S360, S460, S?60 questions

Hey all, I have some questions that I hope you can answer.

I am in the market for a laptop, and have looked at innumerable models. I am aiming for something small and light. No more than ~5.5lbs and 12-14". I would like widescreen, although I am looking at the 12" ibooks. I have fallen in love with the style of the S360/S460, but two things make me wary. First, the price. Second, I keep hearing about this heat issue with the S460, and from what I can tell, it is not some isolated incident.

That leaves me with the S360, which no one seems to sell anymore. Well, I found one (used) for ~$1300, which is a pretty good deal imo, and am thinking about snagging it. However, I have a few questions. Unfortunately, this model does not include a DVD burner....is it possible to get an aftermarket one and install it myself? Any reccomendations for which one to buy? Second, it only has a 4200rpm harddrive, which many people say is slow...is it hard to replace the hd on the s360? It does come with 1gb of ram, which is really nice.

My last question is whether anyone knows if/when SOny will release a new S series line to address the heat issues of the s460. I need a laptop for school, so I dont have too long to be able to wait, but I would like to make sure.


Thanks in advance.

 

I don't recommend you buying use, especially when it's $1300. Since you can't wait for the next generation of the S-series, I highly recommend you getting the S460 ($1550 after rebates) or look elsewhwere. I personally think the Asus w3v is pretty nice if you're comfortable with an unfamiliar notebook brand and the Fujitsu S-series is also appealing.

If you expect the s360 to not have any heat issues, then you'll be in for the surprise of your life. They're both hot.

I'm a second year engineering student, and the s460 is perfect. Just please don't buy used or "refurbished" or "dell" or "factory reconditioned" etc.

 

The heat issues are fairly universal with any package under 14.1" screen size in a thin and light model that is running a Sonoma based Pentium M chipset/processor. You just aren't going to find current systems that don't have issues to address in heat in a 4lb. notebook. Everything is crammed so close together...it is physically impossible without something other than air cooling to make it a "totally heat free system". That being said....there are several things you can do. First....undervolting the system will drop your temps by as much as 10 degrees C. If you don't need high performance (like when you are running games) you can tweak the power control settings to have the system run at lower clock speeds for most applications and you can put the hard drive in various states of rest/hibernation. All of these things will cool the system down considerably. Search through the Sony threads....there is an FAQ on tweaking the S460 recently that addresses heat and optimization issues

 

If we do have "time" would you recommend waiting for the next generation of S Series with regards to the heat issues?
when is the next generation expected?

 

Personally, I would go for s360. However, the newer model is coming soon. Suggest waiting a little bit longer. If i am correct, the specs stay same and only difference is the processor ->to 2.0ghz (Correct me if i'm wrong)

Bascially if you perfer the longer battery life but less performance go for s360. Otherwise all on s460.

 

Both are relatively the same unless you care about the ati's slightly better 3d marks and the hour or so longer battery life in the s360. However, the s460 does have DDR2, faster cpu, 5400 rpm hd, and is available at most retailers. It really does depend on your slight preferences. I personally have just ordered the s360 online today.