Z61t vs Sony Vaio SZ250 vs Dell D620 (Opinions needed)

[craigg]

I'm in the market for a new thin & light notebook and I'm seriously debating whether to go with the IBM or the Sony. I love the screen and the weight of the Sony but with Sony I'm not too certain of the ruggedness of the machine as well as I don't like their support or the way they make it difficult to do a clean OS installation. I have a T43 and while I feel it's built very well, the screen leaves little to be desired. Other than the size and screen the only other advantage that Sony has is the hybrid graphics which is quite a bit faster than the onboard GMA 950 in the IBM. I threw the Dell D620 into the comparison as I got a great deal on one about 3 months ago and while it's blazingly fast in comparison to the T43 I'm just not too thrilled with the build quality (returned the first one for a bad motherboard) as well as the overall layout. I'm going to buy a new machine in the next couple of days so any input would be appreciated. Thanks

[jjfcpa]

Having recently switched from a D620 to a T60, I feel exactly as you do. The D620 is a good laptop and I like the ergonomics of the laptop, but there are some things that just bug the heck out of me.

1. The keyboard is looser than the D820. I had both so switching from one to the other was not as smooth as I would have liked.

2. I kept getting errors when shutting down, but I'm suspecting it may have something to do with Adobe Reader 7.0. I just ran into the same thing with my T60 and after removing it and installing Adobe Acrobat 6.0, no more errors.

3. I did not like the brightness of the screen. The D820 screen was brighter and easier to use. The T60 is better yet... I've got the 15" IPS on the T60.

I just read a review for the HP nc6400 and he compared it to the Z60t and liked the HP better. If it had a scroll button, I'd consider it.

The thing that I don't like about the Z60 series and T43 series is the screen brightness is not to my liking. I know it's a matte screen, but 185 nits does not get it done.

This may be the biggest drawback to a 14" form factor.

[craigg]

Thanks JJF! I appreciate your comments. It seems that most feel the same way about the IBM screen. At least the WXGA+ is 200nits but still nothing like the Sony. Given a choice between the IBM and HP, I still favor the IBM. I would love to hear comments from a Sony owner.

[jjfcpa]

Thanks JJF! I appreciate your comments. It seems that most feel the same way about the IBM screen. At least the WXGA+ is 200nits but still nothing like the Sony. Given a choice between the IBM and HP, I still favor the IBM. I would love to hear comments from a Sony owner.

Since you asked... I had a Sony BX570 (I think was the model number). It's part of their business line. Not a bad laptop, but definitely won't stand up to a T60 or D820. Heavy, didn't like the keyboard, LCD was OK, and build quality was just ok for a business laptop. I would not buy another... Sony just doesn't have the support system for the business user.

[craigg]

The Sony was the best looking choice but after careful review I went ahead and ordered the Lenovo Z61t 9440-2CU. I should have it on Tuesday. I feel that the Thinkpad is built better plus I love the expansion options including the modular bay. I see with the extra battery that one can achieve more than 8hrs runtime on battery. I love the keyboard light. Also, this unit includes Verizon EVDO which is much faster than Cingular's EDGE. IBM is nice enough to include 667mhz memory where Sony still only offers 533mhz. Other features that IBM has which Sony leaves out are the built in memory card reader, infrared, firewire, s-video out, gigabit ethernet, and more. It's just a combination of all the little things that make IBM the clear winner to me

[jjfcpa]

The Sony was the best looking choice but after careful review I went ahead and ordered the Lenovo Z61t 9440-2CU. I should have it on Tuesday. I feel that the Thinkpad is built better plus I love the expansion options including the modular bay. I see with the extra battery that one can achieve more than 8hrs runtime on battery. I love the keyboard light. Also, this unit includes Verizon EVDO which is much faster than Cingular's EDGE. IBM is nice enough to include 667mhz memory where Sony still only offers 533mhz. Other features that IBM has which Sony leaves out are the built in memory card reader, infrared, firewire, s-video out, gigabit ethernet, and more. It's just a combination of all the little things that make IBM the clear winner to me

Craigg - Did you find an online vendor that had this particular Z61t model in stock? This is the model I was looking at for travel and to use as a backup to my T60.

[craigg]

I have a wholesale account direct with Ingram Micro and yes they have them in stock. I have the Fedex tracking number and I should have it on Tuesday morning.

[jjfcpa]

I have a wholesale account direct with Ingram Micro and yes they have them in stock. I have the Fedex tracking number and I should have it on Tuesday morning.

craigg

I just did a search in www.pricegrabber.com and I was quite surprised to find quite a few vendors have them in stock. I'm going to check compatibility with components for my T60 and order one if I can swap out Ultrabay components. I hope the screen brightness does not disappoint.

[K. Eng]

The Latitude D620 is actually a fairly decent machine. I've used the Z60t, T40, and the 15" T42 (with IPS display).

The D620's display is brighter than that of the Z60t or T40. However, it is somewhat inferior in brightness, and vastly inferior in viewing angle, to the 15" IPS display.

If display is very important to you, go with a T60 with 15" IPS.

I also would like to add that the standard battery in the Z61t series is a 4-cell. This makes it lighter than the Latitude D620 or HP nc6400, but also means reduced battery life.

[jjfcpa]

The Latitude D620 is actually a fairly decent machine. I've used the Z60t, T40, and the 15" T42 (with IPS display).

The D620's display is brighter than that of the Z60t or T40. However, it is somewhat inferior in brightness, and vastly inferior in viewing angle, to the 15" IPS display.

If display is very important to you, go with a T60 with 15" IPS.

I also would like to add that the standard battery in the Z61t series is a 4-cell. This makes it lighter than the Latitude D620 or HP nc6400, but also means reduced battery life.

I assume the Ultrabay battery for the T60 will work in the Z61?

[craigg]

They both support UltraBay Slim devices.

[craigg]

I received my Z61t and while I love the layout of the machine, the features, and the screen, I think that the Chinese man who built it was drunk. Upon initial configuration I notice that my wifi reception is virtually non existent. After conducting a few experiments I believe the problem is that the wifi antenna is not connected which means disassembling the machine. As if that were not bad enough I get a popup message stating that HDD Active Protection is not working. After running the DOS based diagnosis it seems that the sensor has failed and according to Lenovo requires a main board swap. The display is really nice but it does have one dead pixel. At this point I think I will end up doing a RMA rather than hassle with the repairs.

[christopher_wolf]

I think that the Chinese man who built it was drunk.

*Ahem*, careful there Craig.

[craigg]

LOL Was my statement politically incorrect? After all it was built in China, right? I guess it could have been poorly built by a Chinese woman. Oh well... if I offended you, I apologize

I think that the Chinese man who built it was drunk.

*Ahem*, careful there Craig.

[jjfcpa]

craigg

Mine showed up yesterday, but I got home late and didn't get a chance to even unbox it. Did you order directly from Lenovo? If you did, I'd definitely RMA it... maybe even request a replacement.

Especially with the one dead pixel, which they won't repair.

I might get mine opened up tonight, but it will probably have to wait till tomorrow. With soccer practice tonight, I won't get home till 8:00 and my battery runs down around that time.

I'm hoping the screen brightness is better than my expectations... T43 models.