Fedex to deliver S170 tomorrow

Well, I received an email this evening with my fedex tracking number. My S170 should be here tomorrow sometime.

 

When you get it, give us a little "First Thoughts" write up.

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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please give us a first hand review plus an answer to some unanswered questions by sony like:
- The difference between the double capacity battery and the additional battery in terms of location in the laptop.
- speed and performance of the new processor (2MB cache) and whether the 512 MB is enough or not.
- display quality
- look and feel...etc

Thanks in advance

 

What was the turn-around time from your order date to the delivery date?

I ordered mine last Friday and I'm wondering how long it will take them.

 

Well, I just got off the phone with sonystyle. I was on hold for 25 minutes after being hung-up on when someone first tried to transfer me from sales dept. to customer service- really anoying. Anyways, I called to get credit for the 3 year warrantee as I was charged $200 for it. After the sony guy put me on hold to check with his supervisor he said I would receive a $200 credit but it could take up to a week before they process it. That made me feel better after the hang-up and hold time.

 

I ordered mine on the 8th of July and paid for overnight shipping. I will post after I actually recieve the computer.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by RickReno

 

this is my first post on the S170P. my first impression is that the keyboard is actually different than the S150 I played with at compusa last week- the keyboard on this one doesn't flex - it is much more solid even when pounding the middle of the keyboard! Honestly it is different, I know a lot of you will be calling me crazy but it is very solid and does NOT flex at all. The tactile feel of the tract pad buttons are perfect for me. Also, the computer is very fast. I have the 1.7 / 512 on two chips/ and the fast 80 gig/ with 9700 graphics- I had a TR before this and this really smokes the TR in every aspect in my opinion. The screen has no dead pixsels that I can find. As for the battery question- I got the standard battery so I still don't know if the extended actually protrudes from the machine- my guess would be that it does. The charger is pluged in and the machine doesn't seem too hot, the fan is running and I can hear it. Someone commented that the fan was loud - I don't have a lot of laptop experience so I can only say that I can hear it when I turn the tv off. I am very impressed so far. I have got to get back to work now as I am going to be late.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by RickReno

 

that's funny that others have notice that the S170's keyboard doesn't flex- what other forums do you see this same observation on?

 

Can you post comparison pictures???

Thanks!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by RickReno

 

I've been following Rick's postings very closely...very tempted to order an S-170 myself shortly. I'd use it for Photoshop CS work, not gaming, and would take it when travelling. I use a Sony VAIO desktop which came with 512MB RAM but I just doubled that. Thought I would need the 1GB RAM in the S-170, but not the 9700 graphics chipset. This would be my first notebook. Any advice from you pros? How hard would it be to start with 512MBx1 RAM now and upgrade later?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Sue

 

Hi Rick,

I was wondering... Have you tried any games on Radeon 9700? I heard some reports saying that the 9700 is a 64-bit processor... whatever that is. 9700 is reportedly a 128-bit.

Anyone wants to fill us in?

 

I haven't played any games so I don't know. I guess the biggest thing that I notice with this computer is that it is really fast all the way around. I don't know how to do tests for actual speed- but I will say the startup time is faster on this S170 than my desktop and the wireless is up and running really fast.
As far as using the S170 for Photoshop CS- go for it. I have Photoshop elements 2.0 and intend to use it as I just finish a class on Photoshop digital photography. The screen is just amazing.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by darrow

You can get the S model S150 which only has a 32MB Radeon 9200. That should be fine for your work.

The RAM is relatively simple to upgrade. There is an easy access slot on the bottom. Open it up and you can pop in another stick of memory. I think there's a diagram in the manual.
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Thanks for answering. I feel I'd want the 735 processor, the internal DVD+RW and an 80GB HD, so the 170 looks better to me at this time....Just waiting to see if Rick's initial impression is shared by others.

Sue

 

I am actually VERY interested in seeing some 3D game benchmarks. I heard the Radeon Mobility 9700 is a scale-down version. Could be slower.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by irock

 

wow i am very impressed by Fedex

i ordered it with regular ground shipping (3-5)

and when i was tracking it, i saw that they shipped it overnight in less than 24 hours. very nice.

 

Can anyone tell me if the S170's Radeon 9700 has 64MB or 32MB RAM?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by irock

 

Thanks for the clarification.

BTW, could anyone tell me if these 3DMark numbers are good or bad?
3DMark03 2,600+ (2,650/2,628/2,639)
3DMark01 10,000+ (10,203/10,147)

I would like to try Doom3, World of Warcraft at 1280x960.

Will I need at least a 2Ghz Centrino + 1GB RAM + Radeon 9700 64MB to play these games properly?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by irock

 

darrow,

"With a 64MB 9700, you probably won't see much difference in FPS between the Dothan 1.7/1.8/2.0."

Are you implying the Radeon 9700 is the bottleneck so a faster CPU won't yield better performance or higher fps?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by irock

 

anyone got any pics? or reviews? i'd love to read a good review on this beauty..

 

Hi RickReno,

Now that some time has passed since you got the S-170, I'm hoping you might throw some additional insight on the laptop. Specifically, it has been said that "enhanced screens" such as the Xbrite increase the glare factor significantly. Is that true? And secondly, how hot does the machine get? Can you work on it for about two hours continously without feeling the heat on your palms? And finally, do you have any flexing problems with the keyboard?

Thanks a lot!

 

I am still very pleased with the laptop. Yes, the xbrite screens on all sony laptops have glare when compared to other types of screens- this doesn't bother me at all- I have read that some people really don't like the glare associated with xbrite. The bennifits far outway any added glare. As for flex: the keyboard is fantastic, I don't get much flex at all. I tried a few S150 and experienced much more flex. Some have posted the difference in keyboard flex in the S150 very noticeable where the S170 has not had the weird flex- mine feels very solid. As for heat, I haven't had that many laptops but It doesn't get hot as far as I am concerned. Hope this helps. Rick

 

I bought the S150 yesterday and am loving it! I didn't have time to wait for a customized S170 and I'm not a particularly heavy gamer (my gaming extent is essentially SimCity 4 when I'm extremely bored). Performance is excellent, the screen is GORGEOUS, the size is perfect, and my keyboard has no flex whatsoever (the Circuit City store model did have some minor flex)...my keyboard is rock solid.

As for heat, the unit's fan comes on often (but not to the point where it is annoying...it's a gentle hum instead of those laptops whose fans sound like jet engines firing up); as a result, this laptop gets warm at best. I've been surfing wirelessly for the last hour and 48 minutes according to this application, BattereyMon (I'm doing a battery test). I set the power profile to Portable/Laptop, which I much prefe to Sony's overcomplicated, not-so-battery-saving PowerPanel. After 1 hour and 48 minutes, my battery is at 60% and the application and Windows power management are estimating 2 hours and 53 minutes additional runtime, giving me nearly 5 hours of runtime. And this being the second time I have done this test, I can certainly say those figures are accurate as the first time I actually sat with the laptop for 5 hours and 2 minutes before it died (where the screen was at 5/8. I surfed over WiFi and for about an hour and a half I streamed music from iTunes to my Airport Express/stereo over WiFi=constant transfer over wireless).

This is with the standard batery; I'm going to order the extended once I receive my 20% e-coupon for registering.

During this current test, I am browsing via FireFox with three windows open, 3 tabs in each (for a total of 9 web pages open). Additionally, I am watching some short videos downloaded via the web (movie trailers and such), and for about 40 minutes, listened to music in iTunes.

zt3010us: P-M 1.5GHz, 60GB, 512MB RAM, DVD+RW, 15.4" WXGA

 

yes i believe the 9700 is scaled down a little bit on this sony. However, you can just always OC it. AFter running doom3, i think that the 9700 works fine the way it is. :]

Sony S Series Forums
http://sony.dirtysoap.net
http://sonyforums.dirtysoap.net

 

I am planning on buying the s series vaio, customize it off sonystyle.com. Anyone know where I can get widescreen wallpapers? I have lots of wallpapers now with 1024*768 resolution. Any way I can make those work,and they look good, without centering in the center. Also anyone have any problems with games, I want to play some games, not a lot, stuff like halo once in a while. I really dont want black bars on each side of the screen. Thanks!

 

Well, I've had my Vaio S170P for a week now and I must report that I'm very happy. I got the 80 gig drive and the DVD burner. I've never had a DVD burner before, so I had to get educated about DVD-R versus DVD+R media, but so far, so good.

In regards to the keyboard, as others have reported, I don't experience any noticable flex with the 170. Speed is good and I love the automatic screen aspect shift when I plug into my KVM.

 

All you S-Series owners and potential owners, check out the forums at

http://sony.thumbrocket.com

Lots of information...and members like me would love more activity.

 

what program do u guys use to dvd burn?

Sony S Series Forums
http://sony.dirtysoap.net
http://sonyforums.dirtysoap.net

 

I use Roxio's EZ CD/DVD version 6.0. My brother uses it too and he's much more experienced then I am. He's the one who recommended it to me.

 

I use Roxio EZ Media Creator 7 or whatever it's called...For $79 (when I bought it), you get a great bundle, including VideoWave, PhotoSuite, and the whole CD/DVD burning kit. VideoWave and PhotoSuite alone are about $50-60 each I believe.

Also try Nero...very well-regarded.

Sony VAIO VGN-S150

 

Can someone post their success in swapping out the CPU?
I am thinking of upgrading the following:

Pentium M 1.6Ghz (Dothan 90 nm)
512MB PC2700 microDIMMs (see http://www.edepot.com/science.html )
No internal Bluetooth!
Toshiba 60GB 4200RPM
Internal DVD RW drive (single layer writing).
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/ 64MB (390Mhz GPU core and 210Mhz).
802.11 b/g WI-FI
1280x800 x-bright screen.


Here is the path of upgrades:

Harddrive can use 100GB 7200RPM (seagate, fujitsu, or toshiba)
Add internal bluetooth (quite a few people have done this),
Upgrade the CPU from Pentium M 1.x to Pentium M 2.1 from (just swap CPU).
Increase the memory to 2GB using swissbit 1GB PC2700 172-pin microDIMM memory modules.
Change the Wi-Fi to 802.11 a/b/g (the A has less interference).
Replace internal Single Layer DVD RW to Dual Layer DVD RW.

Some software upgrades:
Intel software upgrades the Wi-fi, LAN, and ICH4 chipsets.
ATI Catalyst 5.1 drivers (be sure to patch it with DhModTool first)
Use ATITool to overclock Mobility Radeon 9700 to 520MHz GPU core and 245MHz memory.
Remove the memory modules and F2 key bootup BIOS settings gives you bus overclocking.

More advanced guru upgrades on the VAIO S series:
Change the internal speakers to better ones so you can hear the low bass.
Unsolder the Mobility Radeon 9700 w/64MB and replace with 256MB version.

Here is the 3dmark03 benchmark: http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3642104

Someone posted this at http://www.edepot.com/game.html
The game runs Doom3 fine and you can modify the doomconfig so that it supports 1280x800 and with correct aspect ratio.