CTO S-Series in the US... how much longer?

I don't like the configuration that BestBuy has to offer. They're selling the 2010 S-Series in the UK. How much longer do we have to wait for CTO here in the US?

 

I was going to buy one of these but I went with the CW instead.. I think there's no info on how long it will be... The best buy option is not very interesting. I don't need the blu-ray and I'd need a faster cpu than the 430...

 

Good solid options on the UK site:
https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/S-Series-13-3

Wish we'd get it here in the US soon.

 

Damnit... the S serie is so much cooler than the CW...

If only I wasn't in such a hurry, I would have waited.

 

I must admit, the new S- series Vaio's are nice. I was eyeballing the new Z-series but cannot justify the value of the Z with my hard earned cash. I believe the value in the new S-series is much much better than the Z. I'm still using my old Vaio VGN-S560 from 2007. It's time to replace it as I cannot drive an external monitor with it anymore, but I can hang on until CTO comes out for the new S's.

 

Anyone know when Sony is going to CTO the S series for the US? The Best Buy version is not an option.

 

Yes, when LOL. I'd like to order one as well.

 

It'll be interesting to see what options the U.S. CTO gives. I'm thinking about ordering one from Sony Japan's CTO which has these options:

Processor:
Core i7-620M（2.66 GHz）
Core i5-540M（2.53 GHz）
Core i5-430M（2.26 GHz）
Core i3-330M（2.13 GHz）

Memory:
8GB（4GB×2）
6GB（4GB＋2GB）
4GB（2GB×2）
2GB（2GB×1）

GPU:
NVIDIA GeForce 310M（512MB）
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD

Storage:
SSD 約512GB（512GB×1）
SSD 約256GB（256GB×1）
SSD 約128GB（128GB×1）
HDD 約640GB（5400 rpm）
HDD 約500GB（7200 rpm）
HDD 約500GB（5400 rpm）

Good options but kinda pricey with the weak dollar/yen exchange right now.

Cheers! - nojiri

 

Given the options Sony Japan offers, I'd go with the following:
Core i7-620M（2.66 GHz）
6GB（4GB＋2GB）
HDD 約500GB（7200 rpm）

The NVIDIA GEFORCE 310M with 512MB of memory is good enough for most anything. I wish it was more but it's good enough, but I cannot complain. Heck, the Vaio VGN-560P that I'm using to type this reply uses the NVIDIA Geforce Go 6400 which has 128 MB of memory... good enough for most anything I throw at it. 512MB is more than fine.

 

Yeah, I'm trying to make up my mind between a build with the i5-540m at $1,484 or one with the i7-620m at $1,649. I'll be doing some video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro, and I know the i7 will handle that faster, but is the difference worth the extra $165 ???

Cheers! - nojiri

 

Not sure if it's worth it to you. It might be. With the i5, you'll have to wait a little longer.

 

what's the problem with the best buy config?

 

Intel graphics instead of the Nvidia and no CTO, which might offer better CPU's and/or screen.

 

I think bestbuy has exclusive on it for awhile. It is part of their "Blue Label" here in the US

 

BestBuy offers the lowest of the low for the S-series.

 

Not much difference at all between i5-540 and i7-620 but Why not just get a Z at that price? The SSD in the Z basically makes up the price difference and you will really love having SSD. I will never go back to conventional HD after using SSD it is a huge performance increase.

 

Hey bluehaze,
Interesting idea. I just priced a Z from Sony Japan and it will run me $2,213. The price is a little higher for me out of the blocks because I need to order it with W7 Ultimate to get the multilingual OS option. An S with i5-540 and a 128GB SSD from Sony Japan will run me $1,685. That's a stretch, but may be possible. Can you describe a bit the performance increase you've seen going from HHD to SSD?

nojiri

 

Nojiri, I was going to post the same response to bluehaze. A faster SSD doesn't make up for $165 hard earned dollars. I'd rather have 7200RPM 500GB HDD, than a small 128GB "faster" SSD. 128GB SSD is going to be filled up in no time. Getting more for my money is what I'm after, and the 7200RPM 500GB drive is what I'd get too.

 

Sorry, I thought you were ordering from Japan being in the U.S. to avoid the wait. The price is much more similiar in the U.S. Difference between HD and SSD is like night and day, Windows boots in like 15seconds vs. 60 seconds and pretty much everything you do accesses the HD so you see similiar gains. Pretty much all programs open instantly everything is just way faster. It's a fairly significant upgrade. I held off on getting one for a long time but now that I have been using one for awhile I could never go back to regular HD.

 

bluehaze-
Yeah, good suggestion. I just did a Google search on "hdd vs. ssd" and there are some pretty impressive results; they do seem to test significantly faster across the board. With Photoshop and Premiere Pro, that should help a lot. I was a little concerned about the lifespan, since SSDs do have a life expectancy. It seems though, that current ones should give an average user about 10 years, which is fine for me. Seriously considering making the stretch.

cheers! - nojiri

 

Yea, alot of people downplay SSD as they are trying to rationalize in their heads why they don't go to the expense of it but in all reality if they did actually switch to SSD they would have similiar opinions as mine. It really is that amazing you can look at all the benchmarks you want but until you actually use an SSD computer you don't know what you are missing and I guess as long as you don't know what your missing it is not a problem so it is a catch 22! Just be warned you will never be happy with HD again after going to SSD.

 

To directly answers this thread's question, the S series will be available this summer, in July. I talked to a top Sony representative, and the BB exclusive will not last that long.

 

I wonder would that mean a refresh CW and EB to match the spec offered elsewhere (i.e. @BB and SonyStyle UK)

 

It seems that the S series isn't all that great. It isn't worth the wait. According to a review
( http://translate.google.com/transla...-2522-3FG-Notebook.25119.0.html&sl=auto&tl=en)
the screen quality is rather poor and the battery life is disappointing. Despite the rough translation, the ratings at the end clearly show that the display, battery life and graphics were rated the lowest. This is enough to disregard it altogether.

 

That is unfortunate, because the original S series (before the SR or SZ) was the single best laptop I've ever had (I've had around 30 laptops).

 

Remember that is only one review.

 

When the S is released from BestBuy Bondage, I expect to see some upgrades as well.

 

Wow, if I have to wait until Summer I will have to move on to another laptop

 

Something seems wrong here. The link is to a review of the Lenovo T-410.