Sony S Series Question

I have recently been looking at the Fujitsu S2000 series (AMD Turion MT-30, Integrated ATi 200m, 13.3" standard ratio screen, ect) but it has come to my attention that the Sony VAIO S560 (P/B?) is a good contender with the same sized screen, although the Sony's is widescreen (It doesn't matter to me if the screen is widescreen or not).

I was wondering how this machine is and what advantages/disadvantages/limitations it offers specifically in comparison to the Fujitsu or to other Sony machines with 13.3" screens or smaller in the same price range, give or take a hundred.

Any input would be appreciated. Some details would help to; how often is the fan turning on, how loud is it, how hot/where does the machine get warm, any known defects or key limitations, graphics?

Thanks

 

the SOny has better gfx compared to the fujitsu S series. Other than that u might be lacking 1 usb port, fingerprint reader(?)

 

3 USB ports on the Fujitsu and no fingerprint reader. So the graphics in the Sony are 128mb dedicated?

 

S-Series
-Fan Noise
-Lack of S-viedo and ports (compared to Fujitsu)
-Overheat
-Not as bright as Fujitsu (as someone mentioned but not entirely sure)
-Short battery life (2~3 hour max with undervolting and reducing brightness)
-Somewhat more expensive than fujitsu
-terrible customer support
-Lacks finger print (if you need it)

I listed bunch of 'not-so-good' things about S-series
However, there are many advantage.
If you need, i'll list.

 

only 32 memory is dedicated and rest shared.

 

That would be great if you could list some aspects this machine is known for. I can still conect to an external monitor no?

 

What kind of games is that suitable for?

 

You can still connect an external monitor with a VGA cable or S-Video to VGA Adapter.

I'd like to comment on some of sky123's negative point (I own a Vaio S5 series Notebook):

Fan Noise - Not really an issue except if you are an extreme silent fanatic. Fan switches on sometimes but it's barely noticeable (unless of course you use CPU intensive applications)

Lack of S-video - yes, thats a negative.

Overheat - No most definitely this does not occur!

Screen - I haven't seen the screen of the Fujitsu, the Sony one isn't perfect, see various postings in this forum

Short battery life - I get 3-3.5 hours with undervolting. I highly doubt you'll get a much higher battery life on the Fujitsu unless you use a high capacity battery.


Considering games, most of the newest titles run fine on my S580. NFS Most Wanted, Counterstrike Source, HL2, Doom 3, all playable on high settings at 1024x768

IMHO considering performance and design the Sony has the edge over the Fujitsu

 

First of all, you have to understand, there is no other company that provides 13.3" along with 4.2 lbs. S series is probably 'the' first laptop that can actually be carried along with powerful performance and run smooth on games.

Secondly, the design is fantastic, at least comparing with fujutsu. (no offense fujitsu users) The black cover makes it look very professional.

Lastly, it has a dedicated video card. Although its not the 'top-of-the-line' video card, it'll run most of today's and future game. I hardly doubt you'll see any dedicated graphic card that weighs less than Vaio S-series.

I think the widescreen is also a advatage.

- Yes you can still connect to external monitor and if you like to connect to s-video, I believe you can buy seperate accesories (not from sony). Preferably ebay will sell them.

 

You may disagree with me on heat and fan noise but the truth is it exists. Fan noise have been reduced considerably using NHC or crystal cpu but 'compared to many other laptops' it is louder.

With the bios upgrade heat isnt a issue, although it still remains a disadvantage. Its not 'hot' but rather 'warm' now.
I dont think heat is a big issue.

I say overheat and fan noises are disadvantage compared to Fujutsu's S-series.

Its no surprise vaio s-series has heat and fan noise issue because everything is packed so tightly and small. Few things must sacrfice for bigger things

 

I would like to comment that the fan noise is not really loud compared to many other laptops. I would say it's above average.The issue has been solved with the latest bios rev.

The heat issue is overrated too IMO. You will only feel the warmth when you run really taxing applications or game for 1-2 hours straight. I doubt any other machines do not get warm when exposed to the same situation.Again, YMMV.At least I don't get the above issues bothering me on my S58GP

the only real advantage the Sony has is the gfx. The widescreen to me is a bonus because I like the perspective over the old 4:3 aspect. It may or may not appeal to you. The S-video thingy is a negative point for Sony.the rest has been said earlier..

 

Thank You. I understand. My tasks are quite basic; MS Office, Web, light photo editing, wireless ect, so I know this machine should be able to cover those without a problem. But 'above average' noise and heat is an issue, I believe at least. I suppose with the graphics, higher speed RAM and hard drive, more heat would be generated than competing 13.3" notebooks.

Widescreen or not, isn't really a concern for me.

The build quality is however. Fujitsu have top-not build quality and is known for having probably the best screens in the business. If someone could guide me to a thread(s) that concerns the Sony's lcd it would be appreciated. As this is the part of the notebook which will be viewed 99% of the time the machine is in use, I feel it should be without compromise.

 

Fujitsu has one of the better screen, best or not it's quite open to debate. See the poll in other thread, if I am not mistaken sony's xbrite leads the way with fujitsu coming close second. So it's really debatable. Infact even across the lines the screen quality differ, the N series is way superior to fujitsu P , for example. SO is Sony S vs Sony A. The latter exhibits much greater vibrancy and brightness.

If you ask me for my honest opinion, the S series beats the other competitor in the same class weight range for the screen. You really have to get down on your own and check it with your own eyes. There's no point in me giving you my word because then the actual litmus test lies on the spot-check. One more thing - I am not sure S2000 max resolution but for me 1024 will not do , I would go for something higher to lay more things on my desktop.

 

What is the native resolution for this Sony?

 

Its a WXGA screen.

 

max res. is 1280x800

 

Not bad. More 'space' then most 13.3" notebooks. Seems like Sony has now transfered over to Dual Core processors, perhaps waiting a little longer will pay off.

 

As with all other electronics, once it is shipped out of the factory it becomes 'obsolete'.
If u need to use it urgently I don't see quite the need to wait. Current spec of the S is blazing fast enough(2.13 pentium M) to handle most applications unless you are hardcore power-user

 

I agree that the fan noise and heat output of the Sony isn't perfect (for the reasons you have mentioned).

i don't know how the loud the fan on the Fujistu ist, I just thought that the word "overheat" might lead to wrong conclusions.

Lets see what Sony has done in the next generation. I'm just wondering how the extra heat and power needed by the Dual Core Processor will be dealt with..

 

Good point, will be a good 2 months or so I estimate before the machines have been thoroughly tested and recieve the 'go' to buy safely. I'm not in a rush in particular but would like to have a machine in the near future (<1month) as I have been waiting/researching for quite some time now and am just tired of doing so.

Plus the dual core machines will probably be top dollar like all newly released technology, for a good 6 months or so before the inevitable slow decline in price.

 

I would say that the "overheat" issue does not really exist. The right palm-rest of the laptop is warm sometimes. But it is A LOT BETTER than the Vaio S460P/B I had. I feel that S560's battery life is somewhat shorter than the S460, mainly because of a more powerful CPU. I get about 2.5 - 3 hrs(or a little bit above 3 hrs with CPU undervolting). If you want a longer battery life, go for the extended battery. Note that it will add more weight to the machine. If you have about 2000+$ you might want to wait for the Vaio SZ. The SZ gives you a lot longer battery life, and "probably" better graphics.

PS. why didn't SONY use the same black disclaimer sticker (The one under VAIO sign on the back of the display) as the S460? The one on S560 is white, and I think it's not as pretty on a black surface like a black one.

 

I'm not familiar with the earlier models in the S series, but IMHO the biggest weakness of the current generation models is STILL thermal management.

Running on batteries, the situation isn't so bad. The fan stays quiet and slow for the most part and the heat buildup on the right palm rest and underside is not enough to be uncomfortable. But when plugged in, even when I'm doing nothing but web surfing, the right palm rest (hard drive) gets warm enough to make me sweat and the right rear underside (processor?) gets too warm to comfortably use on my lap. Also, the fan speed constantly ramps up and down when plugged in, rather than staying at medium speed; this gets annoying. I hear the latest BIOS will help keep the CPU temperature down at the expense of running the fan longer at higher speed, but I don't think that will help with the warm palm rest, which sits above the HD.

I know that the 13.3" form factor doesn't leave a lot of room to design a better cooling system, but the 13.3" Sharp M4000 WideNote is much, much cooler and quieter.

 

You should also note the S560 is no longer listed on sonystyle.com, though you may still be able to find it at CompUSA or Best Buy. If you go the S5 route, you'll probably have to go with the configurable S580 (darn, huh?).