FZ or AR series?

[Shaggy]

A month ago my beloved GRT716s got stolen...so now i need to replace it.

well im only looking at the blu ray versions:
FZ11Z
AR31s/AR41s

I just need some advice and some comments

Its basically boils down to my budget...
£2k and i get the AR
anything less then its the FZ

[MattWilson]

A month ago my beloved GRT716s got stolen...so now i need to replace it.

well im only looking at the blu ray versions:
FZ11Z
AR31s/AR41s

I just need some advice and some comments

Its basically boils down to my budget...
£2k and i get the AR
anything less then its the FZ 

This thread may be helpful.

If you really want the Bluray drive then the AR series is the one to go for. If you want to save money on it then go for the AR31 series as they are being replaced they will be reduced and since they are almost identical so its worth saving the money.

FZ series do not have a big enough screen to truely apprieciate the HD quality of Bluray discs.

Hope you make the right decision for you

[Shaggy]

thanks

any more info would be great!

[MattWilson]

thanks

any more info would be great! 

Thats ok.

1. The main question you have to ask yourself is does it need to be portable?

If the answer is yes then the FZ with its 15.4" screen is much easier to carry around with you.

If not then maybe the AR is more useful to you.

2. What do you need it for?

3. Do you need a fast CPU and huge storage or just a fast processor?

Here is the FZ spec.

Here is the AR spec.

Hope this helps with your decision

[jimmylad]

got my ar31s off ebay for £1300 delivered including a free case but......................No prob with the laptop but loads of configuration problems with vista & vaio & had to fully restore twice after a month.

Coudln't get the bluray to work & had to buy another prog to watch blu ray for £70 & the webcam doesn't work at the mo. It's not broke. just can't configure it. Also can't get the output to work over hdmi. But it used to !!

I'm sure it will all be fine in the end but everything for me has been a struggle & I'm fairly competent on a pc. Don't buy unless you are an advanced user IMHO.

Jim

[jumpsuit]

Those particular problems are amongst the most posted currently.

A little search around the forums and you should be right as rain in no time. (4th reinstall for me :smileygrin: )

[jimmylad]

wish the thread on the webcam for ar31s could help me

[MattWilson]

wish the thread on the webcam for ar31s could help me 

Try reinstalling the original driver.

C:\drivers\camera\"name of your camera"\install.bat (if that one doesn't work then double click on DPInst32.exe)

[jimmylad]

tried all that and more. Unistalled it - re installed it - disabled - enabled. tried everything & ran out of ideas at the mo.

probably have to do a full restore but I sorta expect that the cam will work & something else will stop. Takes too long putting all music & photos back on along with peronal settings etc.

I bet if i bought a stand alone web cam i would just plug it in, put the disk in & have it working.

Never had any of these issues with xp pro.


One thing i did struggle with was the hotfix ( it said it didn't apply to my laptop !! )


Jim

[stone69]

Have also an AR31S, but none of the problems of jimmylad. Blu-ray player is working, except that I had to put in the correct region setting as it was only correctly set to Europe for DVD's but to USA for Blu-ray. Camera is working fine, although I must admit I don't need it very often, but now and then I give it a try.

Basically it's up to what Matt mentioned.
If you really need it to be mobile then the FZ would be better choice, mainly due to the size of the AR (you could not really use it in a packed train) and also due to the reduced runtime on the battery.
The weight is another point, but I use the SONY backpack and with that it doesn't really matter..
I love my AR :smileygrin: