S380 - disappointed

Today the fedex man brought me my new S380. Unfortunately, I'm pretty unhappy with it. First because Sony came out with the 480 the day after this machine shipped - and the same configuration is about $130 cheaper. So I guess I have to return this one, and buy a 480.

But more importantly, the fan is killing me. I have the machine set to the slowest possible CPU setting and once the machine gets warmed up (15-20) minutes, the fan runs about 30% of the time. It'll spin up for say 20 seconds, stay off for about 30 or 40 seconds, repeat. Heck, it would be less distracting if the thing were on all the time. And it is not quiet by any reasonable definition, even when it cranks up at the slowest speed.

One of the main reasons for upgrading laptops was to get a Pentium M - less fan noise. I have a friend with a Dell laptop and a Toshiba tablet PC and his fans rarely go on at all.

So what the hell? Am I missing something? Anyone know if the 480 improves on the thermal performance? This machine is too expensive to be this annoying. I paid the premium price expecting to get the premium machine. I'm about -this- close to ordering a compaq v2000 for about $600 less.

Someone please tell me I'm either an idiot, or there's just something wrong with this machine.

 

Caveat Emptor...

The Fans on the VAIO laptops seem to be louder than most. At least that is the general trend I've noticed by reading the boards. I've gone through two S380 laptops and now have an S270 (see post: Sony S380 best laptop in the world? on this board).

The fan noise on the S270 is much less noticable than the 380...but it is still there. The good news is that Sony has a generous return policy (30 days for ANY REASON). Curious to see if they corrected these issues on the 480...good luck.

 

I own a 270S (and love it) but I simply hae no problem with the fan- it whirrs a little bit but not near what I experienced in the 380.
I am happy with my 270S, and returned my 380. Plus the 380 has such a huge power supply and the 270/360 has a much smaller one. But I guess you have to act fast to get a 360 and the 270's are gone now.
Plus I ove the vomputer but hate the keyboard of the S

And Kudos to Sony for for having such a GREAT return policy. They have taken hit sin the past for bad customer service but really they have really advanced and it needs to be said.

 

Well, buggers. I guess I'm going to have to send back the 380. I think I may try replacing it with a 480 and see if the fan is any better - maybe this machine is semi-broken somehow. I do not see how it can generate more heat and noise then my Dell with a standard P4, no centrino.

Right now I'm writing this with my Dell. The fan is on low (it has two speeds, low and hurricane). My 380 is on the coffee table about 2 feet away. It's doing nothing, just sitting at a blank desktop and the fan keeps clicking on every 10 or 15 seconds and it's louder than the Dell's fan.

Sony has a great return policy.. and that's all good. But damn, there aren't many good alternatives. The machine is right in the sweet spot of size and weight for me. It looks great (on the outside, the inside, the display). I really don't want to ditch the thing just for the fan.

As an alternative, I'm thinking about getting a Toshiba M200. I can get a great price though work. It's not a wide screen, the display isn't as nice as xbright, and it's a little chunkier feeling. And worst of all, I'll probably be subject to a 15% restocking fee if I don't like it. But it's light, and even pegging the CPU on my buddy's machine, I can't hear the fan. Doing basic stuff doesn't even kick the fan on.

I have to wonder if Sony screwed up something with the Centrino chip set. Like, did they forget to turn the big red switch to "ON"?

 

reservegas, you have said it just as it is. I had the S270 for 3 weeks and was going crazy from the fan. I was so mad that they managed to screw up this perfect design and centrino technology with this lousy fan! I have met people with the 270 that have a rather quiet fan...much less than mine was but still...I wonder if the new models are better -but then who wants a laptop with 1-3 hours of battery life?

 

Yeah, so, here's an idea. It occurs to me that on the 380 the location under the right wrist (both from the top and bottom) becomes searing hot - much hotter than [what I believe to be] the CPU location behind the fan vent. So, I'm wondering the nVidia chip set happens to be in the right wrist location that gets so hot. And if so, I wonder if the 480 _without_ the nvidia option ("internal graphics" instead) wouldn't run cooler.

Insane? Unjustifiably hopeful?

 

Yes, exactly I was thinking that myself...the "internal graphics" should be the standard Intel one (worth calling Sony to make sure that they didn't replace that with a cheaper one) and that would solve the problem possibly. Also look on Intel's website for more info.

 

So, I went ahead and ordered a 480 after returning my 380. I got the 480 without the nVidia graphics option.

The fan in the new machine is quieter than that in the 380 I had. So I my have had an unusually bad fan in the 380. BUT, the fan still has an annoying sound. The fan itself makes a bit of a 'buzz', as if the ball bearings aren't quiet what they should be. So it's not just the sound of air moving you hear, you actually hear the fan spinning. I've never had a laptop I could say this about.

The area right under the right wrist does not seem to get as scorching hot on the 480 sans nVidia as it did on the 380. But it's not a lot better.

What really bothers me is that with the CPU on the adaptive setting, and the machine sitting idle, the fan still spends a LOT of time on. And the machine still gets HOT. This is quite a bit different than my experience playing with other Pentium M/Centrino machines. I just have to think that Sony did something fundamentally wrong with this design.

In the meantime, I've also had a Toshiba M200 tablet PC on loan for several weeks. I don't want to make this a Toshiba review, but for the sake of comparison I'll say that the M200 (which has a P-Mobile, Centrino, and nVidia graphics) runs MUCH cooler. Leaving the machine idle never turns the fan on, and it doesn't even get warm to the touch. Doing your typical web browsing, e-mail, etc the fan does kick on every so often, but it's quiet enough that you have to listen to hear it. And still the machine isn't particularly warm to the touch. So there's clearly something lacking in the Vaio. I don't see any good reason why the Vaio shouldn't be at least close in terms of thermal performance to other similar machines.

 

Sorry for stealing the thread.

Do you guys know what is the SPEC of the memory that's used for S360's? I know it's PC2700 333hz MicroDimm

1) But then, is it the 172 or 144 pin microdimm?
2) Can I use PC3200 400hz memory for it?
3) do brand of the memory matter? I'm seeing prices ranging from $72 to $125 for the 172 pin ones.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

BigRain, I am moving your question (and my answer to FAQ).

Reservegas, I'm sorry to hear about your problem with S380 & S480. Sony is not particular famous for thermal design, but it did a marvelous job with S170/S270/S360 by creating the smallest and lightest laptop that packs a Radeon 9700 with 64 MB VRAM. The price for that is S series has been bugged with the heat and fan noise from day one -- it really is a good trade-off because the degree of heat and noise is relatively minor for the performance packed in the little package. There is certainly room for improvement, such as a better fan control logic that kills the turning on and off every 10 seconds, but you have to decide whether you want the performance or not.

Then comes the Sonoma S series. Unfortunately, Sonoma platform is not greared toward mobility -- it is aimed to address the performance shortfall of laptop when compared to a desktop. You should realize S is the first thin-and-light Dothan laptop that converts directly to Sonoma platform -- every other Sonoma laptop is either a new design or takes longer in the "re-packaging". Frankly, you can't expect too much in such a short turn-around time -- the fact that you can't pan fry an egg on the new S is a testament to the ability of Sony design team. It probably is more Intel's fault than Sony's, butthe end result is a product that is not longer optimized, trying to put out too much in too small a package.

I think I have been advocating S360 over S380 since the day they are announced. You comparison between Toshiba M200 and Sony S380 is not invalid -- you just have to realize that Toshiba M200 is not a Sonoma machine, it still uses the low performance and low power consumption Dothan CPU and all the good old stuff that it implies. S will beat M200 in the performance arena any time of the day, it's just unfortunately that Sonoma S does so with much more heat and noise, thanks to Intel.