Anyone have the SB from Best Buy?

Been looking at this sucker... it's around $980 or so for the following:

Core i5 2410M
4GB DDR3
Radeon 6470M
1366x768
500GB Hybrid Hard-Disk
4G WiMax
Intel WiDi (Netgear TV adaptor included)
Blu-Ray

I'd be inclined to call it a good deal, personally... but unsure. Hmm.

Just wish it had the i7 2620M instead.

 

thats the SC, the cheaper low range cousin of the S series. The SB and SA are sony exclusive in the US

 

What's cheaper about it besides the price? Felt very high quality when I was handling it.

 

The build quality is different, it uses plastic against the SB magnesium/aluminum or the SA carbon fiber

 

I can tell you it definitely wasn't plastic.

 

its plastic, and going from the specs its really a SC

 

For the price & the config that the above VAIO SC notebook comes in, I humbly think that it is an excellent deal. I think you should find it to be a very good notebook for any of your needs.

Good luck.

 

^^ it is a good deal, however I would be all over it, if it packed the 6630m

 

I own it and the palm rest and lids cover are metal.as to if it is magnesium alloy I couldn't tell for sure. Thing is solid and I am NOT regretful of my purchase.

 

I can get the sc with the free xbox 360 from best buy because of the college student deal. But i really wanted the SA, however the sc is only 1000 dollars and includes a 360 while the cheapest sa is 1350. Do you guys think the SA is worth not taking this deal? I mean a 900p screen is nice but apparently the quality is similar to the sb's and sc's anyways. what do you guys think?

 

do you want to play something on your laptop, if the answer is yes, get the SA

 

I'm pretty sure it's plastic, high quality hardened plastic but still plastic when I handled it.

The price is reasonable and if you do get an xbox 360 it's well worth it.

 

Wrong Mr. MM... i have it in my hands and its not all plastic

 

This is such a stupid statement... It depends on what you want to play. I can easily play Crysis on my SC.

 

so the lid is magnesium and the bottom as well? The keyboard tray is made of one milled piece of aluminum?

Im passing a wth moment here, you can play crysis on a gpu made to compete with the intel HD 3000...

it must be some joy to behold

 

anaylyzer, how would you say the screen compares to a mbp 13 display or any regular non vaio z god display?

 

for your info, yes the whole keyboard lid and palmrest is a unibody aluminium.

I don't know what a 'wth' moment is, but whats your point? My point was different games need different GPUs. If you are playing simple games, you dont necessarily need a 66xx power hungry gpu/high heat gpu (primarily made for desktops/desktop replacement 16 inch + laptops).

I said I can easily play crysis with good fps. So how does it matter what this GPU was made to compete with? It is indeed joy to behold, to be able to have a 13", under 4lbs laptop which can easily play these games. The SA is not going to do anything more for you. (12% graphics improvement is not much).

 

I havent used a Z, so dont know about that. For a honest screen comparison, I'd say this:

SB/SC models - screen is matte so lesser contrast in general,. However, easily viewed under bright sunlight or florescent lights because the reflections are minimised.

MBP - the screen 'looks' good only because of the exterior is poly glass. This gives it wider viewing angles and better contrast. But it sucks when you try to work under lots of florescent lights or outside in the sun. This is my opinion. For some, this may be ok, so it really depends on what you're looking for.

There's nothing inherently 'wrong' with the sony screens as some people claim. Its not a wide-screen TV seen by people all around in a room that you need 'wide' viewing angles For a laptop in the form factor, its just right. Yes obviously anyone would be happier if say contrast was higher or there was IPS. But all that comes with more reflections, or $ cost. Either way, for a < $1000 laptop, I dont think you'll get any better than this.

 

a 6470m against a 6630m is a 12% improvement, you got to be kidding me.
you dont know much about gpus, you are clearly way out of line misleading people like that. I have a 2 year old mid range gpu, with the same res that you have, and I can still eat that card for lunch, with clear improvements regarding fps and details.


glad that the keyboard tray is aluminum, however the rest is plastic. so the point stands.

 

Ok, I'll be glad if you get more than that in a ultra-portable notebook, with actual 3dmark numbers.

what machine do you have the 2-yr old mid range GPU in? And even if it can eat this card for lunch, again whats your point? If this card is suitable for someone playing mid-level games, why should they still get the SA?

How is the rest all plastic? And what point exactly stands?

 

the machine itself is of no consequence, the gpu is, its a 4670m.

now you change your speech to mid level games, when you said it can run crysis. It wont be pretty, that I can assure you.

One part of the games is the visuals, if that is compromised the experience is compromised, and Im not saying Im a sucker for good looks, I still play day of the tentacle and monkey island from time to time. My avatar is from monkey island.

The 6630m is nothing high end either. but you are comparing an entry level gpu and saying that its good for mid level gaming, clearly it isnt.

I get around 8000 3dmark06 points, however benchmarks are meaningless tools.

what I get is around 36fps in world in conflict, all the settings on high, with 2AA and 4AF dx10 mode

I dont play fps that much so I cant provide you solid numbers

starcraft 2 is around that ballpark with the same fps, dx 10 mode.

shogun 2 all high no AA, no depth of field or SSAO, around the same 30fps.

RUSE is the same, all high and so forth, same fps.

this is not a gaming notebook, if it were the fps at the low res of 1366*768 would be doubled, more than often tripled.

So sony is the most stupid company by launching a different keyboard tray model for the cheapo blue label model, and having 3 different models, with the SC and SB sharing the same materials, while the SA is carbon fiber

 

I got one of these for my Mom and she loves it; no problems yet (fingers crossed).

Best thing is I walked out with a free Xbox 360 for myself.

 

I took a look at one of these yesterday. Not a bad looking lappy at all... and absolutely a good deal.

I wish it were just a tad lighter, though, but oh well.