Craig's Review of the Sony VGN-S360 Sub-Notebook - Page 3

And just as an fyi, I'd recommend the Omega drivers. The Catalyst drivers won't work on notebook chipsets without modding them. And I wouldn't rely on Sony to release updates very frequently. So go with the Omegas, and you can rely on steady and frequent releases.

is the optical drive of the s360 user upgradable or not at all???

Depends on what you mean by "user upgradeable". Upgrading the optical drive requires that you unscrew about 20 screws, disassemble the laptop chassis, and replace the optical drive. If you are comfortable doing this, then yes, the laptop is user upgradeable.

lol, damn and what about the size and connection on the back??? same size?, and what type of connector??

I don't know, but I would image so.

The only difference between an S360 and S360P is the DVD burner. If you were to buy the DVD burner in an S360 separately, and swap it in an S360, it should work.

Has anyone had any problems with dead pixels?

I have not.

There have been many times where my heart stops because I *think* I see a dead pixel. But it just turns out to be a spec of dust

none here eather

I just have my S360 for a few days. Haven't found any dead pixel.

I sent this as a PM to Craig, but it occurs to me others might have thoughts on some of my questions regarding the S380 v the S360.

I'm new to the forum but old to laptops. For the past five+ years I've been using Vaios exclusively. First an SR17, and now a v505ACP. I long ago stopped using a desktop - got tired of keeping files in sync between work and home. Now my 505 is my only system. I use it for everything including video editing using Avid Xpress Pro HD, and a lot of photo apps - After Effects, Flash, Photshop, you name it. I've been happy with the 505 but now the "old" system is beginning to go quirky on me - PC card locks up system, screen has developed a case of creeping mildew (that's what it looks like), the CD dirve is giving me problems, the touch pad is jumpy as hell, even the keyboard is beginning to suck. A bunch of things not all hardware related. So I'm looking for a new VAIO.

I've been looking at the S380. As far as I can tell the only difference between the S380and the 360 is max RAM, a faster CPU, and a larger drive. But in size and weight they are identical - is this correct?

One thing I have not seen is the ability to connect to an external digital monitor. All I see is a VGA out.

I'd like to hear any comments you might have regarding differences between the 360 and the 380 - and why you opted for the 360 over the 380.

Thank you in advance.

Ozzie

S380 is based off of new Sonoma platform. Differences are faster CPU *bus* (this does NOT mean faster CPU), larger drive with faster rpm, different GPU. In size and weight, they are identical.

S380 has been shown to have little to no real-world performance improvement over an S360, despite all of the newer technology. Video card in S380 is a little slower than the one in the S360, battery life is shorter in the S380 by 30min to 1hr.

Overall, general opinion on this board is that S380 isn't a leap forward for Vaio S-series. S360 is for people that want a focus on portability, great LCD, battery life, great gaming performance. S380 is for people that want a focus on portability, great LCD, less emphasis on gaming performance, but flexibility to specify custom laptop specs and save a few dollars here and there.


The base laptop has VGA output only. DVI output is available on the docking station for the S360/S380.

Kent,

Thank you for the reply. You've answered a few of my questions. As I understand it the basic difference between the 380 and the 360 is the available customization of the 380. Can I, for instance, get the 360 with a 2 GHz CPU, a 100MB drive, and 2 GB of RAM installed? Or is the 360 pre-packaged as a single system with no upgades available?

The difference is available customization, slightly lower battery life on S380, slower video card. If the available customization outweighs the two negatives of the S380, then by all means go for it.

The S360 comes pre-packaged with a 1.7Ghz CPU, 80GB 4200rpm drive, 512MB RAM installed. The S380 allows you to customize all of those.

Hwever, you can upgrade both the S360 / S380 pretty easily. On the S360, adding an additional 512MB RAM and replacing hard drive with a 100GB 5400rpm or 60GB 7200rpm model is a nice way to add a lot of performance for around $300. CPU is also upgradeable on S360, but you'd be spending several hundred dollars for maybe a 10% increase in performance.

I would say, that if you can find an S360 that brings price down to $1500 or $1600 after rebates, and invest in 1x 512MB MicroDIMM and 1x Hitatchi 7k60 hard drive, then you'd be getting a VERY fast laptop that can handle office applications, games, and DVDs, with 3.5hrs battery life on maximum screen brightness at 4.2lbs, for under $2000. Everybody who owns an S360 will tell you that they own an S360 because it has an incredible balance of power, portability, screen quality, battery life, and price unmatched in any other laptop (including the S380)/

The 1.7Ghz CPU and the 80GB drive is no problem but the RAM is. The 1GB of RAM I've been working with in my v505ACP is just about minimum for some of the apps I need to run. On the other hand, since I work with video -Avid, AE, Flash, Photoshop - the faster video card does seem a big plus. Just how much faster is the card? Any way of comparing the cards on the S360 and the S380?

Thanks for your help - I'm almost there.

For those apps, the video card wont make a difference. The processor and memory will. The nice thing about the sonoma platform is that it can take advantage of a much higher memory bandwidth, due to the 533mhz fsb, it can actually fully take advantage of the Dual Channel DDR400. On the other hand, you are paying a premium for DDR400 in microdimms, because it isnt really in mass production at this point (not many sub-notebooks with sonoma). *edit* The other nice thing about this one is the sound will be better, perhaps it has the same speakers but the new "azalia" sound that comes with the 915CM chipsets is just supposed to be really high quality.

Personally, I think the S360 is a better system. The older Dothan core CPU's have a TDP of 21w (as opposed to 27w on the new Sonoma cores). Also, the R9700 has a lower TDP than the PCI-E Nvidia card as well(not to mention it performs better). As its been said you can pick up the 512mb micro dimm from newegg for ~$120 and have a good amount of memory, for a fairly cheap system.

I really like this little lappy, but the thing is, Sony doesnt offer VOS (i think this is a must for me) for the S360, only the 270 configured. And for the similar configuration its around 200$ more than the 360 when the rebate is taken into consideration.

The nice thing about the 270 is you can get a 5400rpm 60gb hd. So currently for me its the W3v vs the S270... and the W3v with things like xp pro, built in bluetooth, Svid out, dual layer dvd burner all standard, seems to be winning out.

Anyhow. Thats my take on the whole thing.

Gozi,

You make a strong case for the 360. What you have to say, and what others have already said, have almost convinced me to try to get a 360 BUT with the extra RAM (at least 1GB). I know I can do this after market, but I rather have the retailer do it for me, along with a larger drive. CDW has traditionally been our retailer. I'll give them a call and see what type of customization they can offer.

What's still hard to understand is - if the 360 is go great, who is buying 380s, and for what, and why? What is Sony's marketing strategy?

Well, I would go with the aftermarket memory, as if you want to modify anything on the S270 ou will end up spending at least another 200, and 1 gb of ram will cost you about 200$ more than it would to just stick the 512 stick in yourself. The ram is an easy mod from pictures I have seen, however the HD is not. I dont know about other resellers that customize them other than sonystyle though I dont think most can customize them, and if so thye cant offer the VOS service .

I dont know why anyone buys the 380. It has better sound, and can support the new Express cards, I think, but other than that there isnt much of a point IMO.

Why bring the 270 into the comparison? I'm only thinking of the 360 v 380. Let's not murk up the waters here with more models. It's always been hard to understand what distinguishes one from another in the first place.

By the way, has Sony fixed the problem with the overly-sensitive and highly "jumpy" touchpad? It's been hell with the v505, and it hasn't improved. I've resorted to using a wireless optical mouse to get around most of the problem.

A little off topic but what the heck - in considering the 360 v the 380, battery life is not a huge concern for me since I use the laptop with AC 95% of the time. I'm going mainly on reliability, speed, ram, graphic quality, and storage. I've never been able to solve the issue that working with AC most of the time slowly shortens the life of the battery until it's good for as little as ten minutes. What do folks like me who work off AC do - leave the battery off the computer unless needed? Althought he ion batteries have no "memory" effect, the mere number of cycles - on/off - does take its toll.

1) Once again, I almost poop the pants because I thought I saw a dead pixel. But it was just a graphical glitch... reboot laptop, all is well... whew!

2) Regardless of whether you go with 1GB or 2GB of RAM, I would highly recommend you do it yourself. It is VERY easy to do (just unscrew two screws to remove the panel at the bottom of laptop), and you'll end up saving several hundred dollars. As an example, Sony will charge you $300 for a 512MB MicroDIMM, whereas you can buy a Kingston 512MB MicroDIMM for around $130. Sony will charge you $1000 for 2x 1GB MicroDIMMs, whereas you can buy it somewhere else for $800.

3) Upgrading the hard drive is something you might want to consider as a decision point between the S360 / S380. The S360 comes with an abysmally slow 4200rpm drive, the S380 comes with 5400rpm drives. Upgrading hard drive on either machine will require that you unscrew about 15 screws and disassemble the laptop chassis. It's not that hard to do if you're comfortable disassembling a laptop chassis, but it is a little more complex than an easy-swap hard drive bay.

If you want a 7200rpm drive, and are comfortable swapping the hard drive yourself, go with an S360 because it is superior in other areas. If you are ok with a 5400rpm drive, and don't care about battery life or gaming performance that much, go with the S380. If you find the idea of disassembling the laptop chassis unacceptable or intimidating, go with the S380.

The life of LiIon batteries will deteriorate over time. It is primarily a function of time, but deterioration is accelerated through heavy charge / discharge use. Typical quoted lifespan of most LiIon batteries is 400 to 500 charge / discharge cycles. You'll start noticiing decreased battery life after about 1.5 years, and unacceptably low battery capacity around 2 years.

The best way to "preserve" the battery is to charge it to 40%, and store it in a cool, dark, dry place (like a closet or a drawer). But that's a pain in the ass. I say just use the battery however it's convenient for you, and just buy a new one when you need it.