I just bought my S460 a few days ago and, unlike most, I must say I am very fond of It.
Let me say this before I go any further, I buy systems on potential. What seems not so greatest, maybe just a Diamond in the ruff, and it takes someone who has owned a few machines and seen his share of blue screen of deaths to make it hum, the S460 is the perfect example.
Build Quality:
Starting here, The first part of a good unit is how well it is made, you can have the fastest parts in the world placed inside a unit that is made from the cheapest materials (and a poor design), all that means is that the OEM, cut where it counts to ensure that the unit has the big numbers. Units like that don’t last long, and do not give the same pleasure of use that comes from a unit that is designed well.
Apple makes many a sale on this mentality.
Here the S460 shines. Built sturdy, slim and sleek, its light 4.2lbs does not make it feel like it will crack under the pressure of use, quiet the opposite, The magnesium S feels like it would outlast even the legendary Thinkpad (and yes I own a Thinkpad). The small covers over the ports are made of neoprene (or at least I am told they are) which is a durable material, that should stand the test of time.
I really don’t have much to say about how it looks, well not much more then, “its amazing,” better looking then any other unit I have ever seen or used, the S is streamlined and uncluttered, it makes me want to use it. If you have not seen one in real life, (in a environment outside of a store, or pictures) you are missing its shear elegance.
Screen:
Nothing but good thing to say here as well, my screen is evenly lit, bright, vibrant, and very easy to look at, even at the lowest setting. Colors don’t look at all faded out, or washed, blacks are rich and deep.
NOTE: This is my second unit, the first one I had to return because of the “color bleeding” at the edges, the guy at CompUSA, just exchanged the unit, not problems.
Sound:
One of the biggest differences that sets the S460 in a totally different league then any of its predecessors (pre Sonoma ) is the Intel HD sound, having at a minimum of 24bit/192KHz and EAX 2.0 support, it brings something that laptop audio is not used to, decent (dare I say good) sound quality.
The sounds quality in noticeably much better then the AC ‘97 in most the other laptops I have owned. (using the latest Realtek Drivers). It has a deep strong base, and very good fidelity, for a laptop anyway.
I must worn all readers that the speaker on the S are horrendous, and I really recommend a set of headphones for enjoyment .
Video:
This is a touchy subject. with the new S laptops, by default the S demonstrates very weak marks when it comes to 3Dmark, but it is not the Geforce 6 6200 fault, which has seen much hatred because of it seemingly poor showing,.
Sony has done anything and everything to beat all the performance out of the poor card. Clocked in at 100/333Mhz. The card is horribly underclocked. Also, to add insult to injury, the Sony drivers default Powermizer to “max power savings” even when plugged in, and rest the setting on every reboot. Furhermore the drivers are generally very poorly configured, causing problems in many games and benchmarks. With the latest Forceware, at 395/666Mhz, I am proud to say that my S scored a 3013 on 3dmark03, with not errors.
CPU/Heat/Fan/Power Management
The Sonoma brings about a 10% performance boast , and about a 30% increase in power consumption, needless to say the S, which was designed for the much cooler Dothan, gets hot, but only down the right side, and the default Sony settings do nothing to help the situation. Lowering the fan speed setting in the control panel only worsens the situation by turning on a poorly implemented, ODCM (On Demand Clock Modulation) Governor, which does nothing more then lower throttling response times, and drops the CPU down as low as 218Mhz, making the S a hot, slow, Laptop with a loud fan.
But all is not hopeless, with RM Clock, some undervolting (The Sonoma has lots of room), properly configured FID/VID management, and a sane ODCM Governor, the heat in the S is noticeably less (5 C), and the fan is on far less, and when it is on, is much quieter.
Furthermore, RMClock allows the user to put the S into deeper states of sleep, lengthening the battery life when in standby/sleep.
Also it should be noted that the right wrist area of the S gets warm, but no more then the left wrist area on the Apple iBook 12’
Drives:
The S460 come with the very latest in hard drive technology, a 5400rpm 80GB SATA drive, its snappy and quite, I can’t hear, but do notice the performance boost over the 4200rpm drives that I have in my other laptops. The only drawback I see is that the drive gets very hot hovering between 49-56C, often hotter them my CPU.
Continuing the trend in brand new drive technology, the S460 comes with a 4x multi format dual layer DVD burner, which allows for up to 8.4GB a DL DVD.
The unit includes a Memory Stick Pro Reader, which is nice. I Only use SD, but I now have a reason to switch..
Battery Life:
The standard Sony battery is a bit wobbly and does not fit as snug as I would like, but it is nothing to worry about as far as I am concerned.
I test the total battery up time to be 3:45.
Testing condition:
fully drain new battery, then spend 6hr charging it.
all preventative mechanisms were off, so the system turned off when the battery dies.
On Demand Clock Modulation was off, SpeedStep was on, the CPU was locked at 800MHz@.700V.
The DVD-/+RW Drive was turned off.
The screen was at its dimmest setting.
the wireless was on the entire time.
Workload:
Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Gaim, Firefox, and IE, as well as all the stuff that Sony has running in the background.
idling temp: 49-52 C
100% load @ 800MHz temp: 54 C
Final thoughts/Notes: The S460 is am amazing laptop packages, its just hard to notice because the way Sony has it setup. It offers almost all the latest technology (Xbrite, DX9c, HD sound, SATA, DDR2, DL DVD, Sonoma) in the smallest possible packages, and despite a few things, does it with style, I could not be happier.
I must urge everyone who is considering purchasing the S460 to take the time to reload the OS and Drivers as the setup that Sony leave a very bad tastes in the mouth, and stifles an otherwise amazing package.
On last Note, the S does not come with a paper manual or Recovery Discs, it has a recovery partition, which you can make recovery media from, as well as a 200 PDF Manual, I found this a little cheep on Sony’s part, considering the retail price of the S series of laptops.
My work here is done boys/girls, see ya in another year or so (i just come here , get info, buy and don't come back until i need a new one)
Let me say this before I go any further, I buy systems on potential. What seems not so greatest, maybe just a Diamond in the ruff, and it takes someone who has owned a few machines and seen his share of blue screen of deaths to make it hum, the S460 is the perfect example.
Build Quality:
Starting here, The first part of a good unit is how well it is made, you can have the fastest parts in the world placed inside a unit that is made from the cheapest materials (and a poor design), all that means is that the OEM, cut where it counts to ensure that the unit has the big numbers. Units like that don’t last long, and do not give the same pleasure of use that comes from a unit that is designed well.
Apple makes many a sale on this mentality.
Here the S460 shines. Built sturdy, slim and sleek, its light 4.2lbs does not make it feel like it will crack under the pressure of use, quiet the opposite, The magnesium S feels like it would outlast even the legendary Thinkpad (and yes I own a Thinkpad). The small covers over the ports are made of neoprene (or at least I am told they are) which is a durable material, that should stand the test of time.
I really don’t have much to say about how it looks, well not much more then, “its amazing,” better looking then any other unit I have ever seen or used, the S is streamlined and uncluttered, it makes me want to use it. If you have not seen one in real life, (in a environment outside of a store, or pictures) you are missing its shear elegance.
Screen:
Nothing but good thing to say here as well, my screen is evenly lit, bright, vibrant, and very easy to look at, even at the lowest setting. Colors don’t look at all faded out, or washed, blacks are rich and deep.
NOTE: This is my second unit, the first one I had to return because of the “color bleeding” at the edges, the guy at CompUSA, just exchanged the unit, not problems.
Sound:
One of the biggest differences that sets the S460 in a totally different league then any of its predecessors (pre Sonoma ) is the Intel HD sound, having at a minimum of 24bit/192KHz and EAX 2.0 support, it brings something that laptop audio is not used to, decent (dare I say good) sound quality.
The sounds quality in noticeably much better then the AC ‘97 in most the other laptops I have owned. (using the latest Realtek Drivers). It has a deep strong base, and very good fidelity, for a laptop anyway.
I must worn all readers that the speaker on the S are horrendous, and I really recommend a set of headphones for enjoyment .
Video:
This is a touchy subject. with the new S laptops, by default the S demonstrates very weak marks when it comes to 3Dmark, but it is not the Geforce 6 6200 fault, which has seen much hatred because of it seemingly poor showing,.
Sony has done anything and everything to beat all the performance out of the poor card. Clocked in at 100/333Mhz. The card is horribly underclocked. Also, to add insult to injury, the Sony drivers default Powermizer to “max power savings” even when plugged in, and rest the setting on every reboot. Furhermore the drivers are generally very poorly configured, causing problems in many games and benchmarks. With the latest Forceware, at 395/666Mhz, I am proud to say that my S scored a 3013 on 3dmark03, with not errors.
CPU/Heat/Fan/Power Management
The Sonoma brings about a 10% performance boast , and about a 30% increase in power consumption, needless to say the S, which was designed for the much cooler Dothan, gets hot, but only down the right side, and the default Sony settings do nothing to help the situation. Lowering the fan speed setting in the control panel only worsens the situation by turning on a poorly implemented, ODCM (On Demand Clock Modulation) Governor, which does nothing more then lower throttling response times, and drops the CPU down as low as 218Mhz, making the S a hot, slow, Laptop with a loud fan.
But all is not hopeless, with RM Clock, some undervolting (The Sonoma has lots of room), properly configured FID/VID management, and a sane ODCM Governor, the heat in the S is noticeably less (5 C), and the fan is on far less, and when it is on, is much quieter.
Furthermore, RMClock allows the user to put the S into deeper states of sleep, lengthening the battery life when in standby/sleep.
Also it should be noted that the right wrist area of the S gets warm, but no more then the left wrist area on the Apple iBook 12’
Drives:
The S460 come with the very latest in hard drive technology, a 5400rpm 80GB SATA drive, its snappy and quite, I can’t hear, but do notice the performance boost over the 4200rpm drives that I have in my other laptops. The only drawback I see is that the drive gets very hot hovering between 49-56C, often hotter them my CPU.
Continuing the trend in brand new drive technology, the S460 comes with a 4x multi format dual layer DVD burner, which allows for up to 8.4GB a DL DVD.
The unit includes a Memory Stick Pro Reader, which is nice. I Only use SD, but I now have a reason to switch..
Battery Life:
The standard Sony battery is a bit wobbly and does not fit as snug as I would like, but it is nothing to worry about as far as I am concerned.
I test the total battery up time to be 3:45.
Testing condition:
fully drain new battery, then spend 6hr charging it.
all preventative mechanisms were off, so the system turned off when the battery dies.
On Demand Clock Modulation was off, SpeedStep was on, the CPU was locked at 800MHz@.700V.
The DVD-/+RW Drive was turned off.
The screen was at its dimmest setting.
the wireless was on the entire time.
Workload:
Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Gaim, Firefox, and IE, as well as all the stuff that Sony has running in the background.
idling temp: 49-52 C
100% load @ 800MHz temp: 54 C
Final thoughts/Notes: The S460 is am amazing laptop packages, its just hard to notice because the way Sony has it setup. It offers almost all the latest technology (Xbrite, DX9c, HD sound, SATA, DDR2, DL DVD, Sonoma) in the smallest possible packages, and despite a few things, does it with style, I could not be happier.
I must urge everyone who is considering purchasing the S460 to take the time to reload the OS and Drivers as the setup that Sony leave a very bad tastes in the mouth, and stifles an otherwise amazing package.
On last Note, the S does not come with a paper manual or Recovery Discs, it has a recovery partition, which you can make recovery media from, as well as a 200 PDF Manual, I found this a little cheep on Sony’s part, considering the retail price of the S series of laptops.
My work here is done boys/girls, see ya in another year or so (i just come here , get info, buy and don't come back until i need a new one)
. How is your?
