Laptop Heaven - The Perfect Notebook Computer [?]
 

Well, after a three month search I think that I have finally found the perfect travel laptop which is to say a laptop that makes the right type of compromises.

My choice? Drum roll please: A Sony VAIO VGN-SZ280P/C.

Frankly I was [and still am] a bit surprised at my ultimate choice. Most Sony products, particularly their computer stuff, has never really appealed to me, whether in terms of design or performance. But I must say that this laptop has thrown me for a loop.

OK, OK. $3K for a laptop isn't cheap but then this computer is loaded with a ton of useful features, many of which really can't be found elsewhere.

Many of the specs are common to high-end laptops these days: Intel Core-Duo 2GHz processor [would have preferred an AMD Turion dual-core 64bit chip but this Intel chip is fast], 2 GB of DDR-2 RAM, 120 GB hard disk, dual layer multi-format DVD burner, VGA, USB 2.0, and Firewire ports, built-in card reader for Sony MemoryStick, SD, and MMC cards, and ExpressCard54 mini card and PCMCIA slots, and a built-in 1.3 MP webcam with microphone.

Battery life is pretty good. Not class leading but not bad either. I manage to get about 3 hours of mixed use with the primary battery [4+ with Wi-Fi off] and about 8 hours with the extended battery [which itself cost a whopping $299!]

The warranty is a typical 'nothing-special' 1-year affair, I bought the two-year extended yadda, yadda [never kept a laptop for more than two years, we will see how this one goes].

Now for the things that make this laptop great:

[1] a 13.3" wide-format screen at 1280x800. The 13.3" size is the perfect compromise between the too-small 12" and the sometimes too big 14.5"-15.4" screens. Also, the screen on this thing is only about a ¼" thick which helps keep the overall size and weight of the notebook down.

Also, the screen is lit with LEDs rather than traditional laptop screen lighting which makes for the brightest, most evenly lit screen I have ever seen. I rarely set the brightness level above 3/4 even when pluged into the wall as this screen is so bright.

Finally, Sony's BriteView gloss coating really makes images pop and the reflections aren't nearly as bad as on some other screens I have used. More importantly, Sony's coating is the smoothest I have seen, no wavy distortions like those on "Bright" screens by Dell, HP, and Apple.

[2] The entire computer is built into a carbon fiber case ["Premium" models only] that is beautiful, tough, and light [3.5 lbs with primary battery].

[3] The graphics system [and I do mean "system"] is pretty ingenious. This computer has two different video cards, the first is an Intel GMA 950 that is integrated into the combined north/south bridge chipset and borrows up to 128 MB of system RAM. This system is more than adequate for 2D office apps, web surfing, and watching DVDs with the added benefit of using less power thus prolonging battery life.

But when you want to use more challenging 3D based apps like I do such as FormZ, 3DS, CAD, etc, then there is also [ at the flip of a switch] a discrete nVidia GeForceGo 7400 graphics card with 128 MBs of dedicated video RAM. While this is only nVidia's mid-level laptop card it still provides more than enough umph to, oh, I don’t know, play Half-Life 2, or RTCW - and pretty darn well to!

[4] This laptop has built-in wireless communications options out the wazoo: 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi [with built-in hotspot finder] and Cingular EV-DO. There is also a dedicated button to turn all wireless off at once so as to save power, say like on an airplane.

[5] Despite its computing and graphic power this laptop runs cool and quiet. Even playing HL-2 the laptop never gets more than slightly warm to the touch and I can rarely tell when the fans are running.

Oh, almost forgot, [6] Even compared to Apple, and certainly as far as PCs go, this thing is pretty darn sharp aesthetically.

As I said in the beginning this laptop is not perfect, none are, but IMHO it makes its compromises in all the right places [at least for me]. Now I never even hesitate to bring a laptop with me wherever I go as I used to with my older and heavier full-featured laptops, nor do I have to worry any longer about leaving home important features or raw computing power as one must do with every other thin-n-light laptop. I have seen.

Having never owned a Sony computer before I can't speak to reliability but all of the notebook review mags gave it high marks, and while I have never been a fan of Sony customer service in general I am hoping that I won't need to deal with them any time soon.

I am sure that something "better" will be out in six months [or less] but for right now I am in laptop heaven.

Cheers.

Sony is really innovating in their machines, I recently read a review of their first Blu-ray notebook and the specs were simply mindboggling; 200Gb drive(s) 1920x1200 display, HDMI output, TV tuner etc...

Yeah if you have to have portability and power, the Sony is hard to beat.

Of course, for the same price, I got both - a 17" HP laptop and a 13" MacBook - so I can decide which one I need. :)

not to forget..
 

not to forget the LG T1 Express, dual core, light, wireless, bt, DL, and comes standard with a 3 year warranty; and is 30% less in price..!!

Check out LG, first time buyer and am waiting for it to be delivered...!!

Cheers,

a

I have always admired the LG notebook computers at the local shop here, they seem well built and packed with features considering their price. Are they available in the USA yet?

I have never seen an LG computer for sale anywhere in the U.S. I don't think they are distributed/supported here [yet?].

I've found that my Samsung laptop is perfect for travel, mostly because it weighs next to nothing while still having a full-size keyboard and a 14" display.

I know that they were not being sold in the US last time I checked, has this changed?

Anyway, I've got an X10plus, which I'm very happy with. It was 1300 Euros.

AVAILABLE via certain distributors...
 

I know that the following dealers ship to the states, and LG now comes with 3 years warranty standard (most models);

http://www.milestonepc.com/states/in...7a5b450da445d8
(ALEADY OPEN..also is opening up US store soon) and also ncix.com.

Pls. note, i have not bought from them but did ample research before ordering my T1 and these dealers were competetively priced. I finally ordered via ebay from Philly!!

EXACT SPECS:LG-T1-5316A9 / Intel Duo Core T2300 (1.66GHz) / 14" WXGA / 1GB DDR2-667 (2*512MB) / Intel 945GM / 60GB 5400R / DVD +- RW /Wireless 802.11ABG / Fingerprint Reader
[LG T1-5300A9]

Looks like a decent notebook and this dealer might be great for Canadians but U.S. buyers might want to take serious note of the huge warranty disclaimers that this site makes about LG notebooks.

For U.S. buyers these are gray market products [these were intended for the Canadian market only] which means there is no U.S. warranty and this company offers no warranty of their own. In fact this site says, "If the buyer is from the U.S. and not Canada then LG will let the buyer try and deal with LG Canada."

Wow, that's reassuring – not.

Reading further, neither LG nor this company cover shipping costs [either way] so if you are lucky enough to get a foreign LG repair center to cover your warranty repair you will still have to add about $100 minimum [there and back insured] just to get the work done.

Thanks but no thanks. ;)

Point well made regarding the warranty disclaimers; i guess its buyer beware once again...!!!

LG cannot sell directly in the states; i think cuz of a no compete clause with dell, but all in all this is a great laptop for the money for those who don't mind the warranty hassle associated w/grey goods..!!

Cheers,

:D

Take note of LG warranty claims!

Aly, let us know how your LG laptop performs for you. Pity that it's not available in the USA. I'm sure it would sell very well there considering its price and features.

Consider it done, i am impatiently awaiting it. I even picked up a new pda just so i can sync with this one.

Got the s200...!!

Ciao for now,

a

Minor quibbles: 802.11a/b/g IS Wi-Fi. And pretty much any laptop can run a wireless scanner to find networks. (Doesn't XP itself even let you search for non-broadcast-SSID networks these days anyways?) Cingular operates a UMTS/HSDPA network. Sprint and Verizon operate 1x EV-DO networks. The two standards are not interoperable. The dedicated wireless off button is a nice touch that more devices need.

That looks like a very nice machine though, as far as PCs go. If I wasn't a die-hard OSX user these days I'd be very tempted if I needed a new system. :) (Totally sick of Linux for desktop use as well, after running Linux on laptops for several years. Maybe someday it'll get to a point where it'll be worth running somewhere other than on my headless servers.)

Now if I could just get a PowerBook with built-in EV-DO... (or even HSDPA, I'd switch wireless data providers just for having that built-in once Cingular gets their coverage up to par!)

This I know. It was late at night and I chose not to critically edit that post. If one were to look closely they would likely also find two dangling participles and a spilt infinitive as well.

XP Pro with SP-2 can but then the first thing I do with all machines loaded with SP-2 is to remove SP-2. To quote Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents, "I want to do only what I want to do" and SP-2 thinks it knows better than I - yeah right, and monkeys might fly outta my butt!

I did get the standards backwards but considering that [.a] some laptops now offer a choice of either companies standard and [.b] most new high-end laptops offer at least one option, and [.c] I have become intimately familiar with about 60 different laptops over the last three months and thus sometimes confuse them, I think this is a minor mistake. ;)

Indeed.

Lin-ux? What is this Lin-ux you speak of?

Windows is like capitalism – absolutely the worst OS in the world save for all the other OS's. Were someone to pay me for the billing/personal time that I would lose in order learn Mac OS and it's idiosyncrasies and also reimburse me for the $7,000 or so in PC CAD/CAM software that I own then I might give it a try. As it is now I simply don't see the point.

PowerBooks are gone IIRC but don't the new MacBook Pro's have and ExpressCard slot? Not as nice as "built-in" but still very workable and, despite the fact the every carrier in the U.S is about five years behind Europe and Japan, Cingular's data coverage is pretty good right now.