Lightweight Design

The noble SZ series by Sony was again redesigned. Today these notebooks are equipped with most up-to-date processors. The Vaio VGN-SZ71WN/C is an ultra portable notebook with fast Penryn T9300 processor, a 2.5“-HDD with 200 GB capacity, a very bright 13.3" display with LED backlight and fast HSDPA Internet access.

The input devices of the Sony Vaio VGN-SZ71WN/C are nearly the same than of the predecessor notebook. The same is true for the hot keys, indicator LEDs, the switch for WLAN and the energy saving 'Stamina' mode.

Unfortunately the keyboard was still not improved. This matte black keyboard has a standard keyboard layout. However, we were disappointed by its mechanical properties and its feel again. The wobbly key heads and the clattering noise does not match the noble brand of this notebook. Also the ergonomics was not improved: The dark-blue Fn icons and the orange digits on the numerical pad are still hardly legible.

We liked the touch pad and its buttons more. The brushed metal surface of the palm rest area feels nice to the touch. The touch pad works precisely, the key lift is short and the buttons are quiet. Between the left and the right touch pad button there is again a fingerprint reader, which eases user authentication. Further information about the input devices is available in the review of the Sony Vaio VGN-SZ61 WN/C.Test Sony Vaio VGN-SZ61WN/C Subnotebook

Of course the intent of the processor upgrade is to improve the performance. The artificial benchmarks which cover CPU performance prove that the VGN-SZ71WN/C is indeed better than its predecessor, the VGN-SZ61 WN/C, which is equipped with a T7500 Core 2 Duo processor (codename Merom) by Intel (2.20 GHz clock rate per core, 4 MB Level-2-Cache). A T9300, a powerful dual core processor of the 45 nm Penryn series (Santa Rosa refresh), ensure excellent calculation performance.

The T9300 works at a clock rate of 2.50 GHz and is equipped with 6 MB second-level Cache instead of 4 MB. The VGN-SZ71 WN/C is equipped with a total of 2 GB RAM, whereas there is one fast 1GB DDRII-667 memory module in each of the two available slots. Although this is sufficient for Windows Vista, the big number of pre-installed demo and advertisement software slows down this system. So, we felt that the VGN-SZ71 WN/C did not perform better in practice.

Nevertheless, the performance is good to very good in synthetic benchmarks. The result in the Cinebench R10 'Rendering Single CPU' (one core) (2,833 CB-CPU), is about 23 percent higher than of the predecessor with T7500 CPU (2,190 CB-CPU). 'Rendering Multiple CPUs'  the difference is still 18.3 percent. Also 3DMark06 by Futuremark results in a clearly higher CPU Score of 2,240 for the model with T9300 CPU. This is nearly 14.4 percent more than the CPU Score of 1,918 of the predecessor.

Identical to the VGN-SZ61WN/C also this notebook is equipped with a hybrid video solution. It is equipped with Intels Mobile 965GM Express Chipsatz with integrated Chipatzgrafik GMA X3100. If your performance demands are higher, you can easily switch to a nVIDIA Geforce 8400M GS. So, this notebook unites a good video performance and mobility on demand. The GMA-X3100 reduces the energy demand, the GeForce 8400M GS provides sufficient performance for multimedia entertainment. The gaming performance is notably satisfying. Further details to the dual graphics solution are available in the review of the Sony Vaio VGN-SZ61 WN/C.

The energy demand is especially in idle mode due to 45 nm Penryn T9300 clearly lower than the energy demand of the predecessor model with T7500 CPU. We measured the energy demand at the mains adapter, and found out that it is about 20 percent less in Stamina mode and 31 percent less in Speed mode. Under load the energy demand of the VGN-SZ71 WN/C is also about 4.1 to 6.4 percent lower. In detail this Vaio ultra portable notebook needs between 12.6 and 33.7 Watt in idle mode. If you use the 3D screen saver of Vista and configure the notebook for speed mode, the energy demand increases to 41.2 Watt.

The maximum runtime measured with the Battery Eater Reader's test and configured in stamina mode is 9 hours 37 minutes, which is outstanding long. However, the display is dimmed in this mode and it is hardly possible to recognize anything on the screen. So, we ran another test, whereas we left everything except of the brightness, which we increased by two levels, the same. With these settings the runtime shrinks by above two hours to 7 hours 26 minutes. If you want to run speed mode, you can expect that the runtime falls to a maximum of 5 hours 45 minutes. If you travel a lot, we therefore recommend a supplement battery. The details of the review of the Sony Vaio VGN-SZ61 WN/C apply analogously also to the VGN-SZ71 WN/C.

In Sony's Vaio line-up 2008 also the VGN-SZ series is now equipped with brand new processors. Case, display, and workmanship of the Sony Vaio VGN SZ71 WN/C are very good. The performance of this ultra portable notebook is good.

Due to glossy surfaces it looks noble. But, besides this, modern and light high-tech composite materials allow an outstanding lightweight construction. Furthermore, this notebook is richly equipped with modern features like fingerprint reader, TPM encryption, a complex hybrid video solution, and fast WWAN Internet. The very bright and ultra thin 13.3 inch x-black display still sets standards in this notebook category. However, that much high tech in such a small case cost clearly more than 2000 Euro. To summarize, the exclusive Sony Vaio VGN-SZ71WN/C got a total score of 87 percent, which is good, nearly very good.

Unfortunately, Sony missed the opportunity to also improve the keyboards and the fan control. Furthermore, we did not like the pre-installed advertisement software. Despite new available competitor subnotebooks and UMPCs, the Sony Vaio SZ71WN/C is still recommendable for demanding business customers. If you requite a compact size, a very low weight, and high performance, the Vaio VGN-SZ71WN/C is a solid and appropriate choice.