Buy high end VAIO? Or buy cheaper model & upgrade?

I am in the market for a new VAIO Laptop and have a few questions for you guys. I chose the FS series (although I am open to other suggestions), but am having trouble deciding whether I should purchase a high end model, or buy a cheaper model and upgrade the internals. This will be my first ever laptop purchase, and I am unfamiliar with upgradeability.

I will be using the machine primarily for graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) and need something with lots of power. The machine won’t be used for games, so the difference in graphics cards isn’t a concern. I am most concerned with: cpu speed, lots of ram, hard drive speed & access time.

VGN-FS660/W - $1499.00
Pentium M 740 (1.73ghz)
1GB Ram
80GB 4200rpm Hard Drive
DVD Reader/Writer
Nvidia Geforce Go 6200

or

VGN-FS625B/W - $1024.00
Pentium M 730 (1.6ghz)
256MB Ram
40GB Hard Drive
DVD Reader / CD Writer
Intel GMA Graphics

Upgraded with:
Pentium M 760 (2.0ghz)
Gigaram 1GB Ram (pc2700)
Toshiba 100GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive

Total Cost - $1598.00

Any input you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated.

 

Unless you are buying a model that is on sale or clearance, upgrading yourself always save you money. All of them are not hard to upgrade in FS (I am not sure we have a guide here, but you should be able to find one somewhere), but do keep in mind upgrading CPU voids all Sony warranty if Sony knows. So keep your old components, especially the CPU.

 

The ram and the cpu upgrades are easy to do, and are much cheaper.

However I am not sure about the cpu. I know it can be upgraded in S series but I've never heard of one upgraded FS (I say this because I own both of them).

On the other hand, I have serious doubts about the graphics. The intel would do fine if you are not into gaming, however for years to come I would choose nvidia. AFAIK there is no possible solution for GPU upgrade.

A bit off topic but have you physically saw an FS. FS seems bulkier, when considered to an S.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I guess I will take the route I chose initially: buy cheap and upgrade. Thanks for mentioning the S series. I agree it looks quite nice and I think I will choose it over the FS.

 

Keep in mind that the LCD on the S-series is inferior to the FS series and that the FS series is known to be underpowered. In other words, FS is not as zippy as other competing notebooks.

The S-series has LCD backlight leakage that may be a problem for graphic designing. You can stick to Sony or look for other alternatives from ASUS, Fujitsu, or Lenovo.

As far as upgrading is concerned, just remember that you may void the warranty if you upgraded certain components of the notebook such as the hard drive.