OK So I was wrong

It takes a man to admit his mistakes and fess up but here goes. The S380 is NOT the best laptop in the world! It COULD HAVE BEEN, but Ihave since returned and gone back to what is ONE of the best laptops in the world, the configurable S270. What hurts the 380, after getting it in was the following:
1> The power supply is HUGE almost 1 lb- 20% of the entire machine! The old one was half that.
2> Battery life on the 270/360's are better! The new Sonoma chipset was supposed to extend battery life (and it may in other machines) but not this one. The 270/360 (same machine) with extended battery lasts about an hour longer than the 380- a significant increase.
3> Cant argue agaisnt the 64 megs of dedicated ATI video RAM in the 270/380 versus the 32 meg trickery of the newer 380. It wasnt a main factor in my choice, but Sony should have have shoehorned a 128 meg dedicated Video card in this machine and everyone would FLOCK to it.
4> 80 gig drive on the 270 is 5400 RPM- the 80 gig on the 380 is 4200 RPM- a real difference. Spec sheet says 5400 but rep told me 4200- go figure.
5> Not so sure the 533 MHz. FSB does anything special for biz apps and light Photoshop work. A 7200 RPM with 8 meg cache hard drive would however!

So there you have it- the OLDER technology in this case trumps the new technology. And I stand corrected.
Having said all of that- Since Sony is losing the battery war wit hthe 380 they should just go ahead and put that 128 meg Vid card in the S400? model and the lack of battery talk will go away.

O and the fan noise (which doesnt bother me at all) is the same on the 270/360 and 380

 

O one mor ething- I have done this myself, the Sony S series with the port replicator (either V1 or V2) will drive up to 1900 x 1200 resoultion through the DVI port of the replicator! AMAZING NO other machine can do this in the 4 lb. range NONE the Sony S is the ONLY LAPTOP in that world at this time that can boast this. So all you Video editors and Photogs out there who need screen real estate in a desktop replacemtn notebook, look no further than the S series!
And my S's have the ATI Radeon 64 meg 9700- I am assuming that the 9200 will do ti also but I am NOT sure about that.

 

OK 330, I have just about decided to get the 270/360. Two questions please. Is the 80 gig HD on the S a 5400 or can you one get that on the configurable 270?? Is there a a/b/g option on the 270 or are you just getting b/g with the blutooth option?

 

The 270S has an 80 gig 5400 RPM option and of course I bought that! And I only got the b/g with bluetooth option. If you go to Sonystyle.com you will see if they have the abg option.
A 7200 RPN hard drive would be a great option, but as usal it will be offered AFTER I get my new computer in! But thats OK that is the way of technology!
Good Luck and enjoy your new Sony!

 

Sorry 330, I meant to ask if the 80 gig HD on the 360 was a 5400 or not. I know that the 270 has an option for the 80 gig 540 HD. Sad that a outfitted 270 is going to cost almost as much as the 380 tricked out.

 

Irish that is a good questionwithout a sufficient answer from me! The website says that it is and the Sony reps says that it is NOT. Go figure! Surely someone in this forum would know and it is a good question since the 360 and 360P's already preconfigured are chaeper and you can get them faster than the 270's which have to be bought direct if you want the 5400 RPM drive. I remember in the early days of the 270, there was a question of the Video memory on the 270- if is clear now but takes some time for Sony to get all its info straight.

 

I've been seriously considering buying the S360 too. Contrary to what the BestBuy sales people told me, the spec sheet shows the S360 with a 4200 rpm 80 GB Ultra ATA hard drive. It does, however, come with an empty memory slot. (1) 512 MB 172 pin PC2700 Micro-DIMM RAM. ($399 at Sony, $130 aftermarket)

For $159, you can get a 7K60 hard drive and for $127, the 7200 mAh extended battery pack. (All aftermarket/e-bay deals) Here's a link showing how to change out the hard drive: http://www.talkvaio.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8

-PJ

 

The 380 has one feature over the 360- the 533 MHz. frontside bus.
The difference is marginal maybe a 5% speed boost for the 380 but...
Other 380 problems vs. the 270 (360)
1> A MUCH larger power supply (way too big in my opinion for a small and light notebook
2> A weaker video card (32 meg dedicated versus 64 meg 9700) in the 360 and the 270- neither are world beaters but the 64 meg 9700 is truly better.
3> Higher price. The 380 is much more than the 360 and slightly more than the 270
4> Shorter battery life than the 360/270- depending on what you are doing up to 45 minutes less!

I bought the 270

 

[
For $159, you can get a 7K60 hard drive and for $127, the 7200 mAh extended battery pack. (All aftermarket/e-bay deals) Here's a link showing how to change out the hard drive: http://www.talkvaio.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8
-PJ
[/quote]

Be careful with buying a non-Sony extended battery. I read a post on another forum from a guy who killed his S360 by using a non-Sony battery. Somebody on that forum said that Sony had not released the specs on that batter and any aftermarket battery for this machine was a gamble at the present time.