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Sony S-360 vs. Asus w3v (For College)

post #1 of 47
5/2/05 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
Hello all-

Well the time has come for me to decide on a notebook for college. Price isnt really an object, but weight, screen quality, portability, and games are (and not particularily in that order). By myself, I have basically narrowed my options down to these two choices: the Sony S-360 and the Asus W3V Both are fairly light weight, have bright screens, look good, and have decent dedicated graphics for a non-dtr laptop. I was wondering if anyone could give their opinions/experiences/thoughts on these two and which would be the better choice, for me. If you have any questions of me feel free to ask as I would truly like to get alot of quality input here. Though money isn't a problem, I still want to get the best possible laptop for my dollar. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing some of your opinions.

PS - If there's something you think would work out better than these two im open to suggestions. Thanks Guys!
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post #2 of 47
5/2/05 at 8:27pm
Asus W3V
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post #3 of 47
5/2/05 at 8:40pm
Thread Starter 
haha thanks for the quick response. Any particular reasons behind your choice smilepak? THe one thing I'm liking about the sony in regards to the asus is that i read somewhere the asus is over 5lbs with battery and drive while the sony is still about 4. I like the looks of both laptops and am really having a tough time here so if possible could you give some reasons behind your choice? Thanks.
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post #4 of 47
5/2/05 at 8:42pm
Yeah, I'd think asus as well. The w3v is nice, vuury nice. I like the gigabit lan as well, as your college may very well have that and it'll be all speedy!

That and the dedicated non turbo cache bs video card is more appealing to me.

But I do have to say the Sony did catch my eye back in the days of the s270, so it isn't a complete knock down by Asus.

Tellerve
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post #5 of 47
5/2/05 at 8:50pm
Thread Starter 
If i may clear up something in your last post, the sony s-260 that im looking at has a radeon 9700 64 meg dedicated card. The x600 is slightly faster than this, correct? Thanks again for the help.

Edit - yes the sony is very very good looking but the asus has a great style too. Such a fun yet tough choice.
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post #6 of 47
5/2/05 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
anyone else have experience with either of these two?
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post #7 of 47
5/2/05 at 9:50pm
Your right, the 270 was the better one with the nice dedicated graphics. Also the 400mhz earlier PMs got better battery/performance than the newer ones. Althought the newer ones do have that 'oohh 533mhz fsb' factor.

Tellerve
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post #8 of 47
5/2/05 at 9:51pm
Personally, I'd never buy a Sony product. They are always putting some proprietary software / hardware / junk on their stuff and breaking industry standards.

Case in point, I just had an emergency video project, in which the guy shot his stuff with a Sony camera on MicroDV tape. Fine, so you would think since there is a firewire port on this camera and it says DV - the footage would just digitize. NO!

There is nothing DV about it (Sony used the name, but not the standard). The camera also says MPEG2 on it. Guess what . . . it doesn't comply to the MPEG2 standard either. You have to use SONYS SOFTWARE to digitize from their MicroDV - and they don't sell it or distribute it in the states. Although they sell the camera. Once you digitize it, you have to run a DOS program to convert it to a real MPEG2.

Buy a Sony - start to enjoy all these fun experiences. If you ever want to install your own OS into that notebook, be prepared for half you stuff to stop working (buttons, card slots, etc.)
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post #9 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:01pm
4lbs, 5lbs, you can't really tell the difference when it is in your backpack or walking around campus.

Asus W3 because

1) Newer technology
2) Larger screen
3) Better graphic card

And it was mentioned a few times, Asus makes the Sony laptop, at least one of their model. Not sure which one
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post #10 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:13pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies guys. Although I will probably be buying an xbox 360 for my dorm (yes i know that i am spoiled, haha) I would still like to play some games on this thing, mainly counter strike source. Will these 64meg cards be up to the task at native resolution? ALso there were rumors somewhere of the ati cards in the asus having some technology where it can borrow some system memory off of the pci bus in games that require more than 64 megs. I believe this was made possible by a bios update and I read it on the notebookreview forums, but I was wondering if anyone had any insight as to whether this was true or not. Tellerve, you mentioned the old centrinos had better battery life, was this by a significant amount? Again thank you all for the very helpful comments and replies, I will be sure to post a full review for whichever system I end up getting. You guys are great.
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post #11 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:15pm
Asus has the new 3 year warranty (3rd year N. America only), I'm not sure what Sony is offering, probabably 1 year standard.

Whats the price on the Sony s-360 btw?
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post #12 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:20pm
Thread Starter 
The sony, if configured with the same speed processor, same ram and dvd burner would be a few hundred more dollars. If I customize the asus, which i can do through a few sites to have a 2 ghz processor and 1 gig of ram then the sony becomes about 300-400 more dollars. This is quite alot and is also influencing my decision. PS I know looks arent everything, but, in my opinion the sony looks amazing. Not that the asus doesnt have a great style. Haha this is a tough one.
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post #13 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:22pm
The W3V, for the following reasons:

1. It's not a Sony.

Isn't that reason enough? Those Sony jokers can't even make DVD players that will play their own studio's movies reliabley. I'd buy a laptop made by a collaboration between Yugo and Pontiac before I would touch a Sony nowadays...

Go with the Asus, if anything because you'll be the only one that has one, and because you don't want to feel like a complete pussy by complaining about one extra pound. Your triceps will develop, and you'll get chicks digging your guns.

Kai
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post #14 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smilepak
4lbs, 5lbs, you can't really tell the difference when it is in your backpack or walking around campus.

So can you really tell a difference between a 5 lb and 6 lb laptop...? I seem to be in a similar situation only I am debating between the Z71V and the W3V.
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post #15 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:32pm
I believe the Z71V with powerbrick is closer tto 7 lbs
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post #16 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:39pm
I had a chance to check out the s360. I would recommend not getting the s360 because the keyboard is not full size plus the keys have very little feedback this led to many typing mistakes. I love the screen and styling but a laptop has to have a good keyboard for me to buy it.
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post #17 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:39pm
Thread Starter 
haha nice point bbq
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post #18 of 47
5/2/05 at 10:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Puckmstr10
Hello all-

PS - If there's something you think would work out better than these two im open to suggestions. Thanks Guys!

You can add the Averatec 4100/4200 series laptops to the showdown. About 60% the cost of either laptop you mention above and speced remarkably similar to the sony S-series with the MR9000.
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post #19 of 47
5/2/05 at 11:00pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, what gpu is in those lappys?
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post #20 of 47
5/2/05 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Labmouse
You can add the Averatec 4100/4200 series laptops to the showdown. About 60% the cost of either laptop you mention above and speced remarkably similar to the sony S-series with the MR9000.
specs? i don't see any as of yet from the averatec website.
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