Sony Vaio SZ Series Lapops

The Sony Vaio SZ Series (Battery Code # Sony Vgp-bpl2) is Sony's entry-level SZ-series notebook. The SZ line represents Sony's latest attempt to combine mobility and power without sacrificing too much of either. These ultraportable laptops weigh in at a light 4 pounds, about average for their category, but they come loaded with features not found on other ultraportables.

As of late March 2006, the Sony SZ line is one of the few ultraportable Intel Core Duo notebook series currently available. Other laptops in this category include the Lenovo Thinkpad X60s, the Asus W5F, and the Toshiba Portege M400 convertible tablet, but several important features differentiate the SZ line from the others.

General info about the Sony SZ line

Sony's SZ laptops are divided into two major categories, "Regular" (Sony just calls them "SZ", but "Regular" is used here for clarity) and Premium:

Regular SZ laptops have magnesium bodies, weigh 4.1 lbs, and offer a manufacturer-estimated 5.5 - 6 hours of battery life (inaccurate; see Battery section below).
Premium SZ laptops have carbon-fiber bodies, weigh 3.7 lbs, and offer a manufacturer-estimated 6 - 7 hours of battery life (inaccurate; see Battery section below). They use a different type of LCD screen and backlight, resulting in an ultrathin screen (4.5mm thick) that supposedly looks better than the Regular type -- but the Regular screen already seems thin enough and bright enough, so the Premium one may be more of a luxury than a necessity. The Premium laptops also have a slightly different type of keyboard, but the difference is subjective and preference will probably depend on the individual user. Lastly, some Premium laptops come with an integrated EDGE antenna for wireless Internet access using Cingular's cellular network.
The two types are otherwise the same. For more details, see Sony's SZ comparison page.

The Sony Np BG-1 Battery in particular

The Vaio SZ Series

The SZ Series is Sony's lowest-priced SZ notebook (excluding the custom-configurable SZ-140). This means:

As a Regular SZ notebook, it has a magnesium body instead of the carbon-fiber body of the Premium laptops.
It comes with Windows XP Home instead of Windows XP Professional.
It has an Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83Ghz CPU instead of the 2.0Ghz CPU that some others have.
It has a 100GB hard drive instead of the 120GB drive that some others have.
It does not have the EDGE antenna (for WWAN Internet access) that some others have.
SZ Series Specs as Reviewed

Dimensions: 12.5" (W) x 1.0" -1.5" (H) x 9.3" (D)
Weight: 4.07 lbs. with standard battery
CPU: Intel Core Duo Processor T2400 1.83GHz
Memory: 1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz (upgradable to 2GB)
Hard Drive: 100GB 5400rpm SATA drive with G-Sensor Shock Protection
Optical Drive: Dual-layer, dual-format DVD RW DL internal drive with max 8x read speed and 4x write speed
Display: 13.3" WXGA 1280x800 XBRITE widescreen glossy LCD
Graphics 1: (A built-in switch toggles between the two graphics cards) Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 128MB Shared Memory
Graphics 2: (A built-in switch toggles between the two graphics cards) NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 with 128MB Dedicated Memory
Audio: Sony Sound Reality Audio Enhancer
Wireless LAN (WiFi): Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
Bluetooth: Integrated Toshiba Bluetooth technology
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (the CD is not included)
Sony Vaio SZ Series Battery: Standard-capacity lithium-ion battery with estimated life of 2.5 to 5.5 hours (inaccurate, see Battery section )
Power Requirement: 105W+10%
Keyboard: 86-key full-size keyboard with 3mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch
Pointing Device: Electro-static touchpad with two buttons and vertical & horizontal scroll areas
Webcam: Built-in webcam and microphone
Security: Fingerprint scanner
Ports:
1x Memory Stick Duo Pro MagicGate
1x PC Card (PCMCIA Type II)
1x VGA output
1x iLink/FireWire/IEEE 1394
1x headphone output
1x microphone input
1x V.90 Modem (RJ-11)
1x 10/100 Fast Ethernet (RJ-45) (no Gigabit Ethernet)
2x USB 2.0
1x ExpressCard/34
1x DC-in (for power)
1x Port Replicator Connector
Card Reader: 4-in-1 xD/SD/MMC/MS Pro flash media reader card that uses the ExpressCard/34 slot from Digital Camera Battery Shop.
Service & Support: 1-year Limited Warranty, 1-year toll-free 24/7 telephone support
Installed Software: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with SP2, America Online 180-Day Trial - New Users Only, Norton Internet Security 60-Day Subscription, TrendMicro Anti-Spyware 30-Day Trial, VAIO Security Center, VAIO Update software, VAIO Recovery Wizard software, VAIO Support Central, Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition, Intuit Quicken 2006 New User Edition (previous Quicken users may require additional upgrade), InterVideo WinDVD, Microsoft Works 8.5 60-Day Trial Version of Microsoft Office 2003 (Student/Teacher Edition), Roxio DigitalMedia SE, Click to DVD - DVD Creation, DVgate Plus - Digital Video, SonicStage Mastering Studio - Audio Mastering and Remastering, SonicStage - Digital Music, VAIO Media - Network File Sharing, Image Converter - PSP Transfer, 60-minute Trial Version of Wheel of Fortune, 60-minute Trial Version of Jeopardy .


Where and How Purchased

I purchased the notebook from Amazon.com at a list price of $1899.99. After a variety of Amazon discounts and rebates, my final price was somewhere along the lines of $1720. ($150 Amazon rebate, $30 A9.com discount). The price hasn't stabilized yet and some of the buyers commented that the price had decreased by a few hundred dollars since they placed their orders. In the last few days, however, the price has actually gone up and as of March 31, 2006, the list price is $1,999.99 (the rebate and A9 discount are still available). Nonetheless, thanks to free shipping and a lack of sales tax in my state, this turned out to be a reasonably good deal for the notebook -- according to Pricegrabber.com, other merchants were selling it for $1800+.

As expected of Amazon, the notebook arrived on time and in perfect condition.

Reasons for Buying


I was in the market for a new notebook because my old one was too slow and too heavy. I wanted a faster, more portable model and I looked around for a good match. Intel recently released their new Core Duo processors, and seeing the supposed performance gains in multitasking environments and multithreaded applications, I decided to get one instead of an older Pentium M model. A few laptops had already begun to make use of the new processors and I examined the offerings from several major notebook manufacturers. Lenovo (which acquired IBM's PC division) had the Thinkpad X60s -- a generally excellent machine, but it had no internal optical drive, something I considered an absolute necessity. Toshiba had the Portege M400 convertible Core Duo tablet, but it had a strange keyboard layout that moved or eliminated several keys I frequently used. The Asus W5F seemed like a potential match, but at the time, the product website was incomplete and buggy so I couldn't find out enough about it and the product itself seemed to be unavailable for sale everywhere I looked.

Then I found Sony's SZ series. I traditionally avoided Sony products because -- in my opinion -- they tended to be overpriced toys that sold themselves based more on style and looks than functionality. Initially skeptical, I examined the SZ series' specifications, and to my surprise, Sony's expensive toy actually seemed to offer more than anything else out there. It has an internal optical drive (a dual-layer burner, no less); a regular full-size keyboard; a 13.3" widescreen display; both a PC Card slot (which I use for EV-DO wireless Internet) and an ExpressCard/34 slot (which may soon gain popularity); 802.11a/b/g WiFi; Bluetooth; FireWire; a multi-card reader; a webcam; a fingerprint reader; and to seal the deal, a unique Hybrid Graphics System that allows the user to switch between an Intel integrated graphics card and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 card.

Finding any of two or three of those features in an ultraportable would be a tough task, yet Sony somehow managed to integrate all of them into one sleek and lightweight machine. I was impressed.

Power of Sony VGN Sz Series

SONY Vaio Vgn-Sz Series Laptop Battery's OEM Battery Code: vgp-bpl2 , vgp-bps2 , replacement for sony vaio vgn- fe590pa , vaio vgn-fe550g , vaio vgn-fe590 , vaio vgn-fe590pb , vaio vgn-fj series, has Chemistry: Li-ion,Volts: 11.10V,Capacity: 6600mAh,Dimension: 206.55 x 70.70 x 19.60 mm,Net Weight: 474.00 g,Color: Black.