Customer Reviews

Sony VAIO VGN-SZ330P/B 13.3" Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, DVD+-R Double Layer / DVD?RW Drive)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I had the notebook for about 3 days before I promptly restored it and put it back in the box. A notebook is a notebook, each of them have pros/cons. I will simply list them for you.

PROS:
Style and size is the best. It's sleek, thin and light, a huge contrast to any Dell and especially HP/Compaq. Nice dual graphics feature (stamina vs speed). Soft, but no so quiet keyboard. Pictures on the LCD look extremely crisp and vibrant, better than my 19in Dell flat panel.

CONS:
Backlighting is dimmer than the premium models (e.g. SZ360). I also noticed uneven LCD brightness. For example, depending on the viewing angle, the top/middle/bottom, 1/3 of the LCD will be brighter than the rest of the area. The fan is always on, even on idle. I actually had my hands on 2 SZ330's and one was noticeably louder than the other.

NUETRAL:
So you think you're getting a souped up notebook. Afterall, it has the most current CPU out right now (Core 2 Duo). Well guess what? Notebooks throttle the CPU speed to save power, when it's idle it runs at 1GHz. Okay, that's typical you say. Let me tell you, as soon as you get any kind of processes going, it bumps up to 2GHz, boy does the fan start to spin and make a noise like a jet airplane. I don't know if this is common but I started to become fearful of opening IE and doing basic typing. It takes quite some time to get the noise level back down.

SONY TECH SUPPORT:
Clueless. I called 3 times, they sounded like I had woken them up from bed. In fact, I called pretty late, 1AM PST. So that could have been the case. Anyhow, their response was slow. They had to look everything up in some knowledge base and couldn't answer simple questions. Your best bet was to get level 2 during normal business hours. So even though they tout 24/7, it's really not.

AMAZON'S RETURN POLICY:
Be aware that Amazon will charge you a 15% restocking fee for an open notebook. The first one I purchased had a stuck pixel. It was green on black and red on white. Quite bright to be honest. Anyhow, as soon as I discovered this, I submitted an exchange request and was denied. Why? Because it was not defective according to Amazon. Their reply was this: Manufacturers do not consider 1 dead/stuck pixel defective. Therefore, I can send it back but pay the 15% restocking fee. Needless to say, I fought them on this for 2 weeks and finally got them to take it back. Amazon's customer support was horrible in dealing with this issue. I dealt with a different person everytime and each time received different answers: Yes you can get an exchange, no you can't, we will pay shipping, UPS will pick it up, you pay shipping, we will charge you 15%, we will not. Let me just say, wow. I will never buy a notebook from them again.

OVERALL:
Excuse my Amazon rant. I ended up getting a SZ360 on a gamble that it would turn out OK from Amazon. It's the last notebook I'm going to buy from them. Back to the SZ330, it's a fine fine notebook but not really worth ~$1800+. All you're getting for the price is the size and style. If this is what you have to have, then go for it, but be conscientious of possible defects on the LCD and a loud fan. Amazon may not take it back. =)

This is just as fantastic as the first Core Duo SZs, but almost a year later, there still is yet to be any dramatic changes besides the processor. Design is pretty much the same, most of the ports are exactly where they were, the case, although beautiful is essentially what it has been all year. Sony is usually really good at keeping their things new and fresh looking, unlike Toshiba, who has used the same notebook casing for their Satellites since 2001.

PROS:
Fast processor - 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo runs great clock speeds. Not an incredible spike in power from the previous Core Duo, but enough to run an extra program or two, or download something while playing Half-Life.
2GB RAM - Plenty. No need for more. This is a great amount, and will last you for the long haul.
nVidia 7400GT/Integrated Graphics Hybrid - This in my mind has always been an incredible idea. I give large props for Sony for attempting this. Because of this, to my knowledge, this gives Sony bragging rights for having longest running battery in a notebook with PCI-Express graphics. Because of this, the battery life runs between 4.5-5.5 hours! This marathon machine will not get you through a round trip to Tokyo, but it will get you through most of your college classes. Not only that, the nVidia 7400GT, although only 128MB of virtual memory, ran somewhat impressive benchmarks. Nothing groundbreaking, but you can play most games at Medium to High resolutions. I wouldn't attempt anything higher than 1600x1200, especially if it's a highly demanding title.
120GB Hard Drive - Amazing, especially for such a small computer.
Design - Beautiful laptop, small, compact, light. This is the real deal. Sleek and elegant 1.3MP webcam built flush into the casing, and although the trackpad buttons are a little cramped, for those that enjoy the extra security of a fingerprint scanner, will like this.
Dual Layer DVD Burner - Burn discs up to 8.5GB in data. Not new technology, just another reason to justify the purchase. Encoding wasn't miraculously fast, to my surprise, but it is faster than the original Core Duo's by about 10 minutes.
Ports - This has everything you'll need. Also has built in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a Card Reader. USB, Firewire, VGA Port... pretty much anything standard on larger sized cases.

CONS:
No significant differences - My biggest gripe is that they didn't put the 7600GT in here to replace the 7400GT. I can see why they didn't; it would sacrifice battery, and wouldn't be a huge leap, but it would have been affordible enough that it could be done. Sony uses this card in their AR series quite often, so they have mass supply, but because they wanted to make an easy transition, they kept the 7400GT. Also, the screen hasn't been updated. I've seen brighter LCDs in other laptops, something I wish Sony would have done better with; usally I'm much more impressed.
Loud - There is a lot of noise going on with this computer. The fans are loud, especially when you are on Performance Mode (Stamina Mode is slightly quieter). Also, another review complained about loud keys, and although they didn't bother me much, I could see how this would be disturbing, especially during a lecture. When the computer is, as I call "thinking" where the processor is kicked into high gear to compensate for other components, the computer gets to be louder than you'd expect. Note, it isn't like LOUD!, but it is something that wasn't that much of a concern in the previous generation of the SZ Core-Duo series.

BOTTOM LINE: The only flaws in this are nit picky things. If you missed your chance to get the SZ with the Core Duo processor, now is a chance to get the updated version with higher specs. This Vista ready computer doesn't introduce any new technologies, but makes the current ones look great.

Had it for 2 weeks. Sent it back. Main problem was the fan noise. Fan is constantly on. Sometimes lower speed; sometimes faster speed but always on. I felt like I had a small vacuum cleaner in the room with me. If you are sensitive to noise stay away from this.

I previously used and HP1040 and went back to it. Its fan only goes on occasionally. Rest of the the time it is silent. I also have an Acer with a Core Duo. Its fan stays on but it has a wider vent so the fan is slower and therefore has a much lower pitch than the Sony. The Sony has a small vent so the fan has to ramp up to move more air to keep the CPU cool. I notice that the Core 2 Duo uses 34W of power vs 31W for the Core Duo and 21-27W for the Pentium M's. Maybe all Core 2 Duo laptops will have fan noise? Intel's hot chips are ruining the world! (Exaggeration but...)

Per other reviewers I did note that the keyboard was "clacky" and the battery did move slightly in its slot. I also got an error once where an alert said I had the "wrong battery inserted" and the unit had to shut down. At that point it would not restart; seemed dead. I removed the battery, restarted without the battery; reinserted and it worked ok from then on. Disconcerting though.

Otherwise, it was very fast - especially with the NVidia graphics. Screen was nice. Weight was great (although the power brick in LARGE and I thought a bit weighty - defeats having a light laptop a bit).

Sad that the petty annoyance overwhelmed a basically good unit. Especially for the price - STAY AWAY.

Now, considering a Macbook that I will BootCamp with XP.

I hate hate HATE this computer (Sony Vaio VGN-SZ330P). I want to throw it out the window. And you would too, if you had spent nearly $2,000 on a computer that has turned into an absolute POS.

Why? I'll tell you.

It is LOUD. The fan runs constantly, and it is the loudest fan you have ever heard in your life. This high-pitched whir, nearly a whine, accompanies my every task. I cannot stand it.

Oh, and do you know why the fan is so loud? It's because the computer runs so hot! The processors generate an incredible amount of heat (which is fine), but the system is so poorly designed and unventilated that the bottom of the computer is not warm, not hot, but scalding. I cannot keep my hand pressed against it for even 3 seconds. So forget about putting it on your lap without a solid barrier beneath it. (I need a thick book - magazines and newspapers don't cut it, the heat seeps right through.)

And now it gets funny...after a few months use, the touchpad ("mouse") now believes it is upside-down! That's right - if I move my finger "up" on the touchpad, the cursor goes down, if I move my finger left, the cursor goes right, and so on. And get this: I called Sony, and they said, "Yeah, we've heard of that..." I curse the engineers who designed this computer and doubt the marital status of those who brought them into the world.

Which brings me to Vista...no, I can't even talk about. Like a hapless, alcoholic, self-destructive relative no one talks about, Vista is better left unmentioned, mired in its wholly merited disgrace.

Actually, I will say this - it's the best thing that's happened to Apple since the iPod.

Now, do I have anything positive to say? I do. The screen is great (though there's a dead pixel, natch), and the speakers are superb. But this just means one thing, which we already knew: Sony knows how to make a TV.

And finally...I bought this computer in the first place because it had excellent specs, a good size, and, especially, a low weight (though the power supply must easily weigh a pound). But still, 4.5 lbs - you can't beat that, right?

True - but do you know that means? It means that it's flimsy. The battery rattles even when it's "locked" in place. It means my mouse thinks it's upside-down (the mouse buttons, by the way, have stopped working entirely). It means the keyboard clacks as you type. Which means, in the end, that it feels cheap. And while that may not sound like much, when you spend $2000 on a computer, that feeling really begins to eat at you after a while. You feel like a sucker, a chump, a schlimazel (the guy who gets soup spilled on him). You wish you bought something else, which I fervently urge you to do.

Of course...the majority of people are happy. Their computers were probably better constructed than mine. But a lot of other people (read the other reviews), are hugely pissed off and disappointed, because they got crap products. So there's really just one question you have to ask yourself: do you feel lucky?

I was extremely excited the day I brought this laptop home. The Vaio... finally. The holy grail of laptops. However, over the past few days, I have come to realize my dreams were unfounded. My previous laptop was the Gateway 3520, no stellar pinnacle of performance, but I would gladly trade this Vaio in for my trusty Gateway.

Where to begin...
The keys are very noisy. As I type, I wonder how loud it would be traveling in a quiet airplane cabin. The keys feel cheap. The thumbprint idea, nice in concept but even the manual warns to be careful about protection of this kind that it isn't always reliable. Mostly, my complaint is about the placement. Toshiba laptops have the print scanner off to the right of the palm rest. Sony put it exactly where the right mouse button should be so you have to over extend your thumb to use alternate commands. The screen looks washed out. Yes you can switch between video cards which is cool but I have yet to be impressed with this highly rated Nvidia card. The screen does not latch shut. The battery wiggles when you carry the laptop and feels cheaply inserted. They built in the camera into the screen frame, brilliant right? Well, consider that everytime you open the notebook your thumb goes exactly over the placement of the camera thereby leaving finger marks and grease builup all over the lens each time. The battery (even in stamina mode) does not last for more than 2 hours of light use (word documents). There is a little cover over the phone/ethernet ports that comes off at the slightest thought of a touch. And finally, with all the hype about duo core processors and this being the highest "2 core duo" with 2gb of mem, you'd think Mercury himself would assist in lightning fast application setup and processing. I have yet to notice any improvement in speed over my Gateway with 512mb memory and basic processor. I can only assume you need the new Vista OS to take full advantage.

I recently saw the new version of my Gateway in Best Buy on sale for $379. If my purchase wasn't past the 2 week return policy I would definitely exchange this exotic (but useless) noisy machine and save $1700.

I read once that Vaio's are the Holy Grail's of the notebooks...
Indeed they are top quality machines and you pay the price for it...

We must admit that there is a bit of Brand value to it as well...
But you will be very satisfied with this one, specially if you demand more then just office tasks....

By the configuration of it, you know you are looking at a fast machine, reliable, and light !! Definitely a plus..

After reading lots of reviews on the internet and seeing it before buying I can account for three issues that Sony could solve at this top quality Notebook (yes, nothing is 100% perfect), things that are to improve something that is at the top of the tide, that does not require an extreme ammount of engineering...

1) The fingerprint reader could be place away from the touchpad and buttons.. (like Lenovo Ibm and Toshibas), much better then were it is..

2) The battery does not hold tight in place, therefore, making a little noise while you are carrying it around... true..
On other note's, this is something that does not happen that much...

3) Small Notebook, HUGE Power supply source .. Plain and simple..
This is the one thing that is hard to understand from Sony... Keep it light, but the whole package, not just the notebook..

Besides that, other issues mentioned around the internet depend much on the owner.. Like keyboard noise...
I personally do not think that there is an issue, while others have complained...

Webcam, it does the job, but I have seen better at the LG's and at the Lenovo's...
The image is too Grainy.. but, as I have mentioned, it does the job of what it intends to ...

Apart from that, the rest is perfect...
TOP CPU at the moment, and ammount of memory that will not leave you behind at any time... The cache memory for the CPU is just the Twim Turbo set needed to boost your experience..., just about in anything...
120 Gb of HD on a Notebook... That is just to good...
WebCam, Fingerprint reader... Very Good Screen quality...
Speakers Sound....

And where else are you going to find a small Note with a very good Graphics card... There is where the Vaio's came up with the extraordinary idea of using 2 at the same time... One for the nice and easy going office tasks and one that can even play the latest games (Not at Full Specs, true, but still.. you can play it decently)
You have a Ferrari that uses Gas like a Volkswagen !!!
Or you can press the turbo (NVidia Graphic card) and enjoy the full specs
That was one of the top reasons for my choice as well...

Like I mentioned at the beginning, one of the top class machines you can get at the moment, and you pay for it and for the brand... But it is worth...

You will love it, just as I am with mine now...
Always on the road..

:-)

I have had this notebook for a little over a month and I really like it. I was worried about the screen being too small but the size and form factor are perfect for my home and office uses. This is the first notebook computer I have owned.

Pros: Small, compact, lightweight form factor. Great screen. Fast processor(s), lots of memory. Unlike some other reviewers, I actually like the keyboard. Good support from Sony.

Cons: Pricey. Non-snug feeling battery. Lots of unnecessary programs initially loaded, and no Windows CD provided for a clean install. Issue with power supply (see below). Lower than expected battery life - I was expecting 3-5 hrs, get more like 2-2.5 unless you shut everything down.

Power supply issue: my computer had an issue with the supplied 2-prong A/C adapter where a small amount of voltage ran through the wrist/palm rest area of the notebook. A "buzz-like" vibration could be felt, that was only noticeable as you slide your fingers/hand across the wrist area, and disappeared once the A/C adapter was unplugged. After discovering the problem's cause on [...] I called up Sony and they over-nighted me a new 3-prong A/C adapter that fixed the problem.

Summary: a great powerful, portable notebook that fits my needs perfectly. Would definitely buy again. Not 5 starts due to shorter battery life, pre-loaded garbage, and power supply problem.

This laptop is a lightweight powerhouse. I am delighted with it. I love the keyboard, its probably the best laptop keyboard I have ever used, my bluetooth mouse pairs instantly and seamlessly. The battery life is adequate. One of my criteria for a laptop was having a graphics card with dedicated memory, and this one goes a step further - having a setting to save battery life by using system memory or switching to the graphic card memory. Things that aren't so hot - the annoying amount of junk trial software that comes installed on it, no OS media at all, and no printed user manual. I often wonder how I am supposed to access the help manual installed on the laptop if I can't power it up, but I guess I will cross that road when I come to it.

I purchased a Vaio VGN-SZ a few months ago and strongly regret the decision. The hardware is well made and pretty slick, but the configuration is exceptionally frustrating. As the IT person for a small company, I buy a lot of computers. I have never seen a computer that was more bogged down with dozens and dozens of preloaded drivers. It should be a relatively fast laptop, but it comes so crapped up with Sony junk that it can barely run. They provide no support to determine which drivers are needed and which might be useful. Some of the applications are essential to make the PC operate, like the finger print reader. Some are exceptionally stupid, like the preloaded application that watches over your typing just in case you try to start typing in Japanese. If you do that, then a popup comes in to assist with writing in Japanese.

The majority of the junk are applications that try to lead you to buying more Sony products, like Sony music downloads. If you try to get support on their web site, you are accosted with questions relating to demographics and product marketing related issues.

Some novice users might not notice that most of the 2 GB of RAM is mostly gone even before they start any programs, nor would they notice that the laptop runs much slower than it should, given the hardware numbers. If you want a lot of hand holding, don't care about performance, and don't want to know what is going on in the PC while you continually watch a spinning hour glass wait icon, then it might not be a bad choice.

Sony has a good reputation so I thought I'd give them a try. I regret the decision.

I am a computer repair tech who has a client that uses these for their road warriors. If these things work they are fine but fixing them is impossible. Odd track pad and shutdown issues plague them. All the hard disks have failed by the 2 year mark. The camera gives one fits getting the right drivers loaded. The Sony driver download site is slow and confusing and Sony no longer sells the original install disks. These things are just too proprietary for me. Most of my DELL tricks just do not work on these Sonys. If you can afford to throw it away if it breaks out of warranty go ahead, buy it.