I need your comments on the S380!

I am considering buying a S380 with the 770 processor, about 1G of RAM, and all the other little goodies.

I am concerned about the fan noise I've been hearing people complaining about. Is it that bad? Also, how is battery life?

Here's what the S380 is up against for me: [from another post]

"I am debating between the UX and MX models after considering many other thin and light notebooks. I have about $3000 to spend and don't need to purchase until early August [at the latest]. I need to be able to run CAD on the system, burn DVDs, surf the net wirelessly, and use Bluetooth and IR.

I like the small size of the UX but I'd like to have 2G of ram instead of 1.25G. Also the US doesn't come with a Supermulti DVD/CD burner/reader right now. If I could get those two things out of the UX I'd buy in an instant. In addition, I'd like to get the Intel 770 processor in any notebook I buy.

My problem with the MX is that it doesn't seem to have a card reader [SD, Memory stick, etc], which is pretty important to me.

Help me decide what to do guys!

Also, I was considering a Sony S380 and the Fujitsu S70010D."

 

Of course it is alwasy about what is the primary need from your laptop. If CAD then I would say neither since you may need more real estate. Butif CAD usage is only minor I would say that you stick with the Sony. You can buy the Port replicator and DIGITALLY drive 20" (and larger if needed) flat panels and that is perfect for dekstop CAD.

You can check the differences in the Sony S380 and S270 models by checking out my other posts in the "Why the S380 is the best laptop in the world" and then my retraction in "OK so I was wrong".

I originally bought the S380 and returned it and bought the S270 heres why:
1> S270 is more portable with longer battery life and a MUCH smaller adapter- the 380 is a BRICK! Ridiculous for a 4.2 lb. laptop.
2> The Video card on the S270 is better- not that the 64meg ATI 9700 is THAT great but it is better than the 32 meg Nvidia in the 380. For the money that these cost give me 64 megs if Vid RAM anyday. Why Sony did not pack 128 megs of dedicated Video in this machine is beyond me- people would flock to a 4.2 lb. laptop with 128 megs of dedicated video mem.
3> 270 is marginally less $.

The 380 does have better hard drive choices (all are 5400 RPM only 1 is for the 270- the 80 gig) and you can get 2 megs of RAM with the 380 vs only 1 for the 270 but after 1 meg of RAM you really dont get much of a boost unless you are video rendering or some such thing.

Both have excellent XBRITE screens- widescreen and perfect for movies.

Hope all of that helps

 

Configure an S480....now on the sonystyle website. You get all the power of the Sonoma chipset...DVD Burner....upgraded SATA hardisk...plus the great screen and bluetooth. I think you'll like what you get...I tried virtually every notebook I could find at a number of specialty stores and I haven't found better overall. If I could ever get my hands on an ASUS W3V....I'd say it's real close as well.

HP ZV5220US 15.4"WXGA 512MB RAM 60GB HD AMD XP+ 3000 8lbs. (heavy)