Questions about the Sony Vaio S3 13"

hey all, apologies for the mass of questions, probably posted in the wrong place, but i'm just trying to do my research before i crack open my wallet. The last Dell i bought i wish i had done more research on as I wasn't happy with what i ended up with!

1) I’ve read a few people complaining about the quality of the 1600x900 screen. I’m going for the 1366x768 13.3" because that extra few fps is important to me in gaming! Does anyone have that version of the screen, and any idea about the quality of it?

2) Is it worth going for the i7 upgrade vs the i5? It’s only £50, so I’m tempted. What are the effects on battery life?

3) The sony website states “GEFORCE 640M” on the upgrade options, and not 640M LE as it does on the other laptop. I guess that’s just a mistake right?

4) Does anyone know if the Samsung 830 SSD drives are compatible in terms of replacing the HDD? Also is this fairly straightforward (ie just open the hatch and replace rather than taking off the whole back plate)

5) What is the weight difference between the premium and cheapo models? I don’t really want the premium model because its got a screen that’s too hi-res for gaming, but portability is important to me

6) Does anyone know if you can buy the extended thin battery afterwards, or if it needs to be added at the time you are ordering?

7) and finally! Has anyone used the bios GPU overclock mod on this particular model? I want to run the GPU at 850 clock speed so just checking if its been tried yet.

 

1) The quality of the 1600x900 screen wouldn't affect you at all, it just gives extra resolution for people whoa need the extra workspace. FPS is sort of dependant on resolution so I suppose you can scale down resolution in-game settings though. You won't notice small FPS fluctuations.

2) It truly depends on what you're planning to do with your laptop, To be honest if you're just gaming then no, it is not worth going up to a dual core i7 where the performance boost will be modest (I estimate around 5-10%)

3) The 640M advertised is the LE, but don't worry some users have already worked on an overcloking solution that will considerably boost graphics power.

4) Yes the samsung SSD will work in the Sony Vaio S, it is straight forward you just need to remove 2 screws on the underside panel to have access to the ram slot, HDD and battery. No it does not require you to take the whole back plate off.

5) The premium model has a thinner carbon fibre screen, it is only roughly 1.1mm Slimmer ~ 0.05'' slimmer. the weight difference is 0.05kg ~ 0.11 lbs, so negligible difference. Here's a visual reference

6) You can order the sheet battery later, it is not imperative that yo purchase it at the time of purchase.

7) Yes even better check this thread - here

I hope that has answered most of your questions, feel free to ask more.

 

Hey, thanks for your quick and detailed reply!

With regards to resolution, i'm tempted by the lower res screen simply because i don't particularly like playing games in non-native resolution, you get that slightly blurry effect. 1366x768 does seem very old school nowadays though.

Also, the processor upgrade is "only" £50, i'm tempted to just spring for it. I think in terms of resale value, a lot of people "expect" i7 processors without really understanding what the actual effects are.

oh and did i mention i think its incredibly cheeky of sony to charge £20 for a black laptop when the free options are pink and white!

I'll probably use the bios upgrade that you linked to, i am guessing that does void my warranty though, but hey, thats the price of progress.

 

I'm done with 1366x768 that resolution came from satan and hell to make our lives miserable. I hated that resolution, it came with my HP and there was no room to work, It was difficult to do a project on that screen when you can hardly fit 2 windows side by side.

Resale value might be a little better but honestly I don't think it would be astronomical. If you want good resale value you're going to have to look at Apple laptops in that respect.

Yes it is cheeky to charge £20 for a black car in the same way that Volkswagen charges extra for black, Sony knows this is a popular colour and thus charges extra to make more profit I suppose. At least it's not an annoying glossy piano black though.

Yes it would technically void your warranty, although you can always flash back the original BIOS before sending it back.

 

You should able to play games at 1600x900 at high quality settings with the 640M LE, and undoubtably so with the bios unlocking.

Petrov.

 

ah your probably right. I may just go for the premium version which is lighter and allows a 2GB gfx option. And has a matte screen.

one of the remaining questions is RAM. the current offer is a "free" memory upgrade. which according to sony means i can pay £60 for an extra 8gb of RAM, which is good, but not exactly "free".

However if i do that, it says i cannot get the Sony SSD drive, which i wasnt planning to do, however it does make me wonder whether the Samsung will not fit in that configuration as well.

 

Unless money really is no object for you, it really is more sensible to buy the hdd and replace it with the Samsung 830 yourself, which is what I and many others have done on the s13 premium.

Petrov.

 

go with the better resolution. that graphics card can handle any games really at this resolution. you will thank me later.

and take the i7, future-proof yourself man.

and take gunmetal finish. worth-it

 

sorry thats what i am going to do, my question was more, is there something about the 12GB memory configuration that means you can't do this? ie is the module wider and takes up more space or something?

4GB of RAM is a bit light, but the upgrade price difference between 8gb and 12gb is the same at the minute.

i refuse to pay £30 for gunmental! price is already creeping up past £1k from a starting price of £900

 

No physical difference between 8 and 12 gb ram.

 

No starting price is £859, remember to take off those pre selected crapware. Such as mcafee internet security and photoshop elements. Also downgrade your hdd from 500GB to 320GB. Then prices should be lower.

i7 would only been worth it if it is quadcore. However the one they use in the s13p is only a dual core and performance isn't much better than the base i5, you're basically paying for the sticker.

Personally I only chose gun metal because not many other people have it, Well gold is free but it does scream, "ROB ME!!! - look at me, want me, ROB ME I SAY, ROB ME!!!" So as a result not many people bought the gold one, also the gold one doesn't look aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.

There is one 12GB has 4 more GB than 8GB. Well if Sony is offering half price memory then I'd say the 12GB upgrade is worth it only because 8GB modules are nearly as expensive, have a quick look on crucial.

 

Cool thanks guys.

The only thing left i dont understand why sony are saying that if you equip the 12gb memory upgrade (4 onboard + 8 stick) then they wont let you install a SSD. Wierd!

Anyhoo, think my mind is made up, will order tonight after i've read through the 150 pages of the owners thread

 

250 pages of owners thread...!

 

No Idea too, but at least you can stick your own SSD in there. The 12GB won't stop you. Tbh many of us don't know why, I mean you can't upgrade to the higher res screen unless you opt for the graphics card, or you can't chose the quad core unless you chose to upgrade the graphics. (S15).

 

Having own the 1600x900 screen and seeing the 1366 screen in store, I say the lower resolution screen has much less of the screen door effect and no shimmering in the top right corner. And is nicer to look at. With that said, I do like the higher resolution for everyday use.
Also, forget the i7 and get the i5, save ur money and put it into games and other things.

 

About the memory:
Just buy the 4GB version and buy a 4 or 8 GB SO-DIM DDR3 yourself.
This is a MUCH more cost efficient and very easy to do. There is an easy accessible free memory slot (4GB is already soldered on the mainboard for all versions/upgrades).

Regarding the CPU:
For 95% of the users the i7 does not really offer much extra on top of i5. In my country you cannot order the quad-core version of i7, so this makes the difference even more smaller.

BTW:
I've myself the S13A(P) gunmetal (great color), i5, 4GB (and added 8GB myself), and 320GB HDD (replaced it by 256GB Samsung SSD 830 by myself). That 1600x900 screen is really GREAT!!! And I agree about that 'from hell' comment regarding 1366x768. The width is maybe OK, but that height is always too less.

 

Good shout on the RAM, after a quick hunt I found a stick of Crucial 4gb on amazon for just £16.50!

Crucial Sodimm Laptop Memory Upgrade (4GB,204-pin,DDR3 PC3-10600,Cl=9,1.5v): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories


Ended up ordering, cost £940 for the 13inch premium edition with the i7 and 2GB gfx upgrade, and 1600x900 screen. So £967 including the extra RAM, now I just need to source an ssd drive of some sort

 

Many already using the Samsung SSD 830 series successfully. Also the Crucial M4's are popular. Those two are most popular because price/size/performance wise.

I wondering if those 2GB video memory is really adding some extra...