eWeek takes a look at Sony's Vaio SZ160, and concludes: "Sony's Vaio SZ160 is the type of laptop that executives ask for - and with good reason. With a 13.3-inch widescreen format and an Intel Core Duo dual-core processor, this 3.8-pound laptop offers business users exactly what they're looking for. It has great features, including a Web cam and an integrated microphone for videoconferencing, and the Vaio SZ160's bright screen is one of the best eWeek Labs has seen among the current crop of systems."
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it has the same size, that's why. tough it has different specs. the mac weights aprox 1.2 kg more, and has a worse video card (tough the diff isn't that very big, the macbook's internal vid is nice for a integrated graphics). on the other hand, this one is more than twice as expensive, and doesn't look as good as the macbook ;-)
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2005-07-06
> the type of laptop that executives ask for ...
Hm... how about, the type of laptop tinkerers and hackers ask for?
* Easily accessible hard disk, CD drive, memory, and fan (for repairs and upgrades). Yes, I want to easily be able to replace the display if necessary too.
* External DVI monitor port. By the way, all external ports should have some kind of flap or protective cover.
* All chipsets supported by free operating systems.
* Rugged. Extra thick is great, as long as it can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.
* Must have a very durable and standard 2-conductor power connector. I may want to power it with a car battery or a solar panel. 
* Repair parts widely available for older models (because mine will be an "older model" in a few years).
* A very high quality keyboard, with control and alt keys on both sides (since I don't always have my fancy external one with me).
There. Should be easy enough, right?
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2005-07-06
So Sony charges hundreds of dollars more for a computer that doesn't even run anything better than Windows XP, and some people still think Macs are expensive. Hmm....
That being said, it does look like a nice machine. If I were getting a PC laptop, it'd be hard to pick between Acer and Sony. Thankfully, with Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop, I don't have to.
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> So Sony charges hundreds of dollars more for a computer
> that doesn't even run anything better than Windows XP,
Actually it will probably run dozens of Linux distributions, and the various BSDs.
> and some people still think Macs are expensive.
Vaios being expensive too doesn't make Macs less expensive, now does it?
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The industry seems to go gaga over anything SONY releases, the specs of SONY's laptop are very similar to MacBook but SONY's laptop runs windows officially. So thats the plus point, SONY, Acer or Apple are using same components to manufacture their pcs/laptop. Just because it a SONY does not make it better, its the specs that count.
Most of the OSNews readers are in Europe or North America or Australia, I am in India and here Apple is not taken to be a serious brand SONY or HP's are more of a brand. Macs cost about the same (atleast for the laptops) as the PC laptops for the same specs, but people in India still buy SONY or HP as Apple is not a brand here.
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You might be right about the 13.3" laptop dimension being copied but bluetooth was there in PowerBook all along also with built in airport card, so it would seem a logical step for Apple to put the same features in the MacBook. Besides using the Centrino Duo chip what possibly could have Apple used, it's not that Apple could have used the G4 or the G3 chip. Centrino Duo was the only choice Apple had to use in the MacBook.
Edit: One more thing, Apple is not a known or famous brand in many counties of Asia and Africa where HP, Compaq, Dell Lenovo are more of brand names.
Edited 2006-05-23 11:10
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I just hope they're more reliable now.
I had a VAIO back before XP, and it basically was an attempt to add a slick layer of multimedia and ease-of-use on top of 98. To give the computer a design "wow" factor with Sony-style skins.
Of course software running on top of 98 lacked the one thing that really makes a computer slick---response time. I'd put in a CD and wait a minute while the computer almost killed itself trying to launch a Sony media player application. Bleh.
BeOS installed on it just fine though, so it was a nice little machine until every other function key stopped working and the screen went south.
X
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2005-11-16
I think that it is more fair to compare this Sony laptop to a macbook pro not a macbook because the sony has much higher specs with its graphical card and a bigger hard drive. The SZ160 is clearly playing more in the business/pro land than in the general consumer one, and for this reason that's not a surptise that it costs well more than a macbook.
But its interesting to see that the Sony SZ160 featuring Intel's 1.83GHz Core Duo T2400 processor, 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM and a 100GB hard drive cost the same price ($2499) as a macbook pro with a 2.16 Ghz Core Duo, 1 GB of memory, 100 GB hard drive, but with the macbook pro you get a faster processor, a bigger screen (15.4 vs 13.3 inch) a graphical card with 256 MB of memory vs 128 MB, plus many other things unique to the macbook pro (illuminated keyboard, etc....).
So i guess it is fair to say that Apple is definitely cheaper than Sony.....
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Just been looking through Macwarehouse UK to get some idea of what sort of value it is.
The entry level 13.5 inch Mac lists at 637 ex vat. At around that price you find lots of 15 inch entries with slightly slower processors. Eg the R50e from Lenovo. Note however that by now you are on #185 out of about 550 to choose from.
Then the next one up lists at 875. So seeing what that buys you, we have to get to #320 or so on the listing, at which point we'd be looking at the Toshiba Satellite Pro A100, again a slightly slower processor and a bigger screen, 2.7kg, XP Pro, slightly bigger disk.
The Macbook doesn't look too badly priced. Big disadvantage for most people will be OSX. Maybe screen size will hurt too. But that area of #1 to #550 leaves an awful lot of price points uncovered, and if you are trying for share, that must be an issue.
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I know the Intel Wireless ethernet chip will work in linux, but I doubt that camera will work and we know the modem is a lost cause, so I wonder how Linux friendly this PC is. I also wonder how one handles the fact that you can use either the NVIDIA Graphics chip or the Intel. I suppose I'd have to modify xorg.conf repeatedly to load the appropriate module when switching between the two. This is a nice laptop and if I was confident I could get everything working in Linux, I think i'd take this one over a MacBook even though they're both grossly over priced simply because of the brands.
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The Sony isn't the same as the MacBook Pro. The Sony has a couple of features that the MacBook doesn't have like built in hard drive protection. You can drop one of these things from a decent height without a problem. It also has the ability to use two different graphics cards, either the Intel for power saving or the Nvidia for performance. Combine this with the super lightweight and you have a really nice package. I messed around with one and it is easily the coolest latop I have played with. You can find them on sale for under 1900, although that is still a bit expensive.
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