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    Help - S360 or S460???

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Grissom, Jun 11, 2005.

  1. Grissom

    Grissom Newbie

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    Seeking sound advice. I have been looking at both models and can get the S460 for $50 less than the S360, but here is my dilemma:

    S360 ($1,699) after rebate/s
    1.7 GHz FSB400MHz (Dothan)
    80GB 4200RPM
    DVD/CD-RW
    ATI Radeon 9700 (64MB dedicated)

    S460 ($1,649) after rebate/s
    1.73GHz FSB500 MHz (Sonoma)
    80GB 5400RPM
    DVD-RW/CD-RW
    NVIDIA 6200 (32MB dedicated + 96MB shared)

    Sounds like a no brainer right? The problem is that the video performance is extremely important to me and I want to be able to play games with reasonable performane for a "thin and light" notebook. Second is the battery life. I am guessing the the S460 (although a newer more powerful machine) lacks in both these areas compared to the S360. I read that the NVIDIA 6200 is not as good as the ATI Radeon 9700 on the S360, but I don't know what to believe. I also heard that the S460 gets too hot.

    Can anybody who has experience with one or both models point me in the right direction please? I am so frustrated with making right choice.
     
    Grissom, Jun 11, 2005
    #1
  2. Skyshade

    Skyshade Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    S460 is indeed hotter than S360. The video performance of S460 is also less than S360 in most games. If you see a benchmark by S460 that is higher than S360 and you are sure it is not a result of owner overclocking the video card, it is because nVidia is a true DX9 card and it is also a nVidia card that may have been optimized for that particular game or benchmark program.

    I am pretty sure you can find S360 that is cheaper than S460, even though its supply dwindles everyday, and I would recommend you to go with S360. The only thing going for S460 is that 5400 RPM HDD. Faster HDD makes day-to-day life a lot faster.
     
    Skyshade, Jun 11, 2005
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  3. Grissom

    Grissom Newbie

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    I thought the ATI Radeon 9700 is also optimized for Direct X 9 games. Is this not the case?
     
    Grissom, Jun 11, 2005
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  4. Grissom

    Grissom Newbie

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    Well I got the S360. So far I am very impressed. I runs fairly cool and has a great display. I sure hope the ATI Radeon 9700 is worth the compromise over the S460 [:0]
     
    Grissom, Jun 11, 2005
    #4
  5. Skyshade

    Skyshade Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Grissom
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    Skyshade, Jun 11, 2005
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  6. clb

    clb Notebook Geek

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    just wondering, i'm lookin at the S460 as well from London Drugs
    http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/Product+Detail/Computers.htm?CatalogNavigationBreadCrumbs=Computers;Computers;PC%20Computer%20Systems;Notebooks;Sony%20VAIO%20VGN-S460PB%20Notebook%20PC&CS_Catalog=Computers&CS_RootCategory=Computers&CS_Category=Notebooks&CS_ProductID=1292127&ProductTab=1

    and the price is EXPENSIVE! where did u look to get that price quote u got?!

    u might wanna take a look at this for the graphics card decision
    http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18483
     
    clb, Jun 14, 2005
    #6