The display, battery life and performance is better. I use an external keyboard so won't comment on that too much but if I had to choose the thinkpad would win :)

Recently we've been upraded to T60s an the build quality is worse than the old T40s.
 
get the Sz, I have the same model. It is a a very good all rounder, and has perhaps the best screen of this size laptop. Aesthetically this looks very good too, the only laptop in this class that 'looks' better is the thinkpad x300, but the x300 althoguh laiden with features is actually a weak performer spec wise and has a notoriously lacking screen.

Before I owned the Sz, I saw someone on a train pull one out and it turned my head and I thought it looked excellent. One of the things that made me look it up online to see if it was strong in other areas. You won't be disappointed with this choice.
 
The laptop is for one of the directors and he has asked for the SZ because it has the fingerprint scanner. I will admit that it looks good but don't think its worth the price tag.
I am also having difficulty getting hold of one. We have to use a well known PC supplier for our equipment and they have said that they haven't been released in the UK yet, and any that are available from different suppliers will be Euro imports.
 
Mujja said:
The build quality varies between Sony models... I wouldn't say Sonys are worth their RRP though, I paid £900 for this laptop on an auction site when most places were selling it for £1700.
Click to expand...

And that's my problem with them. THEY AREN'T WORTH THE RRP! Sony build quality IS generally poor these days in regards to reputation, I work in a large retailer and see dozens of sony; I can't see why you've debated that with me, as you've pointedly said exactly what I have that they're nice looking but not worth the money at RRP, aka what most will pay for them! Yes you could argue that a £1700 selling for £900 is better than other models at that price; but standard RRP to RRP comparison, the sony really isn't that special, when you're getting it half the price of the RRP, I'd expect it to be better than others with the RRP you bought the sony at half price for.
I mean there's £1000 sonys around at the moment, you put your finger in the right place and apply a *little* pressure, and you can hear half the plastic starting to unclip, I'm sorry but for a £1000 laptop thats shoddy, and I DO see laptops costing less money that have better build quality.
 
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I have to say, also having worked in a laptop repair centre that ALL Sonys are not built that well. That said, I haven't found anything as solid as both the SZ and the TZ series in terms of build. Every one i've had have been amazing, and have withheld a lot of travelling!
 
All I'll say is I'd never even consider Sony for a business laptop, build quality and reliability are proven flaws and have been for years (to be fair, they seem to be getting better now). Their support is also notoriously bad.

Just to make the point...percentage of business laptops requiring repair (from pcmag)

Sony - 28%
HP -18%
Lenovo - 18%
Apple - 18%
Dell - 24%

Average for all Windows laptops - 24%

Significantly above average and even more above the competitors...
 
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Alexrose1uk said:
I'll be completely different and say if you're looking around and have some freedom; *DONT* buy Sony! The build quality these days (which is the main reason bar looks that people buy Sony) isn't all that amazing, and is outshone by cheaper manufacturers. Im seriously not joking; they're reasonable laptops, but they don't justify thier price difference; and reliability wise I see as many faulty sonys as anyone else.
Click to expand...

So which manufacturers/models would you reccommend?
 
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