Acer 8204 v.s Sony SZ ? Help !

[Hoang Tu Ao Den]

Hey guys,

I'm debating whether I should buy the ACER Travelmate 8204 or the New SZ?
I'm an engineer student who want to run CAD software, play Need for Speed, run multiple applications at the same time. I will also use the laptop for Web Design, record lectures...etc
Will you guys help me pick out the right one ?

The Acer 8204 fig:

* Intel Core Duo T2500 2.0GHz
* 15.4" WSXGA+ LCD (1680x1050, non-glossy)
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256MB GDDR3
* 2GB PC4200 533DDR2 RAM
* 120GB 5400RPM SATA HD
* 8x Combo with DVD+R DL
* Intel PRO Wireless a/b/g
* Built-in Bluetooth + Camera
* Battery Life: about 3.5 hours
* Weight around 6.2 pounds

PRICE: $2400

My wanted Sony SZ Cons Fig:

* Intel Core Duo T2400 (1.83 GHz)
* 13.3" WXGA display with XBRITE Technology
* NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 (128 Mb)
* 2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-533, 1 GBx2)
* 80 GB Hard Disk Drive
* 8x Combo with DVD+R DL
* Intel PRO Wireless a/b/g
* Built-in Bluetooth + Camera
* Integrated Biometric Fingerprint Sensor
* Battery Life: about 5 - 6 hours
* Weight around 4 pounds

Price: around $2500

I have several questions below:
* Is the Sony 13.3” too small? (too small for Web Design , CAD ?)
* Is there a big difference between Duo Core 1.83 Ghz and 2 Ghz ?
* Is there a big different between the NVIDIA 7400 and the Radeon X1600 ? Will I be able to run CAD on the 7400 ? I heard that Windows Vista is very graphic heavy, will the 7400 be able to run it ? Do I even need the X1600?
* Does Sony laptop better than Acer in general?
* Which one is easier to upgrade? (RAM, Graphic Card ...etc)
* If you were me, which one would you pick?

[Rastlin]

I would go with the Acer, CAD will likely run fine on the Sony it tends to key more off CPU than GPU to run ok.

The 15.4" screen will be better because it's biger, this could make a big difference for CAD and Web Design.

There should not be a huge difference between the CPU's real world performance should be mabey 5% faster for the 2.0 ghz.

The difference between the 7400 go and X1600 is huge the X1600 is far more powerfull.

Sony builds very nice laptops I am on an Acer now and am generaly impressed by the build quality IMHO it's better than the Dell's and Hp's and Gateways that I have used in the past.

Ram/Hd are likely to be about the same if you upgrade in the future, neither should be terribly difficult, Graphics on both units are unlikely to be upgradeable.

[Hoang Tu Ao Den]

Thank you Rastlin.
It is truly an enlightment.

The Acer is more powerful in term of graphic and the screen.
what keeps me thinking is that ... The Sony .. is so light (4 pounds) with 6 hours batter life.. and the Sony's screen is nicer.

Anybody pick Sony ?

[pr50wner]

sony sucks, if you see the preinstalled software on sony;s you will cry, they run like 60 processes out of the box, my laptop with all my wireless started is only 33.

i personally would build one but the acer is 100x better than the sony

[flashram]

sony sucks, if you see the preinstalled software on sony;s you will cry, they run like 60 processes out of the box, my laptop with all my wireless started is only 33.

i personally would build one but the acer is 100x better than the sony
It's not hard to do a clean install you know? I wouldn't judge a laptop based on the number of running processes out of the box.

[Hoang Tu Ao Den]

Are you for the Sony, flashram ?

[pr50wner]

It's not hard to do a clean install you know? I wouldn't judge a laptop based on the number of running processes out of the box.

its not just retarted os loads

its propriatary crap (memory stick ONLY reader)
slow benchmarks (check out toms)
rip off prices because of the shitty sony name
root kit crap, with sony you never know....
sony is just newb

[Hoang Tu Ao Den]

I read that Acer 8204 has 3 big issues:
* LAN
* HEAT
* BAD SCREEN
Is that true ?

[efalis]

LAN issue is addressed by a new driver (I didn't have this problem).

I don't find the machine particularly hot, and I do stress it with multiple software builds going at once. Fan comes on only occasionally.

The screen issue is controversial. Almost all of them appear to have alternating lines of overly dark pixels, which may matter to you if you do media work (I don't notice it). Others have complained about lack of brightness; I don't have any problem with it (subjectively), particularly after calibrating the colors with Pantone ColorPlus.

I'm quite happy with the machine.

- Ed

[Deathwish238]

I've had this dillema for quite some time. I chose the Sony SZ because it is cheaper, better built, smaller, and has a better battery life.

The 8204 on the other hand does have a gpu twice as powerful. However there are a good deal of problems people have been having with it. Head to the Acer forums and you'll see a few threads. The biggest turn off for me was the crappy screen.

I'm still debating whether or not I want to keep my SZ. I really like it and honestly my only complaint is that I wish it had a better gpu. But even so, I was playing HL2 today on all High settings but no FSAA at 1200x800 and it was nice and smooth. So the gpu does perform better than I thought it would. Also the weight of the SZ is nice...4.1 lbs w/ battery. I honestly wish it was a little heavier o_0...I'm used to my 6lb Dell so everytime I go to pick it up I use too much force.

The fact that Sony preloads a bunch of crap is annoying...but it's not really a big deal. Spending about 20 minutes and I cleared up most of the crap that I didn't want. The only thing that really pissed me off was the AOL Explorer crap on there...but that was easy to remove.

I think it really comes down to whether you want a 15.4" laptop with power or a 13.3" laptop with style.

[gernot]

i am an acer user myself (tm 8104) and i simply cannot understand how people can possibly think that acers build quality is good!?
they certainly pump al lot of power into their machines and sell them for a reasonalbe price. they are also always one of the first to market new technologied, but that comes with a price. the products are usually unfinished when they hit the market, even more then all the other productc... i would be careful with an acer.
though sony is certainly bad with cosutmer service, their build quality is difinitly better and they are known for building good thin&light notebooks. however - if you are seriousle planing on doing CAD on the notebook (using the notebookscreen) i wouldn't go for a low resolution 13" screen. there are nice 15,4" notebooks out there - just don't go with the acer..

cheers
gernot

[Hoang Tu Ao Den]

Hey Guys,
Thank you for posting your comments.
I'm also planning on getting an 19'' inches Ultrasharp monitor, so I might not need the 15,4''. However, .. the Acer is still more powerful.
Moreover, the 8204 actually looks good from the outside.
Which laptop are more reliable ? Gernot says Acer is bad, while others say differently.

[Vcdechagn]

its propriatary crap (memory stick ONLY reader)
slow benchmarks (check out toms)


It comes with an express card SD reader as well.

Mine benched 1867 on 3dmark with vanilla drivers, that's pretty good for a 7400. There's a guy in the sony forum that posted over 2k with some tweaking/oc. Plays Doom 3 just fine on Medium

http://www.dickey.cc/cobra/3dmark030706default.jpg

However, you will not get six hours out of the battery...I set mine at 2 clicks brightness and got about 3:15 out of it on Max (not ultimate) battery life. I'll probably try ultimate tomorrow and see how much better it is (USB fix NOT applied).

With USB fix and more aggressive battery management I'm guessing 4-4 1/2 at best for the non-premium (I have the SZ-120)

Also, it doesn't run hot at all...an hour of playing doom 3 and it's just a tad warm and the palm rest is not warm at all. Playing while charging the battery does warm things up a bit more, but still much more tolerable than my Gateway m675.

[Vcdechagn]

Oh, one more thing. This thread on notebook forums talks about CAD performance http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=43804

In the end, buy whichever one you want and best fits YOUR needs. I could have gotten the 8204 but really wanted to be able to take my business laptop and my play laptop on the road and have less than 10 lbs of laptop (minus the power bricks of course). I couldn't do that with the 8204.

There is NO other 4 lb laptop that will do what the SZ does, and doesn't appear to be one in the near future. There really is no alternative (even the Asus that competes with it...W5J, I think...will be quite a bit heavier from what I've read).

[Deathwish238]

I was playing F.E.A.R. on medium to high settings at 1024x768 pretty smoothly on my SZ...impressed the hell out of me.

[efree58]

I would definately go for the Sony. It is always nice to have a mobile computer that is truely mobile. After I got a 12 incher after having a 15.4 incher I instantly started taking my laptop with me to classes and stuff. I have no problem with smaller screens but I know some people do. It's whatever you feel you need. Personaly I think the Sony SZ is the best laptop on the market right now. At least for my needs.

[Dangsy]

If you can wait a month or 2 you might want to look at the Asus W3J dual core laptop also. 14in screen with a x1600 in it about 5-5.5 lbs? right smack in the middle of what you're looking for i think.

[Hoang Tu Ao Den]

Thank you all.
I do not know very much about Asus .. but I guess I can wait. Do you have the cons fig of the W3J ?
How is ASUS laptop compare with Acer, Sony , Toshiba ?