NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Sony Forums › Sony Notebook Reviews › Craig's Review of the Sony VGN-S360 Sub-Notebook
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Craig's Review of the Sony VGN-S360 Sub-Notebook - Page 4

post #61 of 107
4/12/05 at 5:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kent1146
2) Regardless of whether you go with 1GB or 2GB of RAM, I would highly recommend you do it yourself.
No problem with that. I've done all the upgrades in the VAIOs myself, and you are right, it's no big deal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kent1146
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.
The higher speed of the 380 alone is a strong reason to go with it. Working with video, high drive RPMs is a must. I usually work with 7500 rpm drives in my desktop systems.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kent1146
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.
Let me ask you, or any lurker, this - do you usually go around with the battery out of the laptop? I know it looks ugly, but if that's what going to save me money over time, why not? The only reason I leave the battery in is in case of an accidental unplugging.

Thank you for your thoughts on the 360 v380. I think I'm back in the 380 camp. This is going to be the best informed purchase I've ever made.
Reply
Reply
post #62 of 107
4/12/05 at 5:46pm
Sorry about the S270, its really just the s360, only it gives you the option to configure it (and in those options, the option of a 5400rpm hd).

The 380 does have some features I would really want though. The newer PM chipset is pretty nice, and the sound is supposed to be great. If the menial difference in video doesnt mean anything to you, and you have the extra 100$, and the battery life means nothing either, I would go with it.

Also, with Lithium Ion batteries, it isnt going to make much of a difference how often you use it. Li-ion are memory free, and much higher quality than the Ni-MH, so I would agree with the other person in that you should keep the battery in it, and just use it. In case of an accidental unplug especially. If you have no battery in the laptop and it gets unplugged, you risk messing up your files and having to reinstall things, if not losing data you were working on.
Reply
Reply
post #63 of 107
4/13/05 at 12:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gozi
If the menial difference in video doesnt mean anything to you, and you have the extra 100$, and the battery life means nothing either, I would go with it.
Correct, for my type of use, the battery life isn't all that important. But just one last point of clarification - what exactly are the "menial differences in video" between the 360 and 380? I'm not a gamer, so that isn't a big draw. But beyond that - especially fast redraw times, video ram, all the factors that come in useful when dealing with "standard" video - say from a DVD or from and edit system.

I know it's been explained, but one succinct comparison would be most useful.

Thank you.
Reply
Reply
post #64 of 107
4/13/05 at 4:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozziea
Correct, for my type of use, the battery life isn't all that important. But just one last point of clarification - what exactly are the "menial differences in video" between the 360 and 380? I'm not a gamer, so that isn't a big draw. But beyond that - especially fast redraw times, video ram, all the factors that come in useful when dealing with "standard" video - say from a DVD or from and edit system.

I know it's been explained, but one succinct comparison would be most useful.

Thank you.
Well the video card in the S380 is a Nvidia GF 6200, with some weird memory dedication, as it uses 32mb Dedicated memory and 96 mb of the memory for it is shared with the system memory. What this means? It basically means it doesnt have as much video memory as the 360. As far as I know, if you are not gaming or doing high resolution 3d rendering or Cad work, system will work just as good. I think that most 2d drawing / DVD viewing is more dependent on memory and CPU than video card. For general tasks the 6200 should work very well for non gaming, and even in gaming it should work reasonably well, though not as good as the 9700.

Hope that helps,
Reply
Reply
post #65 of 107
4/13/05 at 12:08pm
Hi,

I've just posted an order for the S360 online. Thanks for the review, it was instrumental in making my decision. I might stop by the CS server sometime, even though the laptop is strictly for work purposes.

Thanks again Craig!
Reply
Reply
post #66 of 107
4/13/05 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gozi
Hope that helps,
It sure does. I'm ready to make my purchase. Of course owning your own company means waiting for the next client's check to come in and clear. But I'll keep everyone who's responded to Craig's review on this post, posted.

Thank y'all!
Reply
Reply
post #67 of 107
4/13/05 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 
Seldy,
You're going to love it bro! And yes, stop in and get some CSS going at the Shed with us!!

Ozziea,
Let us know when you get that baddy!
Reply
Reply
post #68 of 107
4/13/05 at 9:38pm
I'll certainly let you know when I get the S380. A few invoices are overdue. First could you point to me in the direction of the shed in non forum terms? CSS?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig
get some CSS going at the Shed with us!!
Reply
Reply
post #69 of 107
4/13/05 at 10:24pm
Thread Starter 
Check this thread: http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=69999
Reply
Reply
post #70 of 107
4/19/05 at 9:48am

sony s380

i just purchased a new s380 ,your right about doing the ram yourself.
sony wanted 1000.00 for 2 gig of ram,so i built it with 2x256 chips,went to the kingston website where they were having a sale on 1 gig chips for 194.00,bought 2 of them for 388.00 and saved 612.00.
Reply
Reply
post #71 of 107
4/26/05 at 10:58pm
hi there,well done great review.
i want to know the screen size and w/h/d sizes of the armadaf700 to compare both.
tanx
Reply
Reply
post #72 of 107
4/27/05 at 12:47am
Thread Starter 
The Armada is a 14.1" screen. Use the picture of the CD to get a sense of scale. I'll estimate the Armada at 1" thick and 14"x12" maybe?

Hope that helps
Reply
Reply
post #73 of 107
4/27/05 at 7:28am
thanks,here i have another question:
considering my budget and needs i ended up the search to these two models:

1-VGN-B100B08/Dothan 725 1.6 GHz/512 MB/60 GB/DVD-CDRW/56K/NIC/Bluetooth/14.1'' XGA (1024x768)TFT/Win XP Pro SP2
pros:large screen good for spreadsheets,enough battery life,compact and light,(i must saye i myself like it more).
cons:a little big(than the s),lack of dvd-rw,lack of so many reviews and good descriptions on the web(very important cause it can give a pre-buy sense of the product).

2-VGN-S270B13/Dothan 725 1.6 GHz/256 MB/40 GB/DVD-RW Drive/13.3'' WXGA/Win XP Pro SP2
pros:compact and light,every one likes it(!!),dvd-rw.
cons:fan noise(i'm very sensitive to noise),a little lower in terms of spec from the B,screen is not good for spreadsheets(i think).

my needs:though i have a powerfull desktop i want a portable laptop to watch movies,play a little light games(solitare..),and yes office productive and maybe photoshop and autocad.
please give your opinion in details.
thank you for your responses one more time.
Reply
Reply
post #74 of 107
4/27/05 at 8:37am
My recommendation is to go with the S270, but ditch the DVD-RW, get 1GB RAM (it would be cheapest if you went with aftermarket Kingmax 2x512MB RAM, rather than getting memory from Sony), and configure it with a 512MB hard drive.

My reasons:
1. Your laptop will feel anemic if you are using 256MB RAM and a 4200rpm hard drive. The crap that Sony pre-loads will take up over 300MB alone.
2. Based on your configuration of the B-model, it is obvious that you don't *need* a DVD-RW. Your money would be much better spent on RAM and a faster hard drive.
3. S series is smaller, lighter.
4. Personally, I think S series 16:10 widescreen is better for DVDs than XGA 4:3.
Reply
Reply
post #75 of 107
5/30/05 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 
Just thought I'd update this thread:

After nearly four months of rigorous travel and use the S360 is going strong. Battery life is consistent and even the factory install of XP Home (which I never thought I'd use) is hanging in there.

Compatability has been great across all networks and with all types of devices (printers, palm pilots, my treo650, ect). The included Norton software has stopped a few attacks from some of the public networks I've been on during my travels.

I've only had two games not work for me, and for an ATi card in my experience, that's not bad at all given their awful reputation for drivers. The two games are Brothers in Arms and Jedi Academy. I've tried a few versions of Omega's set but have had no success. My main game is Counter Strike Source which works like a charm. I've no complaints there.

All Office Aps have been easy to use and navigate on the crisp screen and having such a small laptop in my car has been great when I get lost (who me? never!) and need to pop open MapPoint to find my way.

My DVD drive that, for some reason, didn't want to play DVD's for a short time just stopped having the issue all together and has been working 100%.

In all, I'm still quite happy with this machine.
Reply
Reply
post #76 of 107
5/30/05 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig
Just thought I'd update this thread:

After nearly four months of rigorous travel and use the S360 is going strong. Battery life is consistent and even the factory install of XP Home (which I never thought I'd use) is hanging in there.
http://notebookforums.com/newreply.p...eply&p=922278#


Mine also - an S380P. I got it with 2 gigs of RAM and the 1mHz CPU, and Windows Pro SP2. I chose not to install all of the Norton security elements since I'm a McAfee user, and I've found Norton to occasionally get in my way - e.g their Ghost utility once locked me out of my drive, and their warnings tend to be intrusive (but I remain a fan of all the other Norton elements.)

The only problem I've encountered are purely personal. I use an Avid video editing system which refuses to recognize the audio chipset in the S380P. I had to solve this probelm by getting an external Sound Blaster USB audio card - a bit cumbersome but it works with Avid. I'm still having some video problems with the Avid.I mention this because I had none of these problems with my older V505APC. What exactly has changed from one to the other?

Were it not for the very specific audio and video quirks I didn't have with the V505, I would be completely happy with the S380P.

If anyone is familiar with the video and audio differences and is familiar with the Avid specs - please chime in. I appreciate your input. http://notebookforums.com/newreply.p...eply&p=922278#


PS - Can anyone recomment what's best to clean this beautiful sceen? I've tried Fellowes Screen Cleaning Wipes but they leave streaks that drive me nuts!

http://notebookforums.com/newreply.p...eply&p=922278#
Reply
Reply
post #77 of 107
5/31/05 at 5:24pm
I have also tried many cleaning wipe solutions for my Dell 2005fpw. All left streaks. Under one persons recommendation I bought Monster Cleaner spray and cloth. It is around 20 bucks and the solution should last you a good while.

I hate every other monster product but this one is actually worth paying for.
Reply
Reply
post #78 of 107
5/31/05 at 6:13pm
Yeah, that monster cleaner is awesome but too pricey. My friend uses it on his 46" Plasma. It works very well though.
Reply
Reply
post #79 of 107
5/31/05 at 6:18pm
Is that the "Monster ScreenClean" I see sold at Crutchfield for 19.99 with cleaning cloth? The ad doesn't mention it being good for LCD screens. Is it?
Reply
Reply
post #80 of 107
5/31/05 at 6:59pm
Yep, that's the stuff. It's a spray with cleaning wipes, and it works on all kinds of equipment. IIRC, the label on the product says multipurpose or something like that. My friend worked at Best Buy and got it for like half-off
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Sony Notebook Reviews
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Sony Forums › Sony Notebook Reviews › Craig's Review of the Sony VGN-S360 Sub-Notebook