Customer Reviews
Bad keyboard, useless support, bad drivers, QC problems... 
2006-06-27
This machine is over-hyped. I got it to replace my Thinkpad X22, and I didn't like it at all. I had to send the first one back for replacement because of a flickering LCD. The new one is also flickering at mid brightness levels. Sony has some QC issues I believe. My friend's has a bad trackpad button and it is always overheating.
PROs:
+ Great processor
+ Great LCD (if you are lucky)
+ Lightweight (1.9kgs)
CONs:
- Horrible keyboard (nightmare after Thinkpad - flat keys, sharp edges, fingers tackle on them), strange key placement, flexing badly. F and J keys flex vertically while others do horizontally, this causes problems.
- Re-installing a new OS is a nightmare. Drivers caused many problems when I wanted to upgrade to XP PRO.
- Bad design features (latchless LCD still requires two hands to open, or the cover on modem/LAN connectors is buggy).
- Battery life cannot go beyond 3.5 hrs even at Ultra-battery saver Vaio Power Scheme (claimed 5hrs).
- Ultra heavy/big power adapter brick ( Over a pound!)
- Hotkeys are not real hotkeys, requires software running, so you can't mute the speakers or change LCD level before Windows starts roaring!
- Doesn't have a built-in microphone? My goodness, just 5 cents! Sony is getting meaner and meaner on feature(!) limitations on basic models.
My verdict: if you are particular about keyboard or an ex-Thinkpad user, stay away from this Sony.
MKP.
amazing laptop 
2006-06-03
this laptop is one of the best i,ve ever bought.it's sleek fast and has amazing scurity options.
HD fail when it arrivated 
2006-04-15
This looks good, but not works well. Just received the laptop. And turn on the power, after finished the register for xp system, the hard drive fail. Now the system can't restart, and the big noise from hard disk.
There is no recover CD. The adapter is huge and heavy. Can't belive that Sony make such huge adapter for small laptop. Very stupid.
Hardware fail, hope amazon help me to return it.
Who packed the package? The laptop is on the bottom, and the air bags are all on the top. There is no protection for the laptop at all. I think amazon need to learn how to pack.
Call amazon customer serivces, they don't serve you. They keep asking you to call back later. Call them second time 3 hours later, they still said call back couple hours later. The call is from indian, can't hear clear and long time delay.
I think it should give negative 5 stars.
Good Machine, a bit pricey though 
2006-04-09
I have used this machine for a month now and am fairly satisfied with the overall performance. I use it for about 4 hours everyday while riding the train to and from work. I paid about $[...] after rebate.
At the time I bought it (early March 2006), this was the only machine that met my criteria for a lightweight Centrino Core Duo laptop with sufficient power to run Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005, Business Objects XI and also do occasional video editing. However, in April Dell introduced the Latitude D620 which is about 1/2 pound heavier than this machine and is better equipped at a lower price (DELL gives you Win XP Pro and you can configure it to have 2GB RAM. The only thing missing from the D620 is a dedicated graphics card). So you might want to look around before commiting to the SZ110B.
Now on to the review of core features of SZ110B:
1) Memory - it comes with 2x 512MB chips which is a shame as you have to throw away at least one of these if you want to add more RAM. As for memory speed is it 533MHz and not the top rated 667Mhz, though in real life it wouldn't make much of a difference. I would have liked to see one 1GB chip.
2) Video Editing - comes pre-installed with DV Gate and Click to DVD software from Sony. I must say that this laptop/ video software combo is the easiest I have used so far to transfer movies from my Sony Hi-8 digital camcorder to DVD. The movies produced were of very high quality and the process completed without a hitch.
3) Overall fit and finish - very good, except for battery fit which is a bit loose.
4) Battery life - There have been a few complaints about the low battery life. However, remember that the battery life depends on what task you are performing - higher the CPU usage or if the DVD drive is constantly spinning, the battery will obviously run down faster. What I found was that using "Vaio Optimized" setting with the stamina mode gives adequate battery life (about 4 hours) without affecting performance too much. So don't set the power scheme at "Always on" or "Home/Office" if all you are doing is word processing or web surfing. Choose "Max Battery" or "Vaio Optimized" in such a case.
5) Power Adaptor - yes it is big and I would have liked to see a smaller size. Note however, that this is a POWERFUL adaptor - about 90watts as opposed to 65watts that most notebooks ship with. I guess this translates to a faster charge time with the notebook on, though I have not tested it.
6) Wireless network - performed without a hitch and the speed was adequate. I use the Linksys WRT54G router and there were no issues.
7) Doing a clean Windows install - This is the first laptop (and I have owned quite a few) that I did not wipe out the pre-installed copy of Windows and put on my own copy. The reason being that this machine performs so flawlessly and is so preditable that I don't like touching the base OS install at all.
I do need to run Windows XP Pro to do some software development tasks. For that I use Microsoft Virtual PC and it runs flawlessly on this machine, which is surprising given the fact that Virtual PC is not officially supported on XP Home. I had quite a few issues running Virtual PC on other systems with XP Home, but this laptop just runs it without any hassle.
If you do need to do a clean install, check out the Sony support as it gives explicit instructions and the order of installing the various drivers.
8) Built in camera and microphone - These feature are useless for me as I have no need for them. The microphone does seem to be pretty good however, when I tested it.
9) Fingerprint reader - At first I thought this was a useless feature. Now however, I do use it to login to the laptop and it seems to work very well, with a success rate of over 98% recognition at the first swipe.
10) Value for money - Given the fact that Sony offers only one year standard warranty (DELL gives 3 years on the D620), I feel that is still a bit pricey and a good price point for a machine like this would be around $1,650. Keep in mind however, that not many machines offer a hybrid graphics system and a built in camera like this laptop dies.
11) Overall performance - While it is not a blazingly fast machine, this laptop offers a good balance between stability and performance. While I would like see a lower price, I do intend to keep this machine for a long time and hopefully it will give a few years of trouble free service.
Sony Vaio Extremely Poor Service 2006-04-08
Sony makes nice compact computers, which are great until they break. Even if there are known defects in the computer, Sony will not honor the warranty if there are any things that they determine are not due to normal wear and tear---even if they have nothing to do with the manufacturing defect.
Buyer beware.
Great Powerful Lightweight Laptop - Buy One! 2007-10-10
Most small laptops give up power and features to obtain light weight but this SONY is an exception. With Duo Core Intel FAST processors, 256MB Dedicated Video, large 100+GB Hard Drive (5400RPM - fast for laptops), beautiful high resolution easy to view screen and a sleek package UNDER 4 Pounds!! - this is a system capable of video editing, presentations or anything you might want to do....and yes still smaller than a piece of paper :) HIGHLY Suggest the purchase, it has been extremely reliable with the small exception of the battery which SONY replaced under warranty.
Does not deserve such a high price 2007-07-22
This was my first lap top and had to throw it in garbage in one year after facing many problems. I bought it considering Sony brand , but now realized that Sony is worst when it comes to laptops.
- Lap top base gets so hot that it can burn your skin and you can not work while keeping in your lap.
- Battery back up is less than 90 minutes even when laptop is new
- Key board is flat , not comfortable and very fragile (can break very easily)
- Over all the laptop is not at all sturdy and different parts (such as side panel in my case) can come out very easily.
I would advise not to spend $1500-$2000 for this as there are various other good laptops available in this price range.
Apples to apples.... 2006-08-20
Many people have written some great reviews about the PROS/CONS of this notebook, and I have ot say that they are exactly right. I will spare you having to read the same information again, but I will say that sometimes the keys can be a bit picky, especially the space bar, which fails to register a stroke from time to time. However, comming from a law student who takes all his notes via typing on his laptop, this is a very managable issue.
MOST of the complaints that people have made about this computer are inherent with ALL SONY VAIO models, not just the SZ series, or specifically the SZ110B. I own an older "K" series model (about 3 years) and here is what I found...
- The screen flickers from time to time, but usually only when it is first opened.
- The computer gets hot to a point of discomfort, where it will burn if you have it on your lap too long.
- The power supply is a brick, and quite heavy
Now, compare this to the complaints of the newer SZ series. They are basically the same, BUT...
-The screen is about 1/2 as think as the original "XBRITE" screens
-The power supply is about 1/2 the size of the previous generation VAIO notebooks
-This computer is no where near as hot or noisy
Overall, I purchased this computer to take to class everyday and my old computer was just too heavy at ~11 lbs. If you own a VAIO, you will love this computer. It is lighter and much more powerful than previous models. Also, I think that the security feature of the figerprint scanner is underplayed. Setting it up is a bit long, but once it works, it takes literally seconds to set up pages to work with it.
People seem to complain that it is not like their IBM Thinkpad or Dell, which I agree with SINCE IT IS NOT EITHER!! Bottom line, some people like certain brands. These notebooks may have the same problems as other Sony laptops, but what brand doesn't? Being someone in higher education for the past 5 years, I have seen quite a few brands of laptops from Toshiba to IBM to Mac's and the infamous Compaq. Some don't work well with wireless routers, some are heavy, some crash...Bottom line, if you want a computer that you can use out of the box with plenty of power and porability, but also want a compter that you can use for personal reasons like photos, movies, etc, this is your notebook. And if you are looking for a computer to send with your student to college, this notebook is a great choice. It sgreat for music, movies, and school, as well as light enough to transport too and from class.
Beware of amazon slow delivery 2006-07-06
I purchased this laptop on Jun/29. It was listed as "ships in 24 hours" (it is still listed this way). As of Jul/6 it has not shipped. This is unnaceptable. Amazon should fix their extremely long time to process orders.
VAIO SZ vs MacBook - VAIO is awesome 2006-07-04
After having a bad experience with MacBook (Returned that back last week, windows keep crashing, heat problem, too heavy etc.). I finally decide for Sony VAIO SZ notebook. I got this brand new notebook (Sony VAIO VGN - SZ260P) from SonyStyle store in University Village Mall, Seattle. Its quite nice and good looking notebook. It feather light as compared to MacBook. I really love it. Display is crystal clear, comparable to MacBook. Keyboard is well designed and keys are well placed. On MacBook, if you are a Windows user then you may miss a lot of important keys - DEL key, which is a must to login - "Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to login" though there are workarounds like key remapping etc. Home, Pageup, PageDown and End keys are quite useful while doing some editing work. These keys are well placed on Sony VAIO SZ.
Typing on MacBook was more pleasent, on VAIO SZ keys are a bit noisy and feel plasticiy. Though its ok. The main difference is the battery. MacBook has a really poor battery, just 2.5 to 3 Hrs. On VAIO its showing me more than 5 Hrs at 95% (in Stamina mode), that's really awesome.
O'kay now the bad things (or the things i didnt liked about it) - No recovery disks in the box. I've to burn two DVDs myself. It has a lot of software pre-installed, which makes it slow on startup. Many trial version software like AOL, Office 2003 etc. There was a problem which I faced - I joined this machine to DOMAIN (in coporate network) after reboot, first time it logged in, second time it stuck up at "Applying Computer settings..." 20 minutes nothing happened, Rebooted in safe mode, it worked! Try to restore system using Restore System. But that even didn't helped. Decided to recovere C: Restored system to factory defaults (it formats c:). Again joined the system to DOMAIN and uninstalled AOL and rebooted. and system again stuck up at "Applying comuter settings..." no login screen appear. Finally I've to call up the Sony Customer Care. After 15 minutes of conversation he suggested me to do F8 on startup and choose "Last known Good Configuration" and thank God, system started normally after that.
Sony has created a hidden recovery drive and there is no Windows XP CD to install OS and essential device drivers only. When you do restore system to factory defaults its restores all the funny software with it too. Any there are atleast 12 icons in the sytem tray that loads on startup and makes startup slow. I would have been good if, these extra software has been provided on a separate CD.
Overall, its an awesome machine. Though it comes at a price. But one can easily feel proud to own this state of the art machine. Earlier I was planning to buy VAIO TX because I wanted an ultraportable machine. Now after owing this, I can say, VAIO SZ is the good blend of portability without sacrificing on power. This model sports an Intel Core Duo 1.83 GHz processor with 1 Gig RAM which is quite decent for most applicaitons. Though I've not yet installed Visual Studio on it.
The last geeky thing about it - it has G-sensor protection for HDD. When I move it a ballon message on system tray popsup - reporting G-protection system engaged. The operation is quite silent and cool. On the contrary MacBook tend to become quite hot even after 2-3 Hrs. of usage. VAIO SZ is running quite cool, its about 5 Hrs now. And I am able to use it on my lap quite comfortably.
Regards,
-Vks
