Just purchased SZ120P at CompUSA - Page 5

Definitely good news. I just get a little jumpy with this much $$ on the line. This machine is work and play which means downtime due to a shoddy product will cost me big-time heartache.
That said, all the peripherals I ordered have shipped. Hopefully, Monday will see the lappy ship as well.

I dont know how your XPS G2 chokes on BF2, my G2 runs it amazingly, on 1280x1024 all settings on high and 4x AA. I'm interesting in the SZ series laptops because my wife has been using my XPS G2 and carrying around to work and starbucks and she hates how huge it is. If figure an SZ120 is a good balance of video performance and light weight computer. I dont even game that much on the laptop anymore...

Is the Core Duo processor the SZ120 uses a 64-bit processor? I haven't read enough about the Core Duo processor.

no not yet. the duo is not 64bit

I also spent some time this weekend looking at an SZ at Best Buy. I liked the screen, I own an S380p and the SZ definately has a better screen than mine (brighter I would say). The keyboard is something that prevents me from wanting to upgrade. It is a negative issue, the keys are flat and the homing marks on the F and J keys are little dots of plastic, not a bar like most keyboards. My first impression of the model I saw at BB was that the keyboard looked and felt like one of those touch tone phones from the 80s where the numbers were on these giant keys. I think Sony was trying to make the keyboard easier to type on by making the keys flatter and larger.

Two other observations: the machine I saw had been on all day running a screen saver, I noticed no heat issues underneath or on the palm rests. The processor was the 1.8 duo, throttled to around 900 mhz.

Finally, the hard drive failing is troublsome. I owned a thinkpad t43p which also had this active drive protection, and it constantly came on when ever you moved the notebook. IBM had numerous failures of their 7200 rpm drive because the firmware on the hard drive needed up dating. I remember reading posts on thinkpads.com to immediately inactivate the active protection or risk having the HD fail. I am hopeful this is not the case with the new SZ models. Regardless, I am a bit bummed about the keyboard so I do not think I will make my next purcase an SZ. I appreciate everyones comments on this thread, it makes buying a new NB a much more informed decision.

Scott

Scott, thanks for the note about the HD shock protection. I'll turn it off as soon as I get mine, which is *supposed* to be shipping 2/22...

Anyone know who supplies (or where to get) SATA notebook drives? I always like to have a replacement on hand -- and it sounds like I may need one.

Jim

Do you guys know if you can replace the SZ hard drive with the 7200rpm hd?

Now that we have two or more members here with an SZ, do you think we could see a full review on Notebookreview.com anytime soon? (battery times of both GFX cards and the usual tests) I for one would be very appreciative. Still can't decide if the SZ is better than an S.

Is it possible to undervolt the Duo?

it's kinda funny... people come here (even register once) to tell that they just bought it and most of the time you never hear from them again...

I think I am going to pick up a SZ110 in the morning. I will be happy to answer any questions.

I'm no computer engineer, but why would Intel release a new processor that isn't 64-bit? It's discourging to buy any laptop that doesn't have a 64-bit processor knowing I can't take advantage of future 64-bit operation systems or software...

by the time that 64 bit technology picks up whatever you buy now it will be outdated anyway... besides Merom is coming out in 6 month that's 64 bit Centrino... otherwise I see no point in 64 bit at the moment...

i just received my customizable SZ140 (finally), came in this huge box. The screen seems really flimsy to me, and the laptop in general feels cheap. I am currently making the recovery disks and will play around with the batt life later. I am pretty disappointed about the build quality, and am thinking about returning this and grabbing a S580 instead. Doesn't feel like a 1800$ laptop to me O_O.

hm... I looked at S5xx before and I thought the build quality wasn't greatest and felt kinda cheap as well...

it feels cheap because SOny uses mostly plastic and it doent help that to keep the unit light, the screen cover is very thin.

Btw, has anybody played World Of Warcraft on this new laptop? Besides work, this game HAS TO RUN GOOD on the laptop as thats the game I play.

I have the s360(the one with the dedicated 64mb v.ram and the 9700), wow runs good as long as all my disply settings is kept to almost all the lowest setting. WIth it that way I get anywhere from 18-60+fps.(not counting lag) Most outdoors is about 22-27fps or 30-43fps depending where you are.strange part is I get higher fps in ashenval(sp) than in the barrens. go figure. If I can run similar fps (but will all the settings turned up, I would be happy)

I find it sad that you can order a 140 with a 2 or 2.16 dual core for $2200. But with only the 128 shared video card. kinda wondering if the 140 equipted(sp) this way vs the premium with the 256mb video card and 1.8processor would be slower in games.