Questions from a Soon to be s360 Owner

Hi all,

My s360 shipped from bestbuy.com (I decided to buy from there to take advantage of the $250 in rebates plus the ability to buy an extra battery for $99), and I have a couple of questions in advance of ordering it.

So far, I've found two places selling 512MB microdimms. NewEgg selling the KingMax for $127.91 plus $4.33 shipping and MemorySuppliers.com selling a Micron microdimm for $119 plus about $5 in shipping. Does anyone have any opinions on either of these? I'd tend to go with newegg just since I've ordered from them before and trust them, but if the Micron is better, I would consider them.

What would you recommend in terms of warranties, etc.? I didn't buy the BestBuy product replacement plan, but I'm willing to consider it if people think it's really worth it. I was also thinking of buying one of Sony's warranties, which looked fairly reasonable to me, and I liked the options with accidental damage protection $200 for onsite service with accidental damage protection for 2 years, or $315 for 3 years, seems pretty nice to me. Has anyone else bought these, and do you have any recommendations?

One of the biggest things that was making me think twice about getting a Sony is all the horror stories about Sony's bad support, etc. Is this any better when you get these service plans?

I was also thinking of safeware.com's insurance, which sounded pretty nice in terms of protecting against accidental damage, theft, etc.

I haven't bought a case yet.......... I saw that sleeve-style case that can be imported from Japan, but I think I'd like a case that would hold the vaio, the power adaptor and an extra battery, and not be too big. Does anyone have any advice on this? What bags do you use, and what do you recommend?

I think that's pretty much it. I really did mainly buy this laptop for a combination of word processing, watching videos, and playing games (one of the most attractive things about this to me was the idea that somewhat modern games can play well on it, and look good on the screen).

-Zadillo

Any help on any of these questions?

Cool, thanks. I thought the Sony warranty plan actually looked nicer, as it seemed to be cheaper than Best Buy's even with the accidental damage protection, which Best Buy's plan doesn't seem to cover.

Btw, I ended up getting a Targus BlackTop Messenger case, and it seems to work really well. It's a little big, but I like having a case that I can easily store the rest of my stuff in, and it seems to provide a lot of nice padding and protection for the Vaio itself.

Btw, I got my s360 over the weekend (I actually ended up buying it at CompUSA, since they were offering the same $250 in total rebates, and I also had a $125 CompUSA gift card.... I'll be returning the BestBuy order when it arrives).

I have to say, really, it is just an amazing machine. I don't need to go on at length as I figure everyone already knows this, but seriously, this is a machine that lives up to the hype.

I have to say, I think it's really just a great combination of size and power. I liked the idea of some of those massive gaming portables, but I honestly don't want some 7-9 pound laptop behomoth to lug around. And I like a lot of the other thin and lights, but I was reluctant because I did like the idea of having a laptop I could play some modern games on (again, not a primary consideration compared to just having a good laptop to work on, but a very nice perk).

I know the s360 is still a little pricey, but I was much happier paying a bit more for it and getting just about the exact form factor and specs I was looking for in a laptop. I'm also happy with how good the screen is for just regular text. I had heard some stuff about how the XBrite stuff was excellent for images/video/etc. but was bad for text, but it looks crisp.

Honestly, I can see myself using this as my main computer, as it does just about everything I need, and the screen is frankly much more beautiful than the 17 inch CRT that I use on my desktop.

-Zadillo